Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of Trial Blitz style listing schemes in reducing backlogs in other Crown Court centres beyond Greater Manchester.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Listing is a judicial responsibility. The judiciary deploy measures, including the concentration of judicial and court resources to hear a specific cohort of cases over a defined period, as part of ongoing efforts to maximise throughput. HMCTS officials support the operation of such activity and ensure appropriate and effective coordination across wider criminal justice partner agencies – such interventions, where appropriate, can be effective short-term measures.
Part two of the Independent Review of Criminal Courts will consider how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible. We have asked Sir Brian to consider the end-to-end process, from charge to acquittal. We expect Sir Brian to finalise his report later this year.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of criminal legal aid fees in ensuring sufficient numbers of publicly funded barristers are available to meet demand.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This Government recognises the vital importance of legal aid and the need to ensure an adequate supply of suitably qualified criminal barristers and solicitors. Since 2022, funding for defence advocates has increased by 17%. In December 2024, we also announced that criminal legal aid solicitors will receive up to £92m more a year, subject to consultation, to help support the sustainability of the criminal legal aid sector. The consultation has now closed, and we will publish the response in due course. This is in addition to our response to the earlier Crime Lower consultation on solicitor fees, confirming an uplift to the lowest police station fees, introducing a new Youth Court fee scheme, and paying for travel in certain circumstances. Together, these changes provided a £24m investment for criminal legal aid providers .This is a significant investment to reflect the valuable and tough work undertaken by advocates criminal legal aid practitioners, helping to make sure that justice is served.
The Ministry of Justice runs a Data Sharing Project with the Law Society, Bar Council, Legal Aid Agency, and Crown Prosecution Service to monitor the criminal legal services provider base. Latest data shows that overall criminal barrister numbers appear to be stabilising. The number of “self-declared full practise barristers”, those whose workload is at least 80% criminal work, was 2,726 in 23/24 compared to 2,424 in 20/21.
Recruitment and retention remain crucial to maintain a sustainable, diverse workforce, and a pipeline through to the judiciary. The Government is committed to working with the Bar leadership through the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board to understand the market, priorities and opportunities for reform, to support the sustainability of the barrister profession.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken to issue visas on the ability of Commonwealth citizens to participate effectively in proceedings before UK courts.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UKVI will always seek to ensure those who need to attend court are able to do so in line with the Immigration Rules and wider court instructions.
All short term visit visas are governed by our published service standards. These can be found here: Visitors and transit: customer service standards - GOV.UK
Customers are advised to allow enough time to receive their visa before applying. Customers in certain locations have the option to apply for a premium paid service to allow them to receive a decision quicker than the advertised times. Information on premium paid services can be found here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
Visa processing times are constantly monitored to ensure that visas are being delivered within our published service standards. Where an application will not be processed within service standards due to the complex nature of the application, the applicant is informed their application will take longer.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance on expediting visa applications for (a) witnesses, (b) litigants and (c) legal representatives required to attend court hearings in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UKVI will always seek to ensure those who need to attend court are able to do so in line with the Immigration Rules and wider court instructions.
All short term visit visas are governed by our published service standards. These can be found here: Visitors and transit: customer service standards - GOV.UK
Customers are advised to allow enough time to receive their visa before applying. Customers in certain locations have the option to apply for a premium paid service to allow them to receive a decision quicker than the advertised times. Information on premium paid services can be found here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
Visa processing times are constantly monitored to ensure that visas are being delivered within our published service standards. Where an application will not be processed within service standards due to the complex nature of the application, the applicant is informed their application will take longer.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Prime Minister's has considered establishing a framework enabling asylum-seeking students to access (a) internships, (b) placements and (c) other forms of work experience that support their university courses.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Asylum seekers are eligible to apply for permission to work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own. Those permitted to work are restricted by the Home Office to apply for jobs on the Immigration Salary List (ISL).
When considering permission to work applications that forms part of a further education course such as certain apprenticeships, the individual must meet the requirements under Paragraph 360 or 360C or that the role in question meets the volunteering requirements set out in the policy guidance published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has had discussions with Commonwealth partners on future arrangements for appellate jurisdiction currently exercised by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Commonwealth countries which continue to use the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) as their final court of appeal are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Brunei, Cook Islands and Niue, Grenada, Jamaica, Kiribati, Mauritius, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu.
The Department has not had discussions with Commonwealth partners on future arrangements for JCPC jurisdiction. The JCPC relies on the continuing consent of independent countries for its jurisdiction in those countries. These independent states, which have a historical connection with the United Kingdom, are free to make a pragmatic judgement on whether they derive benefit from what the JCPC has to offer.
The JCPC is funded from the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) budget. The Lord Chancellor has an obligation under section 50 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to ensure the UKSC is provided with the resources appropriate to carry on its business, but under the Department’s concordat with the UKSC, the court’s chief executive, as accounting officer, negotiates with HM Treasury directly. The court’s bid for funding is shared with the Lord Chancellor, who may comment on it without altering it. The Lord Chancellor then submits it to HM Treasury for consideration.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Privy Council remains adequately resourced to deal with cases from Commonwealth jurisdictions in a timely manner.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Commonwealth countries which continue to use the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) as their final court of appeal are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Brunei, Cook Islands and Niue, Grenada, Jamaica, Kiribati, Mauritius, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu.
The Department has not had discussions with Commonwealth partners on future arrangements for JCPC jurisdiction. The JCPC relies on the continuing consent of independent countries for its jurisdiction in those countries. These independent states, which have a historical connection with the United Kingdom, are free to make a pragmatic judgement on whether they derive benefit from what the JCPC has to offer.
The JCPC is funded from the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) budget. The Lord Chancellor has an obligation under section 50 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to ensure the UKSC is provided with the resources appropriate to carry on its business, but under the Department’s concordat with the UKSC, the court’s chief executive, as accounting officer, negotiates with HM Treasury directly. The court’s bid for funding is shared with the Lord Chancellor, who may comment on it without altering it. The Lord Chancellor then submits it to HM Treasury for consideration.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing waiting times for gynaecology services on women’s ability to return to or remain in work.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Joint Work and Health Directorate is collaborating with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to improve the evidence on the relationship between health and labour market outcomes. The ONS plans to link NHS waiting times data (that they recently acquired access to) to Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE records to analyse the relationship between waiting time duration (for various health conditions and procedures) and labour market outcomes (such as employment status, gross pay and benefit receipt) in England. This should help identify the potential impact of trends in waiting lists for various healthcare services, including gynaecology services, on the number of people out of work. In the short-term, the ONS is supporting NHS England and HM Treasury to produce estimates of the employment impacts of reducing waiting times for elective hospital treatment.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, stated our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs. Furthermore, it outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to expand the use of virtual hearings for short matters.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We recognise the importance of utilising technology to improve the efficiency of criminal and civil court proceedings. That is why, in May 2025, HM Courts & Tribunals Service published its Remote Participation Approach, setting out its principles for enabling remote attendance at hearings where appropriate: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmcts-remote-participation-approach/hmcts-remote-participation-approach.
Additionally, as part of the second phase of the Independent Review of Criminal Courts, Sir Brian Leveson is reviewing court processes to consider how both new and established technologies could be used to enhance productivity and efficiency in the criminal courts. We expect Sir Brian to finalise his report later this year. Virtual hearings are extensively used in civil courts as well. For example, as part of the Virtual Region initiative judges with spare capacity from outside of the London and Southeast remotely hear cases from London and Southeast helping reduce pressure on judiciary in those regions and enable cases to be determined quicker.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to review cases of people born in the UK before 1 July 2006 to a British father and a non-British mother where the parents were not married, who sought registration under section 4G of the British Nationality Act 1981, particularly where they had (a) disabilities and (b) faced financial hardship.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
All applications made under section 4G of the British Nationality Act 1981 are considered against the statutory criteria. Customers are only required to pay the citizenship ceremony fee; no registration fee is payable.
In the White paper – restoring control over the immigration system, we committed to consider removing all financial barriers to acquiring British citizenship for young adults who have lived their entire lives in the UK.