Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reform the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
This Government has introduced a comprehensive legislative framework to prevent violence against women, including our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
We have pioneered the creation of new offences including coercive control, non-fatal strangulation and intimate image abuse; more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court compared to when we commissioned our End-to-End Rape Review; and made sure that sentences for adult rape are almost 40% longer than they were in 2010.
And through our Sentencing Bill, we will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders spend the entirety of their custodial sentence behind bars, without possibility of parole.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many scrap metal operators were prosecuted for (a) not holding a licence and (b) paying cash for scrap metal in the last three years; and how many and what proportion of those prosecutions resulted in a conviction.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted for offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 (offence code 19534) within the last three years, in the following tool:
A breakdown of the prosecutions and convictions for (a) not holding a licence and (b) paying cash for scrap metal for year ending June 2020 to year ending June 2022, issued at all courts in England and Wales, has been provided in Table 1 on a principal offence basis.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received on the suitability and safety of women prison officers carrying out their duties between the ages of 60 and 68.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Prison officers need to be capable of performing specific tasks to a certain standard to ensure their safety and the safety of everyone else, including prisoners and work colleagues.
All prison officers who joined after 1 April 2001 must pass an annual fitness test in order to remain in a prison officer role. Staff who do not meet the annual fitness test standard will be provided with advice and support by a fitness assessor on achieving and maintaining the required fitness level. Following an Occupational Health (OH) referral, management can discuss and consider options for redeployment to roles that don’t require the Prison Officer fitness level.
There are many factors which determine a person’s ability to pass a fitness test which are often not determined by age, sex or gender alone. No adjustment to the fitness test is made based on age, sex or gender because they are not the determining factor on passing the test and fitness levels between employees of either sex or gender at all ages can vary. Adjustments are considered and may be offered on the advice of an occupational health practitioner.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to establish an independent public advocate.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Government is committed to supporting bereaved families after public disasters and during public inquests.
We have consulted on proposals to establish an independent public advocate and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Justice of 4 March 2019, Official Report, column 698 on the Privatised Probation System, when he plans to meet with the hon. Member for Sefton and the family of Sam Cook.
Answered by Rory Stewart
My private office has contacted the hon. Member’s office and will arrange a meeting in due course.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the hon. Member for Sefton Central on 5 February 2019 Official Report column 159, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting the system of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder courts used in the Canadian province of Manitoba.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
My Department has not previously made an assessment of adopting the system of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder courts used in Manitoba.
Courts already make special arrangements for defendants with learning disabilities by adapting the trial process to address their specific communication and other needs. We take this approach for defendants with a variety of special needs; it is generally preferable to specialised courts which create inflexibility in the system, slow down court processes and can negatively impact other court users facing different challenges and vulnerabilities. We are working with NHS England and others to ensure that needs are identified early in the criminal justice process and offenders have access to the right treatment and support once they have been through the courts.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to support the UK legal services sector before and after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The UK is a world leader in the provision of legal services and English law has a reputation for excellence across the world. The reputation of the UK’s Courts, Judiciary and legal services sector will continue after we leave the EU, and we will build on this to make the most of the opportunities of post-Brexit global Britain. We also continue to promote our excellent legal services overseas, and launched our ‘Legal Services are GREAT’ campaign last month, to highlight the UK’s position as a premier legal centre.”
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Ministry has several statutory obligations to provide interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings. This includes a contract for the provision of British Sign Language, which is made available wherever required across the Ministry, its executive agencies and arm length bodies, and other organisations in the justice sector who use the contracts.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17450, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has improved its performance in recent years from closing 947 cases in 2010/11 to closing 1,632 cases in 2014/15. The CCRC has also recently undertaken a review of working practices that is expected to lead to further improvements.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make representations to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to open an investigation into the case of James Thompson.
Answered by Mike Penning
As I stated in response to Questions 14066 and 16560, although the Criminal Cases Review Commission is funded by my Department, it is entirely independent of Government, and Ministers cannot, and should not, attempt to intervene in its reviews or decisions.