Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Nokes and Rosie Cooper

Monday 16th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

3. What recent assessment he has made of the performance of UK Visas and Immigration against its target times for responses to members of the public.

[The Minister for Immigration (Caroline Nokes)]

The UKVI contact centre has set contractual targets for the commercial partner that delivers contact-centre services on its behalf. The achievement of those targets is monitored daily through the service-management team, to assure achievement. The team holds formal board review meetings monthly to review performance against the set key performance indicators.

[Rosie Cooper]

Is the Minister satisfied with the current target times and does she think they are appropriate? My constituent made an application in November 2017 and has not heard a single thing since—nothing.

[Caroline Nokes]

It is important to note that service standards are met in the vast majority of cases. If applications are not straightforward, we do not set a service standard, because we think it is right that applications should be considered thoroughly and in detail.

Legal Aid Reform

Debate between Caroline Nokes and Rosie Cooper

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Rosie Cooper]

I am sure that is exactly what will happen and that justice will be ill served by the people who support and vote for this awful idea. Has real consideration been given to the issue of conflict? The new legal corporations will reach into every stage of the criminal justice process, motivated by profit, not justice. The removal of a client’s fundamental right to choose their representative is completely unacceptable.

These proposals will cause problems for the justice system, including concerns about the right to a fair trial under article 6 of the European convention on human rights. An individual who is involved in multiple matters might end up with numerous representatives forced to deal with separate matters. That will add to the delay and the costs as there will duplication of effort in obtaining information and instructions, to the detriment of the individual. That is if they are to get legal representation at all. In a big sign of things to come, the Bar Council has already produced a do-it-yourself guide to representing oneself in court.

[Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)]

Does the hon. Lady share my concern that we will see an increase in the number of litigants in person, which, far from driving down costs, will take up more time and add to costs?

[Rosie Cooper]

I absolutely agree. In fact, I think that the hon. Lady will find that that is already happening. How can that aid cost cutting or justice? It is a travesty.

Everything about the consultation strikes me as being about the easy option, not the right option for the people who sent us here or for justice. I believe that the cuts will be a false economy, as we will see increased inefficiency. One wonders how much could be saved if the Justice Secretary simply sorted out the waste in the system. For example, I know of one prisoner who was not produced in court by the Prison Service—it had nothing to do with the CPS—on three occasions, with proceedings stayed and all the associated time and costs wasted. If we tackled that waste, how much money would we save? We would still preserve justice and fairness at the heart of the system.

I wonder whether the Justice Secretary, if his family found themselves unable to afford legal representation—God forbid—would accept the crumbs that he is now throwing to everybody else. In closing, I ask the Minister, who is in his place, whether justice on the cheap is any justice at all.