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Written Question
Magistrates' Courts: Lancashire
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of open magistrates courts in Lancashire.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Both Preston and Blackpool magistrates’ courts are temporarily closed in response to professional assessments about the safety of RAAC in those court buildings. I am however confident that there are sufficient open courts in Lancashire to list cases that have been displaced as a result of these temporary closures and I am grateful to judiciary and all those involved in putting in place these temporary arrangements.

We will be investing £220m in the two years to March 2025 to improve the overall quality and enhance the resilience of the court and tribunal estate and ensure that those buildings most in need of investment get it.


Written Question
Magistrates' Courts: Lancashire
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his planned timetable is for the reopening of (a) Blackpool and (b) Preston magistrates’ courts.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The safety of everyone who uses our courts is paramount and the decision to temporarily close Blackpool and Preston Magistrates’ courts was made in line with professional advice following the detection of defective Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete. These court buildings will reopen once they are assessed as safe by professionals following the completion of required remedial works.

Blackpool Magistrates’ Court is currently scheduled to reopen in February 2024. Preston Magistrates’ Court is currently scheduled to reopen in January 2024.

Cases have been heard in other courts in Lancashire to ensure cases continue to be heard in a timely way.


Written Question
Young Offender Institutions: Sexual Offences
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sexual assaults by inmates on inmates were recorded in young offender institutions by institution in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Safeguarding the children and young people in our care is a key priority for HM Prison & Probation Service. Sexual assaults in the Youth Secure Estate are rare. In the 10 years from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2023, there were seven sexual assaults in young offender institutions by children or young persons on other children or young persons.

Owing to the small numbers involved, it is not possible to provide the requested breakdown without risking identification of victims.


Written Question
Prison Governors
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison governors have worked at (a) two, (b) three, (c) four and (d) more than four prisons since 2010.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

From 01 January 2010 to 30 June 2023 there have been 295 prison governors employed at public sector prisons. The number of prisons they have been governors of in that period is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 – The number of prisons that governors have governed between 01 January 2010 and 30 June 2023

Number of prisons governed

Governors

Percentage

1

145

49%

2

90

31%

3

49

17%

4

7

2%

More than 4

4

1%

Total

295

100%

Notes:

1. Figures relate to governing governors only (band 10-11) and do not include deputy governors temporarily covering this role.

2. Only a single governor is recorded for each prison, though it is possible for the system to temporarily show more than governor at a prison at a time, any duplicates per prison are removed.

3. Source of data: HMPPS - Single Operating Platform


Written Question
Prisoners: Food
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the food budget was per-prisoner per day in each year since 2015 in private sector prisons.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

In the majority of privately managed prison contracts, food budgets are not separated out from other contract costs. His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) does not hold this information and it would not be possible to identify the food budget without disproportionate cost.

Nevertheless, all Establishments are required to ensure prisoners receive three nutritionally balanced meals a day as set out in Prison Service Instruction 44/2010 Catering - Meals for Prisoners. These must meet the religious, cultural and medical needs of all prisoners.


Written Question
Prisoners: Foreign Nationals
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to page 16 of HMPPS Annual Digest 2022/23 published on 27 July 2023, how long was taken to refer the 986 Foreign National Offender cases which did not meet his Department's 10 day working target.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

As outlined on the page of the Annual Digest referred to, the 986 Foreign National Offender cases were referred to the Home Office on time, as part of a trial of a new digital process, which was not captured via the traditional measurement. Cases referred through the new and more efficient digital process are referred to the Home Office within five working days of sentence.


Written Question
Ministry of Justice: Press and Television
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what subscriptions to (a) magazines, (b) television channels and (c) newspapers his Department funds for officials.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Lancaster Farms Prison: Prison Officers
Monday 16th October 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of shift slots at HMP Lancaster Farms were unfilled in (a) June, (b) July and (c) August 2023.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The information requested could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Drugs: Disclosure of Information
Friday 7th July 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information the Government holds on the number of pharmaceutical companies that have been prosecuted for withholding information on their products in the last twenty years.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice cannot provide information on the number of pharmaceutical companies that have been prosecuted for withholding information on their products, as the type of company prosecuted is not held centrally in the Courts Proceeding Database.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions, convictions and sentence outcomes in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022 including offences as set out in the Offence Group Classification. By navigating to the ‘Person/other’ filter within the pivot tools, it can be filtered for ’02: Companies, public bodies, etc.’, however it is not able to establish the type of company the data represents.


Written Question
Victims: Criminal Proceedings
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support victims in the criminal justice system.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Victims Funding Strategy was published in May 2022. It set out a framework which will improve the way we fund victim support services across government, seeking to better align and co-ordinate funding to enable victims to receive the support they need.

In 2018 we published the first ever cross-government Victims Strategy. This clarified the specific support victims can expect, beginning immediately after a crime and ending long after court proceedings.

It also committed to first consult on a revised Victims’ Code before bringing forward proposals for a Victims Law, including strengthening compliance with the Code.

A new Victims’ Code was published in 2021. The Code was restructured into 12 key entitlements in a way which is clear, concise and easy to understand, outlining the minimum levels of service victims can expect at each stage of the criminal justice process.

Additional entitlements for victims in the Code include increased communication between victims and the CPS and promoting the use of Community Impact Statements.

On 29 March, we introduced the Victims and Prisoners Bill to Parliament, to improve victims' experiences of the criminal justice system, strengthen the parole system to ensure that the public and victims are better protected, and prohibit whole life prisoners from marrying or forming civil partnerships to drive up confidence in the justice system.

These changes for victims have been accompanied by a greater investment in victims’ services. We are more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.