Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of naloxone kits issued (a) within custodial settings in and (b) on release from HM Prisons in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Naloxone kits have been issued and maintained by individual healthcare providers across the prison estate and have not been supplied by the Ministry of Justice over the time specified in the question.
From January 2024, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is coordinating roll-out of Naloxone training on a voluntary basis to prison staff. We will collate data on the use of Naloxone by HMPPS staff as roll-out and usage progresses.
The information requested for opioid overdose reversals is not held centrally. In relation to fatalities, ONS data on drug-related deaths includes the number in which opiates are mentioned on the death certificate (which differs from the number of overdoses) – table 7 in this publication Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). However, this only covers up to 2019, as it uses data from Coroner’s reports on which there is a considerable time lag. Furthermore, depending on the circumstances, an opioid overdose could be classed as a self-inflicted death or an ‘other: non-natural' death. Therefore, without checking the individual cases, it is not possible to obtain an accurate figure from the wider data, on fatalities.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many opioid overdoses in custodial settings have (a) been successfully reversed and (b) resulted in fatalities in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Naloxone kits have been issued and maintained by individual healthcare providers across the prison estate and have not been supplied by the Ministry of Justice over the time specified in the question.
From January 2024, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is coordinating roll-out of Naloxone training on a voluntary basis to prison staff. We will collate data on the use of Naloxone by HMPPS staff as roll-out and usage progresses.
The information requested for opioid overdose reversals is not held centrally. In relation to fatalities, ONS data on drug-related deaths includes the number in which opiates are mentioned on the death certificate (which differs from the number of overdoses) – table 7 in this publication Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). However, this only covers up to 2019, as it uses data from Coroner’s reports on which there is a considerable time lag. Furthermore, depending on the circumstances, an opioid overdose could be classed as a self-inflicted death or an ‘other: non-natural' death. Therefore, without checking the individual cases, it is not possible to obtain an accurate figure from the wider data, on fatalities.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times naloxone has been administered in custodial settings in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Naloxone kits have been issued and maintained by individual healthcare providers across the prison estate and have not been supplied by the Ministry of Justice over the time specified in the question.
From January 2024, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is coordinating roll-out of Naloxone training on a voluntary basis to prison staff. We will collate data on the use of Naloxone by HMPPS staff as roll-out and usage progresses.
The information requested for opioid overdose reversals is not held centrally. In relation to fatalities, ONS data on drug-related deaths includes the number in which opiates are mentioned on the death certificate (which differs from the number of overdoses) – table 7 in this publication Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). However, this only covers up to 2019, as it uses data from Coroner’s reports on which there is a considerable time lag. Furthermore, depending on the circumstances, an opioid overdose could be classed as a self-inflicted death or an ‘other: non-natural' death. Therefore, without checking the individual cases, it is not possible to obtain an accurate figure from the wider data, on fatalities.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that legal aid remains accessible.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Access to justice is a fundamental right, and in 2022/23 we spent £1.86 billion on legal aid: £926 million on civil, £873 million on crime, and £56 million through central funds (central funds provide funding for, amongst other things, Defence Costs Orders, which are made in respect of non legally-aided defendants who are acquitted, and independent cross examination of vulnerable witnesses in criminal and civil proceedings).
The Ministry of Justice published the Government Response to the Means Test Review consultation exercise in May 2023, which sets out the detailed policy decisions underpinning the new means-test arrangements.
Our changes will increase the number of people eligible for civil legal aid in England and Wales by an additional 2.5 million, with 3.5 million more people eligible for criminal legal aid at the magistrates’ court.
We have also injected up to £10 million a year into housing legal aid through the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS). HLPAS provides early legal advice on housing, debt, and welfare benefits problems for anyone facing the loss of their home.
In 2023, we broadened the evidence requirements for victims of domestic abuse applying for legal aid. Special Guardianship Orders in private law proceedings were also brought into the scope of legal aid. This represented an injection of £13 million a year.
We will shortly be consulting on expanding the provision of legal aid at inquests related to major incidents where the Independent Public Advocate is appointed or in the aftermath of terrorist incidents. If implemented, this would mean that no family involved in such cases in future would face an inquest without proper legal representation.
To support and strengthen the criminal legal aid sector, in responding to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review, we uplifted most criminal legal aid fee schemes by 15% in 2022. We are also consulting on reforms to the police station fee scheme and the Youth Court fee scheme, for which we have allocated an extra £21 million per year. These changes increase spend by up to £141 million a year - taking expected criminal legal aid spend to £1.2 billion per year. The additional funding into the system will help contribute towards the sustainability of the market and help ensure legal aid is accessible for the future.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will undertake a review of the fixed recoverable costs scheme.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Fixed recoverable costs (FRC) was extended for new cases on 1 October 2023. The Government will review the extended FRC regime in October 2026, three years after implementation. More information about the nature and scope of the review will be set out nearer the time.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps with the Isle of Man Government to establish a memorial to the Summerland fire on that site.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Isle of Man is a self-governing Crown Dependency and this matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Isle of Man Government. It would not be appropriate for the UK to intervene.
I understand that the site of the former Summerland complex is clear and available for redevelopment and that there is a willingness on the part of the Isle of Man Government to support the inclusion of a memorial within any future redevelopment.
An existing memorial, the Kaye Memorial Garden, which is very near to the Summerland site, was established on the 40th anniversary of the fire by Douglas Borough Council. The garden is recognised by Isle of Man Government as the national memorial site. This year, on the 50th anniversary, the Chief Minister, heads of emergency services, survivors and relatives of the victims gathered there to mark the occasion.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the prisons estate.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We received almost £4 billion of funding at SR21 to deliver 20,000 additional, modern prison places, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. We continue to invest in prison maintenance so that existing places remain in use and are safe.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the size of the backlog of criminal court cases in Warrington North constituency.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The number of outstanding cases at the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court are routinely published as part of the National Statistics release Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly. The latest published data is available to December 2022 and can be found at the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). For the Crown Court, figures are published specifically for the North West. For magistrates’ courts, the Cheshire Local Justice Area is the closest match available. For further data relating to the Cheshire Local Justice Area, the Criminal Justice Delivery Data Dashboard is published quarterly and can be found at the following link: Criminal justice system overview - CJS Dashboard.
The published data for the Crown Court are found here: Crown Court cases received, disposed and outstanding tool, and the published data for the magistrates’ court are found here: Magistrates' courts cases received, disposed and outstanding tool.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of rape charge rates in England and Wales.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Through the Rape Review, we are making sustained progress on our ambitions to increase the number of referrals to the CPS, CPS charges, and Crown Court receipts for adult rape cases back to 2016 levels. 2016 levels are an ambitious target – convictions in 2016 were 30% higher than in 2010 under Labour.
According to the latest quarter of data we have either exceeded or are on track to exceed each ambition:
o There were 1,079 total police referrals, more than double the 2019 quarterly average of 461 and up by 41% compared to the 2016 quarterly average of 766. (Oct-Dec 2022)
o There were 472 CPS charges, nearly double the 2019 quarterly average of 244, just 12% below the 2016 quarterly average of 538. (Oct-Dec 2022)
o The number of adult rape Crown Court receipts continued to increase in the first quarter of 2023 with 605 Crown Court receipts, exceeding our ambition of 553. (Jan- March 2023)
Crucially we are increasing the number of cases we are bringing to court. Adult rape prosecutions continue to rise, up to 1,710 in 2022, an increase of 4% on 2010 under Labour.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to increase the availability of legal aid.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The changes we are making to the legal aid means test will significantly expand legal aid eligibility. We estimate that this will mean that an additional 2 million people in England and Wales will have access to civil legal aid, and 3.5 million more will have access to legal aid at the magistrates’ court.
We are also investing up to £10m each year through the creation of a Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service. This will enable people facing the loss of their home to receive early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits issues as well as representation in court from 1 August 2023.
We made changes to family legal in February this year, injecting a further £13m in funding each year. One of the changes ensures Special Guardianship Orders brought in private law proceedings are now within scope of legal aid. We have also updated the supporting evidence requirements for victims of domestic abuse when they apply for certain legal aid services. This means medical practitioners can now provide a letter as evidence of domestic abuse after a telephone or video-conferencing consultation, rather than only after a face-to-face appointment.
Finally, we are spending around £8m on expanding legal aid provision through the Nationality and Borders Act. In all other immigration matters, individuals can apply for Exceptional Case Funding, where they can show that without legal aid, there is a risk that their human rights may be breached.
The Legal Aid Agency monitors capacity in the legal aid market and the provision of services and takes immediate action when gaps appear.