Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps their Department takes to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; and if they will make a statement.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In order to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the MoJ shares (where it is appropriate and in line with privacy statements) information with its recognised departmental trade unions on a regular basis through formal negotiation, meaningful consultation and engagement. This includes sharing general information as well as information requested during a specific engagement or consultation.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has notified staff to (a) tell or (b) remind them that they can sell annual leave in the last four months.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I can confirm that the Ministry of Justice’s buying/selling annual leave policy is available to all employees on the Intranet.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The MoJ shares Human Resources information related to:
Contractual terms and conditions of employment
Working practices and proposed changes to the way the MoJ is structured or operates
Workforce data
Information required to comply with statutory requirements
This information is shared with the MoJ departmental trade unions on a regular basis as part of ongoing engagement. There is also a range of HR information published on GOV.UK which is publicly available and an MoJ data portal with further information.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of employees in their Department are paid at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I can confirm that all Ministry of Justice employees are currently paid above the rate of National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure his Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether that monitoring data gathered is shared with union representatives.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
People related data is fundamental to monitoring the effectiveness of our policies and making people related decisions. The MoJ is a data-driven department and our workforce data is collated through a number of different mechanisms including from our HR System (SOP), our recruitment system (Oleeo) and the annual People Survey.
The Ministry of Justice collects data on age, gender, ethnic origin and disability as part of the application process. This diversity data is analysed quarterly to produce internal reporting on the outcomes of the recruitment process for each group. Data on gender, ethnic origin and disability for HMPPS recruitment outcomes are published externally every six months in the HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly.
We collect protected characteristic diversity data from staff on our HR system. Using this we produce a variety of internal management information that we use within MoJ to monitor fairness of processes.
This data is routinely shared across MoJ to help inform tactical, operational and strategic people related decision and to monitor and evaluate our policies and the decisions that have been made.
In England, in addition to the general duty, all public bodies have specific duties to publish annual equality information and prepare and publish equality objectives at least every four years, which the Ministry of Justice makes available in the public domain.
To comply with the specific duties of the Equality Act (PSED, 2010), MoJ staff in post diversity information is published in the annual Civil Service Statistics data tables. Key staff diversity figures are also included in the MoJ Annual Report and Accounts (ARA).
MoJ shares data (referenced in 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code) with its recognised Trade Unions as part of regular engagement and statutory obligations
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to mandate individual risk assessments for all employees in his Department before they return to the workplace following the easing of covid-19 restrictions; and how many individual risk assessments for people returning to work have been conducted by his Department as of 21 February 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All employers are required to conduct a health and safety risk assessment that includes the risks of COVID-19 in the workplace. Within the Civil Service, managers are also encouraged to conduct an individual risk assessment with their employees, ensuring that personal risk factors are considered and, where identified, control measures are put in place to reduce their level of risk when returning to the workplace.
A decision on whether it is safe for an employee to return to the workplace will be based on the outcomes of those risk assessments.
Information concerning the number of individual risk assessments for people returning to work can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) artificial intelligence and (b) machine learning projects are being (i) undertaken and (ii) considered for his Department.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The department does not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) in the true definition across its services. The department has an Analytical Platform which spots trends and create links between data sets; however, this wouldn’t fall under either category. A case study on the Analytical Platform can be found here:
With its analytical platform, the department has built a set of tools that provide the basis for the potential development of AI/ML tools, and alongside this, we are undertaking a project that builds on the Office for Artificial Intelligence guidance to develop practical tools and governance to support the ethical development of any future AL/ML project. The Government’s Data Ethics Framework and ‘Guide to Using AI in the Public Sector’, alongside other guidance are available on GOV.UK, to support ethical and safe use of algorithms in the public sector.
The Department continues to review where artificial intelligence or machine learning would add value to undertaking its duties. In most circumstances we use software in place of machine learning or Artificial Intelligence.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of appeals to the Tribunals Service for (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) jobseekers allowance and (e) tax credits were successful in (i) 2018-19 and (ii) 2019-20 in (A) Glasgow South West constituency, (B) Glasgow, (C) Scotland and (D) Great Britain; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Information about the outcomes of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published data (which can be viewed at the link above) provide information about the outcomes of (a) Personal Independence Payment and (b) Employment and Support Allowance appeals for hearing venues covering (A) Glasgow South West (B) Glasgow (C) Scotland and (D) Great Britain for the periods 2018-19 and 2019-20; they also provide information about the outcomes for (c) Income Support (IS), (d) Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and (e) Tax Credits for Great Britain for the same periods.
The table below contains the requested information for IS, JSA and Tax Credits for Glasgow and Scotland:
Proportion1 of appeals decided in favour of the appellant 2018-19 and 2019-20 | ||||||
| IS | IS | JSA | JSA | Tax credits2 | Tax credits |
2018-2019 3 | Glasgow 4 | Scotland | Glasgow | Scotland | Glasgow | Scotland |
| 38% | 33% | 36% | 34% | 41% | 35% |
2019-20203 | 40% | 39% | 25% | 29% | 36% | 34% |
1 Proportion based on the number of cases found in favour of the appellant at a tribunal hearing as a percentage of the cases heard at a tribunal hearing.
2 Includes Working Family Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit.
3 Financial Year 1 April to 31 March.
4 SSCS appeals for Glasgow South West constituents are heard in the Glasgow venue but this venue also hears appeals from other Glasgow constituencies. It is not possible to provide constituency-specific data.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available.
The data may differ slightly to that of the published statistics as these data were run on a different date.
Decisions on benefit entitlement can be overturned on appeal for a variety of reasons. For instance, further evidence, including evidence in the form of oral testimony, may be provided at the hearing. HM Courts & Tribunals Service cannot comment on decisions made by independent tribunal judiciary.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation has affected the right of recognised unions in his Department to bargaining information in relation to section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation has not affected the rights of unions in the Ministry of Justice in relation to bargaining information provided under section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is compliant with the requirement in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code that time off with pay for safety representatives will not be set against facility time allowed under existing arrangements.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice has an obligation to provide reasonable paid time off to recognised trade union representatives to undertake trade union duties. This includes paid time off to Health and Safety representatives as set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code.
The Ministry of Justice, in line with the legislative obligation set out in the Trade Union Act (2016), annually publishes information relating to facility time for relevant union officials. Facility time is defined by the Act as including time off taken by a relevant union official that is permitted by the official’s employer, including under “regulations made under section 2(4) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974”.
The Government recognises there are significant benefits to both employers and employees when organisations and unions work together effectively to deliver high quality public services, but facility time within the public sector must be accountable and represent value for money.