Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the proportion of cases that will take place in virtual hearings in each jurisdiction in each of the next five years.
Answered by Oliver Heald
We are investing close to £1 billion to reform and digitise our courts and tribunals, and improve the experience of our users. We are already using technology such as video and telephony to enable more flexible working across all jurisdictions, particularly in crime.
In future, where appropriate, some proceedings will be dealt with entirely online without the need for a hearing. Where a hearing is still required, some hearings will be moved out of the traditional courtroom and conducted by video-conference or telephone.
There will always be a place for the solemnity of the physical court room for the most serious and complex cases, and will make greater use of technology to support these hearings in future.
The most appropriate mode of hearing will be subject to judicial discretion, and so we are unable to provide estimated volumes for virtual hearings in future.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in magistrates' courts in each year since 2010.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Information on the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff employed by HMCTS by jurisdiction in each of the last four years is set out in the table below. Information prior to 2013 is not held centrally.
| FTE | ||
Date | Crown | County | Magistrates’ |
31/03/2013 | 2,076 | 4,143 | 5,059 |
31/03/2014 | 2,000 | 4,141 | 4,758 |
31/03/2015 | 2,050 | 3,761 | 4,352 |
31/03/2016 | 2,133 | 3,764 | 4,065 |
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in Crown courts in each year since 2010.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Information on the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff employed by HMCTS by jurisdiction in each of the last four years is set out in the table below. Information prior to 2013 is not held centrally.
| FTE | ||
Date | Crown | County | Magistrates’ |
31/03/2013 | 2,076 | 4,143 | 5,059 |
31/03/2014 | 2,000 | 4,141 | 4,758 |
31/03/2015 | 2,050 | 3,761 | 4,352 |
31/03/2016 | 2,133 | 3,764 | 4,065 |
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations her Department has received on the proposed cap on whiplash claims compensation of £425 announced in her Department's Reforming the soft tissue injury (whiplash) claims process consultation, published on 17 November 2016.
Answered by Oliver Heald
A consultation paper was published on 17 November and is available on gov.uk
Both the press release and the consultation paper explain that insurers are expected to pass on around £1bn per annum to their motor policy holders through reduced premiums. This is estimated to mean an average saving of approximately £40 per motor insurance policy.
The consultation closes on 6 January and the government is due to publish its response by Friday 7 April 2017. When it does it will provide information on representations received, including those relating to the proposed cap on whiplash compensation.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason line 1 of her Department's press release, published on 17 November 2016, announcing the consultation on whiplash reforms, uses the word could rather than will in relation to a reduction in car insurance premiums.
Answered by Oliver Heald
A consultation paper was published on 17 November and is available on gov.uk
Both the press release and the consultation paper explain that insurers are expected to pass on around £1bn per annum to their motor policy holders through reduced premiums. This is estimated to mean an average saving of approximately £40 per motor insurance policy.
The consultation closes on 6 January and the government is due to publish its response by Friday 7 April 2017. When it does it will provide information on representations received, including those relating to the proposed cap on whiplash compensation.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons it is not possible to make a (a) non-fixed monetary amount and (b) personal injury claim using the Money Claim Online website.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Money Claim Online was developed to provide an online service for specified (fixed) money claims which constitute the largest proportion of money claims issued. Personal injury claims are usually made for an unspecified amount of money.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times children under the age of 18 have been re-categorised and transferred to adult prisons in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Phillip Lee
It is not usual practice for young people under the age of 18 to be re-categorised and transferred to the adult estate. In exceptional circumstances, a young person can be moved to the adult estate prior to reaching 18 years of age due to violent or disruptive behaviour which is putting other young people and/or staff at risk. Such moves are extremely rare and take place in line with an agreed approval process which requires sign-off by both the Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board and the Deputy Director of Custody Young People’s Estate.
In the last year, one young person under the age of 18 was moved to a Young Offender Institution accommodating young adults aged 18 to 21.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the limit is on the number of children held at (a) Medway, (b) Oakhill and (c) Rainsbrook secure training centres.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The table below sets out the number of places commissioned by the Youth Justice Board at Medway, Oakhill and Rainsbrook Secure Training Centres:
STC | Commissioned places |
Medway | 67 |
Oakhill | 80 |
Rainsbrook | 76 |
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times children have been restrained for good order and discipline in young offender institutions, by establishment, in each month since March 2015.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Information for 2015/16 is not yet available. It will be published in on gov.uk in due course.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average turnaround time was between receipt of a claim form by the County Court Money Claims Centre and that form being returned to the issuing solicitors in (a) October 2016, (b) September 2016 and (c) the 6 months to September 2016.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Confirmation of claims are automatically issued, or to the issuing solicitor if they have asked to issue the claim themselves within the average timescales below.
The average turnaround times between receipt of a claim form by the County Court Money Claims Centre and confirmation to the claimant were:
Elapsed time between claim being received at the County Court Money Claims Centre and a claim confirmation being issued to the claimant. | |
| Average working days |
Claims issued during October 2016 | 6.8 |
Claims issued during September 2016 | 5.6 |
Claims issued during April 2016-Sept. 2016 | 5.8 |