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Written Question
Cycling: Convictions and Prosecutions
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been in Greater London for (i) dangerous cycling in contravention of section 28, (ii) careless and inconsiderate cycling in contravention of section 29 and (iii) cycling when under the influence of drink or drugs in contravention of section 30 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions and convictions in England and Wales for the following offences:

  • 13711 - Reckless and dangerous driving by pedal cyclist - Contrary to section 28(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

  • 13712 - Careless driving by pedal cyclist - Contrary to section 29 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

  • 13713 - Pedal cyclist driving under the influence of drink or drugs - Contrary to section 30 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

These can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the HO Offence Code filter to select the above offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool.

The police force area filter enables you to select specific areas, in this case, select ‘Metropolitan’.


Written Question
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pensions
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the full written reasons for the decision of the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber of 23 August 2023 will be made available following the request of 6 September 2023 by the respondent; and for what reason the award cannot be paid to the successful appellant.

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

The provision of a written statement of reasons, following an appeal decision, is the responsibility of the Judge, who is independent of Government. It would therefore be inappropriate for Ministers to comment on this matter. Payment of any award is a matter for the decision-making body, Veterans UK.


Written Question
First-tier Tribunal: Property
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 19 June to Question 189480 on First-tier Tribunal: Property, how many of the applications received by the First-Tier Tribunal Property Chamber in October 2022 (a) have been decided, (b) have been withdrawn and (c) remain outstanding.

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

The data requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on receipts and disposals in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The published statistics are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2023.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs: Appeals
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals to the First -Tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability against decisions by (a) Dorset and (b) Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council on special educational needs (i) were decided in each of the last six months for which data is available and (ii) are awaiting a hearing; and what is the (A) average time and (B) maximum time between an appeal being made and heard.

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

Information about appeals to the First -Tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

The table below sets out the number of appeals to the SEND Tribunal against decisions by (a) Dorset and (b) Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council for the period 1 December 2022 to 14 June 2023 (the latest period for which data are available):

Dorset (a)

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (b)

Dec 2022

6

0

Jan 2023

5

1

Feb 2023

0

0

Mar 2023

5

2

Apr 2023

7

0

May 2023

4

5

Jun 2023 (up to 14/06/23)

3

2

The table below sets out the number of SEND appeals as at 14 June 2003 (the latest period for which data are available) for (a) Dorset and (b) Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (ii) awaiting a hearing; and (A) the average time and (B) the maximum time between an appeal being made and heard as at the same date.

Dorset (a)

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (b)

Number of appeals awaiting a hearing (ii)

38 live appeals

15 live appeals

Average time between an appeal being made and heard (A)

26 weeks

28 weeks

Maximum time between an appeal being made and heard (B)

65 weeks

43 weeks


Written Question
First-tier Tribunal: Property
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications to the First-tier Tribunal (property chamber) have been (a) made and (b) decided in each of the last six months for which information is available; and what the average time is between an application being made and it being decided

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

The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on receipts and disposals in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) which handle applications, appeals and references relating to Residential Property, Land Registration and Agricultural Land & Drainage disputes.

Receipt and disposal data for each of the last six months of published statistics is set out in the table below.

First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

Receipts

Oct-22

782

Nov-22

952

Dec-22

914

Jan-23

1,007

Feb-23

923

Mar-23

1,738

Disposals

Oct-22

912

Nov-22

805

Dec-22

580

Jan-23

814

Feb-23

830

Mar-23

935

The MoJ does not hold figures for the average time between an application being made to a decision.


Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Evictions
Monday 22nd May 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information the Government holds on the average time between (a) a landlord making an application to court for the eviction of a tenant and (b) the court hearing taking place in England in the latest period for which information is available; and whether it is his policy that this average time period should change as a result of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

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

The MOJ Publishes quarterly statistics for all possession claims by mortgage, social and private landlords which includes median timeliness from claim to order.

These figures are published up to March 2023 here –https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics.

The MOJ will work closely with DLUHC to manage any impacts of the Renters (Reform) Bill on the court possession process.


Written Question
Probate: Standards
Monday 22nd May 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the target for the maximum time within which responses should be made to Probate applications was changed from eight to 16 weeks; and how many applications have been outstanding for more than 16 weeks.

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

The service standard for a grant of probate has not been increased to 16 weeks but our messaging to applicants has changed to reflect the longer waiting times that a minority of cases can wait for their grant.

For case received in December 2022, the average percentage of cases taking longer than 16 weeks to issue was 40%.

The average time taken from receipt of all documents required to the issue of the grant was 6.5 weeks in October to December 2022, compared to 7 weeks in the same period in 2021.


Written Question
Administration of Estates
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to take steps to action the application for letters of administration under case reference 1656578944616 in respect of a death on 4 June 2022; and for what reason this application has not yet been actioned.

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

The Probate service contacted the applicant on the 28 February to clarify the extra information that was required to resolve the outstanding query.

Cases can be delayed where more information is needed from the applicant or where cases are complex. HMCTS has recruited, and is in the process of training, additional staff to reduce waiting times and is continually improving the digital service to reduce the number of applications which need to be queried.


Written Question
Arrest Warrants: Unpaid Fines
Wednesday 7th December 2022

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November to Question 94678, if he will make it his policy to prevent courts in England issuing arrest warrants for non-payment of fines for television licence fee offences.

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

This Government is committed to ensuring the payment of financial penalties and it is right that the courts have a full range of enforcement powers. However, courts will typically use other methods of recovery to arrest warrants unless they are deemed inappropriate. There is currently no intention to change this approach.


Written Question
Terminal Illnesses: Children
Wednesday 30th November 2022

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review the legal safeguards needed before permission can be granted by the courts to withdraw life-sustaining treatment for children; and if he will meet Christian Concern to discuss that organisation's proposals for legal reform.

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

Whenever the court is required to make difficult decisions involving the care of a child, it must consider the facts and individual circumstances of each case and, based on that, determine what is in the best interests of the child concerned.

The Children Act 1989 provides the legislative framework and makes a child’s welfare paramount. In addition to this principle, there is relevant clinical guidance which health professionals rely upon to make their recommendations.