Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of fixed recoverable costs on the ability of housing legal aid providers to carry out legal aid work.
Answered by Edward Argar
The extension of Fixed Recoverable Costs (FRC) will control legal costs and make them more certain. We have exceptionally decided to delay the extension of FRC to legally aided housing possession cases for two years. Lord Bellamy KC met the Housing Law Practitioners Association (HLPA) to discuss the impact of FRC on 23 September 2022 and there have been subsequent discussions between HLPA and MoJ officials. The government will continue to keep FRC and its impact on legal aid under review.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the cost of keeping official statistics on the number of convictions that rely on the law of joint enterprise.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
HMCTS is currently investigating the best way to capture data about joint enterprise on the Common Platform – the new courts IT system. The cost of this will depend on the complexity of the change and the effort required to develop, test and implement it.
Once the relevant data is captured on the Common Platform, officials will be able to assess which further steps would need to be undertaken for it to be measured and reported on correctly. This data may then, with further work, be made publishable as a national statistic.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to widen access to justice for people applying for settlement under the Immigration Rules.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Legal aid has been and will continue to be available for asylum cases, for victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery, for separated migrant children and for immigration cases where someone is challenging a detention decision.
Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, funding may still be available through the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) Scheme.
We are expanding legal aid provision through the Nationality and Borders Bill, facilitating access to justice for individuals applying under the Immigration Rules.
We are providing up to seven hours of legal advice without the need for financial eligibility testing for individuals at risk of priority removal from the country, alongside legal advice for potential victims of modern slavery, to ensure that potential victims can be properly identified and supported throughout the process.
We are reviewing responses received to our call for evidence on immigration legal aid fees and the online tribunal procedure. We will publish a consultation on new immigration legal aid fees in this year.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many fines have been issued under s.165 of the Equality Act 2010 in each year since its introduction.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Ministry of Justice holds information on the number of fines issued to drivers of designated taxi / private hire vehicles who failed to comply with a duty imposed by section 165 of the Equality Act 2010, in England and Wales, from 2011 until 2020; this can be viewed in the attached table.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Prison Officers Association on the prison officer pension age.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Soon after being appointed, I met the Prison Officer’s Association for our introductory meeting at which a range of issues were raised, including pension age. I intend to meet the POA and other trade unions regularly to discuss matters relating to staff welfare and working conditions.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department used to calculate the proposed fixed recoverable costs; which band housing disrepair cases will fall into; and if he will publish statistics on claimant costs awarded in housing disrepair cases.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Government set out the way forward on extending fixed recoverable costs (FRC) in civil claims on 6 September 2021, following its earlier consultation. The proposed FRC were put forward by Sir Rupert Jackson, then a Court of Appeal judge, in his 2017 Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Supplemental Report – Fixed Recoverable Costs. The FRC set out in Sir Rupert’s report will be uprated for inflation prior to implementation in 2022. As proposed by Sir Rupert, housing disrepair claims will generally be allocated to Band 3, with more complex claims falling in Band 4. The Ministry of Justice does not hold detailed data on claimant costs awarded in housing disrepair claims.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme, if he will publish data on the (a) number of housing possession proceedings issued, (b) size of the listing backlog and (c) number of possession hearings that have taken place.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
This answer is in relation to all possession proceedings in England and Wales and not limited to those with Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme (HPCDS) involvement, which provides on-the-day emergency advice and advocacy to anyone facing possession proceedings on the day of their hearing.
a) The requested data is published quarterly and can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics
b) The requested information is not held.
c) The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost, however the above link also provides statistics on the number of orders made following a hearing in possession proceedings.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Detained Duty Advice scheme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The MoJ committed to a review of immigration advice provision for detainees held in prison, and those in Immigration Removal Centres, in August 2020. The review’s objective is to ensure equal access to high-quality immigration and asylum advice, irrespective of location. The intention is to consider the differences in the provision of immigration and asylum legal aid to immigration detainees in Immigration Removal Centres and prisons, including the Detained Duty Advice Scheme.
Work on this review is ongoing and includes working with stakeholders to understand better the experience of individual detainees.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 10 December 2020 to Question 126115 on Public Service: Misconduct, when his Department plans to publish its response to the Law Commission’s report into Misconduct in Public Office, published on 4 December 2020.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
We are carefully considering the Law Commission’s report on Misconduct in Public Office, published in December last year. It is right that we look at this issue in a considered way.
The Government’s response, together with confirmation of any next steps, will be issued within the timeframes outlined in the Joint Protocol between the Law Commission and the Government.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has plans to keep official statistics on how many convictions rely on the law of joint enterprise.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Ministry of Justice only collects information on how many defendants are prosecuted and convicted for each offence in any given year. Information is not collated on whether a prosecution or conviction relied on the law of joint enterprise. Such information may be held on court records but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.