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Written Question
Ministry of Justice: Innovation
Wednesday 14th June 2023

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants his Department employs to work on public service innovation.

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

The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of staff in innovation roles.

The Department is committed to enabling all parts of the organisation to embrace the innovative thinking that can deliver improvements in outcomes and value for money. Steps being taken to create the conditions for innovation to flourish in all parts of the MoJ include supporting the capability in our leadership team, ensuring that our structures and governance allow civil servants to approach problems in new ways and providing guidance and standards on how to pilot new ideas.

Examples of the types of innovation being implemented include construction of the new prison at Full Sutton which is due to open in 2025 and will use around 70% less energy than HMP Five Wells and Fosse Way, and is the UK’s first all-electric prison, and the significant increase in the use of technology across the Department’s services, from remote parole and court hearings, to virtual prison visits, and a significant increase in virtual and hybrid meetings.


Written Question
Probation: Bureaucracy
Tuesday 14th March 2023

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the measures taken by his Department to reduce the workload pressures of Probation Service staff in the last 12 months.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

We have unified the Probation Service and injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year to deliver more robust supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer. We exceeded our target to recruit 1,500 trainee probation offers in 2021/22 and we have committed to recruit a further 1,500 in 2022/23.

We continue to address workload pressures through recruitment and retention of staff. The first Probation Service Recruitment and Retention Strategy was published in April 2021. An update is due to be published in May 2023 and includes specific initiatives to deliver against our commitment to ensure manageable workloads for staff.

Recruitment of key operational roles has been centralised to accelerate recruitment in 6 priority regions, including London. There are schemes available to provide financial support to incentivise new and existing staff to move permanently to areas with the most significant staffing challenges.


Written Question
Legal Aid Agency
Monday 14th March 2022

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will publish the funding agreements for Legal Aid Agency's immigration legal aid contracts that are expected to commence from September 2022.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The existing 2018 Standard Civil Legal Aid Contract is being extended until 31 August 2023 with the exception of the Immigration category which will be extended for a shorter period. The length of the Immigration extension will be communicated as soon as agreed.

Payment for legal aid work carried out under the 2018 Standard Civil Legal Aid Contract is subject to the rates and provisions set out in the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013.

The department will be consulting in Spring 2022 on new immigration fees as a result of the Nationality and Borders Bill, and any future Immigration contract will be tendered on the basis of these proposals, once finalised and subject to consultation. Details about future contracts will be published on the Legal Aid Agency’s tender page https://www.gov.uk/topic/legal-aid-for-providers/tenders.

The Legal Aid Agency will be contacting all current civil contract providers shortly to confirm its intentions.


Written Question
Legal Aid Agency: Finance
Wednesday 9th March 2022

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the financial impact on Legal Aid Agency organisations of not yet publishing the funding agreements for the Legal Aid Agency's contracts, expected to commence from September 2022.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

It is unclear what is meant by the term funding agreements in this context.

Payment for legal aid work carried out under the current and any future legal aid contracts is subject to the rates and provisions of published legislation, namely:

These regulations are subject to amendment during the life of the contract.

Funding for legal aid is on a demand led basis; the Legal Aid Agency does not have a specific budget allocation for delivery of legal aid services under its contracts.

Details about future legal aid contracts, including current tender opportunities, are published on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/topic/legal-aid-for-providers/tenders.


Written Question
Legal Aid Agency: Finance
Monday 7th March 2022

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will publish the funding agreements for Legal Aid Agency's contracts that are expected to commence from September 2022.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

A procurement process for Criminal Legal Aid Services is ongoing. The deadline for submitting a tender closed at 5pm on 20 November 2021 and applicants have been notified of the outcome of their application. Contracts awarded under this procurement process are scheduled to commence on 1 October 2022. Copies of the draft Contracts are available online Standard Crime Contract 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The specific levels of remuneration payable under this contract are set out in Regulations - The Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 (as amended.) Funding for legal aid is on a demand led basis; the Legal Aid Agency does not have a specific budget allocation for delivery of legal aid services under its contracts.


Written Question
Criminal Proceedings: Artificial Intelligence
Friday 14th January 2022

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the debate of 10 March 2021, Official report, col 144WH, what discussions his Department has had on the recent work of the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee in respect of proposed changes to the legal status of algorithmic decisions in criminal law.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The outcome of the Rule Committee’s continuing discussion is awaited and Ministry of Justice officials are participating. The Committee will be pleased to describe that discussion in full detail and to supply the hon. Member with copies of its papers. Its secretary will write to him with those documents.


Written Question
Juries: Key Workers
Tuesday 16th February 2021

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether people categorised as key workers during the covid-19 outbreak remain exempt from being called for jury service.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

In line with the Juries Act 1974, jurors are summoned randomly by the Jury Central Summoning Bureau (JCSB) using the Electoral Voting Registers. The registers are a list of everyone who has registered themselves as eligible to vote which are supplied to HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) by every Local Authority each year. At the point of being called for jury service a person’s occupation is not known.

At this time, the Government does not expect frontline emergency services staff, including those in the NHS, Police and Fire Service, to be serving on juries. Anyone in these groups, or any Key Worker working in any other frontline role, who is summoned for jury service should contact the JCSB. While by law we cannot automatically defer jurors, HMCTS has issued guidance to help staff deal sympathetically with all requests from the public who wish to be released or deferred from jury service as a result of COVID-19. Each application for deferral/excusal is considered on its own merit, in a way that is both fair to the individual and consistent with the needs of the court in providing a representative jury. We are keeping the situation under constant review.

We have published further details here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-courts-and-tribunals-planning-and-preparation#jury-trials-and-jury-service


Written Question
Ministry of Justice: Staff
Friday 5th February 2021

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many officials in their Department were dedicated to their Department's responsibilities associated with the delivery of the Industrial Strategy in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020 and (e) 2021.

Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

The Industrial Strategy is a cross-government policy which comprises and drives a significant number of initiatives. These span a wide array of policy areas across 20 government departments and arm’s-length bodies.

The Ministry of Justice does not maintain records of the number of officials associated with supporting the Industrial Strategy. It is a departmental priority to support a flourishing legal services sector and the growth of the UK’s £6bn trade surplus in legal services through improving market access for UK legal professionals overseas and by maintaining and promoting the strength of UK legal services, English and Welsh law and the UK courts.


Written Question
Probate
Thursday 29th October 2020

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to (a) resolve conflicts which arise between contract and probate law when the nominated completion date for sale of a property postdates the vendor's death but precedes probate being granted to their beneficiaries and (b) provide for affected contracts to be automatically extended or nullified on the death of the vendor.

Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

There are no current plans to bring forward legislation as these cases are exceptional, and the existing law provides for the means of resolving disputes arising in such circumstances. Nevertheless, the Government will keep this area of law under review and would welcome any examples of problems that have arisen.

Generally, where one of the contracting parties to the sale of a property dies before the completion of the sale, their legal responsibilities transfer to their personal representatives. They are able to enter into discussions with the other party to vary the contract (for example extend it) by mutual agreement.

If no such agreement can be reached, the Probate Registry can operate an emergency system to expedite the Grant of Probate or for a limited Grant of Probate to be issued. This may be used to enable the sale of the property to take place with minimum delay.

If probate is unlikely to be granted before a fixed completion date, the personal representatives may agree to allow the buyer into the property on licence pending formal completion.

In addition, Section 113 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 empowers a court to grant probate or administration in respect of any part of a deceased person’s estate, limited as a court feels is appropriate to the circumstances of the case.


Written Question
Child Arrangements Orders: Grandparents
Tuesday 18th February 2020

Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce statutory access rights for grandparents to their grandchildren.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government understands the difficulties that some grandparents face in continuing relationships with their grandchildren following disputes arising from parental separation. We also recognise the importance of ensuring that the child’s welfare is paramount in court decisions regarding future arrangements for them following parental separation.

We wish to understand the outcome of the President of the Family Division’s consultation – which concluded last year - on recommendations for reforming how child arrangements cases are dealt with by the family court before deciding whether any specific proposals are needed in respect of child arrangements and grandparents.