Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the change in the time limit for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman about legal services, which came into effect from 1 April 2023, on consumers.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Under the Legal Services Act 2007, the legal profession in England and Wales, together with its regulators, operate independently of government. The oversight regulator for the legal services sector is the Legal Services Board (LSB). The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) is the board responsible for administering the Legal Ombudsman Scheme. The OLC sets the strategy and business plan for the Scheme, as well as scrutinising its performance.
Since the changes to the Legal Ombudsman’s rules regarding the time limit for referring complaints, the Ministry of Justice has not made an assessment of the potential impact this may have on consumers. However, the OLC carried out an assessment of the potential impacts of the rule changes in its consultation in 2022. It predicted that although around 30% of complaints may fall outside the new time limit, this would be mitigated by a separate rule change which allows an Ombudsman to exercise discretion and extend the time limit for specific customers, if fair and reasonable to do so. Overall, it predicted a positive impact on consumer journey times, allowing for a quicker handling and prioritisation of cases which require Ombudsman decision, as well as having the potential to remove the duplication of work or proportion of Legal Ombudsman complaints.
The MoJ monitors the ongoing performance of the Scheme and the impact of the rule changes through the regular assurance letters provided by the OLC to the LSB. In an assurance letter provided to the LSB on 7 August 2023, the OLC stated that the impacts of the new Scheme rules on customer experience will continue to be monitored.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the current average length of time for processing online applications for (a) probate and (b) letters of administration.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The most recently published information regarding combined waiting times for a grant of probate, on paper and digital cases, covers April 2021 to June 2021 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25):
Family Court Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd 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 increase the penalties for criminal damage of war memorials and other monuments of national significance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Any vandalism or attack on property should be met with the full force of the law. Attacking any memorial is an insult, and this is particularly true of a war memorial commemorating those who have given their lives fighting for our freedom.
The Secretary of State has committed to reviewing the laws around criminal damage. We are also looking at penalties for this type of offending and will fully examine any proposed legislation put to us in the usual way.
The Secretary of State will be setting out plans later this year.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken is for the issue of a (a) grant of probate and (b) letter of administration by the Liverpool District Probate Registry; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In January 2020 the figures are as follows:
Case type | Average weeks to issue | Median weeks to issue |
Grant of Administration | 13.1 | 5.2 |
Grant of Administration with Will annexed | 10.2 | 5 |
Grant of Probate | 8.8 | 4.6 |
Please note these figures include any time where the case is stopped, and also any time spent waiting for the applicant to submit documentation before the application can be processed.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to review the law relating to suicide pacts.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has no plans to review the law relating to suicide pacts as set out in section 4 of the Homicide Act 1957.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure that as much of the construction and fitting-out work as possible at the new North Wales prison is carried out by locally-based contractors.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Lend Lease has committed to spending £30 million with local businesses and that at least 50% of the entire workforce will be recruited from within a 50 mile radius, with a target of 70%. Under the contractual arrangements in place, Lend Lease are required to report to the MoJ how much of the contract is being spent with companies within a 25 and 50 mile radius of the prison site.
A number of supplier engagement events have been held where local businesses were able to meet constructors. Opportunities have been advertised on Business Wales and Sell2Wales using a dedicated North Wales project page.
The North Wales Prison Employment, Skills and Engagement Committee is being created to focus on enabling the delivery of apprenticeships, training and local employment and work placement days. A Learning and Development Academy for supply chain, SME’s and local businesses and local people is also being set up to improve skills and secure tenders.
To date over £1.1m has been spent with local businesses as part of the early works at the prison site.