Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what processes are in place for (a) his Department and (b) the HM Courts and Tribunals Service to obtain legal (i) advice and (ii) representation from the Government Legal Department (GLD); on what financial terms legal services are provided; what remuneration rates are paid by his Department to the GLD; who within his Department is responsible for overseeing the relationship between his Department and the GLD; and what processes are in place to ensure communications between his Department and the GLD are detailed and well-informed.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Ministry of Justice Legal Advisers team advises The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunal Services. It also provides specialist employment and commercial law advice to The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunal Services. Representation is provided through GLD Employment and Commercial Law Groups with all other representation being provided through GLD Litigation Group. MoJ Advisory services are provided through the yearly fixed fee, which for 2023/24 was £11.38m which included charges for advisory, employment and commercial services. Litigation services are charged on hourly rate basis as follows –
Description | 2023-24 Rate |
Head of Division/Director (SCS PB2) | £185 |
Deputy Director (SCS PB1) | £141 |
Senior Lawyer (Grade 6) | £132 |
Lawyer (Grade 7) & Junior Lawyer (Legal Officer) | £114 |
SEO, HEO | £90 |
Legal Trainee, EO, AO | £80 |
The Director General for Performance, Strategy and Analysis is responsible for the relationship and that there is regular communication between GLD teams and MoJ and HMCTS at all levels, with the Legal Director being part of The Ministry of Justice Executive Committee.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the necessary proportion of full time equivalent general nurses who become full time equivalent specialist nurses after accreditation to meet NHS workforce need.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information on the number and proportion of nurses who become specialist nurses after accreditation is not held centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets the standards for education for the nursing profession. There is though no regulator required post registration educational preparation for most specialist nursing roles. An employer would be responsible for creating the number of specialist nursing posts they require, based on population need. It would be expected that an organisation would develop registered nurses into specialist roles, with support from regional funding. This funding enables the development of, for example, advanced practitioners and nurse prescribers.
The NMC do publish data on registered Specialist Community Public Health Practitioners who hold specific recordable qualifications. This will not include all postgraduate training and nurses may be employed in a range of settings inside and outside of the English National Health Service. The data is available at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan set out that the NHS would focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams that have the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. Supporting clinicians to train as enhanced and advanced practitioners will also help to retain staff by offering a valuable career progression opportunity.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets the ambition of training at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2023/24 and 2024/25, and increasing the number in training further to 5,000 a year by 2028/29. By 2031/32, we expect that more than 6,300 clinicians will start training to become advanced practitioners each year.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of full time equivalent general nurses become full time equivalent specialist nurses after accreditation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information on the number and proportion of nurses who become specialist nurses after accreditation is not held centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets the standards for education for the nursing profession. There is though no regulator required post registration educational preparation for most specialist nursing roles. An employer would be responsible for creating the number of specialist nursing posts they require, based on population need. It would be expected that an organisation would develop registered nurses into specialist roles, with support from regional funding. This funding enables the development of, for example, advanced practitioners and nurse prescribers.
The NMC do publish data on registered Specialist Community Public Health Practitioners who hold specific recordable qualifications. This will not include all postgraduate training and nurses may be employed in a range of settings inside and outside of the English National Health Service. The data is available at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan set out that the NHS would focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams that have the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. Supporting clinicians to train as enhanced and advanced practitioners will also help to retain staff by offering a valuable career progression opportunity.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets the ambition of training at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2023/24 and 2024/25, and increasing the number in training further to 5,000 a year by 2028/29. By 2031/32, we expect that more than 6,300 clinicians will start training to become advanced practitioners each year.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether her Department has (a) procedures and (b) notification systems in place for potential errors made by the Government Legal Department (GLD); whether errors by the GLD are recorded; whether financial losses arising from errors made by the GLD are recovered from the GLD; whether processes are in place to ensure that citizens receive redress when there has been a failure to process (i) applications, (ii) court orders and (iii) other maladministration by HM Courts and Tribunals Service; who in her Department is responsible for identifying and recording errors by the GLD; and what records her Department maintains of (A) apologies, (B) payments of compensation and (C) other matters relating to the GLD.
Answered by Robert Courts
Where members of the public wish to raise a complaint about the Government Legal Department (GLD) or any of its staff, there is a relevant complaints procedure. Complaints will be investigated in accordance with the GLD complaints policy, which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-legal-department/about/complaints-procedure#:~:text=Examples%20of%20maladministration-,What%20to%20do%20if%20you%20have%20a%20complaint,from%20receipt%20of%20your%20complaint.
There is then a right of appeal to the Treasury Solicitor. If the appellant is not satisfied with the department’s reply, and they feel that they have sustained injustice as a result of maladministration, they can consider bringing the matter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman).
The Ombudsman can recommend that organisations make payments if a complainant has sustained financial loss or to acknowledge the complainant’s distress. However, the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints where the complainant has the option to pursue legal action.
The Attorney General and Treasury Solicitor also meet regularly to discuss performance and serious errors can be flagged.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has an administrative complaints procedure that allows citizens to complain about administrative failures to process applications and court orders or other maladministration. If HMCTS receives a complaint then it will investigate and take steps to put things right where any administrative error has been made. More information about this complaints process is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service/about/complaints-procedure.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) complaints and (b) other feedback can be provided to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) staff within HMCTS buildings; and what steps (i) operations, cluster and group managers in courts and (ii) senior officials in HMCTS take to ensure feedback processes are fit for purpose.
Answered by Mike Freer
Both (a) complaints and (b) other feedback can be provided directly to HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) staff within HMCTS buildings. In instances where feedback cannot be provided in person, HMCTS also accepts complaints and feedback, in writing (by email and letter), over the phone or online via the HMCTS gov.uk website.
(i) Local managers in courts are regularly involved in responding to complaints across all communication channels. There is guidance available to all staff to set out how complaints and feedback can be received. (ii) Feedback processes are considered as part of the overall user experience that senior officials routinely review.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's (a) policies, (b) procedures and (c) service standards are for officials in (i) his Department, (ii) the HM Courts and Tribunals Service and (iii) the Judicial Office on ensuring the timeliness and effectiveness of communications to (A) Ministers in his Department and (B) judges; what records are kept of receipt of such communications; whether (1) triggers and (2) alerts are in place if communications are not provided within agreed service standards; and who has responsibility for dealing with concerns relating to any such communications.
Answered by Mike Freer
There are a number of polices, procedures and service standards across MoJ and its agencies including HM Courts & Tribunals Service that ensure the effective communication between the relevant area of the MoJ, Ministers and Judges. This includes different polices or procedure depending on the type of communication. In HMCTS, OPTIC is used as a complaints management system to handle correspondence, including ministerial correspondence which includes triggers and alters that ensure service standards are maintained.
Judicial Office is independent and has its own policies, procedures and service standards for communications that likewise ensure effective communication between departments and to ministers and judiciary.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November to Question 3424 on Rheumatology: Consultants and Nurses, what (a) methodology and (b) criteria were used to determine the required increase in specialist training places to meet NHS demand for full time equivalent grade 1 paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Over the last 30 years, the National Health Service has developed sophisticated modelling techniques to guide the allocation of resources against patient need. The current resource allocations methodology considers over 150 separate factors to determine population-weighted healthcare need for each NHS integrated care board.
This methodology is combined with NHS England’s, and previously Health Education England’s, demand forecasting model that utilises hospital episode statistics alongside Office for National Statistics population projections to understand future growth in demand for key hospital services in each region and is further adjusted based on regional deprivation.
This provides a robust method for understanding the distribution of future healthcare demand on the medical workforce, including paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants. The model provides a reliable and transparent methodology on which to base the distribution of trainee posts across regions which can be revisited if changes occur.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2023 to Question 3424 on Rheumatology: Consultants and Nurses, how her Department determines the commensurate increase in specialist training places to meet NHS demands without an estimation of vacancies for Full Time Equivalent Grade 1 (a) adult and (b) paediatric rheumatology consultants.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Over the last 30 years, the National Health Service has developed sophisticated modelling techniques to guide the allocation of resources against patient need. The current resource allocations methodology considers over 150 separate factors to determine population-weighted healthcare need for each NHS integrated care board.
This methodology is combined with NHS England’s, and previously Health Education England’s, demand forecasting model that utilises hospital episode statistics alongside Office for National Statistics population projections to understand future growth in demand for key hospital services in each region and is further adjusted based on regional deprivation.
This provides a robust method for understanding the distribution of future healthcare demand on the medical workforce, including paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants. The model provides a reliable and transparent methodology on which to base the distribution of trainee posts across regions which can be revisited if changes occur.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a time-limited energy tariff to help lower the cost of energy bills for (a) elderly people, (b) disabled people, (c) families with young children and (d) other people who are vulnerable to the cold.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The outlook for energy prices has improved significantly. The Ofgem price cap has more than halved since its peak at the beginning of this year.
The Government is providing Cost of Living Payments to UK households on eligible means tested benefits, including over 6 million people across the UK eligible ‘extra-costs’ disability benefits’, for those who face wider affordability challenges. This is in addition to ongoing winter support payments such as the Warm Home Discount, the Winter Fuel Payment and the Cold Weather Payment.
The Government will continue to monitor the situation and keep options under review.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using long-term empty properties to provide affordable homes in the North West.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Local authorities already have powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they receive the same level of reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.