Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of support available to domestic abuse victims and their children in the Family Court system.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Family courts have various tools available to protect participants. Courts have the power to prohibit the cross-examination of domestic abuse survivors by their abusers. Victims of domestic abuse are automatically considered to be vulnerable when the court is determining whether to make special measures, such as allowing someone to give evidence by video link, or from behind a screen. The Family Procedure Rules and Practice Directions allow for Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers to accompany parties in the courtroom.
Central to the Department’s commitment to reform the family justice system is the rollout of the Pathfinder pilot. This innovative court model uses a less adversarial approach for private law children proceedings and is operating in Dorset, North Wales, Birmingham and South-East Wales. The pilot courts work closely with local domestic abuse agencies, including Independent Domestic Violence Advisers, to ensure that specialist support and domestic abuse risk assessments are in place. We are committed to expanding the pilot so that more people can benefit from this approach.
Evaluation of the pilot is ongoing and involves seeking the views of both parent and child victims of domestic abuse to understand how the support available in the Pathfinder model has impacted their experiences. This evaluation will be published once it is completed.
On 27 November, the Government also begun piloting a new Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO) in selected areas. This new order is available across family, civil and criminal courts and brings together the strongest features from current protective orders into a single more comprehensive order. DAPOs can offer more tailored protection to victims and place greater sanctions on a perpetrator.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions under joint enterprise legislation have been successfully overturned on appeal.
Answered by Laura Farris
The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate data on whether a prosecution or conviction relied on the doctrine of joint enterprise or whether an appeal in such a case resulted in the conviction being quashed or the sentence changed.
The Crown Prosecution Service has recently updated their case management system to enable better tracking of homicide and attempted homicide cases involving joint enterprise.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission for appeal were successful in each year since 2019.
Answered by Laura Farris
The number and proportion of successful cases referred by the CCRC and heard by appeal courts each year since 2019/20 is:
| Number of successful referrals | Proportion of successful referrals |
2019/20 | 10 | 58.8% |
2020/21 | 30 | 88% |
2021/22 | 57 | 88% |
2022/23 | 17 | 89% |
2023/24 | 19 | 79% |
2024/25 (year to date) | 2 | 100% |
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help support victims of historic miscarriages of justice to appeal their convictions.
Answered by Laura Farris
Where the normal time limit for appeals through the courts has passed and where an individual believes they have been wrongly convicted of a crime in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, including in historic cases, they can apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which is an independent public body funded by the Ministry of Justice. The CCRC can investigate and where it considers that there is a real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld were the reference to be made, can refer cases back to the courts.
There is no time limit on any application and the service is free.
To ensure that the appeals system is working effectively, the Government has asked the Law Commission to conduct an independent and wide-ranging Review of the appeals system. The Review will consider the issues raised by the Westminster Commission (2021) on miscarriages of justice, which includes the tests used by the CCRC and the Court of Appeal, and the government will then consider the review’s findings, and any recommendations for change in the law, very carefully.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Mental Health Treatment Requirements were issued per year in each year since 2019.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We are firmly committed to working with our partners to increase the use of Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs), which can form part of a tough and effective sentence that enables offenders to tackle the health-related causes of their offending behaviour.
There has been a sustained increase in the use of MHTRs, and the number of MHTRs sentenced has nearly tripled in the last ten years, from 760 in in 2012 to 2,000 in 2022.
Data on the number of MHTRs issued per year in each year is published on the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly page which can be accessed using the following link: Offender Management Statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Annual data for 2023 is due to be published at the end of April 2024, alongside Q3 and Q4 quarterly data for 2023.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of mental illness on the size of the prison population.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The prevalence of mental health needs in prison is higher than amongst the general population and we are firmly committed to delivering improvements to mental health treatment for vulnerable people in the criminal justice system. An HM Inspectorate of Prisons Report 2022/23 highlighted that, of the surveyed prison population, 82% of female prisoners and 59% of male prisoners reported having a mental health need. The report can be found at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/annual-report-2022-23/.
Many people with mental health needs can be well supported in prison, and all prisoners have access to integrated mental health services commissioned by NHS England as per the national Service Specification for Integrated Mental Health Service for Prisons in England.
However, with the right treatment and support to tackle the causes of their offending behaviour, many offenders can be managed more effectively in the community, and we are committed to diverting offenders with mental health needs away from prison or out of the criminal justice system altogether, where appropriate.
Together with NHS England, the Department for Health and Social Care and the Home Office, we are strengthening Liaison & Diversion services, which are present in police custody suites and criminal courts in England. We are also working to increase the use of Mental Health Treatment Requirements as part of community or suspended sentences.
To reduce inappropriate remands into custody solely on mental health grounds we are piloting a Health and Justice Hub in the Northeast, in partnership with HMCTS and NHS England, to improve the way that courts, health services and prisons work together at a local level to better support defendants with severe mental health needs.
The nationwide expansion of the HMPPS Bail Information Service, as well as the additional funding recently announced by the Chancellor, will also help to ensure judges have the necessary information to make a timely and informed decision on bailing a vulnerable individual with confidence.
Taken together, these steps will help reduce the number of people with mental illness in prisons and divert them into the appropriate support to tackle the root causes of their offending.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people with mental illness held in UK prisons.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The prevalence of mental health needs in prison is higher than amongst the general population and we are firmly committed to delivering improvements to mental health treatment for vulnerable people in the criminal justice system. An HM Inspectorate of Prisons Report 2022/23 highlighted that, of the surveyed prison population, 82% of female prisoners and 59% of male prisoners reported having a mental health need. The report can be found at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/annual-report-2022-23/.
Many people with mental health needs can be well supported in prison, and all prisoners have access to integrated mental health services commissioned by NHS England as per the national Service Specification for Integrated Mental Health Service for Prisons in England.
However, with the right treatment and support to tackle the causes of their offending behaviour, many offenders can be managed more effectively in the community, and we are committed to diverting offenders with mental health needs away from prison or out of the criminal justice system altogether, where appropriate.
Together with NHS England, the Department for Health and Social Care and the Home Office, we are strengthening Liaison & Diversion services, which are present in police custody suites and criminal courts in England. We are also working to increase the use of Mental Health Treatment Requirements as part of community or suspended sentences.
To reduce inappropriate remands into custody solely on mental health grounds we are piloting a Health and Justice Hub in the Northeast, in partnership with HMCTS and NHS England, to improve the way that courts, health services and prisons work together at a local level to better support defendants with severe mental health needs.
The nationwide expansion of the HMPPS Bail Information Service, as well as the additional funding recently announced by the Chancellor, will also help to ensure judges have the necessary information to make a timely and informed decision on bailing a vulnerable individual with confidence.
Taken together, these steps will help reduce the number of people with mental illness in prisons and divert them into the appropriate support to tackle the root causes of their offending.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce family court waiting times for domestic abuse victims seeking to divorce abusive partners.
Answered by Mike Freer
In April 2022, the Government implemented the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (“DDSA”) 2020. The DDSA provides a minimum period of 26 weeks to obtain a divorce, and benefits victims of domestic abuse by making it no longer possible for abusive respondents to exercise control by ‘defending’ a divorce and prolonging proceedings. The DDSA did not provide an exemption for domestic abuse victims from the 26-week minimum period because to do so would require a victim to set out allegations, risking further abuse by a perpetrator.
The Government is working with the Family Procedure Rule Committee to consider whether a pilot can be established to test a new, fast-track procedure for contested financial cases on divorce under a certain value threshold. The pilot will aim to provide swifter outcomes for litigants, including victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce delays in the family courts.
Answered by Mike Freer
In the Spring Budget, we announced an additional £55 million to improve productivity, support earlier resolution of family disputes and reduce the number of cases coming to court. This includes creating a digital advice tool for separating couples, piloting early legal advice and supporting the expansion of the private law Pathfinder model.
We are also investing up to £23.6 million in the family mediation voucher scheme, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025. As of March 2024, over 26,000 families have successfully used the scheme to attempt to resolve their private law disputes outside of court.
In addition, we are working with the Department for Education and other partners on the Family Justice Board to tackle the longest running cases and increase the proportion of public law proceedings that conclude within the 26-week timeline. The Department for Education is also investing an extra £10 million to deliver new initiatives to address the longest delays in public law.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the Judicial Appointments Commission fulfils its statutory duty to select solely on merit.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is independent from government. It has a statutory duty under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to select on merit and to encourage diversity. The JAC is governed by an independent Board of Commissioners, appointed by His Majesty the King on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor. A key objective of the Board is to ensure the JAC is upholding its statutory functions and duties, including to appoint solely on merit.
Throughout the JAC’s selection process, there are several provisions in place to uphold its statutory requirement to select based on merit. This includes scrutiny by a Selection and Character Committee made up of the JAC’s Commissioners. The JAC submits annual reports to parliament about its performance and is also subject to triennial independent reviews. The Lord Chancellor also meets the JAC Chair regularly to discuss the Commission’s work.
Any complaints about judicial recruitment decisions can be considered by the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman, an independent body able to investigate complaints about the administration of the judicial appointment process.