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Written Question
Powers of Attorney
Wednesday 19th April 2023

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that a certificate provider for a Lasting Power of Attorney application is aware of their role to ensure the donor (a) understands the information relevant to the decision, (b) can retain that information and (c) can evaluate that information as part of the process of making the decision.

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

The certificate provider is a crucial safeguard during the creation of a lasting power of attorney (LPA). They sign to state that the person making the LPA understands it, is not being pressured into making it and there is no evidence of fraud. A modernised LPA service must provide additional support to certificate providers, so they are confident and mindful of their role, including the part the functional test (understanding, retaining, weighing and communicating information relevant to the decisions made) plays in carrying out that role.

My department is therefore considering the best way to achieve this, including potential changes to the certificate that is signed, the forms more generally and supporting guidance. Testing and iterating any changes with stakeholders and users will be critical to ensure we achieve the core aim that the certificate provider understands what they need to do and has confidence taking on the role.


Written Question
Marriage: Documents
Monday 19th December 2022

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Law Commission's report entitled Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, HC 557, published on 19 July 2022, when he plans to respond to the recommendations in that report; and with reference to recommendation 36 in that report that couples should be able to have their schedules and marriage documents issued and completed in Welsh alone where the wedding ceremony takes place in Wales, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending that potential right to couples who would prefer Welsh documentation where the marriage takes place in England.

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

To date, the Government has made no assessment in the potential merits of including a Welsh-only option for people receiving registration documents in England. We will set out our position to recommendation 36, and wider marriage reform, within the formal Government response to the Law Commission in due course.


Written Question
Crime: Wales
Thursday 23rd September 2021

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Welsh Government on producing disaggregated criminal justice data for Wales.

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

The then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice was due to discuss data and other issues with the Counsel General for Wales on 16 September, but the meeting was postponed because of the reshuffle. His successor looks forward to early engagement with the Welsh Government on issues of mutual interest.


Written Question
Marriage: Humanism
Monday 13th July 2020

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress has been made on granting legal recognition to humanist marriages; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling Senedd Cymru to legalise humanist marriages in Wales.

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

The Government announced in June 2019 that the Law Commission will conduct a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Government looks forward to publication of the Law Commission’s consultation paper in September and, following the final report, will decide on provision on the basis of the Law Commission's recommendations.

Marriage law remains a reserved matter.


Written Question
Prisons: Wales
Monday 11th May 2020

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of locating a temporary prison in the north west of Wales.

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

We have no plans to locate a temporary prison in North West Wales. HMP Berwyn opened in February 2017, with the potential to hold up to 2,106 men. There is adequate capacity to meet the current demand in North Wales, and across the wider estate in England and Wales.

We took decisive action in March to minimise movements between jails to avoid thousands of prisoners and staff becoming infected with the virus. Strong further measures were introduced to ease pressure on prisons with the early release of low-risk offenders, temporary expansion of the estate, and work to reduce the number of those held on remand.


Written Question
HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Welsh Language
Thursday 23rd May 2019

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Welsh language speakers are able to correspond with Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service in England through the medium of the Welsh language.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

HM Courts and Tribunal’s Service supports the provision of its Welsh Language Scheme as applicable in both Wales and England. HMCTS service centres that provide a national service welcome correspondence in Welsh, which will be dealt with within the same time frame and to the same standards as English language correspondence.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Appeals
Wednesday 4th July 2018

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent delays to personal independence hearings.

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

In order to respond to a general increase in appeal receipts, HM Courts & Tribunals Service has been working with the tribunal’s judiciary both to appoint additional judges and panel members, and take forward initiatives with the potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal. We have recruited extra fee-paid judicial office holders: 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability-qualified members, and up to 230 medical members. We are also developing a new digital system which enables speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. In addition, we are reviewing current listing practices to increase the number of cases listed on a tribunal session, and introducing case-management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. All these measures will increase the capacity of the tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants.

I have met with my counterpart at the Department of Work and Pensions to discuss how our two departments can work together to improve initial decision making and the time it takes for cases to go through the tribunal. Officials from both departments are looking at feedback from the tribunal and at ways in which digitisation might make the system easier to use.

Latest figures indicate that since Personal Independent Payment was introduced, more than 3.1 million decisions have been made, and of these under 9% have been appealed, and 4% have been overturned. For Employment Support Allowance, 8% of all decisions made were appealed, and 4% overturned at tribunals.


Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals
Wednesday 4th July 2018

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent delays to employment and support allowance hearings.

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

In order to respond to a general increase in appeal receipts, HM Courts & Tribunals Service has been working with the tribunal’s judiciary both to appoint additional judges and panel members, and take forward initiatives with the potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal. We have recruited extra fee-paid judicial office holders: 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability-qualified members, and up to 230 medical members. We are also developing a new digital system which enables speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. In addition, we are reviewing current listing practices to increase the number of cases listed on a tribunal session, and introducing case-management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. All these measures will increase the capacity of the tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants.

I have met with my counterpart at the Department of Work and Pensions to discuss how our two departments can work together to improve initial decision making and the time it takes for cases to go through the tribunal. Officials from both departments are looking at feedback from the tribunal and at ways in which digitisation might make the system easier to use.

Latest figures indicate that since Personal Independent Payment was introduced, more than 3.1 million decisions have been made, and of these under 9% have been appealed, and 4% have been overturned. For Employment Support Allowance, 8% of all decisions made were appealed, and 4% overturned at tribunals.


Written Question
Ministry Of Justice: Training
Tuesday 15th May 2018

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training his Department has provided to (a) general civil servants, (b) fast stream civil servants and (c) senior civil servants on understanding the scrutiny and legislative roles of the UK Parliament; how many such courses have taken place; and how many civil servants have attended such training courses in each of the last five years.

Answered by Phillip Lee

a) All Civil Servants

Civil Service Learning provide a range of central learning opportunities, including online and face-to-face training, for all civil servants on Devolution & Intergovernmental Working.

i) The online Devolution & Intergovernmental Working module is for all new and existing civil servants, launched in November 2016. Through four online tutorials, video interviews with senior civil servants, and ‘take back to the office’ activities, it explains how the different governments operating in the UK work together, covering devolution settlements, decentralisation, City Deals and intergovernmental relations, as well as the ‘Devolution Memorandum of Understanding and Supplementary Agreements’. 646 civil servants have engaged with the online training since it’s release:

Started

Completed

Total Engagements

2018

67

346

413

2017

53

171

224

2016

2

7

9

Total

122

524

646

ii) The half day face-to-face Devolution & Intergovernmental Working workshop is also available to all civil servants. Building on the above online module, delegates learn from experienced professionals who have worked on a range of devolution matters about topics such as confidentiality, when to seek legal advice and the boundaries of devolution, where reserved and devolved powers meet. A total of 28 policy professionals have undertaken this training through two workshops, since June 2017.

Both the online and face-to-face workshops are included in the recommended learning for all civil servants working in a role related to EU exit. The online learning is included in the new EU Essentials for Policy Professionals programme, for those new to policy making or the civil service; and the face-to-face workshop is included in the EU Policy Practitioner Programme for those with more policy experience. These programmes were launched in April 2018, with a total of 56 policy professionals undertaking the training programmes so far.

iii) Also available to civil servants are the EU exit: devolution settlements and intergovernmental working events. Delegates hear the views of Permanent Secretaries, and other senior civil servants from the devolved administrations and territorial offices, on intergovernmental relations within the current political climate.

Seven of these events have been delivered to 96 attendees across three Departments, since March 2017.

b) Fast Stream

Introduced in 2017 as part of Fast Stream policy learning, delegates take part in a Devolution workshop, which all brand new entrant centrally managed Fast Streamers attend as part of their Induction offer. This was delivered in 2017 to over 800 Fast Streamers. We've also delivered four optional Devolution workshops as part of Fast Stream Policy Base Camp to 150 year 3/4 centrally managed Fast Streamers over the last two years.

Fast Streamers are also required to complete the online 'Devolution and Intergovernmental Working' e-learning product as mandatory e-learning within their first year on the Fast Stream programme.

c) SCS

Each nation of the UK leads and hosts an annual SCS conference to learn from each other and build networks across the Policy Profession. These have been held on 28/29 April 2016 in Cardiff, 20/21 April 2017 in Belfast (this included Irish Government Civil Servants too) and 26/27 April 2018 in Edinburgh. It will be for England to host in 2019. All of these events each have around 100 participants across the administrations.

The Devolution and You program

Devolution and You was established in 2015 following a Civil Service Board commission and promotes greater understanding of devolution among civil servants and for better intergovernmental working across the different administrations in the UK. The program is led by Cabinet Office in partnership with the Scottish and Welsh Governments. It aims to build devolution awareness and civil servant networks across the One Civil Service through shared learning and knowledge exchange throughout the year.

The Devolution and You programme enables civil servants to strengthen their skill sets and build open and positive relationships as they engage in complex discussions across the One Civil Service. In 2017 the program trained over 2000 civil servants from across the UK through a variety of forums, including Civil Service Learning resources and through bespoke training;

  • Local inductions for new starters
  • Departmental masterclasses, including tailored sessions for specialised teams such as communications, private office, policy and legislation
  • Civil Service Live presentations
  • Civil Service Local Devolution Masterclasses
  • Resource material available to civil servants across the One Civil Service

We also work in partnership with the Scottish and Welsh Governments to run the One Civil Service Interchange program which supports these objectives by providing a platform on which civil servants can engage directly with their peers working in other UK administrations, through an immersive programme of work-shadowing and educational events over the course of a week. The programme runs three times a year, with the UK, Welsh, and Scottish Governments each hosting an annual event. Since 2017, the Northern Ireland Civil Service has also participated in the programme by providing participants to the events.

The most recent iteration of the UK Government Interchange Week ran 5-9 March 2018 and, with a record number of applications, it was the largest Interchange Week to date. In total, 83 Civil Servants from the Scottish (43) and Welsh (18) Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive (22) participated in a series of whole-group sessions and individual work shadowing across nineteen UK Government departments.

Welsh Government Interchange week will take place 2-6 July 2018.

There are a range of workshops and digital courses that give specific training to the Ministry of Justice in the understanding of the scrutiny and legislative role of the UK parliament.

Data on the number of civil servants that have attended these courses is not available for each of the last 5 years for all training. Due to a change of provider, data is only available for the last 2 years for digital learning and the last 5 years for workshops, as shown in table 1.

Table 1 – Number of workshops and digital courses attended by Ministry of Justice staff, 2013 to 2017

2013

Learning method

Fast Streamers

Senior Civil Servant

All Staff

Workshops

52

0

97

2014

Learning method

Fast Streamers

Senior Civil Servant

All Staff

Workshops

66

0

277

2015

Learning method

Fast Streamers

Senior Civil Servant

All Staff

Workshops

46

0

175

2016

Learning method

Fast Streamers

Senior Civil Servant

All Staff

Digital Learning

unknown

4

757

Workshops

0

0

80

2017

Learning method

Fast Streamers

Senior Civil Servant

All Staff

Digital Learning

unknown

1

1219

Note: All staff including fast streamers and Senior Civil Servants.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Thursday 10th May 2018

Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts in north-west Wales are available for benefits appeal hearings in (a) English and (b) Welsh.

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

All HMCTS venues in Wales are available for benefit appeal hearings, where both languages are treated equally and can be used. In North West Wales, Caernarfon Justice Centre frequently hosts these types of hearings.