Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help prevent the cancellation of court hearings at short notice.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The trend in Crown Court vacated (i.e. cancelled) trials is improving. Following the Crown Court Improvement Group update in January, we have seen 27% fewer vacated trials compared to the same period before the Bar Strike.
While short notice postponements are undesirable, they are not always avoidable.
Judges are responsible for listing. Most cases that are vacated are done so in excess of 10 days from hearing date, as we always aim to keep short notice postponements to a minimum.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the average number of years of experience of serving prison officers.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As at 31st March 2021 the average length of service, in years, held by all prison officers is given in the following table.
Table 1 – Band 3-5 Prison Officers1 in England and Wales average length of service2, as at 31st March 2021
Number of Prison officers in post | Cumulative Length of Service of all prison officers | Average Length of Service of all prison officers |
(Full Time Equivalent) | ||
21,926 | 244,275 | 11.1 |
Notes to tables:
1. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
2. The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS.
Having experienced staff is vital to ensuring prisons remain safe, secure and decent. That’s why we are investing £100m to improve safety and security in prisons, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence. This includes tough measures such as X-ray body scanners and phone blocking technology. Body-worn cameras and PAVA spray are being rolled out across the estate, alongside SPEAR personal safety training, to make officers’ work safer. A retention working group including representation from HR and Psychology has been established to tackle both the national and local drivers of attrition, and each prison is being provided with a comprehensive report highlighting the reasons for high turnover, and additional support is then provided.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What support the Government is providing to the prison estate during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We have restricted regimes, minimised transfers between prisons and boosted staffing at the frontline and supported prisoners to maintain family ties.
Prisons are also implementing a ‘compartmentalisation’ strategy to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals.
Latest public health advice suggests that the measures we have been taking to tackle covid-19 have helped to limit the spread of the virus in prisons.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in prisons.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We recognise the need to recruit and retain staff to keep our prisons secure. We have invested significantly in increasing staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,581 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and September 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500.
Since April 2017, governors have been empowered to manage workforce planning locally, and set their own staffing arrangements, including the number and grade of operational prison officers and other staff to be employed within their financial resource envelope. A ‘detached duty’ scheme is also in place to ensure that those prisons with urgent staffing needs can be prioritised.
We will continue to recruit officers and we are investing £100 million to bolster security, to ensure prisons are safe and decent for both staff and prisoners.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the time taken for welfare benefits appeals to be heard by the tribunal service and (b) tackle the backlog of those appeals in (i) Wansbeck constituency and (ii) England.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice expects appeal hearings to take place as quickly as possible and is carrying out a series of initiatives to increase capacity which will help reduce waiting times for appellants. For appellants in Wansbeck, whose closest tribunal venue is in Bedlington, if the venue receives a request for an urgent hearing, the appellant may be offered an alternative venue or a telephone hearing, where appropriate. Furthermore, triage sessions have been held on Saturdays at the Newcastle venue. This is where the tribunal panel looks at a series of cases to assess whether a decision can be made prior to the appellant’s oral hearing date or if further evidence is required before a decision can be made. This reduces the risk of a case having to be adjourned on the day of the oral hearing.
Across the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction more widely, the Department is currently in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 112 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS are also developing a new digital system with the view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of people under the age of 18 being prosecuted for possession of a knife (a) Wansbeck constituency, (b) the North East and (c) the UK since 2010.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions for England and Wales by Police Force Area. The number of defendants aged under 18 who were prosecuted for possession of an article with a blade or point, by police force area can be found in the Court outcomes by Police Force Area data tool found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx
Figures for 2018 will be published in May 2019.
The MoJ does not hold figures for prosecutions by parliamentary constituency, or for other countries of the UK.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many tribunal cases on personal independence payment have taken place in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Information about the volumes of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) to September 2018, the latest period for which data are available, is published at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
Latest figures (to September 2018) indicate that since PIP was introduced, 3.7 million decisions have been made, and of these 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at tribunals.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department plans to award any new prison contracts to private sector organisations during the course of the current Parliament.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We will modernise the prison estate, closing older prisons that are not fit for purpose and creating in their place high-quality, modern establishments.
This will help deliver prisons that are more safe and secure, so our staff can work more closely with offenders to change their lives and turn their back on crime for good.
Decisions have yet to be made about the future operation of any new prisons or existing privately managed prisons where contracts are due to expire in the next five years.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in (a) HM Prison Northumberland, (b) the North East and (c) the UK have died by suicide whilst incarcerated in each year since 2010.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Statistics on deaths in custody in England and Wales are published quarterly. The latest statistics (up to June 2017) were published on 27 July and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics
Every death in custody is a tragedy, and we are redoubling our efforts to make prisons places of safety for those at risk. A Prison Safety Programme is implementing the reforms set out in the November 2016 Prison Safety and Reform White Paper, and we have put in place specialist regional safer custody leads to provide advice to prisons and to spread good practice on identifying and supporting prisoners at risk. We are rolling out new Suicide and Self-harm reduction training across the estate to help our staff identify risks and triggers of suicide and self-harm and understand what they can do to support prisoners at risk.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on criminal offences of people under 18 being carried forward into adulthood.
Answered by Phillip Lee
We want to divert children from entering the criminal justice system in the first instance, with custody and other sanctions used only as a last resort. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 primarily exists to support rehabilitation and enable the employment of reformed offenders who have stayed on the right side of the law. The current criminal records system strikes a balance between the rights of the individual and the public’s right to protection.
The government’s policy has previously been stated during submissions to the Justice Select Committee on 11th November 2016: