Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his department is taking to reduce delays in listing Crown Court cases involving serious domestic violence.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This Government is committed to improving victims’ experience of the justice system. We have funded a record-high allocation of 111,250 Crown Court sitting days to tackle the outstanding caseload, but we need to go further.
This is why we commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to propose bold and ambitious measures to deliver swifter justice for all victims, including for victims of domestic abuse, in his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. The Government will respond to Part 1 of the report in due course. Work on Part 2 of the report, which is looking at how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, is also underway.
We know how important support services are in keeping victims engaged through the criminal justice process. The Ministry of Justice provides funding for victim and witness support services, including community-based domestic abuse services. To ensure these services can continue to be delivered, we have protected dedicated violence against women and girls' victims spending in the Department by maintaining 2024-25 funding levels for ringfenced domestic abuse support this year.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what percentage of child custody disputes resulted in custody being awarded to the father in the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service does not centrally hold this data, this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to end the use of A to D ratings for the prisons system.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
There are currently no plans to end the use of A to D ratings for the prisons system.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on improving child access rights for grandparents.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government understands the difficulties that some grandparents face in continuing relationships with their grandchildren following disputes arising from parental separation.
We wish to understand the outcome of the President of the Family Division’s consultation on recommendations for reforming how child arrangements cases are dealt with by the family court before deciding whether any specific proposals are needed in respect of child arrangements and grandparents. The Government will carefully consider those proposals when published.