Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department imposes fines on private prisoner escort contractors for delays in journeys longer than 100 miles.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Financial penalties, known as “service credits,” are applied to Prisoner Escort and Custody Service (PECS) suppliers on any occasion where a courtroom delay has occurred because of failure by the contractor.
Some individual journeys where the straight-line distance is more than 100 miles may be regulated by an ‘agreed time protocol’, agreed in advance. These protocols are an explicit agreement between the PECS supplier, the court and the prison that the prisoner will be delivered by a specified time, instead of by the usual time of 10am. If the supplier delivers the prisoner in compliance with the protocol, no service credits are applied.
Where there is no agreed time protocol, the supplier will be liable to pay service credits if there is evidence that it was responsible for a failure to deliver on time.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of police in-house forensic provision.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The provision of high quality, timely forensic evidence is vital for an effective criminal justice system that prevents crime, prosecutes suspects, and gives victims the justice they deserve.
Hardworking police and forensic scientists do an excellent job delivering these vital services every day. However, we are confident we can achieve more for the public.
The Government have announced the creation of a new National Centre of Policing that will bring together crucial support services, including forensics, that local police forces can draw upon, to raise standards, and improve efficiency.
We have appointed a national forensic science lead who will transform our approach by helping to create creating a new model of delivery with the police and forensic leaders to raise standards and improve efficiency, and ultimately build greater public confidence in our criminal justice system.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will consider establishing a National Forensics Service.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The provision of high quality, timely forensic evidence is vital for an effective criminal justice system that prevents crime, prosecutes suspects, and gives victims the justice they deserve.
Hardworking police and forensic scientists do an excellent job delivering these vital services every day. However, we are confident we can achieve more for the public.
The Government have announced the creation of a new National Centre of Policing that will bring together crucial support services, including forensics, that local police forces can draw upon, to raise standards, and improve efficiency.
We have appointed a national forensic science lead who will transform our approach by helping to create creating a new model of delivery with the police and forensic leaders to raise standards and improve efficiency, and ultimately build greater public confidence in our criminal justice system.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider creating a national forensics strategy.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The provision of high quality, timely forensic evidence is vital for an effective criminal justice system that prevents crime, prosecutes suspects, and gives victims the justice they deserve.
Hardworking police and forensic scientists do an excellent job delivering these vital services every day. However, we are confident we can achieve more for the public.
The Government have announced the creation of a new National Centre of Policing that will bring together crucial support services, including forensics, that local police forces can draw upon, to raise standards, and improve efficiency.
We have appointed a national forensic science lead who will transform our approach by helping to create creating a new model of delivery with the police and forensic leaders to raise standards and improve efficiency, and ultimately build greater public confidence in our criminal justice system.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the number of criminal cases that have collapsed due to (a) lost, (b) missing and (c) damaged evidence in the last year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the number of criminal cases that have collapsed due to lost/missing or damaged evidence.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help increase the availability of treatments for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in Cornwall.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB, are responsible for the commissioning of treatment services for people with Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS). NHS England commissions some specialist services for patients with rare forms of EDS, which are currently delivered by two centres in England, namely the London North West University Healthcare Trust and the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. The complex EDS service provides diagnosis and advice to referrers on the treatment and management of complex cases.
ICBs, including the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB, have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population. It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop services and care pathways that are convenient and which meet patients’ needs.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to facilitate the visa process for (a) non-British workers working for British companies within UK territorial waters and (b) British workers working in other countries’ territorial waters for short periods of time.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government’s longstanding position has been that foreign nationals need permission to work in UK waters. Workers should apply for the appropriate visa before coming to work in the UK.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many trials have adjourned as a result of contractors failing to deliver prisoners to trial in the last year.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The question has been interpreted to mean ineffective trials that do not start on their intended start date and need rescheduling. Trials can become ineffective for many reasons, owing to the action or inaction of the parties, or of the courts. Delays or failures to bring prisoners to court are one such reason.
Data on trial effectiveness at the criminal courts, by reason for ineffectiveness, is published as part of the Criminal court statistics quarterly series.
Applying the “reason” filter in the pivot table in Trial Effectiveness at Criminal Courts document enables the reader to select reasons why trials have been ineffective. Tab 14 shows instances where the defendant’s not having been produced by prisoner escort and custody services led to an ineffective trial. This includes all instances where a prisoner was not produced on time, regardless of whether the contractor was at fault. The most recent publication can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2025.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the process for moving geographical samples between Britain and the EU.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is not the responsibility of the Home Office to monitor geographical samples such as soil and water.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the number of children in administrative detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to advocate for their release.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary. Israeli authorities must either charge or release detainees. UK officials regularly engage with groups supporting children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to understand the impact of administrative detention and prison conditions on children.