Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training court and children’s guardians are required to undertake on identifying, understanding and responding to domestic abuse.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Children’s guardians provided by Cafcass are all qualified social workers with at least three years’ post-qualifying experience. All Cafcass practitioners receive training in assessing domestic abuse and have access to learning packages and programmes developed in collaboration with organisations with specialist knowledge of domestic abuse, including a learning package on coercive and controlling behaviours.
Cafcass has a domestic abuse practice pathway which brings together the range of tools practitioners use for identifying domestic abuse, assessing its impact, and making recommendations to the court about programmes to address perpetrator behaviour. Cafcass has recently reviewed the pathway, working alongside partners including organisations that work with parents with lived experience of the family courts, and will roll out updated training for all its staff in the next year. This training will take account of recommendations from Cafcass’s Learning and Improvement Board, which draws on the findings of the MoJ Expert Panel on Harm in the Family Courts.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for the offence of sexual assault by penetration under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 have been made in cases where the victim had experienced county lines exploitation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government recognises the devastating impact of county lines activity on children and vulnerable people which can include both sexual and criminal exploitation. Prosecutions data involving offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 held centrally by the MoJ does not include such detailed information about the victim to indicate whether they had been a victim of county lines exploitation previously. This information may be held on court record, however to identify it would require access to detailed court records and transcripts, which would incur disproportionate cost.
However, the Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions, up to December 2019, for the following offences: ‘Sexual assault on a female – penetration’, ‘Sexual assault on a male – penetration’, Sexual assault of a male child under 13 - penetration’, ‘Sexual assault of a female child under 13 – penetration’ and ‘Causing sexual activity without consent – penetration’. These are available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool:
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for offences for exploitation of children under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 there have been in each year since that Act came into force.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions, up to December 2019, for offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. These are available in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, here:
Data held centrally by MoJ does not identify the age of the victim unless this is specified by the relevant legislation. Therefore, centrally held information cannot separately identify the number of modern slavery prosecutions that involved child victims. The information may be held on court record; however, identification of the victim’s age would require access to court records and transcripts, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the planned timescale is for the £5 million funding to be allocated through Police and Crime Commissioners to support sexual violence services during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We are committed to ensuring victims and witnesses receive the support they need during this challenging time.
You will be pleased to hear that there is in fact £10 million funding available for sexual violence support services during the COVID-19 outbreak, with £5 million allocated by PCCs and £5 million through the national Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund.
The processes for allocating this funding are currently taking place and final allocation will be made through both PCCs and the national Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund this month.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the £5 million allocated through Police and Crime Commissioners to support sexual violence services during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We are committed to ensuring victims and witnesses receive the support they need, and that sexual violence services are funded to provide this at this challenging time.
You will be pleased to hear that to ensure the adequacy of funding for sexual violence services at this time, there is in fact £10 million funding available for sexual violence support services during the COVID-19 outbreak, with £5 million allocated by PCCs and £5 million through the national Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund. This figure was established through close consultation with PCCs and sexual violence support service providers.
We have already committed an extra £4 million to Police and Crime Commissioners for Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs), this year, as well as a 50% increase to the national Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund, to ensure that victims of sexual violence always have access to the services they need.
We have also made almost £600k of additional funding available to enable the expansion and national roll out of digital and helpline services, to ensure that all victims have access to services during this challenging time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the representations made by the Barnardo’s charity on strengthening the provisions relating to children in the Domestic Abuse Bill.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The enhanced Domestic Abuse Bill, as re-introduced on 3 March, includes a new statutory duty on tier one local authorities in England to provide support to victims of domestic abuse, and their children, within safe accommodation. This new measure augmented those already in the Bill addressing the impact of domestic abuse on children. As provided for in clause 66(2)(b), the statutory guidance which will accompany the Bill will recognise the effect of domestic abuse on children. The guidance will outline the range of impacts domestic abuse can have on children, as well as appropriate support and referral mechanisms. The Bill will also establish in law, the independent Domestic Abuse Commissioner who will be required to consider the impact of domestic abuse on children, and the services available to them.
In the Government’s further response to the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill (CP 214), also published on 3 March, we indicated that the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has agreed to undertake an in-depth exploration of the current community-based support landscape. The Government will then work with the Commissioner to understand the needs identified and develop options on how best to address them.
I can confirm that the Justice Secretary is in regular contact with his Cabinet colleagues on support for children affected by domestic abuse, including the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as with leading charitable organisations working in this sector.
In addition, we know that there are specific concerns for victims of domestic abuse and their children during the COVD-19 outbreak. We are working with other Government Departments to ensure that sufficient support is in place for these victims
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance he has provided to people who have orders in place through the family courts that stipulate limited contact with children during the covid-19 outbreak where contact cannot be granted due to self-isolation; whether court orders in such circumstances would be classed as a breach; and whether contact arrangements can be changed due to the need to self-isolate in family groups.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has published on gov.uk updated guidance on staying at home and away from others, which everyone must follow. This makes clear that children can if necessary move between parents living in different households, subject to the Government’s guidance on what to do if self-isolating or shielding and protecting people who are defined as vulnerable.
Compliance with court orders is ordinarily a matter for the courts. In general, a parent who is required by a Child Arrangements Order to facilitate contact between their child and the other parent should continue to do so where this is practicable and consistent with the Government’s revised guidance. Where either parent is reasonably self-isolating or genuinely protecting someone vulnerable (provided that this is in line with Government advice in either case) then remote technology offers temporary alternative means by which to facilitate contact via telephone, the internet or social media which should be used.
Any person named in a Child Arrangements Order may apply to the court to vary the terms of that order, but this should not be necessary if a parent is following the Government’s guidance. If an alleged breach of a Child Arrangements Order or other application is later brought to court then this will be for judicial consideration. The Government encourages parents to adopt a pragmatic approach. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has published helpful advice for families on effective co-parenting and child arrangements which is available at https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/grown-ups/parents-and-carers/covid-19-guidance-for-children-and-families/
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Government's response to covid-19, what his policy is on the potential postponement of tribunals for cases appealing decisions by the (a) the Department of Work and Pensions and (b) Home Office; and what steps he is taking to reduce the risk of vulnerable claimants involved in those cases from contracting covid-19 through attending tribunals.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
MOJ and HMCTS are working closely with the Tribunals judiciary during the present COVID-19 outbreak. HMCTS has set out its priorities for managing the response to the coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-courts-and-tribunals-planning-and-preparation
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to protect survivors of domestic abuse from further trauma in the family courts.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime and we are determined to better protect and support the victims of abuse and their children, and bring perpetrators to justice.
In May 2019, we announced a public call for evidence led by a panel of experts to help us better understand victims’ experiences of the system, and make sure the family court is never used to coerce or re-traumatise those who have been abused.
The panel are in the process of drafting their report and recommendations for next steps, which will be published in the Spring.
The Domestic Abuse Bill, reintroduced on March 3rd, also includes a provision to prohibit perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims in person in the family courts in England and Wales and the Government has agreed to widen the range of evidence which will trigger the automatic ban, in line with the legal aid regime.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Government guidance on the Gov.UK website entitled, Ask for a Crown Court sentence to be reviewed, will be updated to include coercive control.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government keeps the GOV.UK website under constant review. Following the expansion of the Unduly Lenient Scheme in November, the attorney general office is currently updating the guidance available online relating to these measures to ensure it provides the public with the most useful information about the scheme.