Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 80727 on Slavery, if she will publish a list of the National Referral Mechanism first responder agencies which referred people who were found to be exploiting the modern slavery system in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022 as of 7 November 2022; and how many of those cases were brought by each National Referral Mechanism first responder agency.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). These include the average time taken to make a Conclusive Grounds Decision. The latest published NRM statistics can be found here:
National Referral Mechanism statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
As outlined in the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland, the expectation is that the Competent Authority will make a Reasonable Grounds decision within five working days, where possible, of the NRM referral being received. There is no target to make a Conclusive Grounds decision within a specific timeframe. A decision can only be made fairly and reasonably once sufficient information has been made available to the Competent Authority for it to complete the decision. When the relevant Competent Authority has received sufficient information for it to complete a decision it should seek to do so as soon as possible but only once a minimum Recovery and Reflection Period has passed, unless the relevant Competent Authority has received a request to delay the decision. The Recovery and Reflection period begins when the relevant competent authority makes a positive Reasonable Grounds decision.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) accredited domestic abuse specialists and (b) other advocates his Department (i) has and (ii) plans to employ in the special advocates scheme provided for under section 65 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to avoid perpetrator-victim cross examination in domestic abuse cases.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Sections 65 and 66 of the Act prohibit domestic abuse perpetrators from cross-examining their victims, and vice versa, and enables the court to appoint a ‘qualified legal representative’ (QLRs) to cross-examine on their behalf.
We have already had 385 QLRs register for the scheme and we will continue to register individuals on a rolling basis to ensure that a sufficient number of representatives are available as cases continue to come through.
We are also conducting a targeted communications campaign, working with representatives from the legal sector and senior judiciary to increase awareness of the scheme and encourage QLR applications.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which National Referral Mechanism first responder agencies referred people who were found to be exploiting the modern slavery system in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022 as of 7 November 2022; and how many of these cases were brought by each National Referral Mechanism first responder agency.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As you will be aware, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying victims of modern slavery. A First Responder Organisation (FRO) is an authority that is authorised to refer a potential victim of modern slavery into the NRM. Members of staff at those FROs have a responsibility for discharging one or more of the functions of the FRO, including recognising the indicators of modern slavery and identifying potential victims of modern slavery, and subsequently referring those potential victims into the NRM.
Decisions about who is then recognised and confirmed as a victim of modern slavery are made by trained specialists in one of the Home Office competent authorities (Single Competent Authority (SCA) and the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority (IECA)).
The competent authorities’ assessment of whether an individual is a victim of modern slavery is two-stage process. A competent authority will first make a decision as to whether there is enough evidence available such that it ‘suspects but cannot prove’ that the individual is a victim of modern slavery. This is the reasonable grounds (RG) decision. Where a positive decision is issued the competent authority will then go on to gather further information about the case and then make a second decision on ‘the balance of probabilities’ whether that individual is a victim of modern slavery; this is the conclusive grounds (CG) decision.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the letter dated 27 June 2022 from Lorraine Harris, Area Coroner for Kingston Upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire, to the Secretary of State for the Home Department setting out the coroner's recommendations as a result of the inquest into the death of Jessica Louise Laverack and requesting a response by 23 August 2022, for what reason her Department has not responded to the letter.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Home Office responded to the Prevention of Future Death report from Lorraine Harris, Area Coroner for Kingston Upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire on the 23 August 2022. We have since followed up with the Coroner’s office to ensure that they received our letter.
It is devastating that some victims of domestic abuse are taking their own lives. Developing the evidence base and interventions for suicides that follow domestic abuse is a key priority for the Home Office. In the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, we committed to continue to a package of measures to better understand and begin to tackle suicides which take place following domestic abuse.
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 letter dated 27 June 2022 from Lorraine Harris, Area Coroner for Kingston Upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire, to the Secretary of State for Justice setting out the coroner's recommendations as a result of the inquest into the death of Jessica Louise Laverack and requesting a response by 23 August 2022, for what reason his Department has not responded to the letter.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I can confirm that we received the Area Coroner’s Report to Prevent Future Deaths and the findings of fact on 29 June 2022. The Victims Minister replied on 1 December to apologise for the delay in acknowledging receipt and thanking her for the comprehensive report into this terrible and tragic case.
We are aware that the Home Office responded to the Coroner within the 56-day timescale and we are supportive of the work that they have referenced in the cross Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan (published in March 2022) that is looking to address a number of these issues including:
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to point 5 on Timing in the Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review: Terms of Reference, published on 2 November 2021, when he plans to publish (a) the review and (b) his Department's response to it.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Last year the government commissioned an independent expert, Clare Wade KC, to undertake a review of domestic homicide sentencing. The Terms of Reference stated that the review would be submitted to the Secretary of State for Justice by the end of 2021 and that we would then consider the review and its recommendations before determining whether further consultation is needed or publishing the report.
The independent reviewer required more time than anticipated to complete the review and it was delivered to the department in June this year. The Review examines a number of important and complex issues. Therefore prior to publication of the review and response, the government is carefully considering its recommendations and next steps.
This government is fully committed to ensuring that the sentencing framework responds appropriately to cases of domestic homicide and that sentences reflect the severity of these crimes.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Safeguarding on 5 September, Official Report, column 16, in response to the Question of the hon. Member for Jarrow on Deaths following Domestic Abuse, how many (a) domestic homicides, (b) domestic abuse-related (i) unexplained and (ii) suspicious deaths and (c) suspected suicides of individuals with a known history of domestic abuse victimisation have been recorded in each year since March 2020.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Information on domestic homicides is available on the Home Office Homicide Index. In the year ending March 2021, there were 114 domestic homicides recorded by the police in England and Wales[1].
The Home Office have awarded £733,369 in funding over the last three years to the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and College of Policing working with the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP), to track and review all deaths within a domestic setting and share learning rapidly with frontline policing. This Domestic Homicide Project has recorded the number of unexplained deaths as a result of or following domestic abuse and suspected suicides of individuals with a known history of domestic abuse victimisation since 23 March 2020.
From 23 March 2020 - 31 March 2021, the project recorded 39 suspected suicides of individuals aged 16 or over, with a known history of domestic abuse victimisation and 14 unexplained deaths, where the victim was aged 16 or over, and where there was a prior record of domestic abuse involving the victim and/or suspects[2].
[1] Homicide in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
[2] Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim suicides - Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve the (a) identification and (b) referral process for dementia diagnosis.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working with general practitioner IT system providers to reproduce the Dementia Quality Toolkit (DQT) using SNOMED coding. The DQT includes system searches which can be used by general practitioners to identify people whose records suggest that they might have dementia, but do not have a recorded diagnosis. Publication of the toolkit is anticipated by April 2023.
In 2021/22, the Government made £17 million available to clinical commissioning groups to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. This included identifying areas of good practice in dementia diagnosis and provision of pre and post diagnostic support, which will be shared with dementia clinical networks and stakeholders. In 2022/23, NHS England has initiated a project to fund two trusts in each region to pilot the Diagnosing Advanced Dementia Mandate tool to improve diagnosis of dementia in care homes.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people from ethnic minority communities are receiving timely dementia diagnoses.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network to investigate the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates in targeted areas in England. This investigation includes the assessment of population characteristics such as rurality, ethnicity and age to provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support locally.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving a sentence for murder or manslaughter had an indictment for rape or sexual assault that has been ordered to lie on file.
Answered by Rob Butler
As at 30 June 2022, there were 6,731 prisoners serving a sentence for murder or manslaughter. Manual checks of paper records for each prisoner would be required to provide the answer to this question, which can be achieved only at disproportionate cost.