Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of devolving (a) probation services and (b) youth justice to Wales.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Government has considered the question of the devolution of justice to Wales and is clear that it is in the interests of the people of Wales for justice to remain a reserved matter, including in respect of probation services and youth justice.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make a comparative assessment of the use of (a) imprisonment and (b) community-based alternatives by (i) Welsh and (ii) European courts.
Answered by Mike Freer
Criminal justice systems in other countries, including Europe, vary. Comparing the rates of imprisonment and community-based alternatives by Welsh courts compared to European equivalents would be unlikely to be directly comparable.
When developing criminal justice policy, the Ministry of Justice considers international examples and practice where appropriate.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the construction of the HS2 station at Old Oak Common on the mainline services from south Wales to London terminals.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Construction of the Old Oak Common conventional station will involve a number of partial and complete closures of the Great Western Main Line during the period up to 2030 which will impact passenger services and freight operations. My department is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd and the train operating companies to minimise the impacts of disruption and ensure the continued operation of rail services between south Wales and London.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of accessibility of information on a deceased partner’s pension for unmarried couples where the couple had (a) remained together and (b) recently separated prior to the death of the partner.
Answered by Paul Maynard
There has been no recent assessment of the accessibility of information on a deceased partner’s State Pension for unmarried couples, where the couple had either remained together or recently separated prior to the death of the partner.
Private pensions rights to survivor benefits in private occupational pensions are many and varied, and will depend on factors such as scheme rules, and choices made by the scheme member.
General information on survivor benefits for unmarried couples is available from Money Helper and delivered by the Money and Pensions Service: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of a bereaved unmarried couple's ability to access a deceased partner’s workplace pension following a separation on grounds of domestic abuse.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Department has recently looked at cohabiting couples’ rights in relation to their deceased partner’s occupational pension more widely, in response to recommendation 5 of the Women and Equalities Select Committee’s Second Report into Cohabiting Couples.
Our assessment was published on pages 5 and 6 of The rights of cohabiting partners: Government response to the Committee’s Second Report (parliament.uk) on 1st November 2022. A Letter from the Minister for Pensions on the rights of cohabiting partners to the Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, published on 18th July this year outlined my Department’s most recent work in this area.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to house (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees who are (i) women and (ii) children on (A) barges and (B) military bases.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The sites are or will be accommodating single adult male asylum seekers between the ages of 18 and 65.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a comparative assessment of potential risks to asylum seekers who are women across each type of accommodation used to house those asylum seekers in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Across our estate there is an expectation that there will be mixed cohorts within our accommodation.
Some of our core Initial Accommodation may be configured to provide segregated areas specially for families and singles. Similarly in our Dispersed Accommodation there will be a mix of family properties and Houses of Multiple Occupation that are specifically for either males, females or mothers and babies.
Women with children who are in receipt of support are not required to share sleeping quarters with unrelated individuals of the opposite sex but may depending on the circumstances be placed in accommodation facilities that are used to house such individuals.
The Home Office has published the Asylum Support Contracts Safeguarding Framework at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-support-contracts-safeguarding-framework.
This framework sets out a joint, overarching approach, as well as the key controls and reporting mechanisms in place, across the AASC contracts, for safeguarding arrangements.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what policies are in place to ensure the safety of asylum-seeking (a) women and (b) children in asylum accommodation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Across our estate there is an expectation that there will be mixed cohorts within our accommodation.
Some of our core Initial Accommodation may be configured to provide segregated areas specially for families and singles. Similarly in our Dispersed Accommodation there will be a mix of family properties and Houses of Multiple Occupation that are specifically for either males, females or mothers and babies.
Women with children who are in receipt of support are not required to share sleeping quarters with unrelated individuals of the opposite sex but may depending on the circumstances be placed in accommodation facilities that are used to house such individuals.
The Home Office has published the Asylum Support Contracts Safeguarding Framework at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-support-contracts-safeguarding-framework.
This framework sets out a joint, overarching approach, as well as the key controls and reporting mechanisms in place, across the AASC contracts, for safeguarding arrangements.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on alternative accommodation for asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are committed to ensuring that destitute asylum seekers are housed in safe, habitable, and fit for purpose accommodation, and that they are treated with dignity whilst in our care.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of probation officers that have workloads that are too high in each region.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
HMIP report Caseloads, Workloads and Staffing Levels in Probation Services, March 2021 is publicly available. This indicates a recommendation that caseloads should not exceed 50.
Region by region analysis is shown below. As of 8th November 2023, 98% of Probation Officers hold less than 50 cases.
Region | Total number of Band 4 Probation Officers | No. of Band 4 Probation Officers with under 50 cases (= | % of Probation Officers with under 50 cases (= | No. of Probation Officers with over 50 cases (>50) | % of Probation Officers with over 50 cases (>50) |
East Midlands Region | 217 | 215 | 99.08 | 2 | 0.92 |
East of England | 277 | 260 | 93.86 | 17 | 6.14 |
Greater Manchester | 213 | 213 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
Kent Surrey Sussex Region | 177 | 172 | 97.18 | 5 | 2.82 |
London | 459 | 436 | 94.99 | 23 | 5.01 |
North East Region | 225 | 225 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
North West Region | 335 | 335 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
South Central | 176 | 174 | 98.86 | 2 | 1.14 |
South West | 233 | 232 | 99.57 | 1 | 0.43 |
Wales | 275 | 275 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
West Midlands Region | 371 | 370 | 99.73 | 1 | 0.27 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 394 | 391 | 99.24 | 3 | 0.76 |
Grand Total | 3352 | 3298 | 98.39 | 54 | 1.61 |
Individual officers will hold a mixture of cases corresponding to their available capacity at the time, their experience and specific expertise. The Probation Service is committed to providing a quality service in order to achieve its mission of protecting the public, supporting victims and reducing reoffending.
We have implemented a Prioritisation Framework to support demand management on priority areas of delivery where there are workload and staffing challenges. We continue to run centralised recruitment campaigns in priority regions to help bolster the number of applications and improve time to hire for key operational roles. We have also offered financial support to incentivise staff to move permanently to areas with the most significant staffing challenges.