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Written Question
Probate
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the time taken to process (a) online and (b) paper probate applications.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

HMCTS are focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications and the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required, is 13 weeks during July to September 2023.

During the same period the average mean length of time take for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required is (a) 10.1 weeks digital and (b) 21.8 weeks paper.

The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

HMCTS has increased staffing levels, streamlined internal processes and continued to invest in further improving the digital service.

As a result, the number of grants issued for recent months has been at record levels, with over 15,500 more grants issued than applications received during the last four months (September to December) using more recent management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly).

Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to September 2023.


Written Question
Probate
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of when the processing time of probate applications will be reduced to less than 16 weeks.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

HMCTS are focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications and the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required, is 13 weeks during July to September 2023.

During the same period the average mean length of time take for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required is (a) 10.1 weeks digital and (b) 21.8 weeks paper.

The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

HMCTS has increased staffing levels, streamlined internal processes and continued to invest in further improving the digital service.

As a result, the number of grants issued for recent months has been at record levels, with over 15,500 more grants issued than applications received during the last four months (September to December) using more recent management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly).

Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to September 2023.


Written Question
Prisons: Education
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2023 to Question 5663 on Garth Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP (i) Garth, (ii) Bristol, (iii) Pentonville and (iv) Ranby during the second quarter of the 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.

The table below shows the number of planned learning hours lost in the second quarter of 2023-24 due teacher vacancy or sickness (Ed), or for operational reasons (Op), at HMP Bristol, HMP Garth, HMP Pentonville and HMP Ranby.

Learning hours lost, 1 July – 30 September 2023

HMP

Hours lost (Ed)

Hours lost (Op)

Bristol

263

134

Garth

183

140

Pentonville

53

507

Ranby

8

376

Total

507

1157

*These are preliminary data and have not yet been reconciled with the provider

In total, 507 hours of teaching were lost owing to a failure by the provider to deliver against the commissioned provision. £60,047 has been recovered from the providers. The cost of hours lost for operational reasons is not recoverable from the provider.


Written Question
Five Wells Prison: Education
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1241 on Five Wells Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Five Wells in each of the last two quarters.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.

The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.

The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.

Quarter 1 2023-24

Prison

Education hours lost

Garth

397.5

Bristol

187

Pentonville

496

Ranby

812

Prison

Amount recoverable from the provider (£)

Garth

4,998

Bristol

1,681

Pentonville

10,612

Ranby

17,906


Written Question
Garth Prison: Education
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1242 on Garth Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Garth in each of the last two quarters.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.

The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.

The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.

Quarter 1 2023-24

Prison

Education hours lost

Garth

397.5

Bristol

187

Pentonville

496

Ranby

812

Prison

Amount recoverable from the provider (£)

Garth

4,998

Bristol

1,681

Pentonville

10,612

Ranby

17,906


Written Question
Five Wells Prison: Education
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1241 on Five Wells Prison: Education, how many staff of (a) HMPPS and (b) his Department's staff work on recovering money from education providers; and to what budget the money recovered is credited.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.

The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.

The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.

Quarter 1 2023-24

Prison

Education hours lost

Garth

397.5

Bristol

187

Pentonville

496

Ranby

812

Prison

Amount recoverable from the provider (£)

Garth

4,998

Bristol

1,681

Pentonville

10,612

Ranby

17,906


Written Question
Pentonville Prison: Education
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1244 on Pentonville Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Pentonville in each of the last two quarters.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.

The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.

The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.

Quarter 1 2023-24

Prison

Education hours lost

Garth

397.5

Bristol

187

Pentonville

496

Ranby

812

Prison

Amount recoverable from the provider (£)

Garth

4,998

Bristol

1,681

Pentonville

10,612

Ranby

17,906


Written Question
Bristol Prison: Education
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1243 on Bristol Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Bristol in each of the last two quarters.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.

The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.

The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.

Quarter 1 2023-24

Prison

Education hours lost

Garth

397.5

Bristol

187

Pentonville

496

Ranby

812

Prison

Amount recoverable from the provider (£)

Garth

4,998

Bristol

1,681

Pentonville

10,612

Ranby

17,906


Written Question
Ranby Prison: Education
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1245 on Ranby Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Ranby in each of the last two quarters.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.

The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.

The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.

Quarter 1 2023-24

Prison

Education hours lost

Garth

397.5

Bristol

187

Pentonville

496

Ranby

812

Prison

Amount recoverable from the provider (£)

Garth

4,998

Bristol

1,681

Pentonville

10,612

Ranby

17,906


Written Question
Prisons: Staff
Friday 17th November 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department issues on the rights of staff being compulsorily transferred to a new provider under the Prisoner Education Service procurement process to remain as a member of the public sector pensions scheme.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The pension protection for staff, who are currently members of a public sector pension scheme, and who may be compulsorily transferred, is subject to HM Treasury’s (HMT) review of the New Fair Deal guidance as set out in the Invitation to Tender ITT 7790 PES (Core Education) Contract Notice Prisoner Education Services Panel (Inc. Core Education) - Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk). The Secretary of State for Justice, will act in accordance with HMT position and any updated guidance issued, as set out in the Invitation to Tender.