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.
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.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on trends in the level of childcare funding in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
I welcome the recent debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly on childcare and the cross-party support for a childcare strategy to be delivered.
Whilst childcare in Northern Ireland is devolved, the UK Government is keen to see this work progressed so that parents are able to balance childcare alongside their work. Northern Ireland has already received the Barnett consequentials of childcare funding in England.
The UK Government has provided the NI Executive with a significant £3.3 billion package, including money to stabilise, which will support progress for key services.
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.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available if a claimant cannot attend a Job Centre appointment due to a disability.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where a claimant on a work-related benefit has a health condition, illness or a disability, Work Coaches have the discretion to tailor requirements to what is reasonable and achievable, taking into account the claimant’s needs, circumstances and capability. Where appropriate, Work Coaches have the discretion to adjust how often the claimant meets with them and how these meetings take place, including face to face appointments in the Jobcentre, telephone appointments, video conference, or digital appointments for Universal Credit claimants. In some circumstances a claimant’s work-related requirements maybe be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.
If a claimant is deemed to be vulnerable or needs additional support when making an application for benefit, the DWP Visiting Team can meet with them at their home or another location to support with their claim.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will open an independent public enquiry into the conduct of the police at Orgreave coking works during the 1984-85 miners' strike.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are no plans to establish a public inquiry into the policing of the events at the Orgreave coking plant on 18 June 1984.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to provide a pardon to people convicted of certain offences related to the miners' strike committed between 12 March 1984 and 3 March 1985.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The legislative programme for the current Parliamentary session has been announced. The Government has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals in this area.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of commissioning an independent review of criminal convictions during the miners strikes of 1984-85.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government does not believe that an independent review of criminal convictions during the miners' strike of 1984-85 is appropriate or necessary. Any individual who believes they have been wrongly convicted of a crime can make a request to the independent Criminal Cases Review Commission who can investigate and where appropriate refer cases back to the courts.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available for claimants unable to complete his Department's forms.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We aim to provide a tailored service that recognises those with complex needs at any point throughout their journey and ensures appropriate support is made available quickly.
For customers who are unable to complete forms themselves a home visit from a visiting officer can be arranged, if they wish to retain autonomy and not use an appointee.
Customers claiming Universal Credit can also be supported by the universal support scheme.
An example of the support available is; Getting help with an application - Understanding Universal Credit
Further support for other service lines can be found on Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
DWP continuously reviews and improves the service for people who claim or seek to claim benefits to ensure services are accessible and responsive to citizen needs.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help provide humanitarian support following the recent outbreak of cholera in Zambia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is providing £670,000 towards the International Federation of the Red Cross emergency appeal, which is operating to support the Government of Zambia Cholera Response Plan. We have also deployed a two-member UK Emergency Medical Team and a three person UK Public Health Rapid Support Team who are providing support to the response. These teams have joined the existing UK Health Security Agency team in Zambia, which has developed a close partnership with Zambian health authorities since 2019, helping to build technical capability and strengthening public health systems.