Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to ensure that people who are released from prison have suitable accommodation.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A settled place to live is key to reducing reoffending, cutting crime and protecting the public. Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation.
In July 2021, we launched a new transitional accommodation service, Community Accommodation Service - Tier 3 (CAS3), providing up to 12 weeks accommodation on release with support to move to settled accommodation, for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness, in five probation regions. The service is now operating in all 12 probation regions, and new places continue to be added as it develops. From the commencement of the service on 1 July 2021 up to 31 March 2023, a total of 5,796 people were placed in CAS3 accommodation.
We are working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, through its Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme (AfEO), to build a pathway from prison, ensuring prison leavers can move-on into settled accommodation. We have also increased the number of Strategic Housing Specialists across England and Wales to 48 FTE and have embedded the Homelessness Prevention Teams within Probation regions to strengthen strategic relationships between prisons, probation and local authorities and build accommodation pathways.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the Housing First programme on levels of offending behaviour.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following the Government’s manifesto commitment to expand Housing First, DLUHC launched three Housing First pilots in the West Midlands (WMCA), Greater Manchester (GMCA) and Liverpool City Region (LCRCA) in May 2018. Since then, DLUHC’s expert advisers have been working closely with each of the three pilot regions to monitor and support progress.
DLUHC has published several evaluation reports during the pilots’ lifetime and will publish a final synthesis report following the pilots’ end. The evaluation will include findings on offending history and contact with the criminal justice system. DLUHC will use the findings of their evaluation of the Housing First pilots, together with their experiences from the three pilots, to inform next steps.
The Ministry of Justice will collaborate with DLUHC to contribute to the development of the next steps for Housing First to ensure that those with an history of offending are supported effectively through the service going forward.
The evaluation reports are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-first-pilot-national-evaluation-reports.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce backlogs of probate applications.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
HMCTS has significantly increased staffing levels in Probate over the past year to help process applications faster. The training and upskilling of those new and existing staff have led to applications taking longer in the short term.
HMCTS has streamlined internal processes to cut down on administrative delay and reduce processing times. We are continuing to invest in improving digital systems and online filing capabilities so users can track progress more easily.
Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to June 2023.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many evictions have taken place under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 in the past (a) 12, (b) six and (c) three months.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on the volume of Section 21 evictions. These figures are published up to March 2023 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of section 21 evictions in the last (a) six and (b) 12 months.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on the volume of Section 21 evictions. These figures are published up to March 2023 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, will he make an assessment of the adequacy of correspondence response times for Office of the Public Guardian.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) corresponds with customers daily through its call centre, by email and by post, and aims to respond promptly to all forms of correspondence. Customers who have a query and email OPG’s customer services inbox receive an automatic acknowledgement before it is passed to the relevant team for a full response. If correspondence is in the form of a complaint, it is dealt with by the dedicated complaints teams. Complaints are initially dealt with by the relevant Tier 1 Complaints Team, who aim to send a full reply to the customer within 10 working days. If a customer is dissatisfied with the Tier 1 reply, or if any correspondence is received from MPs, these are dealt with by the Tier 2 Complaints Team, who also aim to provide full replies within 10 working days.
OPG is below its target response times primarily due to the high volume of correspondence and complaints received during the year. OPG is focussed on improving the customer experience and recovery plans are in place to return to the target response times by increasing staffing and the use of overtime to meet demand. Data on complaint response times will be included in OPG’s annual report, which is being finalised and will be laid in Parliament and published online before the summer recess.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to raise awareness of the different types of power of attorney; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is committed to making Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) accessible for all, and recognises that awareness of OPG’s services is key to achieving this. OPG has previously run the ‘Your Voice, Your Decision’ campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of LPAs and to tackle common misconceptions. This included targeted commercial and community radio advertising, and working with partners to reach key audiences. OPG continues to use a range of social media channels and maintains regular dialogue with key stakeholders. These activities aim to highlight the importance of planning for the future, how OPG’s services can be accessed, and how LPA applications can be filled in accurately.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of provision for terminating single occupancy tenancy agreements when tenants have been given a custodial sentence.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Neither the Assured tenancy framework under the Housing Act 1988 used by private registered providers of social housing and private landlords, or the Secure tenancy framework under the Housing Act 1985 used by local authority landlords, include a ground for possession for when a tenant, whether single or joint, receives a custodial sentence. Individuals who have been given custodial sentences receive support from Commissioned Rehabilitative Services who assist in the management of tenancy agreements and support prisoners to end tenancies at the start of sentences where this is required.
The Government is committed to abolishing Section 21 “no fault” evictions and will legislate via a Renters Reform Bill in this parliament. Landlords will always need a reason to evict their tenant in the new system and be prepared to evidence that reason in court. There will be comprehensive, fair and efficient grounds to ensure landlords have the confidence they can regain possession when it is reasonable. This includes retaining the current ground which landlords can use to evict tenants when they breach a relevant order put in place to prevent anti-social behaviour or have been convicted of a specified serious criminal offence. The notice period for this ground will be reduced from 4 weeks to 2 weeks, with landlords being able to make a claim to the court immediately, to ensure they can take swift action in these defined circumstances.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to strengthen provision for terminating single occupancy tenancy agreements when tenants have been given a custodial sentence.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Neither the Assured tenancy framework under the Housing Act 1988 used by private registered providers of social housing and private landlords, or the Secure tenancy framework under the Housing Act 1985 used by local authority landlords, include a ground for possession for when a tenant, whether single or joint, receives a custodial sentence. Individuals who have been given custodial sentences receive support from Commissioned Rehabilitative Services who assist in the management of tenancy agreements and support prisoners to end tenancies at the start of sentences where this is required.
The Government is committed to abolishing Section 21 “no fault” evictions and will legislate via a Renters Reform Bill in this parliament. Landlords will always need a reason to evict their tenant in the new system and be prepared to evidence that reason in court. There will be comprehensive, fair and efficient grounds to ensure landlords have the confidence they can regain possession when it is reasonable. This includes retaining the current ground which landlords can use to evict tenants when they breach a relevant order put in place to prevent anti-social behaviour or have been convicted of a specified serious criminal offence. The notice period for this ground will be reduced from 4 weeks to 2 weeks, with landlords being able to make a claim to the court immediately, to ensure they can take swift action in these defined circumstances.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the effectiveness of provisions available to the police in respect of dealing with potential false accusations.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government’s policies on crime are designed to deliver better justice for all be that for victims, witnesses or defendants. The police are required to investigate all cases that are referred to them – and all cases should be treated equally in terms of their approach to investigation.
The Government’s policies should not, therefore, have a negative impact on the ability of the police to investigate, or for the courts to deal with, such false accusations.