Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to reduce the cost of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) recognises that the nature of the fraud threat it faces is constantly evolving and that our response must be equally as agile. The MoJ has been developing its Counter Fraud Centre of Expertise (CoEx) since 2019 and this team has a central governance and oversight role across the Department, including its Executive Agencies, Arm’s Length Bodies and core Functions.
The MoJ maintains a collaborative working relationship with the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) regarding Counter Fraud Functional Standards and performance, and contributes to PSFA thematic working groups, for example internal fraud risks.
The MoJ conducts regular internal reviews against Functional Standards across the Department and collaborates with teams to improve performance and raise awareness in terms of fraud risk assessment, fraud controls and fraud reporting.
The MoJ took part in the 2022 National Fraud Initiative that looked to identify duplicated payroll data held across other public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud.
The MoJ provides management information and updates to the Department Audit and Risk Committee.
The MoJ has always had a current Counter Fraud Strategy, Policy and Response Plan in place, all of which are readily accessible on the respective Intranet sites.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the destinations were of domestic overnight visits undertaken by Ministers within their Department in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the Hon. Member to my response to PQ 17532 on 13 March 2024.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many domestic overnight visits were undertaken by Ministers within his Department in each of the last three financial years; and what the cost to the public purse was of these visits.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government publishes on GOV.UK details of the cost of overseas Ministerial travel, including costs of travel, and on other costs (visas, accommodation, meals).
But as has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ travel at home or abroad.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the amount of money lost to fraud and error by his Department in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is proud of its record in proactively seeking to find and prevent more fraud in the system. We have established the dedicated Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA). In its first year it delivered £311 million in audited counter fraud benefits.
The PSFA produces a Fraud Landscape Report
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cross-government-fraud-landscape-annual-report2022) This provides data on fraud and error detection, loss and recoveries in central government, outside of the tax and welfare system. The 2020/21 Report was published in March 2023.
Departments can disclose information on detected fraud and error in their Annual Reports and Accounts Ministry of Justice Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
All departments in central government, including arms lengths bodies, apply the published guidance: ‘Using non-corporate communication channels (e.g. WhatsApp, private email, SMS) for government business’ published by Cabinet Office in March 2023. It applies to all individuals in central government (ministers, special advisers, officials, contractors, non-executive board members and independent experts advising ministers). The Ministry of Justice uses the central guidance and has applied it since March 2023.
The Ministry of Justice also provides additional advice to supplement the central guidance, in a Social Media Policy and Guidance.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Reports and guidance that the Department has published can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not hold central records of advertising spend or budgets for advertising spend. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department (a) allocated for (b) spent on magazine subscriptions in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is unable to answer within the disproportionate cost threshold as the Ministry of Justice does not hold central financial records in relation to magazine subscriptions.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of digital posts in his Department are vacant.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Justice Digital has 173 approved vacancies. This represents 9.6% of 1808 that are FTE. 138.4 of these roles are on the Government Digital and Data framework.
These figures do not include HMCTS, but do include executive agencies and arms length bodies across the Ministry of Justice, including HMPPS.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what subscriptions to (a) newspapers, (b) magazines and (c) online journals his Department has paid for in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In the financial year 2021/2022, the Ministry of Justice Press Office subscribed to (a) The Times and Telegraph online newspapers, (b) No magazines and (c) No online journals.
In the financial year 2022/2023, the Ministry of Justice Press Office subscribed to (a) The Times and Telegraph online newspapers, (b) No magazines and (c) No online journals.
In the financial year 2023/2024, the Ministry of Justice Press Office subscribed to (a) The Times and Telegraph online newspapers; and a selection of physical newspapers delivered daily via a third party. Titles include: The Times, Daily Mail. Daily Telegraph, The Sun, Daily Mirror, Guardian, Daily Express and Financial Times as well as some Sunday editions of national newspapers. (b) No magazines and (c) No online journals.
This figure is for the Ministry of Justice Press Office team only.