Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government is taking steps to prevent the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation by sanctioned individuals.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government remains committed to introducing targeted anti-SLAPP legislation to stop Russian oligarchs from tarnishing our legal system, whilst ensuring access to justice. Reforms will include a statutory definition of SLAPPs, an early dismissal mechanism, and costs protection for SLAPPs cases. We intend to legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) direct employees, (b) contractors, and (c) agency workers who work in their Department and relevant agencies and public bodies, receive a wage below that of either (i) the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London, or (ii) the London Living Wage inside of Greater London, as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I can confirm that the Ministry of Justice (including HMCTS and agencies) does not have any direct employees that receive a wage equivalent to below the 2021/22 Living Wage Foundation UK Real Living Wage (£9.90 per hour) or London Living Wage (£11.05 per hour).
Within HM Prisons & Probation Service, as at March 2022, there were 1,288 directly employed staff below the UK Real Living Wage (£9.90 per hour) outside of London and 22 staff below the London Living Wage (£11.05 per hour) in London.
This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the National Living Wage increased to £9.50 per hour. By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings. The National Living Wage is the statutory minimum for ages 23 and above, whereas both the UK and London Real Living Wages are voluntary. All employees across the MoJ and HMPPS are paid at, or above, the statutory minimum rates for their respective age groups.
As pay and conditions are set between employee and employer, neither the MoJ or HMPPS hold records on agencies and contractors. The Crown Commercial Service’s frameworks set a minimum requirement of the current legislative amounts allowed by employers to pay, which all suppliers must adhere to when negotiating contracts with Government departments.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for fraud have taken place in UK courts in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions for fraud offences in England and Wales up to December 2019, available in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, which can be found here:
In the data tool linked above, use the ‘Offence group’ filter to select ’10: Fraud offences’ and the number of defendants prosecuted for this offence group will populate in row 23 of the pivot table.