Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost of the provision of non-legal members to Employment Tribunals was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Expenditure by HM Courts & Tribunals Service attributed to non-legal members in the Employment Tribunal in 5 financial years from 2017-18 to 2021-22:
Financial Year | Expenditure (£m) |
2017-18 | 3.14 |
2018-19 | 2.97 |
2019-20 | 3.41 |
2020-21 | 2.62 |
2021-22 | 4.56 |
Expenditure includes member fees, associated pension, travel, and subsistence costs. It does not include costs of training non-legal members incurred by Judicial Office, nor the cost of employer’s national insurance contribution incurred in respect of non-legal members as these cannot be disaggregated from costs for all fee-paid members.
The increase in expenditure in 2021-22 followed the implementation of a pension scheme for non-legal members. A change to eligibility meant non-legal members were offered access to the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) pension scheme, with costs reflected from April 2021.
The expenditure excludes backdated pension contributions paid to Employment Tribunal non-legal members covering their eligibility for the period November 2012 - March 2020; which cannot be disaggregated from costs for all jurisdictions (£7.09m for all jurisdictions).
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October to Question 68037 on Veterans: Repossession Orders, how many veterans moved from their settled home due to being evicted on a (a) fault and (b) no fault basis in each month since 1 January 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not collect or hold any data on the occupation or previous occupations of defendants at any stage of possession proceedings up to and including eviction, nor whether parties to possession proceedings have served in the armed forces.
Official published statistics on possession volumes can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics.
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities holds CORE Social Housing Lettings data on households in new social housing lettings in England. This includes how many veterans moved from their previous settled home into a new social housing letting due to being evicted on a (a) fault and (b) no fault basis. This data was provided in our previous response to PQs 68036 & PQ68037. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities does not hold data on the reasons for leaving last settled home for veterans entering any other type of accommodation, outside of social housing.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of veterans who have had their homes repossessed in each month of 2022.
Answered by Gareth Johnson
The Ministry of Justice does not collect or hold any data on the occupation or previous occupations of defendants at any stage of possession proceedings up to and including eviction, nor whether parties to possession proceedings have served in the armed forces.
Official published statistics on possession volumes can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics.
CORE Social Housing Lettings data collected by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities provides information on new social housing lettings in England, including the percentage of veterans granted a new tenancy after being evicted from their previous home. This data is provided below.
Reason for leaving last settled home (where known) given by households in new social housing lettings, 2020/21
Source: CORE Social Housing Lettings
Reason for leaving last settled home | Formerly served in armed forces as a regular or reservist (% of all new social housing lettings to this group) | Never served in armed forces (% of all new social housing lettings to this group) |
End of Assured shorthold tenancy- on a ‘no fault’ basis | 3.6% | 3.2% |
End of Assured shorthold tenancy -eviction, tenant at fault | 0.7% | 0.3% |
End of Fixed Term tenancy - eviction, tenant at fault | 0.1% | 0.2% |
End of Fixed Term tenancy - on a ‘no fault’ basis | 2.2% | 1.9% |
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of veterans who have been evicted in each month of 2022.
Answered by Gareth Johnson
The Ministry of Justice does not collect or hold any data on the occupation or previous occupations of defendants at any stage of possession proceedings up to and including eviction, nor whether parties to possession proceedings have served in the armed forces.
Official published statistics on possession volumes can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics.
CORE Social Housing Lettings data collected by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities provides information on new social housing lettings in England, including the percentage of veterans granted a new tenancy after being evicted from their previous home. This data is provided below.
Reason for leaving last settled home (where known) given by households in new social housing lettings, 2020/21
Source: CORE Social Housing Lettings
Reason for leaving last settled home | Formerly served in armed forces as a regular or reservist (% of all new social housing lettings to this group) | Never served in armed forces (% of all new social housing lettings to this group) |
End of Assured shorthold tenancy- on a ‘no fault’ basis | 3.6% | 3.2% |
End of Assured shorthold tenancy -eviction, tenant at fault | 0.7% | 0.3% |
End of Fixed Term tenancy - eviction, tenant at fault | 0.1% | 0.2% |
End of Fixed Term tenancy - on a ‘no fault’ basis | 2.2% | 1.9% |
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals recognising humanist marriages in advance of wider marriage law reform following a positive report from the Law Commission.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In 2014, the Government published a consultation paper and response assessing the potential merits of provision for non-religious belief marriages. This concluded that the matter was complex, and that by allowing Humanists to solemnise marriages in unrestricted locations, the Government would create a provision for Humanists that would not be available to all groups.
To ensure we are considering the implications of changing the law on marriage on all groups, we invited the Law Commission to undertake a review which is currently underway and is expected to report in July of this year. By looking at the law comprehensively, the Law Commission will seek to put forward proposals that would ensure that, insofar as possible, groups and couples are all subject to the same rules and the same level of regulation. That reform is not possible by only authorising Humanist weddings, even on a temporary basis pending the Law Commission report.
The Government will carefully consider the Law Commission’s recommendations when the final report is published in July, and it is right for us to wait for the outcome of the report before amending marriage law any further.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of increased homeworking during the covid-19 outbreak on his Department’s carbon footprint.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department monitors and reports on its greenhouse gas emissions - information on this is published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to measure its carbon footprint.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Greenhouse gas emissions are published annually in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Reports.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has published a plan setting out the steps it plans to take to transition to net zero emissions.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Justice is currently updating its Net Zero Carbon Strategy which sets out plans to put the department on course to meet Net Zero by 2050 or sooner.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has implemented a training programme to provide civil servants with skills to support its transition to net zero.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Yes. The new Government Curriculum will include modules on the implications of Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues for government. In the first phase, the Government Skills & Curriculum Unit (GSCU) is working with other Departments (including BEIS, DEFRA and FCDO) to create an awareness level training resource for all civil servants.
This will be piloted from April 2022. In the next phases, GSCU will look at tailored provision for specific Functions and Professions and will signpost the training and other resources on Net Zero which are already being provided internally at practitioner and expert levels by government Departments.
In MoJ, some Net Zero-related training has already been provided to specific professional functions including Commercial and Property teams.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether a senior manager in his Department has been given the portfolio for leading on departmental sustainability.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government is committed to making its estate and operations more sustainable and resilient, through the Greening Government Commitments. We report on these commitments every quarter. In the Ministry of Justice, this is led by an appointed Minister, myself, with support from the Chief Sustainability Officer, other senior officials and an appointed Non-Executive Director.