Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of domestic violence have been refused legal aid in relation to an application for an occupation order in each year since 2010.
Answered by Wendy Morton
| OCCUPATION ORDER | REFUSALS |
YEAR | APPLICATIONS | TOTAL |
2010-2011 | 715 | 27 |
2011-2012 | 524 | 21 |
2012-2013 | 600 | 35 |
2013-2014 | 208 | 15 |
2014-2015 | 215 | 8 |
2015-2016 | 243 | 13 |
2016-2017 | 354 | 27 |
2017-2018 | 303 | 25 |
2018-2019 | 376 | 44 |
Figures are based on the volume of applications made rather than the number of discrete individuals. One person may make more than one application for legal aid.
The upper limits on financial means eligibility in cases involving protective orders due to Domestic Violence are waived, meaning a client will never be assessed out of scope on finances. The Legal Aid Agency would never refuse an application on the basis that it did not believe the applicant to be a victim of domestic abuse.
Refusals will be based on consideration of whether the circumstances of the case indicate that the court is unlikely to grant an order (minor incidents or passage of time since they occurred), whether there is an alternative remedy available (warning letter, police involvement) or whether the client is already sufficiently protected (bail conditions, remand in custody).
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts that closed since 2010 have yet to be sold; and what the costs to the public purse have been of each of those court premises since the they were closed.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The table below provides courts that are closed but not disposed of and the holding costs since the court closed. Holding costs include utilities, rates, maintenance and security.
Court | Total |
Banbury - Magistrates | £41,155 |
Birmingham (Youth Court) - Magistrates | £236,657 |
Chichester Combined Court (Southgate) | £65,555 |
Chichester - Magistrates | £245,002 |
Chorley - Magistrates | £75,286 |
Maidenhead - Magistrates | £94,952 |
Fleetwood - Magistrates | £56,137 |
Harlow - Magistrates | £20,457 |
Hartlepool - Magistrates | £214,562 |
Runcorn - Magistrates | £411,683 |
Scunthorpe - Magistrates | £133,559 |
Scunthorpe - Magistrates Offices | £132,946 |
Sheffield ETS | £142,416 |
Southampton Combined (Western Range) | £138,319 |
Sunderland - County | £56,505 |
Telford - County | £176,349 |
Torquay – Magistrates | £148,382 |
Since 2015/16 HMCTS has raised approximately £129m from the sale of surplus buildings to reinvest in the wider reform programme
The decision to close any court is not taken lightly – it only happens following full public consultation and only when effective access to justice can be maintained. Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to one another.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the performance of companies with which his Department holds contracts against key performance indicators.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The MoJ regards well-managed contracts as fundamental to the proper functioning of the justice system, and a vital part of court and prison reform plans. The MoJ’s contract management teams closely monitor providers to ensure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery and value for money.
The Department conducts monthly assessments of the performance of its high priority contracts using a high-level scorecard. The scorecard assesses the performance of these contracts along 8 key themes:
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of prison officers.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Our hard-working officers play a crucial role in keeping prisons safe and transforming offenders’ lives, and ultimately make sure the public is protected.
We recognise the need to recruit and retain staff to keep our prisons secure. We have invested significantly in increase staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. We will continue to recruit officers to ensure prisons are safe and decent.
We’re giving staff the tools they need to do the job safely – rolling out PAVA incapacitant spray, and investing £100m to bolster security, in addition to £70 million announced previously, to fund tough airport-style security that will clamp down on the illicit items which fuel violence and hinder rehabilitation.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of employment conditions for prison officers on retention of prison officers.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We want prison officers to stay and progress their careers. We have improved induction processes to ease transition into the job, provide care and support for our staff and offer additional training. These measures are part of the work we are doing directly with Governors to address local issues and ensure experienced staff and new recruits remain in the service.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) fines and (b) other financial penalties have been paid to his Department by (i) Serco and (ii) Serco subsidiaries for failures to meet contractual obligations in each year since 2010.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This PQ has been interpreted to mean the level of financial remedies that the Ministry of Justice has been in receipt of from Serco, or Serco subsidiaries, in relation to failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010.
The Ministry of Justice has been in receipt of the following financial remedies from Serco in relation to failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010: We manage all of our contracts with Serco robustly and deal with any performance issues in accordance with the mechanisms of the contracts. Overall our Serco Contracts perform well and the performance management mechanisms in our contracts are effective in addressing any performance concerns.
For privately managed prisons the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2010/2011 | £35,982 |
2011/2012 | £44,636 |
2012/2013 | £42,337 |
2013/2014 | £190,521 |
2014/2015 | £293,203 |
2015/2016 | £357,040 |
2016/2017 | £568,471 |
2017/2018 | £162,717 |
2018/2019 | £91,703 |
2019/2020 (Q1 reported only | £0 |
For the Prison Escort and Custody Service (PECS) the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2010/2011 | £157,000 |
2011/2012 | £315,000 |
2012/2013 | £207,000 |
2013/2014 | £478,000 |
2014/2015 | £578,000 |
2015/2016 | £625,000 |
2016/2017 | £525,000 |
2017/2018 | £445,000 |
2018/2019 | £210,000 |
2019/2020 (Year to date) | £9,000 |
For the Hassockfield STC the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2010/2011 | £0 |
2011/2012 | £0 |
2012/2013 | £990 |
2013/2014 | £2,250 |
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) fines and (b) other financial penalties have been paid to his Department by (i) Sodexo and (ii) Sodexo subsidiaries for failures to meet contractual obligations in each year since 2010.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This PQ has been interpreted to mean the level of financial remedies that the Ministry of Justice has been in receipt of from Sodexo, or Sodexo subsidiaries, in relation to failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010.
We manage all of our privately managed prison contracts with Sodexo, or Sodexo subsidiaries, robustly and deal with any performance issues in accordance with the mechanisms of the contracts. Privately managed prison providers achieve the majority of their contractual targets; however, we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short.
For privately managed prisons the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2010/2011 | £48,000 |
2011/2012 | £0 |
2012/2013 | £103,091 |
2013/2014 | £86,153 |
2014/2015 | £70,381 |
2015/2016 | £273,056 |
2016/2017 | £458,516 |
2017/2018 | £451,335 |
2018/2019 | £667,971 |
2019/2020 (Q1 only) | £15,027 |
For CRCs the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2015/2016 | £329,250.84 |
2016/2017 | £1,029,755.43 |
2017/2018 | £116,310.20 |
2018/2019 | £113,390.62 |
For facilities management contracts the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Calendar Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2018 | £107,000 |
2019 (Year to date) | £31,500 |
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what ratio-based calculation is used by his Department to determine the necessary number of prison officers.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
During periods of when prisoners are unlocked from their cell, the number of staff on each residential unit will be, in part determined by ‘Safe, Decent and Secure Operating Levels’ (SDSOLs) which are agreed in each establishment. A number of factors influence SDSOLs such as design and size of a residential unit, and specialist function or prisoner cohort.
In addition to the SDSOLs, prison officers are being recruited across England and Wales as part of the Offender Management in Custody model (OMiC) - a vital part of our work to make prisons safer - and to support youth justice reform.
We have invested significantly in increase staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. The majority of newly recruited prison officers are already on the landings and the recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose - protecting the public, rehabilitating offenders and crucially, reducing reoffending.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time from the receipt of an appeal to the hearing was in first-tier tribunals in each year since 2010.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Waiting times for First-tier Tribunals (Immigration and Asylum Chamber, Employment Tribunal and Social Security and Child Support) are published at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold this information centrally for all First-tier Tribunals and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents had no representation at a family court case relating to a child in each year since 2010.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The number of unrepresented parents in private law Children Act cases is shown in the table below.
Since 2015, we have invested almost £8 million in a support strategy for unrepresented parties. This provides practical support and information as well as routes to free or more affordable legal advice. Public funding remains available for parents in public law Children Act proceedings where a local authority seeks an order to place a child in care or under its supervision, and in private law Children Act cases where there is evidence of domestic or child abuse.
Additionally, we announced in the Legal Support Action Plan in February 2019 that we are providing a further £3m of funding over the next two years to enhance support for litigants in person, ensuring those representing themselves in court understand the process and are better supported through it.
The total number of private law cases started and the number applicants and respondents who had no representation in these cases from 2011 to 2018. |
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Year |
| Total number of cases started5 | Cases with at least one hearing5 |
| Unrepresented Applicants |
| Unrepresented Respondents |
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| Parent | Other3 | Unknown4 | Total |
| Parent | Other3 | Unknown4 | Total |
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2011 |
| 49,067 | 45,907 |
| 10,229 | 2,561 | 296 | 13,086 |
| 19,134 | 1,251 | 5,512 | 25,897 |
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2012 |
| 52,062 | 49,157 |
| 11,586 | 2,525 | 340 | 14,451 |
| 21,122 | 1,243 | 6,343 | 28,708 |
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2013 |
| 54,624 | 51,846 |
| 17,005 | 3,414 | 579 | 20,998 |
| 28,209 | 1,456 | 9,703 | 39,368 |
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2014 |
| 42,114 | 39,776 |
| 16,754 | 3,183 | 829 | 20,766 |
| 21,823 | 907 | 9,165 | 31,895 |
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2015 |
| 43,347 | 41,435 |
| 18,555 | 2,969 | 939 | 22,463 |
| 23,686 | 1,032 | 8,161 | 32,879 |
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2016 |
| 48,246 | 46,258 |
| 21,874 | 3,093 | 1,077 | 26,044 |
| 26,672 | 1,161 | 8,531 | 36,364 |
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2017 |
| 50,652 | 48,635 |
| 24,061 | 3,307 | 931 | 28,299 |
| 30,322 | 1,180 | 6,854 | 38,356 |
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2018 |
| 51,671 | 49,602 |
| 24,900 | 3,164 | 1,041 | 29,105 |
| 30,101 | 1,141 | 7,703 | 38,945 |
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Notes: |
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1) No representation is determined by the field 'legal representation' in Familyman being left blank. Therefore, this is only a proxy measure and parties without a recorded representative are not necessarily self-representing litigants in person. |
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2) In this instance 'at least one hearing' refers to non-vacated scheduled hearings, rather than actual hearings that have taken place. |
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3) 'Other' can refer to Grandparents, Step-Parents, Special Guardians or Children. |
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4) 'Unknown' relations to child can occur in cases where relation to child is not requested (e.g. if the applicant or respondent is a local authority) |
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5) 'Total number of cases started' and 'Cases with at least one hearing' are included only for additional context and will include hearings with represented parties. 6) The central data system FamilyMan was fully rolled out by the end of 2010 and so any data prior to this in FamilyMan is not complete and not shown in this table |
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6) The central data system FamilyMan was fully rolled out by the end of 2010 and so any data prior to this in FamilyMan is not complete and not shown in this table