Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the net zero targets for the Ministry of Justice and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued to prisons, courts and other agencies on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Net Zero target in the Climate Change Act 2008 is a target for the whole of the UK, not individual Departments or arms-length bodies.
Greening Government Commitments are the central framework setting out the actions UK Government Departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including setting targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is reviewing the Greening Government Commitments to ensure that they remain aligned with Government priorities.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s digital systems on the finances of legal aid firms; how many providers have received (a) partial and (b) emergency contingency payments since that incident; and what additional financial support he plans to provide to firms undertaking legal aid work without payment.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We acknowledge and appreciate the constructive way that providers have worked with us following the serious criminal attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) digital systems. They have continued to do vital work in challenging circumstances.
From the outset the LAA has consulted with providers and provider representative bodies to understand their concerns. These consultations confirmed that maintaining cash flow was a key priority and we immediately took steps to ensure that providers had the cash flow that they needed.
For some types of legal aid this meant adjusting the way in which providers submitted their claim for payment to the LAA. From 19 May, providers have been able to claim their usual payments for Legal Help, Crime Lower & Mediation work via a contingency process. Due to previous investment, the criminal legal aid systems were more modern, and internal access was restored more quickly. This enabled the LAA to resume paying Crown Court bills from early June.
It was necessary to agree a payment contingency for Civil Representation work with HM Treasury. This led to the implementation of the Average Payment Scheme on 27 May. The Average Payment Scheme enables providers to opt in to receive a temporary average payment for Civil Representation work that would otherwise be due. Payments are made on a weekly basis. The weekly average payment is based on previous payments made to that provider over the preceding 3-month period. Some providers have not opted in to receive payment, but it is there should they need it.
As of 30 November, 2,045 advocates, and 1,206 legal aid provider offices have received payment through the Average Payment Scheme. As payments are calculated as a weekly average there is no scope or need to make a ‘partial’ or ‘emergency’ payment. However, there is, in addition, a simple escalation process in place to enable providers to request a payment in excess of the average amount offered to meet specific expenditure.
We are satisfied that providers have been able to access payment for work carried out whilst systems have been offline.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the recommendations of the Civil Justice Council's 2025 review, whether he plans to introduce legislation to clarify that third-party litigation funding agreements are not treated as damages-based agreements.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the critical role third-party litigation funding plays in access to justice and is committed to ensuring it works fairly for all.
The Government welcomes the Civil Justice Council review of litigation funding, which will help inform the approach to potential reforms. We are considering the report carefully and will outline next steps in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with the Home Office on proposals to ban first cousin marriage.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice regularly engages with other Government Departments, including the Home Office, on a range of issues relating to marriage law.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Since 4 July 2024, the Department and its arm’s length bodies have spent £3,537 on the installation of electric vehicle charging facilities.
Since 4 July 2024, the Department and its arm's length bodies have spent £483,909 on the purchase of electric vehicles.
The Department estimates that the capital cost of the electric vehicles purchased is approximately £11,545 higher than comparable petrol or diesel models.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of employment tribunals; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of delays on claimants aged over 50 seeking redress for unfair dismissal.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We recognise that there are significant demand pressures on the Employment Tribunals and are working with the judiciary, HMCTS and Department for Business and Trade on actions to alleviate pressures. For example, we are investing in tribunal productivity through the development of modern case management systems, encouraging the uptake of mediation, and the continued use of remote hearing technology, as well as the recruitment of additional judges and deployment of legal officers.
In 2024, we had 21 more salaried judges in the Employment Tribunals than in 2023, and further recruitment for up to 36 salaried Employment Judges commenced in March 2025. 50 fee paid employment judges were appointed in 2024 and recruitment will commence for another 50 in early 2026. As a result, the previous Lord Chancellor was able to announce on 5 March a sitting day allocation for the Employment Tribunals of 33,900 in 2025/26, the maximum allocation they are able to sit.
Of the complaints brought to the ET involving unfair dismissal, a small proportion are successful at hearing. The majority of ET complaints involving unfair dismissal are settled, withdrawn, dismissed or decided in favour of the respondent (usually the employer) at hearing. In addition, not all unfair dismissal cases are brought to the Employment Tribunal, with some cases being resolved through Acas. The latest data on the number of early conciliation notifications that are received by Acas for unfair dismissal is published annually, and can be found at: https://www.acas.org.uk/about-us/annual-report.
The Ministry of Justice does not have a breakdown of Employment Tribunal statistics by age, however there is published data available on unfair dismissal, as well as age discrimination claims here: Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2024 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 29554 on Prison Accommodation, how many prison places were created as a result of crowding between (a) May 1997 and (b) 2010.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The previous Labour Government added nearly 28,000 places to the prison estate between 1997 and 2010. However, available records do not provide a breakdown for these figures of these places by category. It is therefore not possible to provide the number of places created through crowding.
Prison crowding data is published annually in Annex 2 of the HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK. This publication provides the percentage of prisoners held in crowded accommodation in each year in each prison since 1999. There is no earlier information on crowding available.
This Government is delivering the largest expansion of prison places since the Victorian era – with 2,500 new spaces already delivered and 14,000 on track for delivery by 2031.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has considered extending eligibility for the Children’s Funeral Fund to include babies lost before 24 weeks’ gestation; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support to parents arranging funerals for pregnancy losses occurring from 20 weeks onward.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Losing a baby is an unimaginably painful experience for any family. To help ease the financial burden during such a difficult time, the Children’s Funeral Fund for England provides support towards the cost of a funeral.
The Fund, established under the Social Fund (Children’s Funeral Fund for England) Regulations 2019, uses the definition of stillbirth set out in section 41 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953. This definition applies to babies lost after 24 weeks of pregnancy and is consistent with the Department for Work and Pensions Funeral Expenses Payment scheme.
The Department remains committed to regularly keeping the operation of the Children’s Funeral Fund under review to ensure it continues to meet the needs of bereaved families with compassion and care.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often the presumption of contact was disapplied in family court proceedings where (a) allegations and (b) findings of domestic abuse were present in the last 12 months; and whether her Department plans to publish data on how Domestic Abuse Protection Orders are being used to safeguard (i) survivors and (ii) children during ongoing family court contact disputes.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data is not held centrally on how often the presumption of parental involvement is disapplied in family court proceedings under either a) or b). The relevant data could only be obtained by an analysis of individual case files at a disproportionate cost.
Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, known as DAPOs, can be made in ongoing family proceedings to protect victims from domestic abuse or the risk of domestic abuse. DAPOs are being tested in selected areas and will be subject to evaluation.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when her Department plans to publish its review of the presumption of parental contact in family courts; and whether that review will include consideration of disapplying the presumption in cases where domestic abuse has been evidenced.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Review into the Presumption of Parental Involvement is now complete. The Review and the Government’s response and next steps will be published shortly.