Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of helping people travelling from Blackpool to the court complex in Preston.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HMCTS has put in place temporary arrangements for hearings to take place at Preston and other locations in Lancashire, until the new state-of-the-art courthouse in Blackpool opens in 2026.
These arrangements will enable us to continue to offer effective access to justice, with the overwhelming majority of users being able to travel to Preston and other locations in Lancashire in accordance with our established definition of a reasonable journey. This includes being able to leave at 07:30 to attend court on time, using public transport if necessary.
Should court users anticipate difficulty in travelling to a site within these parameters they are advised to contact their legal representatives or the court at the earliest opportunity, so that the need for alternative arrangements can be considered. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and can include varying the start or end times of hearings, subject to judicial approval.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the effectiveness of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 in bringing prosecutions against (a) abusive partners and (b) traffickers who have coerced women into having an abortion.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is important that the law protects those who may be coerced into having an abortion. Section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (use of poison or instrument to cause a miscarriage) can be used to prosecute those who coerce a woman to have an abortion. In addition, section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, which deals with late term abortions in England and Wales, makes it an offence for any person, with intent to destroy the life of a child which is capable of being born alive, to cause the death of that child unless it can be proved that the act was done to preserve the life of the woman.
Decisions to prosecute a person for a criminal offence in England and Wales are a matter for the independent CPS, who take into account both the evidence available and whether it is in the public interest to pursue a prosecution under the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on decriminalising abortion after 24 weeks.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government maintains a neutral stance in terms of changing the criminal law relating to abortion in England and Wales.
Any change to the law in this area would be a matter of conscience for individual Parliamentarians rather than for the Government.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the estimated cost to the public purse of pursuing criminal charges against people for non payment of the TV license in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what additional funding his Department has provided to Blackpool on schemes to discourage young people from committing crime.
Answered by Rob Butler
Blackpool Youth Offending Team received the following sums from the Ministry of Justice in each of the last three years: £435k (anticipated allocation for 2022/23), £396k (2021/22), £365k (2020/21).
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to ensure that more separation and divorce proceedings are resolved through mediation rather than the family courts system.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Divorce and dissolution are a fundamental change of legal status that may have implications for people’s rights and responsibilities, for matters such as property and inheritance, and for the families involved. Since the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, divorce has always been a court process and only the court can legally end a marriage.
However, divorcing couples can use family mediation to reach agreement about the arrangements for any children and for dividing their financial assets, rather than asking the court to decide these matters.
This government is committed to supporting more families to resolve issues such as these through mediation, where appropriate. On 26 March 2021, a £1m Family Mediation Voucher Scheme was launched by the MoJ, to encourage and better support families to use mediation and resolve disputes outside of court.
The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme is currently available in private law children cases where there are no safeguarding concerns and the case is deemed suitable for mediation. The scheme will offer over 2,000 families a financial contribution of up to £500 towards their mediation costs, giving these families the opportunity to resolve their disputes with the assistance of a trained mediator.
We are closely monitoring the uptake and impact of the scheme and are actively considering what more could be done to encourage parties to consider mediation as an alternative to court, including better signposting of mediation as part of the implementation of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussion he has had with Cabinet colleagues about creating additional legal protections for the right to protest.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Peaceful protest is a vital part of a democratic society. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to gather together and to demonstrate their views, however uncomfortable these may be to the majority of us, provided that they do so within the law.
There is, of course, a balance to be struck. Protestors’ rights need to be balanced with the rights of others to go about their business without fear of intimidation or serious disruption to the community. Rights to peaceful protest do not extend to violent or threatening behaviour and the police have powers to deal with any such acts.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to review the effectiveness of the right to (a) freedom of expression under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and (b) receive information under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The UK is committed to protecting and respecting human rights. We have a longstanding tradition of ensuring rights and liberties are protected domestically and of fulfilling our international human rights obligations.
The Government is committed to upholding the right to freedom of expression. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides a right of access to recorded information held by UK public authorities. We have no plans for a review of these rights.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what statistics his Department holds on hate crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information regarding prosecutions, convictions and sentencing for hate crime offences specifically defined in legislation, i.e. ‘racially or religiously aggravated’ offences. The court outcomes for these offences can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx
(using the pivot table, filter by ‘Offence’ for offences starting with ‘racially or religiously aggravated…’ and select all that appear).
Other hate crime offences are prosecuted under the specific offence in legislation that they fall under and the ‘hate’ element is an aggravating factor in that crime rather than the offence itself but these cannot be separately identified in the data.