Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Crown Court judges there were resident at Shrewsbury Crown Court in each of the last six years.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Crown Court sitting at Shrewsbury is accommodated across two sites, in Shrewsbury Justice Centre and Telford Justice Centre. In total, there are three courtrooms dedicated to Crown Court use.
For each of the last six years (i.e. since 2019/20), two Circuit Judges have been based permanently at the venue. Additional judges are and have been deployed to ensure sufficient capacity exists to meet sitting day and listing requirements.
On 29 October, it was announced that a new Circuit Judge will be deployed to sit at Shrewsbury from 13 January, succeeding a salaried judge who retired in July and bringing the permanent complement back to two salaried judges.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offenders were (a) ordered to be deported at the end of their prison sentence and (b) deported at the end of that sentence in each of the last six years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation, and they will be swiftly removed from the country.
The Home Office publishes the quarterly statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) by nationality and year. These returns are published in the Returns Detailed Datasets, Year Ending June 2024, which are available at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The published statistics refer to enforced returns which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily.
Figures on deportations, which are a subset of enforced returns, are not separately available.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) children and (b) adults are waiting for outpatient appointments by (i) their average wait time and (ii) the appointment required in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. The Government will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment within our first term, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. Outpatients make up most of the waiting list, so transforming outpatient services is a key part of the Government’s approach to cutting waiting times.
The overall mean average waiting time for children waiting for an outpatient appointment in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) is 23.3 weeks, with the median being 21.4 weeks, and the overall mean waiting time for adults waiting for an outpatient appointment is 21.2 weeks, while the median is 18.4 weeks.
The number of cases where children are waiting in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB for a first outpatient appointment is 4,471, and for a follow up outpatient appointment is 715. The number of cases where adults are waiting in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB for a first outpatient appointment is 45,272, and for a follow up outpatient appointment is 12,500.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reducing waiting times for patients with (a) cancer and (b) respiratory conditions.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet, including for those suffering from cancer and respiratory conditions.
We have committed to getting back to the NHS Constitutional standard, that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, or the equivalent to 40,000 per week. We will also increase the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce elective and cancer waits. As of August 2024, 62.5% of respiratory medicine patients are seen within this standard, compared to 60.7% in August 2023. This is compared to 58% of the total waiting list for planned procedures.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to use remote court hearings to ease the burden on the courts system.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The decision to hold a hearing remotely, or enable participants to attend remotely, rests with the judiciary. HM Courts and Tribunal Service continues to support and enable remote hearings by optimising the courts and tribunals estate and building technological capability. This empowers the judiciary to conduct remote and hybrid hearings at their discretion, allowing for increased accessibility and flexibility in the day-to-day business of courts and tribunals.