Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the timely hearing of cases in county courts.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have launched the biggest ever judicial recruitment drive for District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation. HMCTS’ Virtual Region pilot provides targeted support to the South East and London Regions to hear cases remotely where there is judicial resource available elsewhere in England and Wales.
We announced in July that we would introduce a requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service, starting with specified money claims. This requirement will start in the spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2023 to Question 182532, on Ministry of Justice: Bidfood, and with reference to January 2021 spend data published by his Department on 24 November 2022, what goods or services were purchased under transaction reference 9368763131 on 1 January 2021 for 4,312.76 with the merchant listed as BFS GROUP LTD.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Transaction 9368763131 relates to the payment for food stuffs for Prisoners at HMPPS Isle of Wight to BFS Group Ltd who are the contracted supplier for the HMPPS Food supply contract. The contract uses an embedded Procurement card to make payment on the suppliers ordering portal.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what items were procured by his Department from BFS Group on 1 January 2021.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
On 1 January 2021 there were no items procured from BFS Group. This has been verified by BFS Group.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of legal aid.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 30 November 2022, we published our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review and consultation on policy proposals. We are boosting the system with upfront investment to address the most urgent concerns, including uplifts of 15% to most legal aid fee schemes.
We have also launched a review of civil legal aid to identify options which will inform our long-term strategy for improving the sustainability and effectiveness of the civil legal aid system.
In March 2022, we published a detailed consultation on legal aid means-testing arrangements. The consultation proposed a broad suite of changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means test, which will make civil legal aid available to 2 million more people, and to 3.5 million people in the magistrates’ court.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the level of risk posed to witnesses of non-violent crimes; and whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on taking steps to help ensure that witnesses understand their right to anonymity.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The government takes the matter of witness intimidation extremely seriously and there are specific offences to deal with it. Under the Witness Charter all witnesses receive an initial needs assessment from the police, which includes whether they are a vulnerable or intimidated witness and would benefit from special measures, including at the discretion of the court giving evidence behind screens or via a live video link to the court room.
Furthermore, the police will also seek to identify whether a witness is at risk of intimidation. If a prosecution witness has suffered or is at risk of intimidation the police will inform the prosecution. If the witness has concerns about the granting of bail or if the defendant has a history of witness intimidation, the prosecution will consider what additional measures may be appropriate at the time the defendant is charged and throughout the period up to trial.
Witnesses do not have a right to anonymity, but victims of sexual offences have automatic reporting restrictions prohibiting publication of their identity. Adult witnesses who are not the victims of a sexual offence but who experience fear and distress at the prospect of being publicly identified, may be eligible for reporting restrictions at the discretion of the court. In very exceptional circumstances witnesses may receive a witness anonymity order which can, to varying degrees determined by the order, hide the identity of the witness when giving evidence in open court. However, whether to grant such an order is a matter for the court and there is an extremely high threshold for doing so.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 use of escorted day release for people convicted of serious crimes on (a) public safety and (b) the welfare of those convicted.
Answered by Rob Butler
For offenders detained in prison, the Prison Rules provide for the temporary release of sentenced prisoners for specified purposes. By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, temporary release from prison helps prevent offenders from returning to crime when they leave prison.
Release on temporary licence (ROTL) will only take place after careful risk assessment and is subject to stringent conditions, which are robustly enforced. Prisoners breaching conditions can be immediately returned to prison, disciplined and may face re-categorisation to a higher security prison and refusal of subsequent ROTL applications.
Where a Hospital Order is made by a court as an alternative to a prison sentence, the court may also impose a restriction order under section 41 of the Mental Health Act, if it considers it necessary to do so to protect the public form serious harm. While a section 41 restriction order is in force, patients are subject to special controls by the Secretary of State for Justice meaning the clinician treating the patient must obtain the consent of the Secretary of State for Justice for certain key decisions, such as transferring the patient to a different hospital or allowing access to the community. This is to ensure that the patient is managed safely and that public protection is a priority in the patient’s progress through the hospital system.
Decisions made in relation to leave are made following rigorous risk assessments that consider, among other things, the risk of harm posed by the patient to themselves and to the public.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time petitioners had to wait for a court appointment in divorce proceedings was for each month in (a) 2019 and (b) the last twelve months for which data is available.
Answered by Gareth Johnson
For undisputed cases within the divorce process, parties are generally not required to attend court appointments.
In relation to England and Wales, data on the average time to decree nisi (including the civil partnership equivalent) for each month in (a) 2019 and (b) the last twelve months for which data is available is provided in the attached table.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle the level of cases that are withdrawn due to (a) court delays and (b) case backlogs.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the courts we have taken decisive action to address the impact of the pandemic on how quickly cases can be heard. We spent over £250 million on recovery last financial year to roll out new technology for remote hearings, make the court estate COVID-secure, and set up 60 new Nightingale courtrooms. This has enabled disposals to return to pre-pandemic levels in the Crown Court, which is over 2000 cases per week, and we completed over 7,000 jury trials last year.
Criminal courts continue to recover from the pandemic, with magistrates’ backlogs having fallen by 70,000 since last summer and our figures show that in recent weeks the outstanding caseload in the Crown Court has begun to reduce.
We will continue to address the outstanding caseload and reduce delays by increasing capacity in our physical estate, running Crown Courts to the fullest possible extent, using every judge and courtroom to maximise court sitting days.
Supporting victims and witnesses is a top priority for the Government. We are acutely aware of the risk of victims dropping out of the criminal justice process and we have listened carefully to stakeholders and worked across government to build an understanding of the long-term causes of victim attrition.
We continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on victims and victim attrition. We know that victims of certain crime types and in certain geographical areas have been particularly impacted during this period.
In 2021-22, we will provide c.£151m for victim and witness support services, £27m of which will be used to increase the number of independent advisors for sexual violence and domestic abuse victims by over 40 per cent. Beyond significant increases in funding to victims’ services, the Government has taken a range of actions to ensure that victims and witnesses receive the support they need in the face of delays caused by the court backlogs.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) raising the marriage age to 18 and (b) removing parental consent to (i) protect children and (ii) prevent exploitation.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government continues to listen carefully to the debate on the legal age of marriage. Justice officials liaise closely with officials in other departments that have an interest in this matter and in forced marriage, which Government made an offence in 2014.
Evidence shows that the number of people marrying in England and Wales at 16 or 17 has been in decline over the years. In 2017, the latest year for which statistics are available, 183 of the people entering 235,910 opposite sex marriages did so at those ages. Primary legislation would be needed to raise the marriageable age to 18 and thereby to remove the existing requirement for parental or judicial consent at 16 or 17. Such changes would not in themselves, however, prevent marriages taking place under 18 outside the ambit of the domestic law.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had for the Minister for Women and Equalities on raising the marriage age to 18 and removing parental consent to protect children and prevent exploitation.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government continues to listen carefully to the debate on the legal age of marriage. Justice officials liaise closely with officials in other departments that have an interest in this matter and in forced marriage, which Government made an offence in 2014.
Evidence shows that the number of people marrying in England and Wales at 16 or 17 has been in decline over the years. In 2017, the latest year for which statistics are available, 183 of the people entering 235,910 opposite sex marriages did so at those ages. Primary legislation would be needed to raise the marriageable age to 18 and thereby to remove the existing requirement for parental or judicial consent at 16 or 17. Such changes would not in themselves, however, prevent marriages taking place under 18 outside the ambit of the domestic law.