Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to bring into force the free speech complaints scheme under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The complaints scheme in the Higher Education (HE) (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 needs to be fit for purpose, and that means making changes via primary legislation. In the meantime, the HE sector has new duties in place, as well as requirements to promote freedom of speech, and to put in place Codes of Practice.
This government is seeking a suitable legislative vehicle to amend the provisions in relation to the complaints scheme in due course. These amendments will give the Office for Students (OfS) a power, rather than a duty, to consider complaints from staff and speakers.
There are routes of redress in place for staff, students and external speakers where they believe that an HE provider has breached its duties. For students, this is via the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, whose service is free at the point of use. For staff, it is open to them to bring a judicial review or to make a claim in an employment tribunal. In addition, the OfS already regulates providers in relation to free speech and academic freedom through their existing conditions of registration.
The Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom continues to work with the sector, to offer advice and to share best practice, so providers themselves are more effectively protecting free speech and academic freedom.
No assessment has been made of this report by the Committee for Academic Freedom. The free speech complaints scheme must be effective and workable once it is implemented, and that is why government is working to amend the scheme via primary legislation, to address concerns regarding this scheme, and to provide clear and efficient routes of redress.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to resolve delays in the court system.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to bearing down on the outstanding caseload and delivering swifter justice for victims, but the challenge facing the Crown Court is significant.
Courts are sitting at, or close to, maximum judicial capacity in almost every jurisdiction, including family and civil, with record investment this year. We are also continuing to invest in the recruitment of c.1,000 judges and tribunal members annually across all jurisdictions.
In the criminal courts, we have announced funding for a record 111,250 Crown Court sitting days for this financial year. This is 5,000 higher than the previous Government funded for the last financial year. There are a range of initiatives underway across the criminal justice system to enhance efficiency within different parts of the system.
But we need to go further and deliver sustainable longer-term reform to make the system fit for the future. This is why we have launched an independent review into the efficiency of the criminal courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to deliver once-in-a-generation reform. We welcome the publication of the first part of the Review. We are considering the recommendations and will respond in due course, ahead of legislating, where necessary, when Parliamentary time allows.
In the civil courts, we are seeing a reduction in the time taken between claims being made and trials.
The Family Justice Board has agreed system-wide targets for 2025/26, focused on further reducing delay and outstanding caseloads. Areas delivering the Pathfinder model in private family law have made significant progress addressing delays.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much from the public purse has been spent by the Legal Aid Agency on (a) legal representation and (b) pre-action work challenging removals under the one-in, one-out migrant returns policy since 1 July 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Information relating to legal aid expenditure challenging removals under the one-in one-out pilot is not centrally held. Although legal aid expenditure broken down by category is published on a quarterly basis as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s Official Statistics.
In order to obtain information relating to the number of legal aid certificates granted for cases which make specific reference to either the one-in one-out migrant returns policy or removals to France, it would be necessary to manually review every single application for legal representation in connection with judicial review proceedings in the immigration context. That could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many legal aid certificates have been granted for cases referencing (a) the one-in, one-out migrant returns policy and (b) removals to France since July 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Information relating to legal aid expenditure challenging removals under the one-in one-out pilot is not centrally held. Although legal aid expenditure broken down by category is published on a quarterly basis as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s Official Statistics.
In order to obtain information relating to the number of legal aid certificates granted for cases which make specific reference to either the one-in one-out migrant returns policy or removals to France, it would be necessary to manually review every single application for legal representation in connection with judicial review proceedings in the immigration context. That could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Crown Courts in each of the six circuits in England and Wales are not used for five days per week.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publish quarterly data concerning the open caseload at the Crown Court by geographic breakdown including region and individual courthouse. That data can be found in the ‘Receipts, disposals and open cases in the Crown Court’ tool which is available at the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: April to June 2025 - GOV.UK. Quarterly caseload data is published at the end of the following quarter, following a process of data validation and analysis. Therefore, the data for July – September will be published at the end of December, and data for November (as requested) will be published at the end of March 2026.
While over two-thirds of trials currently listed in the Crown Court have hearing dates set within the coming 12 months, a relatively small proportion have allocated dates further out. This can be for many reasons, but is always allocated under independent judicial direction and supervision. The furthest future trial dates by Region are set out as follows:
To improve timeliness in the courts and bring swifter justice for victims, the previous Lord Chancellor asked Sir Brian Leveson to chair an Independent Review of Criminal Courts, to propose once-in-a-generation reform. The first part of the Review has now been published. We will carefully consider Sir Brian’s proposals before setting out the Government’s full response.
The information requested around courtroom usage could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Crown Court operates from 84 buildings across England and Wales, with a core estate of over 500 courtrooms. Most are jury-enabled and suitable for trials, with the remainder supporting other judicial work, such as interlocutory hearings. The wider HMCTS estate — including magistrates’, civil, family, and tribunal rooms — can also be used for Crown Court business when required. As a result, the precise number of rooms available for Crown Court use at any given time is variable.
HMCTS’s priority is to ensure all funded sitting days are fully utilised each financial year through active courtroom management. Estate capacity is not a limiting factor: last year, we sat 107,771, representing over 99% of our allocation, and we remain on track to deliver all allocated days this year.
Temporary unavailability may arise due to maintenance, but also due to overspill from other trials, alternative judicial activities (such as, box work, civil, family and tribunals hearings, or coroner’s court work), or other legitimate uses (including meetings and video-link sessions). However, these factors do not prevent the Crown Courts from sitting at their funded allocation.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were waiting to be heard in Crown Courts in each circuit in England and Wales on 11 November 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publish quarterly data concerning the open caseload at the Crown Court by geographic breakdown including region and individual courthouse. That data can be found in the ‘Receipts, disposals and open cases in the Crown Court’ tool which is available at the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: April to June 2025 - GOV.UK. Quarterly caseload data is published at the end of the following quarter, following a process of data validation and analysis. Therefore, the data for July – September will be published at the end of December, and data for November (as requested) will be published at the end of March 2026.
While over two-thirds of trials currently listed in the Crown Court have hearing dates set within the coming 12 months, a relatively small proportion have allocated dates further out. This can be for many reasons, but is always allocated under independent judicial direction and supervision. The furthest future trial dates by Region are set out as follows:
To improve timeliness in the courts and bring swifter justice for victims, the previous Lord Chancellor asked Sir Brian Leveson to chair an Independent Review of Criminal Courts, to propose once-in-a-generation reform. The first part of the Review has now been published. We will carefully consider Sir Brian’s proposals before setting out the Government’s full response.
The information requested around courtroom usage could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Crown Court operates from 84 buildings across England and Wales, with a core estate of over 500 courtrooms. Most are jury-enabled and suitable for trials, with the remainder supporting other judicial work, such as interlocutory hearings. The wider HMCTS estate — including magistrates’, civil, family, and tribunal rooms — can also be used for Crown Court business when required. As a result, the precise number of rooms available for Crown Court use at any given time is variable.
HMCTS’s priority is to ensure all funded sitting days are fully utilised each financial year through active courtroom management. Estate capacity is not a limiting factor: last year, we sat 107,771, representing over 99% of our allocation, and we remain on track to deliver all allocated days this year.
Temporary unavailability may arise due to maintenance, but also due to overspill from other trials, alternative judicial activities (such as, box work, civil, family and tribunals hearings, or coroner’s court work), or other legitimate uses (including meetings and video-link sessions). However, these factors do not prevent the Crown Courts from sitting at their funded allocation.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how far in advance Crown Court trial dates are being set for each of the six circuits in England and Wales.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publish quarterly data concerning the open caseload at the Crown Court by geographic breakdown including region and individual courthouse. That data can be found in the ‘Receipts, disposals and open cases in the Crown Court’ tool which is available at the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: April to June 2025 - GOV.UK. Quarterly caseload data is published at the end of the following quarter, following a process of data validation and analysis. Therefore, the data for July – September will be published at the end of December, and data for November (as requested) will be published at the end of March 2026.
While over two-thirds of trials currently listed in the Crown Court have hearing dates set within the coming 12 months, a relatively small proportion have allocated dates further out. This can be for many reasons, but is always allocated under independent judicial direction and supervision. The furthest future trial dates by Region are set out as follows:
To improve timeliness in the courts and bring swifter justice for victims, the previous Lord Chancellor asked Sir Brian Leveson to chair an Independent Review of Criminal Courts, to propose once-in-a-generation reform. The first part of the Review has now been published. We will carefully consider Sir Brian’s proposals before setting out the Government’s full response.
The information requested around courtroom usage could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Crown Court operates from 84 buildings across England and Wales, with a core estate of over 500 courtrooms. Most are jury-enabled and suitable for trials, with the remainder supporting other judicial work, such as interlocutory hearings. The wider HMCTS estate — including magistrates’, civil, family, and tribunal rooms — can also be used for Crown Court business when required. As a result, the precise number of rooms available for Crown Court use at any given time is variable.
HMCTS’s priority is to ensure all funded sitting days are fully utilised each financial year through active courtroom management. Estate capacity is not a limiting factor: last year, we sat 107,771, representing over 99% of our allocation, and we remain on track to deliver all allocated days this year.
Temporary unavailability may arise due to maintenance, but also due to overspill from other trials, alternative judicial activities (such as, box work, civil, family and tribunals hearings, or coroner’s court work), or other legitimate uses (including meetings and video-link sessions). However, these factors do not prevent the Crown Courts from sitting at their funded allocation.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the impact of 53 week rent-years on rent payment schedules for Universal Credit claimants; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that payments adequately match claimants’ renting costs.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit always converts weekly amounts to monthly sums using 52 weeks. The legitimacy of this approach was confirmed by the High Court having been tested via a judicial review.
Every five or six years, weekly tenants may have a rent charging year containing 53 charging days. This will not apply in all cases and some claimants will not have a 53-week charging year during the life of their benefit claim.
Most people in work are paid monthly, as is Universal Credit, and they budget for their outgoings on a monthly basis. Weekly rental liabilities do not map directly onto a monthly cycle and this creates budgeting complexities for tenants. They will be required to make only four payments of rent in some months but five payments in others even though their monthly income remains constant. This problem exists in all rent charging years for those with a weekly liability, not just those with 53 Mondays.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Reform UK - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to R (Denny De Silva) v Secretary of State for Justice [2025] EWHC 128 (Admin), how much his Department has paid Mr Denny De SIlva in (a) damages, (b) other compensation, (c) ex gratia or out-of-court payments and (d) legal costs.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
With reference to R (Denny De Silva) v Secretary of State for Justice [2025] EWHC 128 (Admin):
(a), (b), (c) The damages claim is ongoing and therefore we cannot comment on compensation, ex-gratia or out-of-court payments.
(d) Legal costs for the Judicial Review were settled at £255,000, inclusive of interest and assessment costs.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) successfully defends around two-thirds of all litigation cases brought by prisoners. Where damages are awarded to prisoners, we seek to ensure that payments are offset against any outstanding debts owed to victims and the courts.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Reform UK - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to R (Awale) v Secretary of State for Justice [2024] EWHC 2322 (Admin), how much his Department has paid Mr Fuad Awale in (a) damages, (b) other compensation, (c) any ex gratia or out-of-court payments and (d) legal costs.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
With reference to R (Awale) v Secretary of State for Justice [2024] EWHC 2322 (Admin):
(a), (b), (c) The damages claim is ongoing and therefore we cannot comment on compensation, ex-gratia or out-of-court payments.
(d) Legal costs for the Judicial Review were settled at £234,250, inclusive of interest and assessment costs.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) successfully defends around two-thirds of all litigation cases brought by prisoners. Where damages are awarded to prisoners, we seek to ensure that payments are offset against any outstanding debts owed to victims and the courts.