Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help support victims of historic miscarriages of justice to appeal their convictions.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Where the normal time limit for appeals through the courts has passed and where an individual believes they have been wrongly convicted of a crime in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, including in historic cases, they can apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which is an independent public body funded by the Ministry of Justice. The CCRC can investigate and where it considers that there is a real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld were the reference to be made, can refer cases back to the courts.
There is no time limit on any application and the service is free.
To ensure that the appeals system is working effectively, the Government has asked the Law Commission to conduct an independent and wide-ranging Review of the appeals system. The Review will consider the issues raised by the Westminster Commission (2021) on miscarriages of justice, which includes the tests used by the CCRC and the Court of Appeal, and the government will then consider the review’s findings, and any recommendations for change in the law, very carefully.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission for appeal were successful in each year since 2019.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The number and proportion of successful cases referred by the CCRC and heard by appeal courts each year since 2019/20 is:
| Number of successful referrals | Proportion of successful referrals |
2019/20 | 10 | 58.8% |
2020/21 | 30 | 88% |
2021/22 | 57 | 88% |
2022/23 | 17 | 89% |
2023/24 | 19 | 79% |
2024/25 (year to date) | 2 | 100% |
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the deadline for uncompleted inquests and civil litigation into Troubles-era offences under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 on victims.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
From 1 May, victims and families can directly refer their cases to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery for review and I strongly encourage them to do so.
The Commission will have extensive powers to conduct thorough investigations and will deliver better outcomes for victims and families than the current system.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the redevelopment of Casement Park.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
EURO 2028 is a fantastic opportunity for the UK and Ireland to showcase world-class sport as hosts.
The UK Government is continuing to work closely with the Department for Communities regarding the cost and delivery of Casement Park. We remain committed to ensuring EURO 2028 leaves a lasting legacy across the UK.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of research by Professor Martin Schwendler and Dr Chiara Herzog on changes to epithelial cells caused by vaping.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaping is never recommended for children, and carries the potential harms of future addiction while their lungs and brains are still developing. The health advice is clear, vapes can be an effective tool to help smokers quit, but young people and those who have never smoked should not vape, or be encouraged to vape.
As stated by Cancer Research UK, this study contributes to our understanding of e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, but does not show that e-cigarettes cause cancer. Decades of research has proven the link between smoking and cancer, and studies have so far shown that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking, and can help people quit. This paper does, however, highlight that vapes are not risk-free, and so we need additional studies to uncover their potential longer-term impacts on human health.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the adequacy of resources for tackling NHS waiting times in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government stands ready to support the Executive to reduce unacceptably long waiting times. The Government has made £3.3bn available to the Executive to spend on its priorities, including over £30m to address healthcare waiting lists.
I am clear that tackling waiting lists and stabilising health services in Northern Ireland is the start of a much bigger challenge in transforming services for the longer term. Innovative strategic thinking is needed to find solutions that will balance budgets and improve all public services across Northern Ireland. The Government is excited to work with Executive Ministers on plans that will deliver for Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of extending the Contract for Difference scheme to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Energy policy is devolved in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive Department for the Economy. The Department for the Economy (DfE) held a consultation on Design Considerations for its own bespoke Renewables Support Scheme in February 2023 which included seeking views on having a Contracts for Difference scheme in Northern Ireland. Consultation responses were recently published on 9 April 2024. DfE states that having considered the consultation responses, it will design a new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme for Northern Ireland which builds upon the support schemes across Great Britain, Ireland, and Europe. Northern Ireland has a vital role to play in helping the UK reach net zero by 2050.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average value was of Universal Credit claim overpayments in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP measures its overpayments via annual national statistics published each May. However, we do not produce an estimate for the average value of a Universal Credit overpayment.
We estimate that the total value of Universal Credit overpayments in 2022-2023 was £5,540m: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2022 to 2023 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the date of the commencement of the Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Act 2015.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
In the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, the UK Government committed to a rapid, focused process, on the implementation of corporation tax devolution through a new Joint Exchequer Committee.
The Committee will take forward urgent work on this process. However, the devolution of corporation tax alone will not solve the financial challenges facing Northern Ireland. The Executive needs to make difficult decisions around revenue-raising and public service transformation to put Northern Ireland’s finances on a sustainable footing.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value was of underpayments of the Personal Independence Payment due to recipients’ failure to update their medical need in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP measures its underpayments via annual national statistics published each May. However, we do not produce an estimate for the average value of a benefit underpayment.
Our estimates relating to PIP underpayments in 2022-23 can be found at the link below:
Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2022 to 2023 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Table 6 provides the total estimated value of PIP underpayments in 2022-23.
Table 8 provides the estimated value of PIP underpayments due to claimant error. All claimant error underpayments were due to errors where the claimant’s condition had got worse, and they failed to inform the department (Functional Needs).