Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the suggestion from the expert panel in the report entitled Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases, published in June 2020, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing training on a multi-disciplinary basis across all professions and agencies within the family justice system to ensure a consistent approach; and if he will take steps to (a) resource and (b) coordinate such training.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Since the Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases report was published in June 2020, good progress has been made on delivering the commitments taken forward in the Government’s Implementation Plan, with the majority of these completed or well under way.
We have designed and are piloting a more investigative – and less adversarial - approach for private law proceedings in Dorset and North Wales, in particular for survivors of domestic abuse. At the heart of this model is closer multiagency working which has led to improved communication, greater consistency in information and multi-disciplinary training. The pilot courts work closely with the specialist domestic abuse sector including Independent Domestic Abuse Advisers to ensure that adequate domestic abuse risk assessments and support is in place. Alongside this, the Judicial College has launched new domestic abuse digital training packages for the judiciary and has rolled out a programme of compulsory domestic abuse training for family and civil judges. Monitoring and evaluation of the pilots is ongoing and will inform any decision on rolling out the process further, we anticipate this will be concluded in early 2024.
In April 2023, Family Procedure Rule Committee amended the Family Procedure Rules and Practice Directions to allow Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers to accompany parties in the courtroom.
My Department will shortly publish a full update on all Harm Panel commitments.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases: Final Report, published on 6 October 2020, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing mechanisms for communication, coordination and consistency between family courts and (a) criminal courts, (b) the police, (c) multi-agency risk assessment conferences, (d) children’s services, (e) family support and therapeutic services and (f) specialist domestic abuse services.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Since the Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases report was published in June 2020, good progress has been made on delivering the commitments taken forward in the Government’s Implementation Plan, with the majority of these completed or well under way.
We have designed and are piloting a more investigative – and less adversarial - approach for private law proceedings in Dorset and North Wales, in particular for survivors of domestic abuse. At the heart of this model is closer multiagency working which has led to improved communication, greater consistency in information and multi-disciplinary training. The pilot courts work closely with the specialist domestic abuse sector including Independent Domestic Abuse Advisers to ensure that adequate domestic abuse risk assessments and support is in place. Alongside this, the Judicial College has launched new domestic abuse digital training packages for the judiciary and has rolled out a programme of compulsory domestic abuse training for family and civil judges. Monitoring and evaluation of the pilots is ongoing and will inform any decision on rolling out the process further, we anticipate this will be concluded in early 2024.
In April 2023, Family Procedure Rule Committee amended the Family Procedure Rules and Practice Directions to allow Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers to accompany parties in the courtroom.
My Department will shortly publish a full update on all Harm Panel commitments.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases: Final Report, published on 6 October 2020, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) cost-effectiveness of and (b) optimal model for the delivery of the provision of specialist support services for both survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Since the Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases report was published in June 2020, good progress has been made on delivering the commitments taken forward in the Government’s Implementation Plan, with the majority of these completed or well under way.
We have designed and are piloting a more investigative – and less adversarial - approach for private law proceedings in Dorset and North Wales, in particular for survivors of domestic abuse. At the heart of this model is closer multiagency working which has led to improved communication, greater consistency in information and multi-disciplinary training. The pilot courts work closely with the specialist domestic abuse sector including Independent Domestic Abuse Advisers to ensure that adequate domestic abuse risk assessments and support is in place. Alongside this, the Judicial College has launched new domestic abuse digital training packages for the judiciary and has rolled out a programme of compulsory domestic abuse training for family and civil judges. Monitoring and evaluation of the pilots is ongoing and will inform any decision on rolling out the process further, we anticipate this will be concluded in early 2024.
In April 2023, Family Procedure Rule Committee amended the Family Procedure Rules and Practice Directions to allow Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers to accompany parties in the courtroom.
My Department will shortly publish a full update on all Harm Panel commitments.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether it is his Department's policy to encourage the use of Standard Delivery formats in Pre-Sentence Reports.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Probation Service is responsible for producing Pre-Sentence Reports (PSRs) when they are requested by the Court. A PSR includes a sentencing recommendation based on an offender's individual circumstances and consideration of public protection concerns, alongside suitable rehabilitative and punitive requirements.
A PSR can be delivered to Courts in a range of formats including the longer written Standard Delivery Report (SDR), and the Short Format Report (SFR) which can be delivered in written or oral format.
The key principles for decisions on the format of report delivery to Court are:
As a general rule all report types are suitable for use across the sentencing thresholds. Guidance is available for probation staff to assist them in determining when to request for a longer adjournment to facilitate an SDR report.
The Probation Service is working on a range of initiatives to increase the number of cases in which the Courts receive written reports. These are:
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including (a) manufacturers and (b) suppliers of (i) cladding, (ii) insulation, (iii) smoke ventilation systems, (iv) fire doors and (v) other faulty building safety components as funding contributors in the remediation waterfall system, with a greater weight of responsibility to meet remediation costs than leaseholders.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Further to the statement made by my Right Hon Friend the Secretary of State, I refer to information set out in the Building Safety Programme data release and relating to the Building Safety Fund can be found here, as well as to this estimate relating to mid-rise residential buildings.
The time it will take to remediate a building will depend on the work that needs to be carried out.
The developer remediation contract requires signatories to assess and remediate or mitigate life-critical fire safety risks caused by the original design, construction or refurbishment in buildings for which they are responsible. 42 developers have signed the contract and the value of the works covered by the contract will be at least £2 billion. Signatories are required to keep both the department and affected residents apprised of the progress of remediation works. The Government will monitor developers' performance closely and act if necessary.
Leaseholders in buildings above 11 metres or five storeys are protected from all historical safety remediation costs if their landlord is, or is associated with, the developer; they will also benefit from qualifying status for their principal residence if it is in such a building. In addition, remediation contribution orders enable leaseholders in relevant buildings to attempt to recover remediation costs, whatever the qualifying status of the leaseholder.
We are aware of a very small number of buildings under 11 metres where expensive remediation is proposed. We have written to freeholders and managing agents in affected buildings to make sure proposed works are necessary and proportionate.
The Government has committed £5.1 billion to remediating cladding safety defects in England. Where industry has a responsibility, they should contribute.
Enforcement provisions have been included in the Building Safety Act to ensure that those who are liable to pay under leaseholder protections do so. Relevant authorities have the power to compel responsible entities to fund and undertake the necessary remediation work. The new Recovery Strategy Unit will also pursue firms who do not live up to their responsibilities.
The Act also creates a new cause of action which allows manufacturers of construction products to be pursued through the courts where defective or mis-sold products have been incorporated in a dwelling, and that has caused or contributed to a dwelling being unfit for habitation.
Further, Section 133 of the Act (once in force) will place a duty on landlords to take reasonable steps to explore alternative cost recovery avenues before asking leaseholders to contribute to defined remediation works - this will include pursuing third parties in connection with the remediation works.
On 20 December, the six largest mortgage lenders confirmed that they will lend on buildings in England of 11 metres and above in height with building safety issues where the building is covered by the developer self-remediation contract. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and their members have stated premiums should reduce where buildings have completed remediation or where there is a reduction in risk.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the necessity for ACM cladding to be removed from buildings of all heights, in the context of the decision in December 2022 to prohibit its use on all new buildings as a result of safety concerns.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Further to the statement made by my Right Hon Friend the Secretary of State, I refer to information set out in the Building Safety Programme data release and relating to the Building Safety Fund can be found here, as well as to this estimate relating to mid-rise residential buildings.
The time it will take to remediate a building will depend on the work that needs to be carried out.
The developer remediation contract requires signatories to assess and remediate or mitigate life-critical fire safety risks caused by the original design, construction or refurbishment in buildings for which they are responsible. 42 developers have signed the contract and the value of the works covered by the contract will be at least £2 billion. Signatories are required to keep both the department and affected residents apprised of the progress of remediation works. The Government will monitor developers' performance closely and act if necessary.
Leaseholders in buildings above 11 metres or five storeys are protected from all historical safety remediation costs if their landlord is, or is associated with, the developer; they will also benefit from qualifying status for their principal residence if it is in such a building. In addition, remediation contribution orders enable leaseholders in relevant buildings to attempt to recover remediation costs, whatever the qualifying status of the leaseholder.
We are aware of a very small number of buildings under 11 metres where expensive remediation is proposed. We have written to freeholders and managing agents in affected buildings to make sure proposed works are necessary and proportionate.
The Government has committed £5.1 billion to remediating cladding safety defects in England. Where industry has a responsibility, they should contribute.
Enforcement provisions have been included in the Building Safety Act to ensure that those who are liable to pay under leaseholder protections do so. Relevant authorities have the power to compel responsible entities to fund and undertake the necessary remediation work. The new Recovery Strategy Unit will also pursue firms who do not live up to their responsibilities.
The Act also creates a new cause of action which allows manufacturers of construction products to be pursued through the courts where defective or mis-sold products have been incorporated in a dwelling, and that has caused or contributed to a dwelling being unfit for habitation.
Further, Section 133 of the Act (once in force) will place a duty on landlords to take reasonable steps to explore alternative cost recovery avenues before asking leaseholders to contribute to defined remediation works - this will include pursuing third parties in connection with the remediation works.
On 20 December, the six largest mortgage lenders confirmed that they will lend on buildings in England of 11 metres and above in height with building safety issues where the building is covered by the developer self-remediation contract. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and their members have stated premiums should reduce where buildings have completed remediation or where there is a reduction in risk.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adopting the approach of the Irish government to building safety, by funding all required fire safety remediation directly.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Further to the statement made by my Right Hon Friend the Secretary of State, I refer to information set out in the Building Safety Programme data release and relating to the Building Safety Fund can be found here, as well as to this estimate relating to mid-rise residential buildings.
The time it will take to remediate a building will depend on the work that needs to be carried out.
The developer remediation contract requires signatories to assess and remediate or mitigate life-critical fire safety risks caused by the original design, construction or refurbishment in buildings for which they are responsible. 42 developers have signed the contract and the value of the works covered by the contract will be at least £2 billion. Signatories are required to keep both the department and affected residents apprised of the progress of remediation works. The Government will monitor developers' performance closely and act if necessary.
Leaseholders in buildings above 11 metres or five storeys are protected from all historical safety remediation costs if their landlord is, or is associated with, the developer; they will also benefit from qualifying status for their principal residence if it is in such a building. In addition, remediation contribution orders enable leaseholders in relevant buildings to attempt to recover remediation costs, whatever the qualifying status of the leaseholder.
We are aware of a very small number of buildings under 11 metres where expensive remediation is proposed. We have written to freeholders and managing agents in affected buildings to make sure proposed works are necessary and proportionate.
The Government has committed £5.1 billion to remediating cladding safety defects in England. Where industry has a responsibility, they should contribute.
Enforcement provisions have been included in the Building Safety Act to ensure that those who are liable to pay under leaseholder protections do so. Relevant authorities have the power to compel responsible entities to fund and undertake the necessary remediation work. The new Recovery Strategy Unit will also pursue firms who do not live up to their responsibilities.
The Act also creates a new cause of action which allows manufacturers of construction products to be pursued through the courts where defective or mis-sold products have been incorporated in a dwelling, and that has caused or contributed to a dwelling being unfit for habitation.
Further, Section 133 of the Act (once in force) will place a duty on landlords to take reasonable steps to explore alternative cost recovery avenues before asking leaseholders to contribute to defined remediation works - this will include pursuing third parties in connection with the remediation works.
On 20 December, the six largest mortgage lenders confirmed that they will lend on buildings in England of 11 metres and above in height with building safety issues where the building is covered by the developer self-remediation contract. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and their members have stated premiums should reduce where buildings have completed remediation or where there is a reduction in risk.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment with his Cabinet colleagues of the health impact on survivors of domestic abuse of participating in the family court process.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the impact family court proceedings can have on children and adult survivors of domestic abuse. In the Government’s Implementation Plan, published in response to the 2020 expert panel report ‘Assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases’, we made a number of commitments to improve the experiences of domestic abuse survivors in the family court. We have made good progress against those commitments. We have implemented a prohibition on cross-examination of domestic abuse survivors by their abusers, improved safety at court and provided automatic eligibility for special measures for victims of domestic abuse in the family courts. We have also launched the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilot in Dorset and North Wales to reduce the re-traumatisation of domestic abuse survivors and enhance the voice of the child in private law proceedings.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the replacement programme for the suspended Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme in June 2022 will be implemented; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the likelihood that perpetrators of domestic abuse who have not joined a new programme are still able to have regular contact with their victims before course completion.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is actively considering options to address the current lack of Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes in the family court. We are working with providers and the domestic abuse sector to explore interim arrangements, including potential new referral mechanisms, ahead of developing a revised model of support for domestic abuse cases in the family court.
The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration in any decision made by the court regarding child arrangements and the Government is working closely with stakeholders across the system to understand the impact the current change in provision has had on children and families. A timetable for the introduction of the new domestic abuse intervention offer will be confirmed in due course.
The Government has introduced a number of protections for survivors of domestic abuse in the family court. The Domestic Abuse Act prohibits cross-examination of victims by perpetrators and provides automatic eligibility for special measures for victims of domestic abuse in the family courts. The Act also makes it clear that ‘barring orders’ are available where further proceedings would risk causing harm, particularly where proceedings could be a form of continuing domestic abuse
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the safety of victims of domestic abuse whilst police investigations are underway and alleged perpetrators of that abuse are on bail.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Tackling domestic abuse is a key Government priority. It is deeply harmful, not only because of the profound effect it can have on victims, survivors and their loved ones, but also because of the harm it inflicts on wider society.
Under changes to the pre-charge bail system, introduced in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, there is a new duty on police to seek the views of victims on pre-charge bail conditions to ensure that conditions will better protect all victims, including victims of domestic abuse. Conditions of pre-charge bail are likely to include no contact with the victim and other measures for the protection and safety of the victim.
Police forces can also use protective measures such as issuing a Domestic Violence Protection Notice (DVPN) or applying to the magistrate’s court for a civil Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO). They can use these independently or alongside bail conditions to provide greater protection for the victim.
Frontline professionals can refer victims to their local Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC), a non-statutory process that brings together statutory and voluntary agencies to jointly support adult and child victims of domestic abuse who are at a high risk of serious harm or homicide, and to disrupt and divert the behaviour of the perpetrator(s).