Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department intends to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Hayley Cowan.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice sent a preliminary reply, making a point of clarification, to the HM Senior Coroner for Greater Manchester on 3 October 2024, following the Prevention of Future Death report issued after the death of Hayley Cowan. No further action has been requested of the Department at this time.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department intends to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Christopher MacGillivray.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service responded to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death of Christopher MacGillivray in August 2024. This response addresses the matters of concern raised in the report.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what date will the formal investigation into the abscondment of Daniel Boakye be completed.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the escape from custody is due to be completed by 20 March.
Reports of internal investigations of this nature are not normally published.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2026 to question 115637 on Daniel Boakye, what additional management checks are being undertaken in relation to operational staff who may be called upon to undertake escort duty.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We have introduced a period of enhanced management assurance for all external escorts. Under these strengthened measures, a manager of the same grade or a more senior grade is required to check the application of restraints prior to an escort and ensure additional restraint arrangements are utilised where necessary. In addition, all operational staff who may be involved in an escort have been required to complete refreshed competency activity.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ask HM Prison and Probation Service to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Darren Docherty.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
HMPPS is now preparing a response to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Death report.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department intends to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Christine McDonald.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service responded to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death of Christine McDonald on 26 July 2024. The response is available on the Chief Coroner’s website.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that estates are distributed to beneficiaries within a reasonable timeframe after probate has been granted.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
There is no maximum time limit in which personal representatives must distribute an estate after probate has been granted.
A personal representative is under a statutory duty to administer the deceased person’s estate according to the law and without undue delay. He or she must safeguard the estate and, with due diligence, collect and realise the assets, pay the deceased person’s debts, and distribute the legacies and the residue of the estate to the beneficiaries entitled in accordance with the will. Personal representatives can be held liable if they mis-administer the estate.
There are legitimate reasons why it may take time to fully distribute an estate. For example, it may require the sale of a property, the settling of tax issues or administering assets outside of the UK. Other reasons that personal representatives may delay the distribution of the estate include waiting out the time limit for family provision claims under the Inheritance Act 1975 and for creditors to bring claims against the estate.
If beneficiaries have concerns about the administration of the estate, they can make an application to the court to compel a personal representative to provide an inventory and account of their administration of an estate. In addition, applications can be made to remove and replace a personal executive where there are grounds to do so.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of (i) requiring administrators and executors of estates to file a copy of the estate accounts with the Probate Registry and (ii) creating a central registry of wills.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Personal representatives (the umbrella term for anyone legally responsible for administering a deceased person’s estate) have a statutory duty to administer the estate lawfully. They must act in beneficiaries’ best interests and keep clear, separate estate accounts as a matter of good practice. Accurate records are essential because the court may require, sworn on oath, a full inventory of the estate and a detailed account of the administration. Any interested party can apply for such an order, enabling scrutiny of how the estate has been managed and informing whether further action against the personal representative is appropriate.
The Government is not aware of any problems with personal representative accountability mechanisms and has no plans to change them.
There is no compulsory will registration system in England and Wales, though testators may voluntarily register a will with certain public or private bodies. The Principal Registry offers a public scheme allowing wills to be deposited and stored for a £23 fee, with a certificate issued
The Law Commission considered compulsory registration as part of their review of the Law of Wills but concluded it would add unnecessary complexity to the will‑making process as well as raise uncertainty over the validity of unregistered wills, including reduced flexibility for testators making wills near death.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has considered establishing periodic review procedures for High Court injunctions granting lifelong anonymity to offenders convicted of serious crimes committed as juveniles.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The High Court has been clear that the making of an injunction to grant lifelong anonymity to protect the identity of a now adult person convicted of a serious offence as a child, should be exceptional. In practice, such injunctions are made very rarely.
The court will consider whether there is a real and immediate risk of serious physical harm or death or if the offender’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights justify making the injunction as a necessary and proportionate step. In doing so the court will balance these factors against the right of the media and others to freedom of expression.
An application can be made to the High Court to end an injunction. To be successful, it must be demonstrated that the conditions justifying the making of the injunction are no longer in place.
This Government has no current plans to establish periodic review procedures for these injunctions.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings in the China Strategic Risks Institute report entitled The PRC’s Extraterritorial Legal Architecture, published in January 2026, regarding the risks of China's civil judgments being enforced in the UK against the public interest.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Decisions about recognition of foreign judgments are made by the UK’s independent judiciary, with safeguards against recognition and enforcement being available.
There are various grounds on which a judge may refuse to recognise or enforce a foreign judgment, including for example where the foreign court acted without jurisdiction, the proceedings involved a breach of natural justice, or recognition would be contrary to public policy.
The Government engages regularly with the judiciary and stakeholders about the operation of frameworks for recognition and enforcement.