Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if there are any biological men in HMP Bronzefield.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As of 1 November, no biological males were being held at HMP Bronzefield.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many disabled people over 18 years old are not able to access their Child Trust Funds because their parents or guardian have not applied to the Court of Protection to access the funds on their behalf.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is not possible to provide the information requested as this data is not held by the Ministry of Justice. This is because a lack of mental capacity cannot be inferred simply from a person’s disability or condition. Capacity is decision-specific and timebound.
Many disabled young adults are able to manage their own finances, including accessing their matured Child Trust Fund (CTF), with appropriate support where needed. An application to the Court of Protection to access a CTF is only required where the account holder lacks mental capacity to make decisions about their property and affairs and does not have an existing court order or court appointed deputy in place. A deputy may be appointed to manage a range of assets, including any CTF, or the court can make a one-off order for CTF access.
The Government recognises that the transition to adulthood can be a challenging time for young disabled people and their families. To support them, guidance has been published on GOV.UK in the form of a toolkit, “Making financial decisions for young people who lack capacity”, which raises awareness on the arrangements that they need to have in place.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been released early from prisons in the West Midlands in 2025 due to overcapacity.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.
The Ministry of Justice has published SDS40 release data alongside the quarterly Offender Management Statistics which includes figures on SDS40 releases by prison (Table 8) to June 2025: Standard Determinate Sentence 40 (SDS40): September 2024 to June 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer to Question 89265 on Legal Aid Scheme: Ely and East Cambridgeshire, how many of the providers in each procurement area are based in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There are no legal aid providers with an office within the Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
However, that does not mean that your constituents do not have access to legal aid and legal aid services both locally within the wider constituency or via national services provided on a remote basis.
As set out in the answer to Questions 86918 and 89265, the LAA does not commission services at constituency or individual town level. Services are commissioned and monitored at wider procurement area level. Constituents in Ely and East Cambridgeshire can access services locally within the wider procurement area which has more than the minimum number of contracts in each civil category. Additionally, the Cambridge Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service ensures that on the day emergency representation is available in respect of cases concerning eviction or loss of home is available to your constituents.
Local civil legal aid services are supplemented by national remote services such as Civil Legal Advice which provides access to free confidential advice on housing, debt, education and discrimination matters throughout England and Wales.
All duty slots on the Ely and East Cambridge duty solicitor scheme are covered. This means that anybody attending or arrested at a police station in your consituency will have access to a legally-aided solicitor.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the judgment in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] EWHC 2341 on Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice recognises that the judgment and its potential implications have created concern and uncertainty within parts of the legal profession, particularly among Chartered Institute of Legal Executive (CILEX) professionals.
Whilst the legal profession and its regulators operate independently of government, I have been proactively engaging with frontline regulators and representative bodies on the judgment’s implications and the action being taken in response. On 27 October, I convened a meeting with the Legal Services Board (LSB) and relevant frontline regulators to discuss the judgment, its implications, and the steps taken and underway. I have also met members of CILEX’s senior leadership team to discuss the judgment’s impact and attended their recent conference to hear from CILEX members what the impact has been.
While I am satisfied that appropriate steps are being taken to address the issues raised by the judgment, we will continue to work closely with the LSB, frontline regulators, and representative bodies to ensure clarity and consider whether further steps are required.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that HM Courts & Tribunals Service centrally record the average time for the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber to consider, process and rule upon rent appeal cases brought by tenants; and whether this will be in place prior to implementation of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is preparing the First -Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for the implementation of the measures in the Renters’ Right Act 2025. Work is ongoing to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet the anticipated additional demand.
HMCTS is working on plans for improvements to the data we capture and draw from the supporting systems for the Tribunal as part of our preparations for the Renters’ Rights Act.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many rent appeal cases were brought to each English regional residential property First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber by tenants each year over the past three full years, and what was the average time for the Tribunal to consider, process, and rule upon those appeals.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold specific information for rent appeal cases. Published data is published on residential property, which will include rent appeal cases: Main_Tables_Q4_2024_25.ods.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to strengthen or update legal rights of the deceased.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is currently reviewing the law in two respects which will strengthen and update the rights of deceased persons (and assist their families and beneficiaries).
The first is in relation to responding to the Law Commission’s comprehensive report Modernising Wills Law, published earlier this year. The Government is giving careful consideration to the report and will be announcing next steps in the near future.
Secondly, the Law Commission is currently undertaking a wide-ranging project on the law of burials, cremations and new funerary methods. The final strand of this project, Rights and Obligations relating to Funerary Methods, Funerals and Remains, will commence in early 2026 and is expected to consider whether funeral wishes should be binding, who should have the right to make decisions about the funeral, and how to resolve disputes. The Government will respond to the Law Commission’s recommendations once they are available.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that families affected by Primodos are not prevented from pursuing legal redress due to the potential risk of high legal costs.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government cannot comment on individual legal cases, but we are committed to access to justice at proportionate cost. There are several mechanisms that can reduce the legal costs involved in pursuing a civil claim. Whether any are available to a claimant would depend on the specifics of the claim.
Claimants may be able enter into an agreement with a lawyer using a Conditional Fee Agreement or Damages Based Agreement, or with a third party funder using a Litigation Funding Agreement. Such agreements usually mean that a claimant will not have to pay all or part of their own legal costs unless they win their case.
Claimants may be able to take out Legal Expenses Insurance and After the Event insurance to mitigate some of the financial risks associated with litigation. Such insurance would usually cover adverse legal costs, where the losing party in a claim is ordered to pay the legal costs of the other side.
Fixed Recoverable Costs are also applicable to most civil cases in the Fast and Intermediate Tracks. These allow parties to know in advance what adverse costs they would be liable for if they lose a case. This can help claimants make an informed decision about whether or not to pursue litigation.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mechanisms are in place to ensure timely correction of factual or chronological errors in published judgments to ensure that any discrepancies are removed from public record.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Responsibility for the accuracy of judgments rests with the independent judiciary.
Courts have established procedures to correct errors promptly when they come to light. For example, under the Civil Procedure Rules, judges can amend accidental slips or omissions at any time.
Substantive errors that may affect the meaning of the judgment may require a formal application to the court. Once corrected, the revised judgment replaces the original in official records and on the Find Case Law service, operated by the National Archives.