Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of convictions for the offence of assault against an emergency worker in 2024 were in relation to incidents in which the victim was a police officer.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions and convictions across England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics. The data tool includes the number of convictions for an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 in 2024.
Information on the number of males and females who were proceeded against and convicted for these offences is available within the published data and can be accessed by filtering the ‘overall volumes’ dataset by sex. This data is held on a principal-offence basis and therefore reports information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt for.
The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record the specific occupation of the victim of an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 so it is not possible, without disproportionate cost, to state the proportion of emergency worker victims who were police officers, or the number or proportion of women convicted of an assault on a police officer under the 2018 Act offence.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of convictions of women for the offence of assault against an emergency worker in 2024 related to an incident where the victim was a police officer.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions and convictions across England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics. The data tool includes the number of convictions for an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 in 2024.
Information on the number of males and females who were proceeded against and convicted for these offences is available within the published data and can be accessed by filtering the ‘overall volumes’ dataset by sex. This data is held on a principal-offence basis and therefore reports information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt for.
The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record the specific occupation of the victim of an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 so it is not possible, without disproportionate cost, to state the proportion of emergency worker victims who were police officers, or the number or proportion of women convicted of an assault on a police officer under the 2018 Act offence.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people convicted for the offence of assault against an emergency worker in 2024 were women.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions and convictions across England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics. The data tool includes the number of convictions for an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 in 2024.
Information on the number of males and females who were proceeded against and convicted for these offences is available within the published data and can be accessed by filtering the ‘overall volumes’ dataset by sex. This data is held on a principal-offence basis and therefore reports information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt for.
The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record the specific occupation of the victim of an offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 so it is not possible, without disproportionate cost, to state the proportion of emergency worker victims who were police officers, or the number or proportion of women convicted of an assault on a police officer under the 2018 Act offence.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether prisoners over the age of 50 with complex or multiple needs are still considered to be a separate cohort.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have always recognised the distinct needs of older prisoners, some of whom can have complex health and social care requirements.
We welcome the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendation to produce a national strategy for older prisoners, including those with complex or multiple needs and are currently speaking to partners to agree how we take this forward.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 30 October 2024 (HL1966), how many subcontractors to ISG Limited the Ministry of Justice has been in contact with; what assistance the department has provided or may be able to provide to subcontractors whose payments were not available in the relevant project bank account; and what has been the outcome of the department's work with EY to establish whether the sums remaining in project bank accounts were correct.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has been in contact with c.350 subcontractors of ISG Construction Limited. The Department has used a dedicated mailbox for this purpose and issued an update letter to subcontractors on 6 March 2025.
Since ISG entered administration, the Department has worked to minimise the impact on subcontractors. We enabled the swift return of subcontractor’s tools and equipment from affected sites and are supporting subcontractors to retrieve any materials that were on site with the cooperation of the Administrator.
The Ministry of Justice did not have a direct contractual relationship with ISG’s subcontractors and the Department’s assessment to date is that there is no obligation to act as the guarantor of all of ISG’s payments to its subcontractors. Payment by the Ministry of Justice into the project bank account does not create a direct contractual relationship between the Department and subcontractors.
Due to ongoing legal and commercial sensitivities, we are unable to comment on the final part of the question regarding the outcome of our engagement with EY.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Victims' Code is enforceable; and what mechanisms are available to victims to ensure that criminal justice agencies comply with that code.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are committed to ensuring that victims receive the service they deserve under the Code. This is why earlier this year we commenced the new statutory obligation from the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which requires those who provide Code services to comply with the Code unless there is a good reason not to. We have also commenced other measures from the 2024 Act that will help the Victims’ Commissioner to hold bodies to account for how they are delivering for victims, including by placing a duty on certain authorities to respond to the Commissioner’s recommendations and to cooperate with reasonable requests from the Commissioner.
We are building on these powers through the Victims and Courts Bill, which will provide the Victims’ Commissioner with new tools to drive systemic change. We will also consult on a new Code in due course to make sure we get the foundations for victims right.
If victims feel that they have not received the service they can expect as set out in the Victims’ Code, there are formal complaints processes that service providers are required to provide. If victims are not happy with a service provider’s complaint response, they can now complain directly to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman without going through an MP.
The Government is committed to ensuring that victims can access the information and support they need. The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 created a framework to monitor criminal justice agencies' compliance with the Victims' Code, including legislative duties for agencies to collect and share information on Code compliance.
The framework has not yet been commenced - preparatory work is underway, for example actively engaging with criminal justice agencies on the underlying data that will support the development of the framework.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when she plans to commence section 8 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2025; and what steps she is taking produce the framework to review compliance with the Victims Code.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are committed to ensuring that victims receive the service they deserve under the Code. This is why earlier this year we commenced the new statutory obligation from the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which requires those who provide Code services to comply with the Code unless there is a good reason not to. We have also commenced other measures from the 2024 Act that will help the Victims’ Commissioner to hold bodies to account for how they are delivering for victims, including by placing a duty on certain authorities to respond to the Commissioner’s recommendations and to cooperate with reasonable requests from the Commissioner.
We are building on these powers through the Victims and Courts Bill, which will provide the Victims’ Commissioner with new tools to drive systemic change. We will also consult on a new Code in due course to make sure we get the foundations for victims right.
If victims feel that they have not received the service they can expect as set out in the Victims’ Code, there are formal complaints processes that service providers are required to provide. If victims are not happy with a service provider’s complaint response, they can now complain directly to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman without going through an MP.
The Government is committed to ensuring that victims can access the information and support they need. The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 created a framework to monitor criminal justice agencies' compliance with the Victims' Code, including legislative duties for agencies to collect and share information on Code compliance.
The framework has not yet been commenced - preparatory work is underway, for example actively engaging with criminal justice agencies on the underlying data that will support the development of the framework.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Ministry of Justice has spent in each year since 2020 under the RM6141 and RM6302 language services frameworks; and whether the department has used or maintained any separate or competing frameworks, contracts or commercial routes for the procurement of language services during the same period, and, if so, how much has been spent through them.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministry of Justice has not called off against Crown Commercial Service frameworks RM 6141 (Language Services) or its successor RM 6302 at any point since 2020; spend under both frameworks in every year is therefore £0. The timing of available frameworks did not align with the Department’s needs. Timelines have since been aligned for the following round of tendering.
Instead, the Department has continued to meet its interpretation and translation needs through its MoJ Language-Services Framework, first established in 2012 and re-let in 2016 following open competition. Courts also operate a non-contracted, or “off-contract” process, typically to cover requirements that arise at short notice and those that are more challenging to fulfil, such as the requirement for languages that are rare or scarce. The use of off-contract interpreters allows hearings to go ahead, to continue the delivery of justice. The next generation of contracts, currently being procured, include the use of a secondary supplier of interpreters, specifically to source those short notice bookings, and to bring this spend on-contract, with benefits such as improved data and value for money. Furthermore, we are the only organisation to also utilise an independent quality assurance supplier of these services.
The arrangement is open for other public-sector bodies to use, but is let independently of the CCS frameworks so that the Ministry of Justice can:
Expenditure recorded against the MoJ framework since 2020 is below:
Year | Contracted Expenditure | Off-Contract expenditure | Total Expenditure |
2020 | £20,217,548 | £1,193,788 | £21,411,336 |
2021 | £25,062,618 | £2,157,759 | £27,220,377 |
2022 | £26,883,747 | £4,856,616 | £31,740,363 |
2023 | £30,374,050 | £6,565,781 | £36,939,831 |
2024 | £31,625,158 | £7,037,731 | £38,662,889 |
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of women remanded in custody were (1) not sentenced to prison, and (2) sentenced to a short prison term less than the period on remand, in each of the past three years.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The percentage of women remanded in custody that were not sentenced to prison was 52% in 2022 and 2023. This increased slightly to 54% in 2024.
Percentage of women remanded in custody not receiving immediate custodial sentence
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Magistrates’ Courts | 68% | 65% | 67% |
Crown Courts | 45% | 45% | 45% |
Magistrates’ and Crown Courts | 52% | 52% | 54% |
Prisoners’ sentences are counted only once in these figures, at the court where they were sentenced: either at Magistrates’ or Crown Court.
Separate Magistrates’ and Crown Court figures are included in the table to show the varying custodial sentence rates, which are reflective of the different types of case sentenced at Magistrates’ and Crown courts.
Prisoners were remanded at some point in the proceedings, for any length of time (i.e. not necessarily remanded throughout court proceedings).
Further important caveats are found in the ‘Notes’ tab of the data source "Remands data tool: 2017 to 2024" (particularly notes 27-31), which is available through the following link: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2024 - GOV.UK.
Information relating to the total time spent on custodial remand is not centrally held by the Ministry of Justice, due to the considerable complexity in interpreting custodial journeys, which may include multiple cases in parallel. Although the Department has released estimates in the past, it has since been identified that results from the methodology previously used may no longer be accurate, and on that basis the Ministry of Justice cannot continue to use them. The Department is, however, working to improve its data and insights around this cohort of prisoners.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) staffing shortages and (b) interpreter availability on delays in magistrates’ courts.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on ineffective trials specifically caused by staffing shortages within HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). However, we monitor staffing levels closely and do not assess them to be a significant driver of ineffective trials in magistrates’ courts.
Staffing levels across HMCTS have remained broadly stable, with administrative staffing at junior grades (AA–EO) holding steady, and staffing at more senior grades (HEO–G6), including legal and administrative roles, showing an upward trend. These patterns reflect continued investment in workforce capacity and ongoing recruitment activity.
We recognise the importance of a reliable and efficient court system, and the impact on victims when trials do not proceed as planned. That is why the Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Brian Leveson to conduct an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Phase 2 of the review will consider the efficiency and timeliness of processes of the criminal courts through charge to conviction/acquittal.
The Ministry of Justice regularly monitors the impact of interpreter availability on court proceedings. According to the latest data published in the “Trial effectiveness in the courts” tool (covering up to December 2024), there were 364 ineffective trials in magistrates’ courts between July and December 2024 due to the unavailability of an interpreter. This represents 4% of all ineffective trials and less than 1% of all listed trials during that period.