Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

102060

registered interest
date	31/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Ministry of Justice: Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he intends to answer Questions 210325, 210324 and 210323 due for answer on 17 October 2014; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
uin	212855
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>It was not possible to answer these questions within the timeframe for the original questions as the information was being assembled from a variety of statistical sources. It is still not ready, but I will write to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House Library.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 05/11/2014 17:30:47 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

102061

registered interest
date	31/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Officers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer vacancies at each grade there were in each prison in each month since January 2014.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	212856
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>Prison Officer vacancies are defined as a deficit of staff in post compared to benchmark staffing level. Benchmarks have now been agreed for most public sector Prison Service establishments which allow the reporting of staffing levels against benchmarks at prison level. Prior to the agreement of staffing benchmarks the inconsistency and uncertainty in the data held by the centre meant it was not possible to provide an accurate prison by prison breakdown of vacancies. The first set of verified data using agreed benchmarks was for 30 June 2014.</p><p> </p><p>NOMS is aiming to recruit approx 1,700 Prison Officers in 2014/15, into post or onto merit lists. Some of these are already in post. This would be sufficient to fill all current vacancies and those created by attrition by March 2015. Detached duty is being used in the short term to fill vacancies.</p><p> </p><p><strong><br> </strong></p><p><strong>Band 3 to 5 Officers in Post at 30 June 2014 and Benchmark Target</strong></p><table><thead><tr><td><p><strong>Establishment</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Staff in Post (30th June 2014)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Benchmark Target</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Difference</strong></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p>Gartree</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>187</p></td><td><p>-27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Glen Parva</p></td><td><p>180</p></td><td><p>186</p></td><td><p>-6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Leicester</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>113</p></td><td><p>-13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lincoln</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>161</p></td><td><p>-11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Sea Camp</p></td><td><p>40</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>-10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nottingham</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>210</p></td><td><p>-20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Onley</p></td><td><p>120</p></td><td><p>134</p></td><td><p>-14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ranby</p></td><td><p>180</p></td><td><p>196</p></td><td><p>-16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stocken</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>156</p></td><td><p>-6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sudbury</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>62</p></td><td><p>-12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Whatton</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>164</p></td><td><p>-4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bedford</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>137</p></td><td><p>-7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bure</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>141</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Chelmsford</p></td><td><p>170</p></td><td><p>191</p></td><td><p>-21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Highpoint</p></td><td><p>230</p></td><td><p>246</p></td><td><p>-16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hollesley Bay</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>-7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Littlehey</p></td><td><p>220</p></td><td><p>234</p></td><td><p>-14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Norwich</p></td><td><p>200</p></td><td><p>196</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>The Mount</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>176</p></td><td><p>-36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Warren Hill</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>92</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wayland</p></td><td><p>170</p></td><td><p>167</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Brixton</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>151</p></td><td><p>-11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Coldingley</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>97</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>High Down</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>206</p></td><td><p>-16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Isis</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>147</p></td><td><p>-7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pentonville</p></td><td><p>270</p></td><td><p>272</p></td><td><p>-2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wandsworth</p></td><td><p>300</p></td><td><p>296</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wormwood Scrubs</p></td><td><p>240</p></td><td><p>245</p></td><td><p>-5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Belmarsh</p></td><td><p>410</p></td><td><p>402</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Frankland</p></td><td><p>490</p></td><td><p>492</p></td><td><p>-2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Full Sutton</p></td><td><p>380</p></td><td><p>379</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Long Lartin</p></td><td><p>350</p></td><td><p>334</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Manchester</p></td><td><p>430</p></td><td><p>410</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wakefield</p></td><td><p>330</p></td><td><p>320</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Whitemoor</p></td><td><p>340</p></td><td><p>349</p></td><td><p>-9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Woodhill</p></td><td><p>350</p></td><td><p>394</p></td><td><p>-44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Elmley</p></td><td><p>230</p></td><td><p>238</p></td><td><p>-8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ford</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>61</p></td><td><p>-11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lewes</p></td><td><p>170</p></td><td><p>174</p></td><td><p>-4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Maidstone</p></td><td><p>110</p></td><td><p>107</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Rochester</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>163</p></td><td><p>-13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Standford Hill</p></td><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>68</p></td><td><p>-8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Swaleside</p></td><td><p>240</p></td><td><p>239</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Deerbolt</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>126</p></td><td><p>24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Durham</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>191</p></td><td><p>-1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Holme House</p></td><td><p>240</p></td><td><p>221</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kirklevington Grange</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Garth</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>207</p></td><td><p>-17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Haverigg</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>114</p></td><td><p>-14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kennet</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>62</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kirkham</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>72</p></td><td><p>-2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancaster Farms</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>129</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Liverpool</p></td><td><p>250</p></td><td><p>254</p></td><td><p>-4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Preston</p></td><td><p>180</p></td><td><p>188</p></td><td><p>-8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Risley</p></td><td><p>200</p></td><td><p>189</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Thorn Cross</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>68</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wymott</p></td><td><p>210</p></td><td><p>212</p></td><td><p>-2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aylesbury</p></td><td><p>110</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>-20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bullingdon</p></td><td><p>200</p></td><td><p>215</p></td><td><p>-15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Huntercombe</p></td><td><p>90</p></td><td><p>94</p></td><td><p>-4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Isle of Wight</p></td><td><p>270</p></td><td><p>290</p></td><td><p>-20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Winchester</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>180</p></td><td><p>-20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bristol</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>155</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Channings Wood</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>148</p></td><td><p>-8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dartmoor</p></td><td><p>120</p></td><td><p>121</p></td><td><p>-1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Erlestoke</p></td><td><p>110</p></td><td><p>110</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exeter</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>141</p></td><td><p>-1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Guys Marsh</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>125</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Leyhill</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Portland</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>137</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cardiff</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>187</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Swansea</p></td><td><p>120</p></td><td><p>124</p></td><td><p>-4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Usk/Prescoed</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>83</p></td><td><p>-13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Brinsford</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>182</p></td><td><p>-32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Featherstone</p></td><td><p>120</p></td><td><p>128</p></td><td><p>-8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hewell</p></td><td><p>220</p></td><td><p>235</p></td><td><p>-15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stafford</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>137</p></td><td><p>-7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stoke Heath</p></td><td><p>160</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Swinfen Hall</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>163</p></td><td><p>-13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hull</p></td><td><p>210</p></td><td><p>244</p></td><td><p>-34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Leeds</p></td><td><p>250</p></td><td><p>226</p></td><td><p>24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Moorland</p></td><td><p>420</p></td><td><p>435</p></td><td><p>-15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wealstun</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>184</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p>1) Although benchmarks are agreed they are still subject to review and can therefore change if necessary to meet the requirements at the establishment to ensure a safe, decent and secure environment.</p><p>2) Benchmark figures do not include transition staff at establishments.</p><p>3) Only establishments with a finalised benchmark are included within the table. Benchmarks have not been set for the four Immigration removal Centres which NOMS runs for the Home Office, Buckley Hall which was benchmarked in the first competition and the five establishments commissioned by the Youth Justice Board. Benchmarks for women’s establishments are being finalised and are planned to be concluded by December 2014.</p><p>4) NOMS manages vacancies through the use of payment plus for officer grades, overtime, agency staff and through the use of temporary detached duty.</p><p>5) New capacity opening at Hull and Chelmsford has recently increased the benchmark requirement for which recruitment will be required.</p><p>6) Staff in Post figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time to ensure consistency of reporting. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty with which information is held. However, it does mean that the level of shortfalls presented here is the difference of the benchmark to the rounded staff numbers and will therefore differ slightly from the unrounded figures which are used internally.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 05/11/2014 17:31:00 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

101966

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of officials in his Department have undergone specialist training on working with victims of sexual assault in a court environment.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	212599
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Training provided to court staff is not restricted to victims of sexual assault but covers all vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses. All court staff who interact with vulnerable and intimidated witnesses are provided with the relevant training via e-learning and face to face training to help support them in this role. There are two principal training courses: Crown &amp; Magistrates Court Witness Liaison Officer Awareness training and Vulnerable &amp; Intimidated Witnesses Awareness training for court ushers.</p><p> </p><p>Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service remains committed to training court staff who come into direct contact with victims and witnesses in the court environment, and has pledged to set ‘specific job objectives on the care of victims’ for operational staff by April 2015.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 04/11/2014 16:55:55 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

101967

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Drugs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of violent incidents in prisons linked to legal highs in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	212598
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>Violence of any kind in prison is not tolerated and all assaults are treated extremely seriously. The reason behind a violent incident is not routinely recorded and therefore we do not have an estimate of the number of violent incidents that might be attributable to the use of legal highs. The National Offender Management Service is taking appropriate steps to tackle violence and after conducting a comprehensive review will be issuing further guidance early next year. Work is also underway with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that violent crimes are investigated and prosecuted.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 04/11/2014 17:37:05 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

101968

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals against placement orders have been issued in family courts since 2010; and how many of those appeals have been allowed.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	212596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>HMCTS’ Family Court case management system records contested placement applications and their outcome. Data is available from the system from 2011 only as the functionality to record placement orders went fully live in that year. Data from 2011 to September 2014 is provided in the table below. Data from 2010-11 could only be provided at disproportionate cost due to the need to manually check local case files. The Family Court case management system does not hold information on placement order appeals. It records any appeal applications made within a case but not what the appeal was against or whether it was upheld or rejected. We could only say how many appeals were made against placement orders by manually checking each case file in which a placement order was made to see if it had been appealed and check the outcome. This would incur disproportionate costs.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Contested Placement Order Applications and Orders Made January 2011 to September 2014</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Calendar Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Contested Placement Applications</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Placement Orders Made</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011*</strong></p></td><td><p>272</p></td><td><p>239</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>354</p></td><td><p>312</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>338</p></td><td><p>233</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014 (January to September)*</strong></p></td><td><p>127</p></td><td><p>62</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>*Note:</p><ul><li>Functionality to record Adoption and Children Act 2002 proceedings (including placements) was added to the family case management system by December 2010 but the data was not considered to have stabilised until the end of the first quarter in calendar year 2011.</li><li>Order figures are 'case tracked' and therefore not all applications will necessarily have been concluded, especially those made in 2014. This is the reason that there are a higher proportion of unconcluded cases in January-September 2014, compared to previous years: as placement cases can take several months, many of those contested will not yet have concluded.</li></ul> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 212597 question first answered 04/11/2014 17:48:42 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

101969

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many opposed applications for placement orders have been issued by local authorities in family courts since 2010; and how many of those applications have been ordered by the court.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	212597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>HMCTS’ Family Court case management system records contested placement applications and their outcome. Data is available from the system from 2011 only as the functionality to record placement orders went fully live in that year. Data from 2011 to September 2014 is provided in the table below. Data from 2010-11 could only be provided at disproportionate cost due to the need to manually check local case files. The Family Court case management system does not hold information on placement order appeals. It records any appeal applications made within a case but not what the appeal was against or whether it was upheld or rejected. We could only say how many appeals were made against placement orders by manually checking each case file in which a placement order was made to see if it had been appealed and check the outcome. This would incur disproportionate costs.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Contested Placement Order Applications and Orders Made January 2011 to September 2014</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Calendar Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Contested Placement Applications</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Placement Orders Made</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011*</strong></p></td><td><p>272</p></td><td><p>239</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>354</p></td><td><p>312</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>338</p></td><td><p>233</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014 (January to September)*</strong></p></td><td><p>127</p></td><td><p>62</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>*Note:</p><ul><li>Functionality to record Adoption and Children Act 2002 proceedings (including placements) was added to the family case management system by December 2010 but the data was not considered to have stabilised until the end of the first quarter in calendar year 2011.</li><li>Order figures are 'case tracked' and therefore not all applications will necessarily have been concluded, especially those made in 2014. This is the reason that there are a higher proportion of unconcluded cases in January-September 2014, compared to previous years: as placement cases can take several months, many of those contested will not yet have concluded.</li></ul> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 212596 question first answered 04/11/2014 17:48:42 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

101973

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Fines
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value was of fines (a) issued by the courts and (b) collected was in financial year 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	212720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. This is why there has been a year on year increase in the amount of financial penalties collected over the last three years, reaching a record high in 2013-14.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS are actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p>The total value of fines (a) issued by the courts and (b) collected in the financial year 2013-14 is set out below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial Year</p></td><td><p>Amount imposed</p></td><td><p>Amount collected</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>£420,255,840</p></td><td><p>£290,311,831</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The total amount collected in the financial year 2013-14 was a record high and was £5.8 million higher than the previous financial year.</p><p> </p><p>The amounts above include all elements of financial impositions (excluding confiscation orders): fines, costs, compensation and victim surcharge. The amounts collected in a particular year can relate to impositions from that year or any previous year. The amounts include those that were being paid by instalments or were not due for payment by the end of the year.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 04/11/2014 16:15:47 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

101974

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Divorce: Internet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the announcement on 23 October 2014 by the Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties on more support for separating couples and parents, how much of the new £2 million package will be spent on improving the Government's Sorting Out Separation website.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh East
tabling member printed	Sheila Gilmore
uin	212777
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to making sure that when people separate they do it in the best possible way. Too many people end up fighting expensive and confrontational court battles when they could be helped to resolve their problems outside the courts. However when people do end up in court it is imperative that they have the right advice and information.</p><p> </p><p>The new package of support which I announced on 23 October is aimed at keeping disputes away from court, while those who end up in court will be provided with better support. The £2m funding identified in the announcement will be used to support the increase of legal and practical support for litigants in person in the civil and family courts. This strategy has been agreed with the legal and advice sectors and we are working with them on implementation.</p><p>The funding will not be used to support improvements to the DWP's Sorting out Separation website. This is because we are already working closely with DWP to improve and refine Sorting out Seperation. The DWP has appointed commercial providers with digital expertise to run the new contract for strategic development and improvement of the online service and to raise its profile for online search. MoJ and DWP are working closely with providers as their recommendations are implemented.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 04/11/2014 16:41:29 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	3965 label Biography information for Sheila Gilmore

101975

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Divorce
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to integrate the new supporting separated parents in dispute helpline pilot to be run by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service with the Sorting Out Separation Service and the Child Maintenance Options Service operated by the Department for Work and Pensions.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh East
tabling member printed	Sheila Gilmore
uin	212778
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>The ‘supporting separated parents in dispute helpline’ pilot is complementary to the online Sorting out Separation information and advice service. However, the pilot is different because it will test the provision of tailored information and signposting based on a telephone discussion with an experienced Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) professional. The Cafcass professional will signpost separating parents in dispute to sources of information, advice and support appropriate to their circumstances, which could include Sorting out Separation or the Child Maintenance Options online and telephone service, as appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, we are working closely with DWP to improve and refine Sorting out Separation. The DWP has appointed commercial providers with digital expertise to run the new contract for strategic development and improvement of the online service and to raise its profile for online search. MoJ and DWP are working closely with providers as their recommendations are implemented.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 04/11/2014 09:07:21 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	3965 label Biography information for Sheila Gilmore

101664

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Public Opinion
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
uin	212505
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record expenditure on focus groups and surveys. To obtain this information from across the Ministry would incur a disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 05/11/2014 17:32:16 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed