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1123671

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Social Security and Child Support Tribunal appeals have taken longer than 52 weeks for a determination, in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	248645
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the table below:</p><p>SOCIAL SECURITY &amp; CHILD SUPPORT CLEARANCES 1<br>Period Number of clearances that exceeded 52 weeks from receipt<br>1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014 16,161<br>1 April 2014 - 31 March 2015 12,350<br>1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016 3,100<br>1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017 4,084<br>1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018 7,330<br>1 April 2018 - 31 December 2018 2 13,162</p><p>1. Data include hearings cleared with and without a Tribunal hearing</p><p>2. The latest period for which data are available. Provisional data and subject to further change</p><p>Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available.</p><p> </p><p><br>It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) recognises there are delays in the system and it is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. This includes 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability qualified members and up to 230 medical members.</p><p>In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals. Information on the new digital service can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal</p><p>We are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to understand what could be done to reduce the number of appeals being submitted to the Tribunal, through their focus on improving decision-making and the mandatory reconsideration process.</p><p>These measures will increase the capacity of the Tribunal. As a result, the number of appeals outstanding in the Tribunal is starting to fall as the number of cases heard by the Tribunal outweigh those sent to the Tribunal. If this continues, over time, we expect the time it takes for the Tribunal to hear, and the age of, appeals to reduce.</p><p>The time taken for the Tribunal to hear an appeal is mainly driven by the number of appeals sent to the Tribunal and the capacity of the Tribunal to deal with them. The number of appeals sent to the Tribunal is directly affected by changes in welfare policy.</p><p>The time it takes the Tribunal to hear an appeal is calculated from the time it is sent to the Tribunal to its final disposal. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing has been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier for its final disposal.</p><p>HMCTS is very sensitive to the needs of people who may be affected by waiting times for Tribunal hearings. Tribunal staff and judicial office-holders, are trained accordingly, with HMCTS’s reasonable adjustments policy and practice applied where appropriate. Guidance on the policy is published on GOV.UK. If an expedited hearing is sought, or where the Tribunal identifies a case which might benefit from an expedited hearing, a judge or caseworker will make a decision on the issue, taking all the circumstances of the case into account.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 16/05/2019 16:26:11 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1125245

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners' Release
	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 prisoners who have been released in error in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds East
	tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
	uin	252007
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>Information on releases in error are published as part of the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Digest. The latest publication can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-hm-prison-and-probation-service-digest-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-hm-prison-and-probation-service-digest-2017-to-2018</a></p><p> </p><p>Releases in error are rare and in the vast majority of cases offenders are returned to custody very quickly. We work closely with the police to recapture those at large and investigate each incident thoroughly to see what lessons can be learned.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 17/05/2019 12:03:21 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1125294

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Transform Justice blog entitled The secret room – who is listening to what in digital courts?, published on 11 April 2019, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy of reports in that blog that a secret video control room was placed in a court in Medway; and what information his Department hold on whether that is widespread practice in other courts.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	251946
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>There is no secret video control room at Medway Magistrates’ Court.</p><p>There is a control room, not accessible to the public, where the coordination of participants and the connection and disconnection of video hearings to the courtroom takes place. This function is carried out by a HMCTS video court administrator. There are no other courts operating a control room across the criminal court estate.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/05/2019 12:13:37 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1125310

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offenders: Electronic Tagging
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who has the power to amend the conditions of (a) bail and (b) court orders which are the subject of a GPS tag.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	251950
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>Once an individual is produced before a court it is only the court that has the power to amend the conditions of bail and court orders which are the subject of a GPS tag.</p><p> </p><p>The police can impose (limited) bail conditions both pre-and post-charge prior to an individual being produced before a court, although this cannot extend to any form of electronic monitoring.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 17/05/2019 12:05:25 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1125365

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Treatment Of, and Outcomes For, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Individuals in the Criminal Justice System Independent Review
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2019 to Question 235745 on Treatment of, and Outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Individuals in the Criminal Justice System Independent Review, when the review of the Supreme Court's recommendations will be completed; and what steps will be taken to ensure that his Department complies with the Court's ruling.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	251975
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>We are awaiting the Order from the Supreme Court setting out the instructions it has made in respect of the judgment. Once we have received this, we will come forward with proposals for reform in response to the judgment.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 17/05/2019 11:40:17 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1125411

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Aiding and Abetting: Ethnic Groups
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the ethnicity is of adults who are (a) charged and (b) convicted of joint enterprise in the latest period for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	251981
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>Joint enterprise is a common law doctrine that applies to any offence where more than one person is being charged and convicted of the same crime. The Ministry of Justice only collects information on the ethnicity of defendants that are prosecuted and convicted of specific criminal offences in England and Wales (i.e. murder, manslaughter, etc) in any given year. Information is not collated on whether a prosecution or conviction also relied on the law of joint enterprise. Such information may be held on court records, but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 251982 question first answered 17/05/2019 12:12:19 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1125412

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Aiding and Abetting: Ethnic Groups
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the ethnicity is of defendants under the age of 18 who have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of joint enterprise in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	251982
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>Joint enterprise is a common law doctrine that applies to any offence where more than one person is being charged and convicted of the same crime. The Ministry of Justice only collects information on the ethnicity of defendants that are prosecuted and convicted of specific criminal offences in England and Wales (i.e. murder, manslaughter, etc) in any given year. Information is not collated on whether a prosecution or conviction also relied on the law of joint enterprise. Such information may be held on court records, but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 251981 question first answered 17/05/2019 12:12:19 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1125434

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners: Parents
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the prison population are parents.
	tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
	tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
	uin	252094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally to a sufficient degree of accuracy for release. It is not mandatory for offenders on arrival at prisons establishments to provide this information and the interface would not be able to differentiate search criteria in order to obtain this percentage.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking forward recommendations, including giving governors the budget and flexibility to spend their resources appropriately to help prisoners keep important family or significant other ties which occurred in October 2017. Prison Governors are working in partnership with family services providers to meet the identified needs of prisoners, including developing relationships for prisoners who do not have access to family for several reasons including leaving the social care system.</p><p> </p><p>We commissioned Lord Farmer to undertake a review on the importance of family engagement to reduce reoffending and prevent intergenerational crime, the recommendations from which we are now implementing. Lord Farmer is currently carrying out a further review on family ties, focusing on female offenders, which is expected to be published shortly</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 17/05/2019 11:50:18 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1125585

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the waiting time for benefits appeals from the 40 week average cited by HM Courts and Tribunal Service.
	tabling member constituency	Tynemouth
	tabling member printed	Sir Alan Campbell
	uin	252492
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Justice recognises that there are delays in the system and is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. In the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, 225 new medical members and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been appointed and are now hearing cases.</p><p>The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and providing a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal</a></p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/05/2019 10:58:52 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	529 label Biography information for Sir Alan Campbell

1125618

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners' Release
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving an indeterminate public protection sentence were (a) released on licence and (b) subsequently recalled to prison in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
	tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
	uin	252600
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>It is for the independent Parole Board to review the detention of those prisoners serving an IPP sentence who have completed their tariff period. The Board will direct the release of these prisoners only if it is satisfied that the levels of risk posed to the general public are reduced enough that the National Probation Service and its partner agencies can safely manage them in the community under supervision.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst HM Prison and Probation Service is focused on giving all prisoners serving IPP sentences opportunities to progress towards release, public protection must remain our priority.</p><p> </p><p>The information you ask for is available in the public domain; however, I have provided it below for ease of reference.</p><p> </p><p>The following table provides the number of first releases from IPP sentences in each of the last 5 years:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015<strong>[1]</strong></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Releases</p></td><td><p>419</p></td><td><p>562</p></td><td><p>576</p></td><td><p>616</p></td><td><p>506</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>[1] Due to improvements in IT systems, the 2015 prison admissions data is now taken from a different source and, for statistical reporting purposes only, are produced using a different method. The 2015 figures from both the old and new systems have been presented to aid comparison.</p><p> </p><p>The following table provides the number of offenders recalled from IPP licences in each of the last 5 years. It should be noted that these are incidences of recall and that offenders may appear more than once if they have been recalled on multiple occasions. It should also be noted that the recall and release numbers in each corresponding year do not necessarily relate to the same individuals.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Recalls</p></td><td><p>96[2]</p></td><td><p>363</p></td><td><p>482</p></td><td><p>492</p></td><td><p>637</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>2 Published data for IPP recalls was not collated separately to other types of indeterminate sentence prior to September 2014, and so can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The following table shows the population of prisoners serving IPP sentences who have never been released as at the end of March each year since 2012:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>31 March 2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31 Mar 2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31 Mar 2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31 Mar 2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31 Mar 2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31 Mar 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31 Mar 2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31 March 2019</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6,017</p></td><td><p>5,809</p></td><td><p>5,206</p></td><td><p>4,756</p></td><td><p>4,133</p></td><td><p>3,528</p></td><td><p>2,884</p></td><td><p>2,403</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>As with any large-scale recording system, administrative IT systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland grouped question UIN 252602 question first answered 17/05/2019 12:10:06 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts