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1019521

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	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 ensure that access to justice is maintained after the implementation period of the Withdrawal Agreement.
	tabling member constituency	Leicester East
	tabling member printed	Keith Vaz
	uin	198178
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>The ability of individuals to resolve their legal problems is vital to the rule of law and the government will continue its commitment to maintain access to justice.</p><p> </p><p>The Political Declaration establishes the parameters of an ambitious, broad and flexible future partnership between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). This includes a commitment to explore options for a new agreement on family judicial cooperation. It also sets out the ambition for a future security partnership, which will provide for comprehensive, close, balanced and reciprocal law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.</p><p> </p><p>We have also reached agreement with the EU on how existing civil and criminal judicial cooperation cases will be brought to their conclusion in the event that we are unable to reach an agreement on a satisfactory future relationship at the end of the implementation period.</p><ul><li>On civil, we have broadly agreed with the EU that if proceedings are started ahead of the end of the implementation period, they will be concluded under the existing EU rules and that subsequent judgments in those proceedings will also be enforced.</li></ul><ul><li>On criminal, any request for judicial cooperation before the end of the Implementation Period, under the EU measures that remain in force during the IP, will proceed until it is concluded under the applicable EU rules. This applies both to requests accepted by the UK and those requests made by the UK to remaining member states.</li></ul> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/12/2018 12:28:39 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	338 label Biography information for Keith Vaz

1019494

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Child Arrangements Orders: Grandparents
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals in relation to access rights to grandchildren by grandparents; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Luton North
	tabling member printed	Kelvin Hopkins
	uin	198136
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government is keen to take steps wherever possible to reduce conflict within families when relationships come to an end. In that context, the Government’s current priority is to reform the law on the process for obtaining a divorce.</p><p> </p><p>I am separately considering what measures Government could take to help more grandchildren maintain contact with grandparents following parental separation and will make an announcement about the Government’s plans in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/12/2018 13:15:42 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	2 label Biography information for Kelvin Hopkins

1019832

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Fines
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) court fines and (b) surcharges remain uncollected; and what steps he is taking to increase the rate of collection for those penalties.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	198793
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>We are not able to provide information on the proportion of the original fines and victim surcharge that remains outstanding for without incurring disproportionate cost. In order to extract this information we would need to conduct a manual search of all current financial penalty accounts within our fines database. Figures for the total amount of outstanding fines are published and can be found here</p><p> </p><ul><li><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727387/HMCTS_Trust_Statement_2017-18_v16_web.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727387/HMCTS_Trust_Statement_2017-18_v16_web.pdf</a></li></ul><p> </p><p> </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 clamping down on fine defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. The courts will do everything within their powers to trace those who do not pay. Money can be deducted from an offender's earnings or from benefits if they are unemployed. Other ‘upfront’ compliance actions include, increased use of telephone and text message chasing and use of tracing tools. Warrants can be issued instructing approved enforcement agents to seize and sell goods belonging to the offender. Ultimately an offender can be imprisoned for non-payment of their fine.</p><p> </p><p>Targeted initiatives to improve enforcement of financial penalties include the recent historic debt project. This project which commenced in September 2016 resulted in the re-working of accounts which had previously been administratively cancelled. As of November 2018, £34.3 million has been collected as a result of this project. Lessons learnt from the Project have been incorporated into business as usual processes within NCES.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/12/2018 12:23:15 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1019813

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Opening Hours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the effect on HM Courts and Tribunals Service staff will be included in the evaluation of the flexible operating hours pilots at (a) Brentford County Court, and (b) Manchester Civil Justice Centre.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	198789
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>As part of the Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Reform Programme, the Flexible Operating Hours (FOH) project was set up to look at options to maximise the use of our court rooms by using them at different times of the day, outside of the traditional hours of 10am – 4pm. On 16 November 2018, it was announced that HMCTS will be proceeding with two pilots in the Civil and Family Courts in Brentford County Court and Manchester Civil Justice Centre and a revised Pilots Prospectus was published. Local Implementation Teams in Brentford and Manchester will finalise the pilot designs and start dates, which are likely to be in Spring 2019.</p><p> </p><p>A key objective of the FOH pilots is to understand the impacts of FOH for all court users, including HMCTS staff. An Evaluation Advisory Group has been established to ensure a balanced and comprehensive assessment of pilot activity by independent assessors. Consultation with trade unions will take place under separate arrangements in recognition of the need to consider FOH in the context of wider organisational changes affecting HMCTS staff.</p><p> </p><p>In Manchester Civil Justice Centre, the total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff is 205 with 29.5 FTE at Band A to D, 146 FTE at Band E and 29.5 FTE at Band F. In Brentford County Court, the total number of FTE staff is 15.5 with 1 FTE at Band C, 2 FTE at Band D, 11 FTE at Band E and 1.5 FTE at Band F. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.5. We are committed to ensuring that courts and tribunals have adequate staff to meet operational demands. Staffing requirements for the FOH pilots will be considered by the Local Implementation Teams.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 198790 198791 198792 question first answered 11/12/2018 12:17:34 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1019815

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Opening Hours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which trade unions have been included on the Evaluation Advisory Group for the flexible operating hours pilots at (a) Brentford County Court, and (b) Manchester Civil Justice Centre.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	198790
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>As part of the Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Reform Programme, the Flexible Operating Hours (FOH) project was set up to look at options to maximise the use of our court rooms by using them at different times of the day, outside of the traditional hours of 10am – 4pm. On 16 November 2018, it was announced that HMCTS will be proceeding with two pilots in the Civil and Family Courts in Brentford County Court and Manchester Civil Justice Centre and a revised Pilots Prospectus was published. Local Implementation Teams in Brentford and Manchester will finalise the pilot designs and start dates, which are likely to be in Spring 2019.</p><p> </p><p>A key objective of the FOH pilots is to understand the impacts of FOH for all court users, including HMCTS staff. An Evaluation Advisory Group has been established to ensure a balanced and comprehensive assessment of pilot activity by independent assessors. Consultation with trade unions will take place under separate arrangements in recognition of the need to consider FOH in the context of wider organisational changes affecting HMCTS staff.</p><p> </p><p>In Manchester Civil Justice Centre, the total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff is 205 with 29.5 FTE at Band A to D, 146 FTE at Band E and 29.5 FTE at Band F. In Brentford County Court, the total number of FTE staff is 15.5 with 1 FTE at Band C, 2 FTE at Band D, 11 FTE at Band E and 1.5 FTE at Band F. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.5. We are committed to ensuring that courts and tribunals have adequate staff to meet operational demands. Staffing requirements for the FOH pilots will be considered by the Local Implementation Teams.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 198789 198791 198792 question first answered 11/12/2018 12:17:34 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1019819

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Opening Hours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of minimum staffing levels required for the flexible operating hours pilots to be undertaken at (a) Brentford County Court, and (b) Manchester Civil Justice Centre.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	198792
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>As part of the Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Reform Programme, the Flexible Operating Hours (FOH) project was set up to look at options to maximise the use of our court rooms by using them at different times of the day, outside of the traditional hours of 10am – 4pm. On 16 November 2018, it was announced that HMCTS will be proceeding with two pilots in the Civil and Family Courts in Brentford County Court and Manchester Civil Justice Centre and a revised Pilots Prospectus was published. Local Implementation Teams in Brentford and Manchester will finalise the pilot designs and start dates, which are likely to be in Spring 2019.</p><p> </p><p>A key objective of the FOH pilots is to understand the impacts of FOH for all court users, including HMCTS staff. An Evaluation Advisory Group has been established to ensure a balanced and comprehensive assessment of pilot activity by independent assessors. Consultation with trade unions will take place under separate arrangements in recognition of the need to consider FOH in the context of wider organisational changes affecting HMCTS staff.</p><p> </p><p>In Manchester Civil Justice Centre, the total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff is 205 with 29.5 FTE at Band A to D, 146 FTE at Band E and 29.5 FTE at Band F. In Brentford County Court, the total number of FTE staff is 15.5 with 1 FTE at Band C, 2 FTE at Band D, 11 FTE at Band E and 1.5 FTE at Band F. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.5. We are committed to ensuring that courts and tribunals have adequate staff to meet operational demands. Staffing requirements for the FOH pilots will be considered by the Local Implementation Teams.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 198789 198790 198791 question first answered 11/12/2018 12:17:35 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1019817

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many FTE staff are employed at each grade at (a) Brentford County Court, and (b) Manchester Civil Justice Centre.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	198791
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>As part of the Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Reform Programme, the Flexible Operating Hours (FOH) project was set up to look at options to maximise the use of our court rooms by using them at different times of the day, outside of the traditional hours of 10am – 4pm. On 16 November 2018, it was announced that HMCTS will be proceeding with two pilots in the Civil and Family Courts in Brentford County Court and Manchester Civil Justice Centre and a revised Pilots Prospectus was published. Local Implementation Teams in Brentford and Manchester will finalise the pilot designs and start dates, which are likely to be in Spring 2019.</p><p> </p><p>A key objective of the FOH pilots is to understand the impacts of FOH for all court users, including HMCTS staff. An Evaluation Advisory Group has been established to ensure a balanced and comprehensive assessment of pilot activity by independent assessors. Consultation with trade unions will take place under separate arrangements in recognition of the need to consider FOH in the context of wider organisational changes affecting HMCTS staff.</p><p> </p><p>In Manchester Civil Justice Centre, the total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff is 205 with 29.5 FTE at Band A to D, 146 FTE at Band E and 29.5 FTE at Band F. In Brentford County Court, the total number of FTE staff is 15.5 with 1 FTE at Band C, 2 FTE at Band D, 11 FTE at Band E and 1.5 FTE at Band F. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.5. We are committed to ensuring that courts and tribunals have adequate staff to meet operational demands. Staffing requirements for the FOH pilots will be considered by the Local Implementation Teams.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 198789 198790 198792 question first answered 11/12/2018 12:17:34 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1019516

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Fireworks: Misuse
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of offences relating to the misuse of fireworks in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	198262
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>Court data held on prosecutions summarises into specific offence categories. There is not a combined group of fireworks offences, but there are some individual detailed offences that relate specifically to fireworks for which data is available. For example, ‘Possessing fireworks etc. in, or when entering, a designated sports ground’ and ‘Throwing or firing any fireworks in or into a street’. Numbers of prosecutions and convictions for these offences are published here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738814/HO-Code-Tool-2017.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738814/HO-Code-Tool-2017.xlsx</a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/12/2018 12:07:01 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

1019834

	registered interest
	date	04/12/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Consultants
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service is expecting to spend from the public purse on that service's change management consultancy contracts.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	198794
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>The HMCTS change management consultancy contract is with pwc, who provide a delivery partner service to support our reform programme. Overall, we are scheduled to spend up to £30 million with them on the contract which was signed in July 2017, and runs for two years, with an option for a one-year extension. It should be noted that this is a strategic partnership contract that replaced several individual contracts and as such gives us access to specialist skills across the change spectrum.</p><p> </p><p>The breakdown of the spend across the financial years can be shown in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>17/18 FY Spend</p></td><td><p>£10,418,186.08</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18/19 FY Forecast spend</p></td><td><p>£14,808,420.77</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Remaining Contract Cover</p></td><td><p>£4,773,393.15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£30,000,000.00</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/12/2018 12:19:49 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1020608

	registered interest
	date	06/12/2018
	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 he is taking to reduce waiting times for appeals for social security and child support cases.
	tabling member constituency	Bridgend
	tabling member printed	Mrs Madeleine Moon
	uin	199804
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 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 it 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 have already been appointed and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. 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 to enable speedier processing of appeals and provide 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/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appeals" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appeals</a></p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/12/2018 16:36:10 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1490 label Biography information for Mrs Madeleine Moon