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 printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed question first answered answering member label attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1127983

registered interest
date	21/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Officers: Resignations
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the number of prison officers resigning within 12 months of taking up their posts; and whether those reasons include the level of violence in UK prisons.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL15868
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>The huge number of officers we have recently recruited inevitably means there are more staff - and more leavers with less than one years' experience. Attached is a table containing reason for leaving and grade. (Table i)</p><p> </p><p>We are working hard to retain staff, giving staff the biggest pay increase in a decade last year and by providing additional training.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/06/2019 16:00:03 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie attachment 1 file name Table i.xlsx title Table (i)
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1128066

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 21 May (HL Deb, col 1863), what consideration they have given to providing (1) separate waiting facilities for the parties, and (2) facilities to enable the giving of evidence by screen or video link, for court cases relating to domestic abuse.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL15915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>From context we have assumed the honourable member is asking about the family courts.</p><p> </p><p>(1) In family courts, vulnerable parties and witnesses may request the use of a separate entrance and waiting area. Where dedicated separate entrances or waiting areas are not available, court staff will make alternative arrangements wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>(2) In the family court over 300 protective screens have been provided over the last two years to ensure that vulnerable parties and witnesses can be shielded from an alleged abuser in the courtroom. Video links may also be used either from a secure location within the court building or from a remote location. Use of these facilities must be approved by the Judge. Use of telephone hearings for without notice Family Law Act injunction hearings is being encouraged to avoid the need for victims of domestic abuse to attend court.</p><p> </p><p>We are determined that the family courts should never be used to further or perpetrate abuse. The Government announced on 21 May 2019 the establishment of an expert panel to gather evidence of how the family courts protect children and parents in cases of domestic abuse and other serious offences. Once formed, it is intended that the panel will report within three months.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 06/06/2019 15:23:08 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1128134

registered interest
date	23/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Prisons
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision, if any, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service has made for courts to sit in prisons when a prisoner refuses either to attend court or to take part in a video link between a prison and a court.
tabling member printed	Lord Beith
uin	HL15948
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>A decision that a court should sit within a prison when a defendant refuses to attend court in person or by video link is for the judiciary. If such a decision is made HMCTS , in conjunction with HMPPS Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service makes the necessary arrangements.</p><p> </p><p>The Court has no legal power to direct a prison officer (including a Governor) to use force or to compel a prisoner to attend court.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 06/06/2019 16:42:07 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	513 label Biography information for Lord Beith

1128147

registered interest
date	23/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment: Appeals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to decrease waiting times for Personal Independence Payment tribunal appeals.
tabling member printed	Baroness Thomas of Winchester
uin	HL15961
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 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. 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.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 06/06/2019 15:53:03 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3785 label Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester

1129521

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Repatriation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, as a result of international conventions and bilateral agreements on the transfer of sentenced persons, how many people have (1) returned to the UK from any such country, and (2) been repatriated from the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL16006
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to punish and deport them. More than 48,000 foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010, and in the last financial year more than 5,000 were removed from prisons, immigration removal centres, and the community.</p><p> </p><p>Prisoner transfer is one of the mechanisms used to remove foreign national offenders. Between 1 May 2014 and 31 May 2019, 464 sentenced prisoners were transferred from England and Wales to other countries under international prisoner transfer arrangements. During the same period 233 sentenced prisoners were transferred to England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>The transfer of prisoners into and out of Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 13/06/2019 12:14:55 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1129554

registered interest
date	04/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Woodhill Prison: Prison Officers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to conduct an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the appearance before an employment tribunal of Prison Officer Ben Plaistow of HMP Woodhill.
tabling member printed	Lord Ramsbotham
uin	HL16039
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>We strongly condemn homophobia, or any other kind of discrimination, in our prisons. As a result of the issues raised in and by the Tribunal a formal internal investigation is underway. This is being undertaken by a senior manager outside the prisons line management chain. Once that has concluded the interim Director General of HM Prisons will consider what action, including potentially disciplinary action, may be appropriate.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 18/06/2019 15:51:42 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3744 label Biography information for Lord Ramsbotham

1130258

registered interest
date	05/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment: Appeals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current mean waiting time for Personal Independence Payment appeals; how that differs from the mean waiting time for the previous year; and, if the mean waiting time has risen compared to the previous year, what are the reasons for that rise.
tabling member printed	Lord Scriven
uin	HL16119
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is set out in the table below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Current and comparative mean waiting times<sup>1</sup> for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October – December 18<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>31 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October – December 17</p></td><td><p>25 weeks</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>1. Waiting time is interpreted as average clearance time - time taken from appeal receipt to outcome.</p><p>2. The latest period for which data are available</p><p>The volume of appeals against decisions on PIP has built up since it was introduced as a new benefit, incrementally over time, from 2013. As the number of appeals has increased, so has the average waiting time for an appeal outcome.</p><p>Waiting times are calculated from receipt of an appeal 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 had 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>Waiting times can fluctuate temporarily and geographically, owing to a number of variable factors, including volumes of benefit decisions made locally, availability of medical/disability members, venue capacity and the complexity of the issue in dispute. Any disparity in waiting times is monitored and investigated locally.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 20/06/2019 16:55:12 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4333 label Biography information for Lord Scriven

1132307

registered interest
date	14/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Peers: Writs of Summons
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many writs of summons were sent to Peers in (1) each region of England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland, in 2017.
tabling member printed	Lord Farmer
uin	HL16376
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2019 answer text <p>Following the dissolution of Parliament for the General Election in 2017, a total of 823 writs of summons were sent to Peers in the UK and Northern<br>Ireland.</p><p>Information on the number of writs issued by region is no longer held by the Crown Office, which is responsible for issuing the writs. Writs are issued to Preferred contact addresses provided by Peers to the House of Lords.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 28/06/2019 13:47:36 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4321 label Biography information for Lord Farmer

1132642

registered interest
date	17/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	National Preventive Mechanism
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 4 June (HL15680), what is their response to the recommendations on the National Preventive Mechanism, made in the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee against Torture following its most recent periodic review of the UK.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL16420
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government continues to comply with its obligations under the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, under which we established the independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) in 2009.</p><p> </p><p>We note the recommendations made by the UN Committee Against Torture in relation to the NPM. We expect to provide a response on those issues as part of the next periodic report to the Committee Against Torture in May 2023.</p><p> </p><p>We will explore with the NPM how the issues raised by the Committee may be addressed. The department facilitates the laying in Parliament of the annual report of the NPM and acknowledges the helpful recommendations that it contains. The latest Written Ministerial Statement to this effect was laid before Parliament on 29 January 2019 (HLWS1249).</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 01/07/2019 16:53:13 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1133457

registered interest
date	19/06/2019
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the target times for (1) approving, and (2) completing, applications for Release on Temporary Licence for each prison in England and Wales.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL16492
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>We recently made changes so that Governors can consider release on temporary licence (ROTL) earlier and in more cases, and prisoners can enter the workplace sooner. By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, temporary release from prison helps ensure offenders do not return to crime when they leave prison.</p><p> </p><p>ROTL must be a standing item in sentence planning meetings, starting with the one immediately before the offender becomes eligible to be considered for day release or after arriving in open conditions. An outline ROTL plan for the remainder of the sentence should be in place as soon as possible and no later than 8 weeks after arrival in open conditions, which is where we expect the majority of ROTL.</p><p> </p><p>Governors must ensure that all necessary risk assessments and security arrangements are actioned before ROTL is approved and takes place. This includes consultation with probation services and external agencies and allowing victims the opportunity to make representations about conditions to be attached to any release. Guidance to practitioners allows four weeks for this consultation.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 03/07/2019 16:38:04 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley