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1491362

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Aiding and Abetting: Autism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with autism have been (a) convicted and (b) acquitted under joint enterprise since the Supreme Court judgement of 18 February 2016 in R v Jogee; and how many of those convicted were (i) first and (ii) secondary offenders.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	42251
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2022 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not collect centrally, information on whether a defendant in criminal proceedings has autism or whether a conviction or acquittal related to joint enterprise. Such information may be held on court records but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 06/09/2022 08:24:57 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1340298

	registered interest
	date	25/06/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Breastfeeding: Public Places
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to protect breastfeeding mothers from being photographed in public.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	22212
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2021 answer text <p>This behaviour may already be captured by existing offences.</p><p> </p><p>However, we are keenly aware of concerns that have been expressed over the changes in technology, including the misuse of photography, social media, imagery, and the opportunities to abuse and upset others that such developments can bring.</p><p> </p><p>We have therefore asked the Law Commission to review the law in this area to ensure victims are properly protected.</p><p> </p><p>It is important that any changes to the law in such sensitive areas, are thoroughly assessed and fully evidenced.</p><p> </p><p>The review has looked at the question of non-consensual photography in public places, including whether recording and sharing images of breastfeeding should be captured as “intimate” imagery for the purposes of any reformed criminal law.</p><p> </p><p>The Government awaits the Law Commission’s findings with interest and shall consider them carefully.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 30/06/2021 16:49:44 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1198772

	registered interest
	date	28/05/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Criminal Legal Aid Review
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendations of the Law Society's submission to Criminal Legal Aid Review, published in February 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	52555
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2020 answer text <p>In order to focus on the most pressing issues for practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic we agreed to temporarily pause our work on the Criminal Legal Aid Review in order to focus on short term sustainability issues. We will return to the review, which has a wider focus on long term sustainability of the criminal legal aid market as quickly as we can, while doing all we can to mitigate the current crisis and support justice recovery.</p><p> </p><p>On 28 February 2020, as part of the review, we launched a consultation on policy proposals for the “Criminal legal Aid Review - An accelerated package of measures amending the criminal legal aid fee schemes”. This consultation remains open and we continue to engage with various stakeholder and representative bodies and value the contributions being made. Once the consultation closes, the Government will publish its response after carefully considering the issues raised by the Law Society and others who respond to the consultation.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 09/06/2020 18:00:36 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1309042

	registered interest
	date	14/04/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Importance of Strengthening Female Offenders' Family and other Relationships to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime Review
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on implementing the recommendations of the 2019 Farmer Review For Women.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	181123
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government has made good progress in implementing the recommendations of the Farmer Review for Women, since its publication in June 2019. Ten recommendations have already been implemented and a further eight are expected to be completed this year. Achievements so far include increased access to telephone contact in court custody suites, allowances for the increased use of Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL), amending the eligibility for Child Resettlement Leave to include primary carers as well as sole carers, and the rollout of video calling across the Women’s Estate.</p><p> </p><p>As set out in the Female Offender Strategy, the Government is working to ensure women’s personal circumstances are identified and shared by all agencies in the criminal justice system, in order to inform decisions and support. Lord Farmer’s recommendation on the Personal Circumstances File forms part of this work.</p><p> </p><p>We are also committed to increasing the delivery of quality and timely pre-sentence reports (PSRs) and understand the particular importance of PSRs for women. HM Prison and Probation Service has developed a Pre-Sentence Report interview checklist which focuses on the specific needs of female offenders. Following a series of briefing events, this was rolled out nationally in August 2019 and is available to all practitioners.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, in the Sentencing White Paper we committed to ensuring that probation staff are supported to deliver a high standard of reports and to significantly increase the proportion of court disposals which benefit from a PSR. This pilot has now launched, and will be in all 15 pilot magistrate courts across 10 probation regions in England and Wales by mid-May. One element of this pilot looks specifically at female offenders, given this cohort often have particularly complex needs. We will use the findings from this pilot to further inform how we take forward Lord Farmer’s recommendation.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 181124 181125 question first answered 19/04/2021 15:43:21 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1522728

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Independent Monitoring Boards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of (a) the shortfall in and (b) the potential impact of increasing the level funding in the 2022-23 financial year on, recruitment to Independent Monitoring Boards.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	64352
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2022 answer text <p>We value the scrutiny provided by the independent scrutiny bodies, including the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs).</p><p>In the 2022-23 financial year, we increased the level of funding for the IMBs by £0.44m and provided an additional £0.5m of capital funding. The increases will fund structural developments to improve new member recruitment and retention, for example, through the recruitment of Regional Support Leads, who will play a key role in supporting recruitment to Boards through improving local outreach.</p><p>Additionally, the development of a new organisational database will provide improvements to member recruitment and retention by replacing the current outdated legacy software and providing better access to member learning and development records, whilst aligning with plans to improve recruitment techniques. We hope this will positively impact the recruitment of board members and we will continue to keep this under review.</p> answering member constituency Aylesbury answering member printed Rob Butler question first answered 20/10/2022 16:18:05 answering member 4745 label Biography information for Rob Butler
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1467195

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Independent Monitoring Boards: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department has made available to the independent monitoring board in 2022-23; and how does that figure compare to the funding for 2021-22.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	11879
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2022 answer text <p>Ministry of Justice resource funding for the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) for 2022/23 is £2.67m - an increase from £2.23m in 2021/22.</p><p> </p><p>The department has also provided the IMBs with £0.5m of capital funding, which will fund the development of a new organisational database to support improvements to member recruitment and retention.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 13/06/2022 16:14:35 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1458864

	registered interest
	date	20/04/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Independent Monitoring Boards: Recruitment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of recruitment challenges to Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB); what steps he plans to take to tackle those challenges; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the shortfall in IMB members on the treatment of prisoners they are tasked with monitoring.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	156602
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2022 answer text <p>The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) play an important role in supporting the Ministry of Justice to improve the safety and security of our prisons. Although the IMB is responsible for the recruitment of its volunteers, the Department recognises the challenges that exist in recruiting members to some individual Monitoring Boards. MoJ has, therefore, increased the funding available to the organisation in 2022-23. This increase in funding will help support improvements to member recruitment and retention policies to ensure Boards continue to deliver statutory responsibilities to monitor and report on the treatment of those detained in custody.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 25/04/2022 17:08:14 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1216030

	registered interest
	date	22/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Ombudsman
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how his Department ensures that the office of the Legal Ombudsman does not discriminate against people suffering from mental health issues during the decision making process.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	62649
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2020 answer text <p>The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) is an arm’s length body – which administers the Legal Ombudsman scheme (LeO) – and makes decisions in relation to cases considered under the scheme independently of, and without influence from, the Ministry of Justice.</p><p>We are aware that LeO staff receive training on reasonable adjustments and have Dedicated Vulnerable Customers Champions to identify customers who may need additional assistance or reasonable adjustments to access its service. This includes adjustments for mental health reasons.</p><p>The OLC also has a service complaints process, of which the last stage is escalation to the Service Complaint Adjudicator who is appointed by the Board and independent of the OLC.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 25/06/2020 16:45:59 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1216092

	registered interest
	date	22/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Profession: Disclosure of Information
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of use of non-disclosure agreements by legal professionals; and what steps his department is taking to help ensure that non-disclosure agreements are not misused.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	62650
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2020 answer text <p>The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of Government and legal professionals are regulated by a number of regulators including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Bar Standards Board (BSB). Legal professionals must comply with a detailed Code of Conduct, which ensures that high standards of conduct are met.</p><p>The SRA has issued guidance via a warning notice to all regulated individuals and entities on the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). The SRA warning notice confirms that they consider NDAs to be improperly used if they prevent a person from reporting misconduct, making a protected disclosure, reporting an offence or cooperating with criminal activity. The SRA has also been taking enforcement action against solicitors over the misuse of NDAs.</p><p>The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy has published its response to views on consultation on confidentiality clauses. This proposes new legislation to further protect consumers in the provision of such legal services and deter rogue practice.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 25/06/2020 16:48:25 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1343702

	registered interest
	date	05/07/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Marriage: Humanism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to recognise in law humanist marriage ceremonies.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	27341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2021 answer text <p>A Law Commission project on marriage and civil partnership is due to report later this year and is expected to present recommendations for wholesale reform to the law governing marriage ceremonies, which the Government will consider carefully.</p><p>Options being explored by the Law Commission as part of their review include offering couples greater flexibility over the form of their ceremony, allowing the ceremony to take place in a much broader range of locations and to provide a framework that could allow non-religious belief organisations, such as Humanists and independent celebrants, to conduct legally binding weddings. The Government will decide on provision for non-religious belief marriage in light of the Law Commission's recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 08/07/2021 15:01:59 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana