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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

1126088

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were rescheduled in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Greater London due to insufficient court space in the months of (i) February, (ii) March and (iii) April 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	253550
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>Published data for criminal cases show the number of trials which were vacated or ineffective (and therefore do not go ahead) in the criminal courts and for ineffective trials, the reasons why the trial was ineffective. One of these is ‘court administrative issues including a lack of court time and court accommodation failures’, – however it is not possible to identify instances where this is specifically due to reasons of ‘insufficient court space’.</p><p> </p><p>Available data on vacated and ineffective trials is published here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2018</a></p><p> </p><p>These statistics are currently published up to December 2018. Data for January – March 2019 are due to be published on 27 June 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Information relating to rescheduled cases and the reasons for them in the civil and family courts are not held by the Ministry of Justice.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/05/2019 11:19:54 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	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

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

1126081

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court buildings in the south west of England were inaccessible to (a) defendants and witnesses, (b) members of the public and (c) court staff with disabilities in the week beginning 6 May 2019; and how many of those buildings were only temporarily inaccessible in that week because of broken lifts; and how many of those courts were inaccessible to at least one of those groups for (i) more than one week and (ii) more than one month in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	253543
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is committed to ensuring access to courts and tribunals is maintained for staff and service users. We have a reasonable adjustments policy in place to accommodate those with particular access requirements. Disabled access was typically not factored in when many of our court and tribunal buildings were built. However, we have a number of accessible courts that our criminal justice partners are aware of, and these are used to list cases where a defendant might have accessibility needs.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of our buildings were accessible to the user groups listed during the period in question. Of the 40 total courts and tribunals in the South West, none were inaccessible to witnesses, staff or members of the public during the week commencing 6 May 2019, whilst 27 were inaccessible to one very specific user group with disabilities (defendants using custodial facilities).</p><p> </p><p>No buildings were temporarily inaccessible due to broken lifts.</p><p> </p><p>We aim to list cases at suitable venues when there are access needs. Where access issues do arise various mitigations are explored, including video-conferencing from a remote site, the use of judicial or staff lifts, or later start times for those who require longer to travel to court.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2015/16, we have invested more than £114m to improve court buildings and, in last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced an additional £15m to be spent on improving maintenance and security across the estate.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 21/05/2019 15:39:33 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1126077

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference paragraph 7.20 of HM Courts & Tribunals Service response to the consultation paper entitled Fit for the future: transforming the Court and Tribunal Estate, what steps he is taking to determine appropriate capacity utilisation of the HM Courts & Tribunals estate; and what the date is for the completion of that analysis.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	253542
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is currently investigating how to appropriately evaluate optimum utilisation rates for courts and tribunals, looking at past data on utilisation and performance. We anticipate that this analytical work will be completed prior to the publication of any further proposals regarding the court or tribunal estate.</p><p> </p><p>Maintaining effective access to justice will be the top priority when making decisions about the future of courts and tribunals buildings.</p><p> </p><p>The closure of any court is not taken lightly and, where a service is moved outside the local area, will only follow a full public consultation. To date, courts that have closed have been dilapidated, too close to another or underused. All money raised from the sale of buildings since 2016 has been reinvested back into the justice system.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 21/05/2019 15:42:20 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1126087

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court buildings in Wales were inaccessible to (a) defendants and witnesses, (b) members of the public and (c) court staff with disabilities in the week beginning 6 May 2019; and how many of those buildings were only temporarily inaccessible in that week because of broken lifts; and how many courts were inaccessible to at least one of these groups for (i) more than one week, and (ii) more than one month in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	253549
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is committed to ensuring access to courts and tribunals is maintained for staff and service users. We have a reasonable adjustments policy in place to accommodate those with particular access requirements. Disabled access was typically not factored in when many of our court and tribunal buildings were built. However, we have a number of accessible courts that our criminal justice partners are aware of, and these are used to list cases where a defendant might have accessibility needs.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of our buildings were accessible to the user groups listed during the period in question. Of the 27 total courts and tribunals in the Wales, none were inaccessible to witnesses, staff or members of the public during the week commencing 6 May 2019, whilst 11 were inaccessible to one very specific user group with disabilities (defendants using custodial facilities).</p><p> </p><p>No buildings were temporarily inaccessible due to broken lifts.</p><p> </p><p>We aim to list cases at suitable venues when there are access needs. Where access issues do arise various mitigations are explored, including video-conferencing from a remote site, the use of judicial or staff lifts, or later start times for those who require longer to travel to court.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2015/16, we have invested more than £114m to improve court buildings and, in last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced an additional £15m to be spent on improving maintenance and security across the estate.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 21/05/2019 15:44:03 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1126085

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court buildings in the north west of England were inaccessible to (a) defendants and witnesses, (b) members of the public and (c) court staff with disabilities in the week beginning 6 May 2019; and how many of those buildings were only temporarily inaccessible in that week because of broken lifts; and how many of those courts were inaccessible to at least one of those groups for (i) more than one week and (ii) more than one month in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	253547
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is committed to ensuring access to courts and tribunals is maintained for staff and service users. We have a reasonable adjustments policy in place to accommodate those with particular access requirements. Disabled access was typically not factored in when many of our court and tribunal buildings were built. However, we have a number of accessible courts that our criminal justice partners are aware of, and these are used to list cases where a defendant might have accessibility needs.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of our buildings were accessible to the user groups listed during the period in question. Of the 45 total courts and tribunals in the North West, only 4 were inaccessible to witnesses or members of the public during the week commencing 6 May 2019, none were inaccessible to staff, whilst 25 were inaccessible to one very specific user group with disabilities (defendants using custodial facilities).</p><p> </p><p>No buildings were temporarily inaccessible due to broken lifts.</p><p> </p><p>We aim to list cases at suitable venues when there are access needs. Where access issues do arise various mitigations are explored, including video-conferencing from a remote site, the use of judicial or staff lifts, or later start times for those who require longer to travel to court.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2015/16, we have invested more than £114m to improve court buildings and, in last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced an additional £15m to be spent on improving maintenance and security across the estate.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 21/05/2019 16:02:28 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1126083

	registered interest
	date	13/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court buildings in the Greater London were inaccessible to (a) defendants and witnesses, (b) members of the public and (c) court staff with disabilities in the week beginning 6 May 2019; and how many of those buildings were only temporarily inaccessible in that week because of broken lifts; and how many of those courts were inaccessible to at least one of those groups for (i) more than one week and (ii) more than one month in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	253545
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is committed to ensuring access to courts and tribunals is maintained for staff and service users. We have a reasonable adjustments policy in place to accommodate those with particular access requirements. Disabled access was typically not factored in when many of our court and tribunal buildings were built. However, we have a number of accessible courts that our criminal justice partners are aware of, and these are used to list cases where a defendant might have accessibility needs.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of our buildings were accessible to the user groups listed during the period in question. Of the 56 total courts and tribunals in London, only 7 were inaccessible to witnesses and members of the public during the week commencing 6 May 2019, none were inaccessible to staff, whilst 26 were inaccessible to one very specific user group with disabilities (defendants using custodial facilities).</p><p> </p><p>2 of those buildings were temporarily inaccessible in that week because of broken lifts, of which 2 were inaccessible for more than one month.</p><p> </p><p>We aim to list cases at suitable venues when there are access needs. Where access issues do arise various mitigations are explored, including video-conferencing from a remote site, the use of judicial or staff lifts, or later start times for those who require longer to travel to court.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2015/16, we have invested more than £114m to improve court buildings and, in last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced an additional £15m to be spent on improving maintenance and security across the estate.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 21/05/2019 16:06:13 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi