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1653388

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Expenditure
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 the cost to the public purse of local authority spending on coroner services in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	194386
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>Whilst the Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy, it does not have operational responsibility for coroner services which are a local service, funded and administered by individual local authorities. Local authorities’ independence from central Government means that they are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities. This is appropriate as central Government cannot predict exactly what the cost of a local service will be.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing" target="_blank">Local authority revenue and financing information</a> for England is published annually on gov.uk. The following table sets out data on expenditure on coroners’ court services for each of the last five financial years:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Total expenditure (employers’ costs and running costs) (£000)</p></td><td><p>Expenditure net of fees and other service income (£000)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>173,000</p></td><td><p>123,685</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>166,376</p></td><td><p>123,453</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>149,450</p></td><td><p>108,983</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>131,804</p></td><td><p>95,341</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-2018</p></td><td><p>124,796</p></td><td><p>92,360</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Ministry of Justice is unable to estimate spending on coroner services from the Pandemic Recovery Fund.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 194387 question first answered 25/07/2023 08:50:01 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1653389

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners: Expenditure
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of the Pandemic Recovery Fund for local authorities that has been spent on coroners’ services.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	194387
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>Whilst the Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy, it does not have operational responsibility for coroner services which are a local service, funded and administered by individual local authorities. Local authorities’ independence from central Government means that they are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities. This is appropriate as central Government cannot predict exactly what the cost of a local service will be.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing" target="_blank">Local authority revenue and financing information</a> for England is published annually on gov.uk. The following table sets out data on expenditure on coroners’ court services for each of the last five financial years:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Total expenditure (employers’ costs and running costs) (£000)</p></td><td><p>Expenditure net of fees and other service income (£000)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-2022</p></td><td><p>173,000</p></td><td><p>123,685</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>166,376</p></td><td><p>123,453</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>149,450</p></td><td><p>108,983</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>131,804</p></td><td><p>95,341</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-2018</p></td><td><p>124,796</p></td><td><p>92,360</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Ministry of Justice is unable to estimate spending on coroner services from the Pandemic Recovery Fund.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 194386 question first answered 25/07/2023 08:50:01 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1254123

registered interest
date	20/11/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Rape: Scotland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has received representations on the potential merits of the Scottish Government bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure the anonymity of rape victims in Scotland.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	118514
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2020 answer text <p>Whether to bring forward legislation to ensure the anonymity of rape victims in Scotland would be a matter for the Scottish Government, which has not made representations on the subject to the Ministry of Justice.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 26/11/2020 17:30:13 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1669585

registered interest
date	13/11/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Repairs and Maintenance
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 improve the condition of the court estate.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	1543
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2023 answer text <p>We will be investing £220m in the two years to March 2025 to improve the overall quality and enhance the resilience of the court and tribunal estate and enable us to plan major estates projects with certainty.</p><p>We are working to ensure that those buildings most in need of investment get it, and this investment is a step forward in improving the quality of the court estate.</p><p>Additionally, work is underway to create new state-of-the-art court buildings in central London and Blackpool.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 21/11/2023 13:52:06 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1626163

registered interest
date	09/05/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Radicalism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to introduce restrictions in prisons on people convicted of terrorist offences to help prevent them from exploiting a role in (a) conducting religious services and (b) speaking at communal events to build authority and ideological influence over other offenders.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	184059
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2023 answer text <p>We take a robust approach to managing terrorist risk in prisons and look to constantly improve our approach. We have recently tightened our rules to ensure that prisoners convicted of terrorist offences are not permitted to hold any formal or leading role in religious worship. These changes strengthen our response to terrorist offenders seeking to use prison as a place to spread their extremist ideology.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 17/05/2023 14:18:58 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1626165

registered interest
date	09/05/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Guardianship: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that legal aid is available to extended family members who are seeking guardianship of vulnerable children.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	184061
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2023 answer text <p>We recently expanded the family legal aid scheme, which will provide an additional £13m per year in general to family legal aid, to support carers making a decision as to whether to become a special guardian. Special Guardianship Orders brought in private family proceedings are now in scope of legal aid so prospective special guardians can receive legal aid for advice and assistance before making an informed decision.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 17/05/2023 15:08:29 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1385731

registered interest
date	07/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders: Employment
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 assist offenders to obtain employment after their release from prison.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	88699
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2021 answer text <p>We know that employment reduces reoffending significantly, with prison leavers in employment being nine percentage points less likely to reoffend.</p><p> </p><p>In the Prisons Strategy White Paper published last week, we set out our plans to transform how prisons get offenders into work.</p><p> </p><p>We will open our doors to the private sector to overhaul the opportunities for work offered in prisons and on Release on Temporary Licence. This will improve prison leavers’ job prospects by giving them skills and experience with real employers. We will also drive job outcomes on release, and improve the service we offer employers, by implementing dedicated Employment Advisors in prisons and through the development of a digital tool that will match prisoners to jobs on release.</p><p> </p><p>Employers play a role in providing advice and challenge on how we can make a step-change in prison leaver employment. We are working to establish more local employment boards to link prisons with business networks and provide this support. We also need to ensure that prisons are performing and developing these links so are establishing ‘Employment Hubs’, the equivalent of a ‘jobcentre in a prison’ where prisoners can find out about job opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>This is part of our £200m a year investment by 2024-25 to improve prison leavers’ access to accommodation, employment support and substance misuse treatment and further measures for early intervention to tackle youth offending.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 15/12/2021 16:18:21 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1301910

registered interest
date	11/03/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what date the backlog of cases before the courts as a result of the covid-19 outbreak is planned to be cleared.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	167188
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2021 answer text <p>We have responded quickly and in an innovative manner to the challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic to our criminal courts and the wider justice system. The date by which the courts recover to pre-pandemic levels of activity is sensitive to a range of influences and so is difficult to predict precisely. Those influences include when social distancing ends, and the number, nature and complexity of the cases flowing into the court system.</p><p> </p><p>Further detail is published in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896779/HMCTS368_recovery_-_COVID-19-_Overview_of_HMCTS_response_A4L_v3.pdf" target="_blank">HMCTS recovery plan</a>.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 19/03/2021 14:25:47 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1654722

registered interest
date	20/07/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Parole System Root and Branch Review
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations in the report entitled Root and branch review of the parole system: the future of the parole system in England and Wales, published in March 2022.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	195374
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/09/2023 answer text <p>We have made significant progress.</p><p> </p><p>Parole Board hearings can now be heard in public – there have been three so far. We have reformed the way indeterminate sentence prisoners are moved to open prison conditions by making sure that moves only happen if there is evidence they can be safely managed and there is low risk of them absconding. The Secretary of State will reject any recommendation from the Board where he is not satisfied there is a wholly persuasive case for transferring a prisoner.</p><p> </p><p>Regarding release decisions, the Secretary of State can now provide the Parole Board with an overarching view which takes account of all reports and available evidence, including any professional opinions offered by report writers pertaining to the prisoner’s suitability for release. In these cases, the Secretary of State will be represented at an oral hearing.</p><p> </p><p>In Part III of the Victims and Prisoners Bill, we are making the statutory release test more prescriptive and making clear that an offender must not be released unless the Board is confident there is no more than minimal risk to the public.</p><p> </p><p>We are increasing the number of Board members with a law enforcement background and the Bill will introduce the power to require them to sit on panels concerning the most serious offenders – the ‘’top-tier’’. The Bill also creates a power that will allow the Secretary of State to take a second look, on behalf of the public, at any decisions to release a top-tier prisoner.</p><p> </p><p>Another key recommendation was to establish a Parole System Oversight Group to explore and resolve whole-system operational issues across the parole system in England and Wales, such as delays. This Group has now been established and the inaugural meeting was held in June 2023.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 04/09/2023 14:18:05 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1200509

registered interest
date	04/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Officers: Ethnic Groups
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner officers are employed on the prison estate, by ethnicity.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	54897
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/06/2020 answer text <p>We have committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce and our target is to hire 14% of recruits from a BAME background by December 2020.</p><p>We have also conducted an independent review of the prison officer recruitment process and are implementing improvements to reduce the time and cost to hire, increase the diversity of new recruits and ensure we attract the right people with the right skills.</p><p>The number of band 3 to 5 prison officers in public sector prisons, by ethnicity as of 31<sup>st</sup> March 2020 is given in the following table.</p><p>Table 1- Number of Band 3 to 5 Prison Officers<sup>1 </sup>in post in public sector prisons, by Ethnicity<sup>2</sup>, as at 31st March 2020</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Ethnicity</p></td><td><p>Headcount</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Asian<sup>3</sup></p></td><td><p>332</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Black</p></td><td><p>623</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mixed</p></td><td><p>360</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other Ethnic Group</p></td><td><p>100</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>White</p></td><td><p>16,681</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unknown</p></td><td><p>4,264</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>22,360</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes</p><p>1.Includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.</p><p>2.Race is a self-declared, optional field.</p><p>3.Includes Chinese</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 12/06/2020 13:48:30 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord