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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

1128277

	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	Probate: Reform
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's reform of probate regulations.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	257539
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2019 answer text <p>The 2018 amendments to the non-contentious probate rules enabled personal applications to be submitted online. This service is assessed through a range of measures, such as user feedback and user satisfaction. Of 4,995 responses from users who submitted their application online 93% indicated from five feedback options that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the online application service provided. The online system is being continually improved and developed as a result of the feedback provided.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 05/06/2019 15:57:26 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1128282

	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	Ministry of Justice: Disclosure of Information
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of subject access requests made to the Subject Access Team of the Ministry of Justice have been responded to within the correct timescale since the General Data Protection Regulation came into force; and what steps she is taking to reduce the volume of those requests.
	tabling member constituency	Stafford
	tabling member printed	Jeremy Lefroy
	uin	257544
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>I can confirm that the proportion of subject access requests made to the Ministry of Justice since June 2018 that were responded to within time is 75%. This figure includes requests received up to and including March 2019, representing the latest available performance results.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice takes its data protection responsibilities seriously. We have seen a significant increase in the numbers of subject access requests received since the General Data Protection Regulation came into force. We have developed plans to address this increase and taken steps to achieve the desired level of performance. We have:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Reviewed and improved working practices and streamlined staff training</li><li>Increased staffing levels</li><li>Invested in technology and we are conducting a trial to release more information to offenders in prison.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The volume of subject access requests received by the department is beyond its control. Since the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation and the accompanying Data Protection Act 2018 on the 25 May 2018, the number of SARs have increased by 160% from offenders and 55% from MoJ staff and members of the public.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 06/06/2019 14:16:24 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4109 label Biography information for Jeremy Lefroy

1128364

	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	National Probation Service: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in the London division of the National Probation Service.
	tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
	tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
	uin	257583
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>We are currently recruiting more staff into the National Probation Service (NPS). Changes to the recruitment process and eligibility criteria for probation officers have been made resulting in increases in both the volume and diversity of probation officer applicants. A national campaign to recruit probation officers took place recently and successful candidates will start in July 2019, however, it is of note that these campaigns have been consistent.</p><p>NPS London have prioritised the recruitment of Probation Officers to fill all current and projected vacancies. As of March 2019, approximately 1,325 full time equivalent staff are employed; a net increase of 57 from March 2018. We are recruiting across London, with 211 new staff joining over the past year. NPS London are closely monitoring the caseload capacity for staff and take proportionate and appropriate action to manage workloads across the division.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 06/06/2019 17:14:12 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1128367

	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	Electronic Tagging
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what average number of people in England and Wales were subject to (a) electronic monitoring as a condition of a supervision order and (b) a Home Detention Curfew in each of the last five years; and how many of those people subject to (i) such electronic monitoring and (ii) a Home Detention Curfew breached those arrangements.
	tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
	tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
	uin	257584
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Electronic monitoring is a vital tool in protecting the public and robustly monitoring offenders in the community and defendants on bail. It supports probation staff and the police in managing offenders and defendants safely in the community, delivering the orders of the court and help them tackle the problems which lead to offending.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>The table below shows the average number of people<sup>1</sup> subject to electronic monitoring as a condition of a supervision order and Home Detention Curfew. <table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Supervision order<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>Home Detention Curfew<sup>3</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>6,750</p></td><td rowspan="2"><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>6,352</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>5,823</p></td><td><p>2,280</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>5,133</p></td><td><p>2,490</p></td></tr></tbody></table><sup>1 </sup>Caseload for unique subjects with equipment on <sup>2 </sup>Derived from published data for those with a Court sentence (supervised) <sup>3</sup> Figures only available for April 2016 onwards for HDC data. Figures after March 2018 will be published in the HMPPS Digest in July 2019. The table below shows the total number of people subject to electronic monitoring for supervision orders and Home Detention Curfew, and how many of these cases committed at least one breach.<sup>4, 5</sup><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p>Supervision Orders</p></td><td colspan="3"><p>Home Detention Curfew</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>Non Compliance</p></td><td><p>Compliance</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>Non Compliance</p></td><td><p>Compliance</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2016-March 2017<sup>6</sup></p></td><td><p>26,418</p></td><td><p>11,694</p></td><td><p>14,724</p></td><td><p>7,898</p></td><td><p>1,543</p></td><td><p>6,355</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2017-March 2018</p></td><td><p>28,122</p></td><td><p>12,005</p></td><td><p>16,117</p></td><td><p>10,322</p></td><td><p>2,044</p></td><td><p>8,278</p></td></tr></tbody></table><sup>4 </sup>derived from number of completions of orders with equipment on <sup>5</sup> please note: a person may have more than one order. <sup>6 </sup>completions data only available from June 2016 onwards</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>If a subject on tag does not comply with an Electronic Monitoring condition or requirement, for example by being absent during curfew hours or tampering with a tag, an instantaneous alert is generated that is sent to Electronic Monitoring Services (EMS). The appropriate authorities decide, based on the evidence, whether the non-compliance event constitutes a breach and if so what action should be taken. The nature of breaches vary, and not all non-compliance events are classed as formal breaches requiring further action. For example, if the subject was at hospital or in custody at the time, and therefore unable to return to their curfew location in time for their curfew. While the majority of non-compliance events will generate an alert than can lead to a breach there are a range of other circumstances that can lead to breach action being taken.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 10/06/2019 14:25:03 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1128368

	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	Electronic Tagging
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were the subject of GPS monitoring as a condition of supervision in each of the eight pilot areas in England and Wales which concluded in 2019; and how many offenders failed to comply with such monitoring.
	tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
	tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
	uin	257585
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A total of 586 tags were issued as part of the GPS pilot which commenced in October 2016 and completed in March 2018. A total of 366 tags were issued to individuals being supervised (i.e. cases where an offender was supervised under statutory supervision by Probation Services, and not including individuals who were on court imposed bail).</p><p>An independent qualitative process evaluation of the GPS location monitoring pilot was published in February 2019: ‘Process evaluation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) Electronic Monitoring Pilot - Qualitative findings’: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/process-evaluation-of-the-global-positioning-system-gps-electronic-monitoring-pilot" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/process-evaluation-of-the-global-positioning-system-gps-electronic-monitoring-pilot</a></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>A quantitative process evaluation of the GPS Pilot containing analysis of Management Information gathered over the course of the pilot is currently undergoing quality assurance and being finalised. This will include information on the number of individuals supervised in each of the police force areas and on compliance.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 10/06/2019 14:44:08 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1128369

	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	Electronic Tagging
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to extend the use of GPS tagging to assist with the supervision of certain categories of offenders in the next three years.
	tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
	tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
	uin	257586
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>The Secretary of State for Justice announced in February this year the roll out of GPS location monitoring. A wide range of offenders are eligible for the new tags, including those subject to court-imposed bail, community orders and suspended sentence orders, as well as those on Home Detention Curfew and indeterminate sentenced prisoners released by the Parole Board. We are monitoring the demand for and application of GPS location monitoring tags by decision makers and are considering whether there are additional categories of offenders who would be suitable. No decisions have been made to extend their use further at the current time.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 10/06/2019 14:42:53 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1128370

	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	Electronic Tagging
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in England and Wales are being monitored by GPS tagging as a condition of supervision; and what the main index offences of those people being so monitored were.
	tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
	tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
	uin	257587
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>Data on the number of people being monitored by GPS tagging will be published as part of the HMPPS Annual Digest for 2018/19 on 25 July 2019.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 10/06/2019 14:43:14 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts