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1144314

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Young Offender Institutions: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many safeguarding referrals to a local authority were made by each custodial institution holding children in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	286305
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The information requested could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. In order to obtain it, we would need to collate reports of individual referrals made by all establishments holding young people under 18, over a period of ten years.</p><p> </p><p>The Youth Custody Service takes the safety and well-being of young people in custody very seriously. It has conducted an internal review of safeguarding across the youth secure estate, and a new ‘Head of Safeguarding’ post has also been created to lead on taking forward this important area of work.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:49:03 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1144315

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Young Offender Institutions: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department provides to custodial institutions holding children on when to make a safeguarding referral.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	286306
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Guidance to youth secure establishments relating to safeguarding of children is set out in ‘Working Together to Safeguarding Children’ (July 2018), which can be viewed via the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/779401/Working_Together_to_Safeguard-Children.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/779401/Working_Together_to_Safeguard-Children.pdf</a>, as well as PSI 08/2012 (‘care and management of young people’) for public sector Young Offender Institutions. This can be viewed via https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/psipso/psi-2012/psi-08-2012-care-management-young-people.doc.</p><p> </p><p>As per the Ministry of Justice’s response to the recent report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the PSI is to be updated. In advance of this, the Youth Custody Service has published Building Bridges, a policy framework that replaces some aspects of PSI 08/2012 relating to behavioural management of children (including promoting and maintaining good behaviour, managing challenging behaviour and offending behaviour interventions). This can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bridges-a-positive-behaviour-framework-for-the-children-and-young-people-secure-estate We are also working with the Department for Education to produce a new ‘Keeping Children Safe in Custody’ document, which we anticipated will be published in 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The YCS’s Information Development Project is also working towards launching a revised and harmonised recording process for safeguarding referrals, across all sectors and establishments. The launch of the process will allow for uniform central reporting of safeguarding referrals, facilitating improved central oversight of these key liaisons.</p><p> </p><p>The YCS takes the safety and well-being of young people in custody very seriously. It has conducted an internal review of safeguarding across the youth secure estate, and a new ‘Head of Safeguarding’ post has also been created to lead on taking forward this important area of work.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:15:40 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1144367

registered interest
date	03/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress his Department has made in reviewing the legal aid means test.
tabling member constituency	Warrington South
tabling member printed	Faisal Rashid
uin	286365
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Government announced the review of the legal aid means test on 7 February 2019, as part of the Legal Support Action Plan.</p><p>The review will consider the full range of means-testing criteria including the applicable thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with wider criteria.</p><p>The review is in progress, bringing together data, evidence and expertise, and liaising with experts from across the field to explore potential improvements to the system.</p><p>This comprehensive review of the legal aid eligibility regime is expected to conclude in summer 2020 after which we will publish a full consultation paper setting out our future policy on the proposals in this area. We will seek to implement any final recommendations as soon as practicable following public consultation.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:10:37 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4670 label Biography information for Faisal Rashid

1142810

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
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, what steps the Government is taking to activate the working group established by the then Lord Chief Justice and then Lord Chancellor in January 2016 to implement the problem-solving court model in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	284209
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Problem-Solving Courts Working Group was asked to advise on the feasibility of pilot models and its planned work did not include an implementation stage. The group concluded the workstreams set out in its published terms of reference and has not been reconvened.</p><p> </p><p>There remain barriers to testing or applying the problem-solving courts’ approach in a meaningful way, including upfront resource implications and the need for primary legislation to implement some of the models being proposed, as well as gaps in evidence. However, we are testing and applying “problem-solving approaches”, for example in the testbed sites for on the community sentence treatment requirement protocol and through our support for models applied in Family Drug and Alcohol Courts.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton grouped question UIN 284931 question first answered 09/09/2019 16:27:14 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1142822

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Terrorism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what legal aid is available to the families of victims of terrorist attacks.
tabling member constituency	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
tabling member printed	Lesley Laird
uin	284262
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>In England and Wales, legal aid can be provided if the matter or issue in question is within scope of the legal aid scheme, as defined in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).</p><p> </p><p>Legal aid is available for advice and assistance for all inquests, subject to a means and merits test. Legal aid funding for legal representation for a family, during an inquest hearing, is not in scope of LASPO. However, families are supported by coroners who can ask questions on their behalf to help them get the answers they need and we are developing a range of measures to improve this service further.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that for certain inquests, bereaved people may require representation; legal aid may therefore be available, through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, if certain criteria are met:</p><p> </p><p>(a) if a failure to provide such representation would breach, or likely risk a breach of, the government’s obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights, usually Article 2; or</p><p>(b) where the Director of Legal Aid Casework (DLAC) makes a determination that there is a ‘wider public interest’ in legal representation being granted.</p><p> </p><p>All individual case funding decisions are taken by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). It is important that these decisions are, and are seen to be, free from political and Government influence.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:02:44 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4660 label Biography information for Lesley Laird

1143226

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Terrorism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of automatically providing legal aid funding for (a) coroner's inquests and (b) other legal proceedings for British citizens who are victims of terrorist attacks.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	284500
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Legal aid can be provided if the matter or issue in question is within scope of the legal aid scheme, as defined in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).</p><p> </p><p>Legal aid is available for advice and assistance for all inquests, subject to a means and merits test. Legal aid funding for legal representation for a family, during an inquest hearing, is not in scope of LASPO. However, families are supported by coroners who can ask questions on their behalf to help them get the answers they need and we are developing a range of measures to improve this service further.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that for certain inquests, bereaved people may require representation; legal aid may therefore be available, through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, if certain criteria are met:</p><p> </p><p>(a) if a failure to provide such representation would breach, or likely risk a breach of, the government’s obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights; or</p><p>(b) where the Director of Legal Aid Casework (DLAC) makes a determination that there is a ‘wider public interest’ in legal representation being granted.</p><p> </p><p>All individual case funding decisions are taken by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). It is important that these decisions are, and are seen to be, free from political and Government influence.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:36:40 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1143267

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
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, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to grant legal recognition for humanist marriages in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	284741
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Law Commission review that the Government announced this June is a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Government will consider the Law Commission’s recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:07:35 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1143365

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Children: Custody
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he is taking to ensure the gender of a parent is not considered as a factor in custody cases.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	284885
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The legislative framework which governs family law proceedings about a child’s upbringing is gender neutral and focused on the welfare of the child involved.</p><p>The court is legally required to presume that the involvement of a parent in the life of the child will further that child’s welfare, unless there is evidence to the contrary. The nature of any parental involvement will be determined by the court based on all the available evidence.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:15:27 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1143368

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Children: Custody
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to ensure that grandparents are ensured access to their grandchildren in custody cases.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	284831
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>Grandparents who are experiencing difficulties in spending time with their grandchildren following parental separation can seek the permission of the family court to apply for a child arrangements order. Experience suggests that grandparents would not usually experience any difficulty where their application is motivated by genuine concern for the welfare of the child.</p><p> </p><p>The law does not provide any absolute right for a grandparent, or indeed a parent, to be involved in a child’s life because it is the child’s welfare which is paramount in all court decisions about who a child lives with or spends time with. The court can, however, direct the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) to prepare a welfare report into the child’s circumstances, including the beneficial involvement in their life of significant adults such as grandparents.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 09/09/2019 15:39:35 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1143415

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
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, whether the working group established by the then Lord Chief Justice and then Lord Chancellor in January 2016 on problem solving courts has been stood down and its membership retired.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	284931
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>The Problem-Solving Courts Working Group was asked to advise on the feasibility of pilot models and its planned work did not include an implementation stage. The group concluded the workstreams set out in its published terms of reference and has not been reconvened.</p><p> </p><p>There remain barriers to testing or applying the problem-solving courts’ approach in a meaningful way, including upfront resource implications and the need for primary legislation to implement some of the models being proposed, as well as gaps in evidence. However, we are testing and applying “problem-solving approaches”, for example in the testbed sites for on the community sentence treatment requirement protocol and through our support for models applied in Family Drug and Alcohol Courts.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton grouped question UIN 284209 question first answered 09/09/2019 16:27:14 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris