Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1354941

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Begging and Vagrancy: Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions have been made in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Thames Valley and (d) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in each calendar year since 2015.
tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
tabling member printed	Layla Moran
uin	48346
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act 1824, up to December 2020, in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool, available here:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987731/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2020.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987731/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2020.xlsx</a></p><p> </p><p>In the data tool linked above, you can use the ‘Offence code’ filter to select the offences of interest. The following is a list of offences that fall within the Vagrancy Act 1824:</p><ul><li>104/31 – Resisting or obstructing a constable in execution of duty - offences under the Vagrancy Act 1824</li><li>182/00 – Wandering abroad or being in any street etc to beg or gather alms or causing or procuring any child so to do</li><li>183/00 – Wandering abroad and lodging in any barn, outhouse, deserted or unoccupied building, etc. or in the open air, etc.</li><li>185/01 – Being on enclosed premises for an unlawful purpose</li><li>188/01 – Any petty chapman or peddler trading without a licence</li><li>188/05 – Collecting alms or endeavouring to procure charitable contributions by fraudulent pretence</li><li>188/99 – Offences against Vagrancy Act 1824.</li></ul><p> </p><p>To isolate data for a specific region, use the ‘Police force area’ filter to do the following:</p><ol><li>For England, select all except those in Wales (North Wales, South Wales, Dyfed-Powys and Gwent)</li><li>For Wales, select only those in Wales (as above)</li><li>For Thames Valley, select only ‘Thames Valley’.</li></ol><p> </p><p>We are unable to isolate individuals prosecuted in the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency as the Courts Proceedings Database uses the location of the court at which a case was dealt as a proxy for location. The nearest court to this constituency is Oxfordshire Magistrates’ Court, which has a broad catchment area including other surrounding constituencies. We are therefore unable to disaggregate individuals from Oxford West and Abingdon constituency from those from other surrounding constituencies.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 16/09/2021 14:47:03 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1354493

registered interest
date	10/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Family Proceedings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle the backlog of cases in the family courts.
tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
tabling member printed	Bambos Charalambous
uin	47037
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The protection of children, particularly those who are most vulnerable, is a priority for this government and this has never been more important than during this period. The family courts were quick to respond to the pandemic and I am extremely grateful for the dedication of family justice professionals at this unprecedented time.</p><p> </p><p>In March, we launched the £1 million Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, to encourage and support separating parents to explore mediation before coming to court. We want to ensure that every parent coming to court is able to resolve their case in the most effective way, including through mediation where safe and appropriate. Last month, we invested a further £800,000 into the scheme, which is expected to help around 2000 more families.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to focus on bringing down the outstanding caseload by investing in more judicial sitting days and increasing the overall level of disposals. Cases with the most significant safeguarding issues remain our priority, and where suitable, cases are being heard remotely to continue maximising our use of our estate.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 15/09/2021 16:15:14 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4610 label Biography information for Bambos Charalambous

1354494

registered interest
date	10/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Family Proceedings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help ensure that accurate information is provided to the family courts by the criminal courts when allegations of abuse or criminal convictions are made in family court proceedings.
tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
tabling member printed	Bambos Charalambous
uin	47038
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The ‘2013 Protocol and Good Practice Model’ for disclosure of information in cases of alleged child abuse provides for the local authority to notify the police on issue of family court proceedings, if not before. This notification serves as a request for disclosure to the police.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2021, amendments were made to rules 3.3 and 3.5 of the Criminal Procedure Rules. These changes imposed a duty on parties to criminal proceedings to alert the criminal court to any related family proceedings and encourage the exchange of relevant information with a court dealing with those proceedings. Information about criminal proceedings may be obtained from criminal courts under Part 5 of the Criminal Procedure Rules by those who are parties to the criminal proceedings and by members of the public generally.</p><p> </p><p>The Government regularly considers how the join up between the criminal and family jurisdictions can be improved. In 2022, we aim to pilot a new “one family, one judge” approach to hearing cases where the same judge will hear the criminal and family court proceedings.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 15/09/2021 16:16:02 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4610 label Biography information for Bambos Charalambous

1354495

registered interest
date	10/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Family Proceedings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help ensure the prompt rectification of errors that are identified in reports submitted in family court proceedings.
tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
tabling member printed	Bambos Charalambous
uin	47039
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The manner in which errors or alleged errors contained within a report submitted in family court proceedings are rectified is a matter for the court to decide, however in all cases the court will seek for such errors to be dealt with promptly and without undue delay.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR) Part 1 “the overriding objective” requires the court to deal with cases expeditiously and fairly and for the parties to assist the court in this objective. This general obligation could require the court, or the parties, to act to ensure any issues with a report are rectified.</p><p> </p><p>Depending on the nature of the error contained within a report, if the court considers that the error needs to be rectified in the written report, the court could use its general case management powers (FPR rule 4.1) to direct that an amended or addendum report be submitted to the court.</p><p> </p><p>Where it is alleged by one or more of the parties that a report contains errors, the accuracy and veracity of the information included within the report can be tested during the court hearing, in order for the court to make a determination on this issue.</p><p> </p><p>Proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth. (FPR, rule 17.6)</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 15/09/2021 16:18:28 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4610 label Biography information for Bambos Charalambous

1353926

registered interest
date	08/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Ministry of Justice: Listed Buildings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the (a) properties classified as heritage assets by his Department, (b) most recent estimate of the value of those properties and (c) annual income derived from those properties.
tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
uin	45034
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2021 answer text <p>The MoJ is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit.</p><p> </p><p>Further details can be found here:</p><p>https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates/</p><p> </p><p>The MoJ does not collect or collate data on the property value.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 13/09/2021 15:34:48 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

1353302

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Standards
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 the time taken to grant probate; and what plans he has to improve that service.
tabling member constituency	New Forest West
tabling member printed	Sir Desmond Swayne
uin	44159
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>The most recently published information regarding combined waiting times for a grant of probate, on paper and digital cases, covers January 2021 to March 2021 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25):</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2021</a></p><p>Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and as a result of HMCTS increasing resources to meet demand, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between four to six weeks.</p><p>HMCTS continues to invest in the improvement of the online Probate system which was developed as part of the wider HMCTS Reform Programme to further streamline ways of working resulting in a system that is simpler and easy to understand for applicants; is accessible; and more efficient and robust to run.</p><p>Further information regarding how HMCTS is collaborating with service users to enhance the service can be found at <a href="https://insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk/2021/08/06/collaborating-is-key-to-enhancing-probate-users-experience-of-using-myhmcts/" target="_blank">https://insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk/2021/08/06/collaborating-is-key-to-enhancing-probate-users-experience-of-using-myhmcts/</a></p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/09/2021 16:00:23 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne

1353325

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Television Licences: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people prosecuted for TV licence evasion in each year since 2015 were women.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	44372
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions for TV licence evasion in England and Wales, up to December 2020, available in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, which can be found here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987715/outcomes-by-offence-2020.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987715/outcomes-by-offence-2020.xlsx</a></p><p> </p><p>For prosecutions of women for this offence, follow the steps below.</p><ul><li>Select ‘191A Television licence evasion’ in the Offence filter</li><li>To view male and female prosecutions, click anywhere in the table to bring up the pivot table field list and drag ‘sex’ into the rows field.</li><li>The number of males prosecuted will be found on Row 24 and the number of females prosecuted will be found on Row 25.</li></ul> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 15/09/2021 16:13:46 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1353370

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Asylum: Afghanistan
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of asylum cases from applicants from Afghanistan (a) in progress and (b) awaiting trial in the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum).
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	44172
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>The information that would allow this question to be answered accurately is not held centrally. HMCTS is working to clear the outstanding caseload caused by the pandemic and will ensure that there is capacity to manage any additional appeals that may flow from the state of affairs in Afghanistan.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/09/2021 13:58:14 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy

1353371

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many domestic abuse survivors have had an application for legal aid denied in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	44173
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>Legal aid is available to obtain an injunction to protect survivors of domestic violence. This is not subject to any upper means limit; applicants cannot be found financially ineligible for this form of support.</p><p> </p><p>Save for the above, whether someone is a survivor of domestic violence is not recorded for types of legal aid for other categories of law, eligibility for which would be subject to the applicable means and merits tests.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/09/2021 16:01:25 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy

1353375

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Closures
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts that have been closed since 2010 have yet to be sold; and what the cost to the Government has been of each of those court premises since they were closed.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	44176
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>The table below provides a list of former court buildings which are closed and unsold. Three of these buildings are currently being used as Nightingale courts as a temporary measure as we recover from the impacts of COVID-19.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Court</p></td><td><p>Notes</p></td><td><p>Holding Costs since closure</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Chichester Magistrates’ Court and Combined Court</p></td><td><p>Operating as a temporary Nightingale court since 6 April 2021.</p></td><td><p>£556,242</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Chorley Magistrates Court</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£275,984</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exeter Magistrates Court</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£91,784</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Fleetwood Magistrates Court</p></td><td><p>Operating as a temporary Nightingale court since 24 August 2020.</p></td><td><p>£123,041</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Harlow Magistrates Court</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£153,362</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hartlepool Magistrates Court</p></td><td><p>We expect these costs to reduce by c.£200,000 due to a service charge rebate.</p></td><td><p>£476,193</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Maidenhead Magistrates Court</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£391,241</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scunthorpe Magistrates and County Court</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£432,597</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Telford County Court</p></td><td><p>Operating as a temporary Nightingale court since 17 July 2020.</p></td><td><p>£252,115</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Holding costs include utilities, rates, maintenance and security, and with the exception of the Nightingale courts, are from the closure of the court until 31<sup>st</sup> August 2021. For the Nightingale courts, holding costs are calculated until their date of temporary reopening.</p><p> </p><p>We assessed all unsold former court buildings as potential Nightingale courts, but due to condition issues and operational limitations, only the three buildings noted were suitable.</p><p> </p><p>The decision to close any court is not taken lightly. It only happens following full public consultation and only when effective access to justice can be maintained. Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to another court.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/09/2021 13:59:56 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy