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1227143

registered interest
date	21/07/2020
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the present backlog of cases awaiting trial in (1) the Crown Court, and (2) the Magistrates' Court.
tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
uin	HL7120
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>The table below provides the information requested on the current number of outstanding cases awaiting trial in (1) the Crown Court, and (2) the Magistrates’ Courts.</p><p> </p><p>These data are taken from the national statistics on the level of outstanding work in the criminal courts for the first quarter of 2020 which were published on 26 June 2020 and are available at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics</a>. The data for the second quarter will be published in September 2020.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Outstanding cases awaiting trial in the Magistrates’ and Crown Court as at 31 March 2020</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Magistrates’ Court<sup>12</sup></p></td><td><p>77,459</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Crown Court<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>31,686</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p><sup>1</sup>The magistrates’ court figure represents all those cases outstanding that are categorised as for trial (Indictable-only and Triable-either-way) and not just those awaiting a trial hearing. For example, it will include cases where defendants plead guilty and not guilty, and those where a warrant has been issued</p><p><sup>2</sup> Though the figures for both Magistrates’ and Crown Court includes for trial cases (Triable-either-way and Indictable Only) which are outstanding for trial we are unable to say at what stage of the court process these are, for example, this may include cases where a trial has started but has not concluded.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 14:46:58 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1227144

registered interest
date	21/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Solicitors: Video Conferencing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average delay in terms of weeks before solicitors are able to consult their clients in prison via video link.
tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
uin	HL7121
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 14:49:33 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1227145

registered interest
date	21/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 24 March that 900 secure phone handsets were to be provided to prisons to support family contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, how many minutes prisoners have spent on calls to date (1) in total, and (2) in each prison in which such phones have been allocated.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL7081
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>In recognition of the importance of maintaining family ties, since 24 March the Government has rolled out 1297 secure mobile phones across the prison estate in England and Wales. This is in addition to existing wing phones and in-cell telephones. As of the 21 July 2020, 153,918 minutes of calls have taken place from secure mobile PIN phones since 2nd April when this service was deployed.</p><p>We do not routinely record the number of calls that take place over long periods of time, however our most recent data shows that on 21 July, 2803 calls took place across all mobile phones. This equates to 14,783 minutes across the estate. For comparison, 222,889 minutes of calls took place across the non-mobile based PIN network. There has been a 52% increase in calls across pin phone calls from the average call number in February, we do not currently have the equivalent data for just mobile phones.</p><p>We do not record figures for minutes that prisoners have spent on calls by prison across the time period mentioned.. We have access to daily call figures across the entire secure mobile network and also individual prison figures on a given day. We are working with our supplier to identify whether we can report on cumulative figures for individual prisons.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 14:50:06 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1226201

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Marriage
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what reforms to marriage law they are currently working on; whether they plan to bring forward proposals for legal recognition of humanist marriages; and if not, why not.
tabling member printed	Baroness Blackstone
uin	HL7031
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>The Government announced in June 2019 that the Law Commission will conduct 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 looks forward to publication of the Law Commission’s consultation paper in September and, following the final report, will decide on provision on the basis of the Law Commission's recommendations.</p><p>Separately, the Government continues to explore both limited reform and non-legislative options relating to religious weddings, as well as to explore interim reform of the law governing approved premises for marriages and civil partnerships.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 09:30:31 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3561 label Biography information for Baroness Blackstone

1226205

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Marriage
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government in which circumstances marriages in England and Wales are legally recognised by virtue of (1) the building in which the marriage takes place, (2) the registrar or officiant conducting the ceremony, and (3) the religion of the marriage.
tabling member printed	Baroness Whitaker
uin	HL7035
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>In general terms, the law requires couples to give due notice of the marriage and to marry in the place specified when they gave notice and in the presence of certain people. Marriages are not automatically valid because they involve a certain building, person or religion: on the contrary, they are capable of legal recognition because they follow a route set out in statute. The statute law also sets out circumstances in which a marriage will be void.</p><p>As part of its review of the law on how and where couples may marry in England and Wales, the Law Commission will make recommendations regarding what the consequences of failing to comply with all or some of the requirements for a valid marriage should be. The Government looks forward to publication of its consultation paper in September.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 09:31:24 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	2510 label Biography information for Baroness Whitaker

1226206

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Proceedings: Ethnic Groups
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Keen of Elie on 15 July (HL Deb, cols 1659–61), how the situation of Black and other minority ethnic defendants, including those from Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities, will be taken into account in (1) the membership, and (2) the terms of reference, of the Royal Commission on criminal justice.
tabling member printed	Baroness Whitaker
uin	HL7036
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to a justice system that is fair, open and accessible to all.</p><p>In defining the terms of reference and membership of the Royal Commission, we are taking into account the need for the Commission to understand effectively the experiences of all those that engage with the criminal justice system. This will of course need to include taking account issues of race and the experiences of Black and other minority ethnic people, including those from Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities.</p><p>Further details will be announced in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 09:32:15 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	2510 label Biography information for Baroness Whitaker

1226218

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison and Probation Service: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the HM Prisons and Probation Service COVID-19 Special Payment Scheme budget has been spent to date by (1) prisons, and (2) probation services.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL7049
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2020 answer text <p>The internal review of the HMPPS Covid-19 Special Payment Scheme is ongoing. When concluded, any changes will be implemented and communicated to staff in the usual way.</p><p>HM Treasury have approved the scheme and we anticipate a budget allocation to be agreed in Autumn 2020 which will cover payments made to date.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL7048 question first answered 29/07/2020 08:39:55 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1226219

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison and Probation Service: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total budget allocated to the HM Prisons and Probation Service Payment Plus scheme for the current financial year.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL7050
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>Payment Plus is funded through Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service’s staff pay budget from savings arising from any staff vacancies, which are then re-invested by each prison to fund the Payment Plus (PP) needed to cover operational staff vacancies.</p><p>Prison governors have always had the authority to use PP to allow for additional staff time to cover vacancies. They are given an annual budget for staff costs based on agreed staffing levels and are expected to manage PP within this.</p><p>In the first quarter of this financial year, the total spend on PP was £20.4m, which includes additional overtime cover in response to the impact of COVID-19.</p><p>At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a high risk of increased staff absence and to mitigate this, staff were asked to volunteer for additional PP hours in advance of need. Since the start of the scheme in mid-March, to end June, about 60% of the total extra PP hours volunteers had committed to work were used and the remainder are being used as prisons move into recovery.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL7051 question first answered 04/08/2020 10:33:12 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1226220

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison and Probation Service: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the budget allocated to the HM Prisons and Probation Service Payment Plus scheme has been spent so far in the current financial year.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL7051
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>Payment Plus is funded through Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service’s staff pay budget from savings arising from any staff vacancies, which are then re-invested by each prison to fund the Payment Plus (PP) needed to cover operational staff vacancies.</p><p>Prison governors have always had the authority to use PP to allow for additional staff time to cover vacancies. They are given an annual budget for staff costs based on agreed staffing levels and are expected to manage PP within this.</p><p>In the first quarter of this financial year, the total spend on PP was £20.4m, which includes additional overtime cover in response to the impact of COVID-19.</p><p>At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a high risk of increased staff absence and to mitigate this, staff were asked to volunteer for additional PP hours in advance of need. Since the start of the scheme in mid-March, to end June, about 60% of the total extra PP hours volunteers had committed to work were used and the remainder are being used as prisons move into recovery.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL7050 question first answered 04/08/2020 10:33:12 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1226221

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Terrorism: Prison Sentences
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of additional prison sentences likely to be imposed if the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill is passed in its present form; and how many longer sentences are likely to be imposed as a result.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL7042
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>We conducted and published an impact analysis for the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill, which is based on historical volumes of convictions and assumes that trends in sentencing remain stable. The Bill will not increase the overall number of sentences, but will increase sentence lengths for terrorist offenders. We assess that this will result in increased sentence lengths resulting in a maximum of 50 additional offenders in prison at any given time.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/08/2020 09:33:27 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton