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44578

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has been paid in legal aid fees over the last five years to law firms Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day to conduct cases alleging abuse by British soldiers.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL6235
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p>The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases for those Iraqis alleging abuse by British Soldiers without disproportionate costs. Legal aid cases are not systematically recorded against nationality or cause of action.</p><p> </p><p>Leigh Day have not acted under legal aid in these types of cases. Public Interest Lawyers have acted for Iraqi clients under legal aid in cases seeking investigations into deaths and mistreatment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past five years were:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Amount</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008/09</p></td><td><p>£628,527.75</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>£267,433.88</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>£439,268.02</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>£331,238.85</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>£54,387.48</p><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

44579

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to take steps to recover legal aid payments to the firm Public Interest Lawyers following their statement on 20 March that there was no evidence that British soldiers had murdered 20 Iraqis.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL6236
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p>Legal aid is not funding the Al-Sweady Inquiry. There are therefore no plans to recover payments made from legal aid to Public Interest Lawyers following their statement on 20 March.</p><p> </p><p>On 20 March, at the Al-Sweady Inquiry into the most serious allegations against British soldiers in the Iraq War, lawyers representing Iraqi families withdrew their claim that the troops had killed unarmed civilians they had captured and brought back to an army base.</p><p> </p><p>The inquiry continues and the statement on 20 March does not mean that the inquiry has been abandoned.</p><p> </p><p>Legal aid was provided for an action prior to the Inquiry. Legal aid was provided to Iraqi applicants to seek an independent and effective investigation into deaths and torture or inhumane and degrading treatment in relation to the incident at checkpoint Danny Boy in Iraq in May 2004. As a result of these proceedings, the Secretary of State for Defence decided to hold the Al-Sweady Inquiry. This action was therefore successful in its aim.</p><p> </p><p>The Inquiry is not yet complete and the Chairman's report is not due to be published until later in the year. Public Interest Lawyers's statement refers to part only of the allegations made and the Ministry of Justice awaits the Inquiry Report before commenting further.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

44580

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to investigate United Kingdom law firms pursuing claims of unfounded abuse by British soldiers.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL6237
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p>There are no plans to investigate the firms as they are not funded under the legal aid regulations or their contract with the Lord Chancellor in the Al-Sweady inquiry. It would not be reasonable to investigate the firms under their contract in relation to a matter arising outside their contract.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

44584

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether migrants detained in HM Prison The Verne from 24 March will have access to (1) Rule 35 procedures to determine whether their health would be damaged by detention, for example, due to a history of torture, (2) mobile telephones and the internet, (3) the ability to receive telephone calls from solicitors, family and friends, and (4) on-site legal advice surgeries; and if not, why not.
tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
uin	HL6241
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>HM Prison The Verne started taking immigration detainees as scheduled from 24 March 2014. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) will retain The Verne as a prison in the short term. Its designation as a prison will be reviewed later this year, with the intention of completing the re-designation to an immigration removal centre by the end of September 2014.</p><p> </p><p>While The Verne retains its designation as a prison it will be governed by Prison Rules rather than Detention Centre Rules. As The Verne is not governed by Detention Centre Rules, Rule 35 of those rules is not applicable.</p><p> </p><p>Detainees held at The Verne will be treated in the same way as other detainees held within the prison estate. As such they will not have access to mobile telephones or the internet, nor will they be able to receive telephone calls. They will, however, be able to make telephone calls and will have access to both social and legal visits.</p><p> </p><p>There is a dedicated Home Office Immigration Enforcement Team on site who will see detainees routinely on induction and upon request. In addition, independent immigration advice will be provided by Migrant Help.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 07/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

44263

registered interest
date	20/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what customer, user and satisfaction surveys were conducted in the last 12 months in the Ministry of Justice and the agencies that report to it; which of them have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months; and which were commissioned by the management board.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL6212
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice and its agencies (the National Offender Management Service, the Legal Aid Agency and the Office of the Public Guardian) have conducted the following customer, user and satisfaction surveys in the last 12 months:</p><p> </p><p><strong>Ministry of Justice:</strong></p><ul><li>Pilot postal and telephone survey with civil court customers</li><li>E-questionnaire with individuals and businesses who have brought commercial cases to the rolls building</li><li>Inclusion of questions in the Crime Survey for England and Wales to explore views and experiences of users of our services</li></ul><p>These surveys were not commissioned by the Executive Committee and the findings from these surveys have not been reported to the Committee.</p><p> </p><p><strong>National Offender Management Service:</strong></p><ul><li>The Offender Management Feedback Questionnaire (OMFQ) survey of offenders under probation supervision</li><li>The Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) survey of prisoners</li></ul><p>The results of both surveys are reported to the NOMS Agency Board. The OMFQ was agreed at Director level, and the MQPL surveys are undertaken for many years with the agreement of the NOMS Agency Board.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Office of the Public Guardian:</strong></p><ul><li>Deputy customer satisfaction survey</li><li>Lasting power of attorney (LPA) customer satisfaction survey</li><li>Digital LPA tool user feedback survey – at the end of the online digital application process</li></ul><p>These surveys were commissioned/approved by the OPG Board, and the survey results have been passed to the board.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Legal Aid Agency:</strong></p><ul><li>Client satisfaction surveys with users of the civil legal aid telephone advice service</li><li>Survey to pilot users of the new civil legal aid online system</li><li>Customer service survey of legal aid providers</li><li>Other ad hoc customer satisfaction surveys</li></ul><p>The findings from the surveys with users of the civil legal aid telephone advice service have been reported to the LAA Board. The remaining surveys have not been reported to or commissioned by the LAA Board.</p><p> </p><p>Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service have not conducted any surveys in the last 12 months.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

43436

registered interest
date	17/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what sentence was received by each employee of the Prison Service found guilty in 2013 of criminal activity in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	192343
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not hold records of employees found guilty of all types of criminal activity.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst the vast majority of its staff are honest and hard working, NOMS is committed to detecting, deterring and disrupting all corrupt behaviour by individuals working in prisons. A dedicated NOMS Corruption Prevention Unit was set up to ensure staff corruption is identified and tackled. As part of this work NOMS has compiled a central record of staff convicted of criminal offences which meet the NOMS definition of corruption.</p><p> </p><p>This definition is that corruption occurs when a person in a position of authority or trust abuses their position for their or another person's benefit or gain. This would include the misuse of their role in order to plan or commit a criminal act, or a deliberate failure to act to prevent criminal behaviour.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There were <strong>23</strong> convictions for corruption-related offences during 2013. A breakdown of the different sentences is provided below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Sentences</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4 years 6 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4 years imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3 years imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 year 9 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 year 4 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 year 1 month imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 year imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>8 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10 months imprisonment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12 month custodial sentence suspended for 2 years.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11 months custodial sentence suspended for a year</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9 months custodial sentence suspended for 12 months. 200 hours community service</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>8 months custodial sentence suspended for 2 years and a 6 month residency order</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4 months custodial sentence suspended for 2 years</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4 months custodial sentence suspended for 2 yrs. 100 hrs unpaid work</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12mths Community Order. 150 hours unpaid work</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>100 hours community service and 12 months probation</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Community Order. Ordered to pay £85 costs and £60 to complainants</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The total number of convictions by year for corruption-related offences is shown in the table below. The number of convictions has remained broadly constant over the last five years.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p>18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The information provided has been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.</p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

43437

registered interest
date	17/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff were dismissed in 2013 for conducting inappropriate relationships with prisoners.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	192342
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The National Offender Management Service is committed to dealing with all allegations of misconduct swiftly and robustly. The NOMS Conduct and Discipline Policy sets out the standards of behaviour that all staff are expected to maintain. Where these standards are found to have been breached the disciplinary process set out in the NOMS Conduct and Discipline policy is applied.</p><p> </p><p>From 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013 there were a total of 11 NOMS employees dismissed for having an 'Inappropriate Relationship with a prisoner / ex prisoner'.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 07/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

43439

registered interest
date	17/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in each police force area have been caught speeding and received points on their driving licence in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Wakefield
tabling member printed	Mary Creagh
uin	192301
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The maximum penalty for speeding is a fine of up to £1,000 and for speeding on a motorway, £2,500. The courts also have the power to disqualify the offender from driving and must in any event endorse the offender's licence by between three and six penalty points. Alternatively, if the police decide that the nature of the offence was less serious, they may offer the motorist the opportunity to receive a fixed penalty notice instead of prosecution. If a fixed penalty is issued, the driver may instead chose to plead innocence or mitigating factors in court, and if convicted, any sentence will be decided within the maximum penalty limit and in line with sentencing guidelines.</p><p> </p><p>The number of persons receiving endorsements only on their driving licence for speeding offences at all courts in England and Wales by police force area from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the attached table.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.</p> answering member constituency Ashford answering member printed Damian Green question first answered 07/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 76 label Biography information for Damian Green attachment 1 file name 192301 - Creagh - Final Response - Speeding.XLS title Table 1
tabling member	1579 label Biography information for Mary Creagh

43441

registered interest
date	17/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents represented themselves at court in child proceedings in the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	192290
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>Information on the legal representation of parties in family courts is available at a national level in table 2.4 of Court Statistics Quarterly the latest edition of which is available at this link:</p><p> </p><p><a title="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013</a></p><p> </p><p>However, you should note that this information relates to whether parties have a recorded representative, rather than whether they are litigants in person. It is also based on the number of disposals, rather than parents, and cases may of course involve multiple disposals.</p><p> </p><p>Parties with no legal representation are not a new phenomenon in our courts. Judges are used to helping persons with no legal representation, including explaining procedures and what is expected of them. We have also taken steps to help people who either want or have to represent themselves in court, including publishing a revised guide for separating parents and increased training for judges. The link to the guide is:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/cb7-eng.pdf" target="_blank">http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/cb7-eng.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

43444

registered interest
date	17/03/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time between judgement and sentencing in criminal trials in England was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the trends in the time taken.
tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
uin	192266
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p>HMCTS can only answer this question for trials in the Crown Court. The case management database for magistrates' courts does not hold the date of conviction in a way we can calculate the time from conviction to sentence for all defendants so the only way we could answer the question would be to manually check each case file which would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p>The Crown Court database does and Table 1 below shows the average length between the latest conviction date in a trial and the date of sentence. The trend has seen the time between conviction and sentence falling from an average of 35.8 calendar days in 2007-08 to 24.6 calendar days in the first half of 2013-14. When a trial has more than one offence the jury may not reach verdicts against all on the same day, and the sentence cannot take place until all offences have a verdict.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Table 1 -Average length between conviction and sentence in Crown Court centres in England for defendants sentenced between April and September 2013</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Period</p></td><td><p>Average</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April to September 2013</p></td><td><p>24.6 calendar days</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>28.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>28.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>30.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009-10</p></td><td><p>32.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008-09</p></td><td><p>34.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007-08</p></td><td><p>35.8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:</p><ol type="1"><li>The average number of calendar days between the latest jury conviction date and the earliest substantial sentence date.</li><li>Includes cases where the defendant changes their plea to guilty during the trial.</li><li>This is internal management information run specifically to answer this question.</li></ol><p> </p><p>The judiciary are able to sentence following conviction without the need for additional hearings as a result of initiatives currently in place. The judicially lead early guilty plea scheme aims to have guilty plea cases concluded at a single hearing. Similarly the probation service are able to provide reports on the day of conviction to facilitate the sentencing of the defendant.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson