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1682849

registered interest
date	17/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Divorce: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which Ministers are responsible for reviewing the (a) law and (b) practice relating to the provision of support for children whose parents separate or divorce.
tabling member constituency	Worthing West
tabling member printed	Sir Peter Bottomley
uin	9984
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2024 answer text <p>Ministers work closely across government to support children, including those going through parental separation or divorce.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is responsible for private family law, which includes child arrangements upon separation, marriage and divorce. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the MoJ responsible for this is Lord Bellamy KC.</p><p>David Johnston MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing at the Department for Education, works closely with Lord Bellamy KC at the MoJ, including through jointly chairing the national Family Justice Board, which is focused on providing the best possible outcomes for the children and families that come into contact with the family justice system.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 25/01/2024 14:50:59 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	117 label Biography information for Sir Peter Bottomley

1682861

registered interest
date	17/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Mental Health Services: Women
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 with Cabinet colleagues to provide women and girls with trauma-informed preventative care through the criminal justice system.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	10171
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2024 answer text <p>Our Female Offender Strategy and its Delivery Plan set out the steps we are taking to ensure we provide gender-specific and trauma responsive care to women at all stages of the system. The Delivery Plan is backed by almost £30m in investment to both improve community support for women in or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system, and improve outcomes for women in custody. Recognising that this requires cross-Government action, MoJ has worked closely with other Government departments and agencies to produce a National Concordat, including an agreed set of actions and desired outcomes to ensure a joined-up approach to addressing the challenges faced by women in the system.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the value of preventative care for those entering the criminal justice system at a young age. Turnaround is a youth early intervention programme led by the Ministry of Justice. The programme provides multi-year grant funding to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) across England and Wales until March 2025, enabling them to intervene earlier and improve outcomes for children on the cusp of entering the youth justice system. From December 2022 to September 2023, YOTs report that we have had around 13,000 referrals, carried out 6,000 assessments, and started 5,200 interventions. Girls make up around one quarter of all referrals, which is higher than in YOT's usual statutory caseloads. Youth Justice practitioners have reported focusing on building positive, trusting relationships with girls through Turnaround, led by trauma-informed practice.</p><p> </p><p>We are also taking action to ensure that our response to violence against women and girls is robust, effective, and meeting the needs of victims. Critical to this is making sure that police and prosecutors have the right skills and knowledge to respond effectively to violence against women and girls. The CPS requires all prosecutors to complete training on domestic abuse, and has revised its guidance on Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Controlling or Coercive Behaviour. The Government recognises the vital role that support services play in helping victims, including women and girls, during their engagement with the criminal justice system. This is why we are using additional ringfenced funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) by 300, to over 1000, by 2024/2025 – a 43% increase on the number of advisors over this spending review period.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 25/01/2024 18:09:53 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1682950

registered interest
date	17/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	First-tier Tribunal: Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were (a) submitted to and (b) completed by the residential property division of the First-Tier Tribunal in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Ludlow
tabling member printed	Philip Dunne
uin	10064
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS information about the annual number of appeals received and disposed in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), Residential Property Division, is published at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2023" target="_blank">Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).</a></p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 25/01/2024 14:53:00 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne

1683140

registered interest
date	17/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Preston
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of helping people travelling from Blackpool to the court complex in Preston.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Scott Benton
uin	10316
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS has put in place temporary arrangements for hearings to take place at Preston and other locations in Lancashire, until the new state-of-the-art courthouse in Blackpool opens in 2026.</p><p>These arrangements will enable us to continue to offer effective access to justice, with the overwhelming majority of users being able to travel to Preston and other locations in Lancashire in accordance with our established definition of a reasonable journey. This includes being able to leave at 07:30 to attend court on time, using public transport if necessary.</p><p>Should court users anticipate difficulty in travelling to a site within these parameters they are advised to contact their legal representatives or the court at the earliest opportunity, so that the need for alternative arrangements can be considered. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and can include varying the start or end times of hearings, subject to judicial approval.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 25/01/2024 14:55:22 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4793 label Biography information for Scott Benton

1683147

registered interest
date	17/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Ministry of Justice: Equality
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Harborough
tabling member printed	Neil O'Brien
uin	10249
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2024 answer text <p>Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, all public authorities, including Government departments, are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions. While equality impact assessments may be produced, there is no legal requirement for duty assessments to be recorded in a specific format.</p><p>In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) ensures that assessment of the equalities impacts of its policy proposals is integrated in the development, implementation and review of its policies. We do not keep central records of all our equality assessments undertaken over the last several years but publish our policy consultation equality assessments regularly on the MoJ consultation hub which is publicly available on GOV.UK: <a href="https://consult.justice.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Ministry of Justice - Citizen Space.</a></p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 25/01/2024 14:54:16 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien

1682392

registered interest
date	16/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Victim Support Schemes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to increase the level of support available to victims of domestic abuse who are waiting for their trials to begin.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	9822
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2024 answer text <p>We are doing more than ever to ensure victims continue to receive the support they need as we work hard to ensure swift justice.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that support services play a vital role, and that Independent Domestic Violence Advisors can be critical to helping victims of domestic abuse at all stages of the criminal justice system. This includes when they are waiting for their trial to begin.</p><p> </p><p>We are quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10. The funding will allow us to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers by 300 to over 1,000, a 43% increase over this spending review period (2022/23 to 2024/25 inclusive).</p><p> </p><p>To ensure that there is clarity on what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice system response, on 8 November 2023 we reintroduced the Victims and Prisoners Bill, alongside a wider package of measures designed to improve victims' experiences of the criminal justice system.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 24/01/2024 15:32:14 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1682397

registered interest
date	16/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help tackle and (b) vet HM Prison staff to ensure compliance with rules on the smuggling of contraband into prisons; and whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on a UK-wide approach to this issue.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	9827
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2024 answer text <p>The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. All HMPPS prison staff are subject to pre-employment vetting checks, including social and digital media vetting checks, to assess whether candidates meet the high standards expected of them to work in HMPPS and assures a standard of resilience upon entry. This vetting is renewed every 10 years.</p><p> </p><p>HMPPS is undertaking a Vetting Reform Programme and applying the recommendations from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Police, Fire &amp; Rescue Services report of 2022: “<em>An Inspection of Vetting, Misconduct and Misogyny in the Police Service</em>” to prisons and probation.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has not held discussions with devolved administrations about vetting but will consider the merits of doing so to ensure processes remain modern and robust across the UK.</p><p> </p><p>We committed to having a zero-tolerance approach to crime in prisons. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including the smuggling of contraband, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered airport-style enhanced gate security to 42 high-risk sites, implementing routine searching of staff. We have since gone further and installed X-ray baggage scanners at 49 sites and invested into new drug trace detection equipment across the estate.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 23/01/2024 16:56:04 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1682588

registered interest
date	16/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5765 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Standards, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that (a) HMCTS personnel are aware that complaints and feedback can be provided in person at HMCTS premises, (b) a remedy is provided to people who have been misinformed of this right by officials, and (c) HMCTS personnel facilitate in person complains and feedback at HMCTS premises.
tabling member constituency	Knowsley
tabling member printed	Sir George Howarth
uin	9752
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS personnel follow the complaints procedure which is published on Gov.UK: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service/about/complaints-procedure" target="_blank">Complaints procedure - HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>. Complaints and feedback can be provided in person at HMCTS premises. Where a user of HMCTS services is not satisfied, they can speak to a member of staff and a record will be made on HMCTS complaints handling system OPTIC.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS will not be able to identify people who have been misinformed of the option to raise a complaint in person. However, if it is clear when handling complaints or feedback that someone has been refused the opportunity to provide it in person, without a valid reason, they will be given an apology. Where possible HMCTS personnel will take down in person complaints and feedback at HMCTS premises – which will then be followed by a response in writing.</p><p> </p><p>There will be some instances where it’s not possible to take feedback in person. This is where officials believe that the person giving the feedback is a risk to staff or other court users, is being deliberately disruptive or is using the opportunity to revisit complaints that have already been answered through the administrative complaints process. In those instances, other communication channels will still be open to them to use.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 23/01/2024 15:10:56 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	481 label Biography information for Sir George Howarth

1682601

registered interest
date	16/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Pets: Fraud
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases relating to the (a) mis-selling and (b) fraudulent advertising of pets took place in small claims courts in each year since 2018.
tabling member constituency	Luton North
tabling member printed	Sarah Owen
uin	9949
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2024 answer text <p>The information requested by the could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. HMCTS does not record the reason for bringing a small claim, this information is contained within the ‘particulars of claim’ and therefore obtaining this information would require a manual review of all small claims files.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 23/01/2024 15:12:10 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4777 label Biography information for Sarah Owen

1682604

registered interest
date	16/01/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Trials
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) witnesses and (b) complainants in domestic violence cases involving (i) lengthy court proceedings and (ii) pressure from the defendant to change or withdraw their statement.
tabling member constituency	Somerton and Frome
tabling member printed	Sarah Dyke
uin	9972
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2024 answer text <p>The Government recognises the vital role that support services play in helping victims of domestic abuse during their engagement with the criminal justice system. This is why we are using additional ringfenced funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) to over 1000 by 2024/2025 – a 43% increase on the number of advisors over this spending review period.</p><p> </p><p>The magistrates’ court hears over 90% of criminal cases and we continue to hear over 100,000 cases every month. Cases continue to move swiftly through the magistrates’ court with cases heard taking 31 days on average from charge to case completion.</p><p> </p><p>However, we recognise that some court proceedings may be lengthy, and that this can be difficult for victims and witnesses. The Witness Service is available to witnesses in all criminal courts in England and Wales and this service provides practical and emotional support to witnesses of crimes throughout court proceedings.</p><p> </p><p>The intimidation of a witness with the intention of obstructing, perverting or interfering with the course of justice is a criminal offence. Police and prosecutors are also encouraged to develop robust evidence-led case strategies from the start, so that where victims are absent because they are unable or do not want to support a prosecution, the case can still proceed.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 24/01/2024 15:33:55 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	4995 label Biography information for Sarah Dyke