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1123671

registered interest
date	29/04/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Social Security and Child Support Tribunal appeals have taken longer than 52 weeks for a determination, in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	248645
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the table below:</p><p>SOCIAL SECURITY &amp; CHILD SUPPORT CLEARANCES 1<br>Period Number of clearances that exceeded 52 weeks from receipt<br>1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014 16,161<br>1 April 2014 - 31 March 2015 12,350<br>1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016 3,100<br>1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017 4,084<br>1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018 7,330<br>1 April 2018 - 31 December 2018 2 13,162</p><p>1. Data include hearings cleared with and without a Tribunal hearing</p><p>2. The latest period for which data are available. Provisional data and subject to further change</p><p>Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available.</p><p> </p><p><br>It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) recognises there are delays in the system and it is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. This includes 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability qualified members and up to 230 medical members.</p><p>In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals. Information on the new digital service can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal</p><p>We are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to understand what could be done to reduce the number of appeals being submitted to the Tribunal, through their focus on improving decision-making and the mandatory reconsideration process.</p><p>These measures will increase the capacity of the Tribunal. As a result, the number of appeals outstanding in the Tribunal is starting to fall as the number of cases heard by the Tribunal outweigh those sent to the Tribunal. If this continues, over time, we expect the time it takes for the Tribunal to hear, and the age of, appeals to reduce.</p><p>The time taken for the Tribunal to hear an appeal is mainly driven by the number of appeals sent to the Tribunal and the capacity of the Tribunal to deal with them. The number of appeals sent to the Tribunal is directly affected by changes in welfare policy.</p><p>The time it takes the Tribunal to hear an appeal is calculated from the time it is sent to the Tribunal to its final disposal. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing has been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier for its final disposal.</p><p>HMCTS is very sensitive to the needs of people who may be affected by waiting times for Tribunal hearings. Tribunal staff and judicial office-holders, are trained accordingly, with HMCTS’s reasonable adjustments policy and practice applied where appropriate. Guidance on the policy is published on GOV.UK. If an expedited hearing is sought, or where the Tribunal identifies a case which might benefit from an expedited hearing, a judge or caseworker will make a decision on the issue, taking all the circumstances of the case into account.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 16/05/2019 16:26:11 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1050167

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Child Arrangements Orders: Grandparents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on grandparents' access rights to children after a family breakdown.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	213335
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2019 answer text <p>Under the Children Act 1989, the welfare of the child is the court’s paramount concern when making any decision about the child’s upbringing.</p><p> </p><p>The 1989 Act enables grandparents who are excluded from the lives of their grandchildren to seek the leave of the court to apply for a child arrangements order specifying who the child is to spend time with, and when.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is considering whether further measures are needed to help grandparents maintain relationships with their grandchildren following parental separation and will announce its plans in due course.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 04/02/2019 12:42:54 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1019911

registered interest
date	04/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
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 28 November 2018 to Question 193444 Social Security Benefits: Appeals, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on improving social security decision making to reduce the number of cases progressing to a social security tribunal.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	198807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2018 answer text <p>I have had two meetings with the Minister for Disabled People at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) regarding the importance of getting decisions right first time. Our officials are working together on how to use feedback from the Social Security &amp; Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal judiciary. Another potential source of valuable insight is the DWP’s cohort of some 150 Presenting Officers, who present cases at the Tribunal for the Department.</p><p>In addition, HMCTS are developing a new digital system which enables speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. HMCTS are also introducing case-management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that progress to an oral hearing.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/12/2018 15:50:10 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 91006 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1010712

registered interest
date	20/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
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 20 September 2018 to Question 172598, if she will set a reasonable waiting time target for the hearing of cases by the social security tribunal.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	193444
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2018 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice recognises that there are delays in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, which is the part of the tribunal system which deals with benefit appeals, and is tackling them by recruiting extra judicial office holders. We have appointed 225 medical members and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service to enable speedier processing of appeals and provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appeals" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appeals</a>.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice is not planning to set a waiting time target for the hearing of cases by the SSCS jurisdiction. This is because waiting times fluctuate geographically owing to a number of factors including venue capacity, the volumes of benefit decisions made locally, the complexity of the case and the availability of panel members. Furthermore, the listing of appeals, including consideration of whether a hearing should be expedited, is a function of the Tribunal’s judiciary.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 28/11/2018 12:03:04 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1010713

registered interest
date	20/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
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 20 September 2018 to Question 172598, what the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average waiting time was for social security tribunal hearings at the Sunderland tribunal venue in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	193445
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>It has not been possible to provide the information requested at a) and b) in the time available. I will arrange for a copy of these data requested to be placed in the House Library as soon as they are available.</p><p> </p><p>Information about (c) average waiting times of appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:</p><p>www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 26/11/2018 15:50:09 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1010359

registered interest
date	19/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Hunting: County Durham
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases have (a) gone to trial and (b) been successfully prosecuted for breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 in County Durham in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	192917
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2018 answer text <p>The number of defendants<sup>(1)</sup> prosecuted and the outcomes of those prosecutions for offences under the Hunting Act 2004 in County Durham over the last five years can be found in the Court Outcomes by Police Force Area data tool in the following link:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx</a></p><p> </p><ul><li>Select ‘Durham’ from ‘Police Force Area’.</li><li>Select ‘121A Offences under Hunting Act 2004’ in Offence.</li><li>For the number of prosecutions, filter ‘Court Type’ by ’02: Magistrates Court’.</li><li>Filter by ‘outcomes’, or for the number of convictions remove filtering from ‘Court Type’, and select ’01: Convicted’ from ‘Convicted/Not Convicted’.</li></ul><p> </p><p>These figures are provided on a principal offence basis. When a defendant has been prosecuted for two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty would be imposed.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Police Force Area refers to the location where the defendant was dealt with, not where the offence was committed.</p><p> </p><p><sup>(1)</sup>Figures are published by defendants prosecuted, rather than trials.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 22/11/2018 14:51:03 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

989620

registered interest
date	17/10/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service: North East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide additional resources to the Tribunal Service in the North East of England to reduce waiting times for universal credit and personal independence payment tribunal hearings.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	180696
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>We have taken the NE to mean all the tribunals that fall within the boundaries of the HMCTS NE Region. Cases are listed at venues throughout Northumbria, Cleveland, Durham, Yorkshire and the Humber. We have increased resources to the Tribunals following recent campaigns recruiting an additional 28 medical members and 3 Judges.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 23/10/2018 13:54:26 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 80038 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

971485

registered interest
date	10/09/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for a social security tribunal hearing in each of the last five years for people living in the Easington constituency.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	172598
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is set out in the table below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Average waiting time<sup>1</sup> at the Sunderland<sup>2</sup> Social Security Tribunal Venue</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April – March<sup>3</sup></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>19 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>22 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>18 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>18 weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18<sup>4</sup></p></td><td><p>26 weeks</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>1. Waiting Time is interpreted as average clearance time - time taken for appeal receipt to outcome</p><p>2. Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) data are normally registered to the venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. We cannot retrieve data based on the appellant’s actual address, but can produce reports detailing the numbers of cases that were dealt with at one of our Regional centres or heard at a specific venue. Appeals within the Easington constituency are heard in the Sunderland venue. Data include cases cleared at a tribunal hearing including paper, oral and domiciliary. <br> 3. Financial year - April – March. <br> 4. Data April 17 to March 18 are provisional and subject to change.</p><p>Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Waiting times are calculated from receipt of the appeal to its final disposal. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing had been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier, for its final disposal.</p><p> </p><p>Waiting times can fluctuate temporarily and geographically, owing to a number of variable factors, including volumes of benefit decisions made locally, availability of medical/disability members, venue capacity and the complexity of the issue in dispute. Any disparity in waiting times is monitored and investigated locally.</p><p> </p><p>In order to respond to a general increase in appeal receipts, HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service has been working with the Tribunal’s judiciary both to appoint additional judges and panel members, and to take forward initiatives with the potential to increase the capacity and performance of the Tribunal. We have recruited extra fee-paid judicial office holders: 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability-qualified members, and up to 230 medical members. In addition, we are reviewing - with the Judiciary - current listing practices to increase the number of cases listed on a Tribunal session, and introducing case-management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. All these measures will increase the capacity of the Tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 20/09/2018 10:51:49 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 75745 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

971490

registered interest
date	10/09/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Security
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many trained search teams are available to HM Prison Service.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	172600
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2018 answer text <p>The Prison Service has ten Dedicated Search Teams (DST) consisting of ten Prison Officer operatives managed by Custodial Manager. They are specially trained to complete all types of enhanced searching activity. They are also part of our wider efforts to further boost prison security, alongside the rolling out of body scanners, sniffer dogs and phone-blocking technology. These teams are geographically dispersed and can respond to requests from establishments throughout the prison estate.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 13/09/2018 16:08:27 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

971491

registered interest
date	10/09/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Crimes of Violence
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 underlying causes of violence within HM Prisons Service; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	172601
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2018 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has recently published a summary of the evidence base from a number of countries on prison violence. This examines evidence of which prisoners are most likely to commit violence, when and where incidents are likely to occur, and what the strongest drivers of prison violence are. The study concluded that in addition to imported characteristics specific to individual prisoners, lower rates of assault are associated with legitimate and consistent regimes, better physical conditions, together with greater availability of meaningful activity within the prison. The study is available on GOV.UK at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-prison-violence-a-rapid-evidence-assessment" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-prison-violence-a-rapid-evidence-assessment</a></p><p> </p><p>Our assessment of the increase in violence in prisons in England and Wales in recent years is that key drivers in our own system include poor staff-prisoner relationships in some prisons, lack of purposeful activity, and changes in the nature of the illicit economy in prisons (for example the significant increase in the use of psychoactive substances). We are taking significant steps to address these drivers.</p><p> </p><p>Across the prison estate, we are improving staff-prisoner relationships and regimes through recruiting an extra 3,500 staff and using these extra numbers to move to a new key worker model. This model will enable prison officers to mentor, challenge and support a small caseload of prisoners. The increased staffing levels will also support prisons to run full and consistent regimes. We are working to restrict supply of drugs, reduce demand and build recovery through a Drugs Taskforce working with law enforcement and health partners across government. The Taskforce is developing a national Drug Strategy, underpinned by advice and guidance that will support the whole of the estate.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to these estate-wide measures, we are investing £10 million in 10 prisons to trial new approaches to improve standards and security, to serve as a model of excellence for the rest of the estate to follow. Under the programme, governors at each prison will be provided with new scanners capable of detecting packages inside bodies, and sniffer dogs trained to detect new psychoactive substances. Further investment will go into repairing basic infrastructure such as broken windows. Management will train and support staff to set the highest expectations for prisoners and challenge disruptive and violent behaviour fairly, consistently and firmly to restore order and control.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 13/09/2018 16:10:57 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris