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1716911

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release entitled First Rapid Deployment Cells unveiled to boost prison places, published on 3 March 2023, how many such cells have been built as of 9 May 2024.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	25498
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>As part of our commitment to build 20,000 prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, we have so far delivered c.730 Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs) across 13 sites, and we are pushing ahead with hundreds more.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 14/05/2024 16:39:28 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1716410

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders: Litter
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press notice entitled Clean-up scheme expanded nationwide to tackle anti-social behaviour, published on 22 March 2024, how many offenders in England and Wales were ordered to carry out litter-clearing activities in support of the Great British Spring Clean from 17 March to 2 April 2024; and how many hours of litter-clearing activity were completed by those offenders.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	25188
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2024 11:51:47 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

1716412

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Ministry of Justice: Ipsos MORI
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what way the purpose of the contract agreed by his Department with Ipsos Mori on 20 March 2024, procurement reference 398437/1351727, differs from the purpose of the contract agreed with the same company on 5 June 2023, procurement reference 336036/1227987.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	25190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>The contract with procurement reference 336036/1227987 was delayed due to difficulties with finding a survey design that would accurately answer the research question, and eventually the contract expired before a workable design was agreed.</p><p>A new contract – reference 398437/1351727 – was awarded to Ipsos on the basis of agreeing a different survey design, which is more likely to produce usable results.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 13/05/2024 11:54:17 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

1716483

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Nitazenes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the level of availability of nitazenes in prisons.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	25240
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>Since February 2024, all prisoners subject to mandatory drug testing in prisons have been tested for fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. We are working closely with our contracted drug testing provider to further improve our capabilities to test prisoners for other synthetic opioids, including nitazenes.</p><p> </p><p>Forensic testing of suspected drug finds was made available to all public sector prisons in April 2023. Our contracted forensic analysis provider has capability to detect synthetic opioids including all fentanyls and nitazenes.</p><p> </p><p>All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and we are aware of the threat synthetic drugs present. Our current assessment is that there is a low prevalence of Nitazenes in prison custody. However, we are alert to the risks and continue to monitor this.</p><p> </p><p>Our £100 million investment in tough security measures, such as X-ray body scanners, is helping tackle the supply of illicit drugs into prisons.</p><p> </p><p>To prevent the smuggling of drugs through the mail, we have also invested in next-generation drug trace detection machines. As of March 2024, every public sector prison now has this cutting-edge technology.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 25241 question first answered 14/05/2024 16:25:47 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1716484

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Nitazenes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether mandatory random drug testing in prisons includes testing for nitrazenes.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	25241
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>Since February 2024, all prisoners subject to mandatory drug testing in prisons have been tested for fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. We are working closely with our contracted drug testing provider to further improve our capabilities to test prisoners for other synthetic opioids, including nitazenes.</p><p> </p><p>Forensic testing of suspected drug finds was made available to all public sector prisons in April 2023. Our contracted forensic analysis provider has capability to detect synthetic opioids including all fentanyls and nitazenes.</p><p> </p><p>All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and we are aware of the threat synthetic drugs present. Our current assessment is that there is a low prevalence of Nitazenes in prison custody. However, we are alert to the risks and continue to monitor this.</p><p> </p><p>Our £100 million investment in tough security measures, such as X-ray body scanners, is helping tackle the supply of illicit drugs into prisons.</p><p> </p><p>To prevent the smuggling of drugs through the mail, we have also invested in next-generation drug trace detection machines. As of March 2024, every public sector prison now has this cutting-edge technology.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 25240 question first answered 14/05/2024 16:25:47 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1716488

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Parc Prison: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison (a) officers and (b) staff have been investigated for (i) drug smuggling and (ii) corruption at HMP Parc in each of the last four years.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	25242
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 14/05/2024 16:27:36 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1716602

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	End-to-End Rape Review
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 expanding the Rape Review Action Plan to include all cases of sexual violence.
tabling member constituency	Somerton and Frome
tabling member printed	Sarah Dyke
uin	25402
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>The 2021 Rape Review Action Plan set public ambitions to return the volumes of adult rape cases being referred by the police, charged by the CPS, and going to court back to at least 2016 levels. We have exceeded each of these ambitions ahead of schedule.</p><p> </p><p>The Rape Review intentionally focussed its efforts on the system’s response to adult rape, acknowledging its unique and complex nature to investigate and prosecute, as well as for the harm it causes to victims. That being said, improvements delivered through the Action Plan will also have wider benefit for the justice system’s response to other sexual offences.</p><p> </p><p>For example, we have recruited 20,000 extra police officers and are providing specialist rape and serious sexual assault training to 2,000 officers, making sure the police have the skills to investigate these crimes. We have rolled out pre-recorded cross examination for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences nationally, sparing victims from the glare of court and helping them give their best evidence. We are also quadrupling victims funding by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10, enabling us to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse Advisors to around 1,000 by 2024/25.</p><p> </p><p>More widely, the Government’s 2021 Tackling Violence against Women and Girls strategy set out our plan for improving the system wide response to VAWG. We have delivered on the vast majority of the actions set out in the original Strategy and continue to make important strides, including the first successful prosecution for cyber flashing resulting in a custodial sentence (March 2024); bringing into force the provisions in the Online Safety Act (January 2024) including new intimate image abuse offences; and putting a new duty on employers to protect their employees from sexual harassment via the Worker Protection amendment of the Equality Act 2010.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 13/05/2024 15:30:34 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	4995 label Biography information for Sarah Dyke

1716698

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Administration of Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in judicial processes.
tabling member constituency	Broadland
tabling member printed	Jerome Mayhew
uin	902791
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>We remain committed to tackling the outstanding caseloads across our courts and tribunals and have introduced a range of measures to achieve this aim.</p><p>While the listing of cases is an independent judicial function, we have consistently invested in judicial recruitment to ensure we have the capacity to deliver effective judicial processes. Since 2018, we have recruited around 1,000 judges and tribunal members annually, across all jurisdictions.</p><p> </p><p>Criminal courts <br>Over 90% of all criminal cases are heard at the magistrates’ courts, where we heard 100,000 cases a month on average across 2023. While the outstanding caseload in the magistrates’ courts has slightly increased in recent months due to an increase in the number of cases coming to court, the caseload remains well below its pandemic peak and stood at 370,700 at the end of December 2023, and cases continue to be progressed quickly.</p><p>To aid our efforts in the magistrates’ courts, we invested £1 million in a programme of work to support the recruitment of more magistrates. We aim to recruit 2,000 new and diverse magistrates this year, and similar numbers for each of the next couple of years.</p><p>At the Crown Court, we remain committed to reducing the outstanding caseload. We delivered 107,700 sitting days in the most recent financial year (FY23/24) and judges have worked tirelessly to complete more cases. The latest data shows cases progressed through the Crown Court more quickly throughout 2023, with the median time from receipt to completion reducing from 167 days in the first quarter of 2023, to 125 days in the last quarter.</p><p>We are also investing more in our criminal courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings, up to March 2025.</p><p> </p><p>Family Court <br>In March 2024 the Family Justice Board agreed a new set of priorities for the family justice system, with a clear focus on closing the longest running cases and increasing the proportion of public law cases concluding within the 26-week statutory timeline.</p><p>We announced in the Spring Budget an additional £55 million to improve productivity, support earlier resolution of family disputes and reduce the number of cases coming to court. This includes creating a digital advice tool for separating couples, piloting early legal advice and supporting the expansion of the private law Pathfinder model. The Department for Education are investing an extra £10 million to deliver new initiatives to address the longest delays in public law.</p><p>We have provided the flexibility for judges to sit virtually across regional boundaries, so that judges can be deployed where they are needed most, to reduce the caseload and waiting times.</p><p>We are also investing up to £23.6 million in the family mediation voucher scheme, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025. As of May 2024, over 28,600 families have successfully used the scheme to attempt to resolve their private law disputes outside of court.</p><p> </p><p>Civil courts</p><p>With regards to civil cases, we are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have a significant volume of judicial recruitment underway for District and Deputy District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation.</p><p>The requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service will start this spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing.</p><p>The HMCTS Reform Program has introduced technology that delivers simplified and transformed digital ways of working for civil court users and judges such as the online money claims process and the damages claims service, offering accessible and responsive services.</p><p> </p><p>Tribunals <br>With regards to the tribunals, we continue to work with the Department for Business and Trade on further measures to address caseloads in the Employment Tribunal, where the deployment of legal officers, recruitment of additional judges and a new electronic case management system have helped the Tribunal to manage its caseload which remains below its pandemic peak.</p><p>We have rolled out the HMCTS digital reform programme in the Immigration and Asylum and Social Entitlement chambers so that anyone challenging an immigration or welfare benefits decision can lodge their appeal, track progress and receive the results all online.</p><p>HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 14/05/2024 13:46:27 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
tabling member	4739 label Biography information for Jerome Mayhew

1716699

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Victim Support Schemes
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 the victims of crime.
tabling member constituency	Gainsborough
tabling member printed	Sir Edward Leigh
uin	902803
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting victims of crime.</p><p> </p><p>The Victims and Prisoners Bill, which is currently in Report stage of the second House, introduces measures to better serve victims and the public, through improving victims’ experiences of the Criminal Justice System. The Bill places the overarching principles of the Victims’ Code into primary legislation and places a statutory duty on relevant agencies to provide services in accordance with the Victims’ Code, unless there is a good reason not to. The Bill sets up new oversight mechanisms to monitor and improve Code compliance through new mandatory data collection. There will be a series of consequences in place for bodies that do not comply with the Code, delivered by new local and national oversight mechanisms, with robust independent scrutiny by the Victims’ Commissioner.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of services which support victims, and so the Bill also introduces a duty on Police and Crime Commissioners Local Authorities and Integrated Care Boards to collaborate when commissioning support services for victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and serious violence in England. Alongside this, the government has quadrupled funding for victims’ support services in cash terms since 2009/10. This includes funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers to around 1,000 by 2024/25, a 24/7 Rape Support Helpline, and an improved Homicide Support Service.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to supporting victims directly, the Government is committed to making sure the punishment fits the crime. The average custodial sentence has increased by around 50% since 2010 and serious offenders now spend a higher proportion of their sentence in custody.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 14/05/2024 17:04:47 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	345 label Biography information for Sir Edward Leigh

1715998

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Bail: Remote Hearings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary on its decision to make second and subsequent bail applications remote by default.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	24910
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>It is standard practice not to comment on discussions between Ministers and the judiciary.</p><p>The Lord Chancellor is supportive of any efforts to help ensure sufficient capacity in the courts to hear bail applications and to remove principal structural barriers to applications being submitted, and he welcomes the revised guidance launched by Judicial Office which sets out that all second and subsequent bail applications to the Crown Court should be heard remotely unless ordered otherwise by a judge.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2024 08:49:11 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham