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1682883

	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	Animal welfare: Sentencing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many pet owners (a) have been convicted of and (b) served prison sentences for offences against their pets under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in the last two years.
	tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
	tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
	uin	10034
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions, convictions and sentence outcomes in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65a7e44aed27ca001327b161/outcomes-by-offence-june-2023.xlsx" target="_blank">Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023</a> including offences as set out in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65a7e16aed27ca000d27b149/offence_group_classification_june_2023.xlsx" target="_blank">Offence Group Classification</a>. The total number of individuals convicted and sentence outcomes for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, can be obtained by selecting the following HO codes: 10829, 10830, 10831, 10832, 10833, 10834, 10835, 10836, 10837, 10838, 10839, 09701, 09702, 09703, 09704, 09705.</p><p>However, whether the offence was committed by a pet owner against their pet is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings Database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 22/01/2024 14:36:02 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
	tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

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

1682957

	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	Solicitors: Insolvency
	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 clients of solicitors who fall into administration who (a) are being misinformed and (b) cease to be informed.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	10135
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>The legal profession in England and Wales operates independently of government. The responsibility for regulating the sector sits with the approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of solicitors, as well as most law firms in England and Wales. The SRA’s role involves protecting clients and the public.</p><p>The SRA works closely with firms to ensure that consumers’ interests are protected. Their website provides clear guidance for firms that are falling into administration and warns that they will intervene if consumers’ interests are at risk:<a href="https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/closing-down-your-practice/" target="_blank"> https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/closing-down-your-practice/.</a></p><p>The SRA also provides guidance for consumers affected by their law firm’s closure: <a href="https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/solicitor-closed-down/intervention/" target="_blank">https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/solicitor-closed-down/intervention/</a>.</p><p>The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is also able to support consumers with concerns about law firms who are no longer operational. Their website provides information with regards to the different routes available for consumers depending on their personal circumstances <a href="https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/for-consumers/factsheets/complaining-about-closed-service-providers/" target="_blank">https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/for-consumers/factsheets/complaining-about-closed-service-providers/</a>.</p><p>Firms that fall into administration have a duty to make former clients aware. Notably, there are requirements in respect of the advertising and publication of an insolvency so that creditors and other interested parties are made aware. Further detail on this can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/technical-guidance-for-official-receivers/4-publication-of-insolvency-information" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/technical-guidance-for-official-receivers/4-publication-of-insolvency-information</a>.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 22/01/2024 16:28:45 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1682959

	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	Discretionary Trusts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to prevent the practice of intermediaries selling mismanaged Family Protection Trusts to clients.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	10136
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>The legal profession in England and Wales operates independently of government. The responsibility for regulating the sector sits with the approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). Lawyers involved in setting up trusts are subject to regulation by independent regulators.</p><p>The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of solicitors, as well as most law firms in England and Wales. The SRA’s role involves protecting clients and the public, which means they have powers to prevent solicitors in breach of their standards and regulations from practising.</p><p>Complaints about solicitors’ poor behaviour and conduct can be made via their website at <a href="https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/" target="_blank">https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/</a>. If found in breach of said standards and regulations, the SRA has the power to impose a disciplinary sanction against a firm or individual. Further information on the type of sanctions that can be imposed can be found here: <a href="https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/solicitor-check/sanctions/#:~:text=We%20may%20impose%20a%20disciplinary,of%20all%20firms%20we%20authorise." target="_blank">SRA | Sanctions | Solicitors Regulation Authority</a></p><p>According to the Legal Services Act (LSA) 2007, setting up a trust is not a reserved legal activity. HM Treasury may be better placed to respond to any questions about financial intermediaries and their role in setting up trusts.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 22/01/2024 16:29:54 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1682945

	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	Prisons: Drugs
	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 8 January 2024 to Question 7583 on Prisons: Drugs, how many random mandatory drug tests carried out between 2018 and 2023 were positive.
	tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
	tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
	uin	10147
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2024 answer text <p>Between April 2018 and March 2023, there were 25,323 positive rMDT tests for both traditional drugs and psychoactive substances. Data for April to December 2023 will be published as part of the 2023-24 Annual Digest.</p><p>No new Official Statistics on rMDT positivity have been published since the year to March 2020, because since the start of the COVID pandemic testing levels and the number of prisons with sufficient testing have been too low to provide robust data.</p><p>The range of drugs tested in the rMDT panel is subject to change in response to new emerging drug types and new patterns of drug use. This is necessary to ensure our testing approach is targeting the right substances. These limitations mean no robust rate of positive tests can be calculated from the above data and this number of positive tests should not be compared to the number of tests.</p><p><em>Care is taken when processing and analysing returns, but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.</em></p><p><em>This does not include tests that were spoilt or lost in transit on the way to the laboratory.</em></p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 23/01/2024 08:43:15 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

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

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

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

1683167

	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	Marriage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government is taking steps to raise awareness of the legal distinctions between (a) marriage, (b) civil partnership and (c) cohabiting.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Green
	uin	10324
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2024 answer text <p>It is important that people are aware of the legal distinctions between getting married, forming a civil partnership and living together as cohabitants. The Government has already taken steps in this area. The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on relationships education includes the need for schools to ensure that pupils are aware of what marriage is, including its legal status and the legal status of other types of long-term relationship. The Government is also reviewing the information currently available to the public on the legal rights afforded to spouses, civil partners, and cohabiting couples.</p><p>The Government considers that existing work underway on the law of marriage and divorce, which are directly relevant to issues concerning cohabitants, must conclude before considering any change to the law in respect of the rights of cohabitants on relationship breakdown.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 10325 question first answered 24/01/2024 08:28:39 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green

1683169

	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	Cohabitation: Legislation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has plans to review or reform legislation on the rights of cohabitating partners.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Green
	uin	10325
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2024 answer text <p>It is important that people are aware of the legal distinctions between getting married, forming a civil partnership and living together as cohabitants. The Government has already taken steps in this area. The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on relationships education includes the need for schools to ensure that pupils are aware of what marriage is, including its legal status and the legal status of other types of long-term relationship. The Government is also reviewing the information currently available to the public on the legal rights afforded to spouses, civil partners, and cohabiting couples.</p><p>The Government considers that existing work underway on the law of marriage and divorce, which are directly relevant to issues concerning cohabitants, must conclude before considering any change to the law in respect of the rights of cohabitants on relationship breakdown.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 10324 question first answered 24/01/2024 08:28:39 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green