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226050

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2015
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	High Speed 2 Line
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review his Department's decision not to provide legal aid to petitioners appearing before the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill Select Committee.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Mrs Cheryl Gillan
	uin	226752
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Decisions about legal aid funding in civil cases are a matter for the Director of Legal Aid Casework and his staff at the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), which is responsible for administering the legal aid scheme. Ministers cannot intervene in decisions made about the grant of funding in individual cases.</p><p> </p><p>The LAA refused an application for funding from the High Speed 2 Action Alliance (“HS2AA”) in relation to the Bill procedure, as it did not meet the statutory criteria to receive public funding in respect of either means or exceptional funding. A review of the refusal of the application was sought and the LAA has upheld its decision.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 16/03/2015 13:00:16 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	18 label Biography information for Dame Cheryl Gillan

1550947

	registered interest
	date	13/12/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Probate
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of probate applications submitted in the last 12 months were processed and received a response within 30 working days.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Green
	uin	109690
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2022 answer text <p>All applicants using the digital service receive confirmation of receipt at the point of submission and, if required, once we receive the original will or other supporting documents. In the last 12 months 56% (158,510) of all applications were either stopped or had their grant issued within 30 days of receipt of the documents needed to assess the case.</p><p>HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.</p><p>The improvement of the online probate system remains a priority for HMCTS, to ensure more applications can be issued first time and resources can be focused on reducing waiting times.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 19/12/2022 15:54:26 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green

1276365

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Probate
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for grant of probate his Department has outstanding at the most recent date for which that information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Dame Cheryl Gillan
	uin	137111
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>Data showing the volume of applications for Grant of Probate that are outstanding includes both cases that have not yet been issued and also all cases which could not be processed by HMCTS, on initial receipt, due to missing or inaccurate information (cases which are ‘stopped’):</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Outstanding<sup>1</sup> Grant of Probate Application at 27 December 2020, England and Wales <sup>1,2, 3, 4</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Probate</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Volume of outstanding applications</p></td><td><p>Volume of stopped applications</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>27-Dec-20</p></td><td><p>20,759</p></td><td><p>18,824</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><ol><li>The number of grant applications submitted but not yet withdrawn or issued. Dormant Applications have been excluded.</li><li>Stopped cases are a subset of the volumes of cases and include cases with a status of 'Case stopped re-issue', 'Case Stopped', 'Stopped'.</li><li>Data and management information and may differ from previously published data. are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics. Data in line with published MI (14/1/2021).</li><li>Data has not been cross referenced with case files and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics.</li></ol><p>The overall volume of outstanding cases has been steadily reducing in recent months.</p><p>The most recently published information regarding waiting times for a grant of probate covers July 2020 to September 2020 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 26):</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Average time to grant issue for probate grants, England and Wales <sup>1,2, 3</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Application submission to grant issue</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Document receipt to grant issue<sup>3</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2020 to September 2020</p></td><td><p>6.7</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>4.4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Source HMCTS Core Case Data</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><ol><li>HMCTS Core Case Data (CCD) came into effect at the end of March 2019, following a transition between data systems recording information regarding The Probate Service.</li><li>The average timeliness figures are produced by calculating the time from application/document receipt (which may be from an earlier period) to the grant issued made in that period.</li><li>Document receipt occurs after payment has been made and all accompanying paperwork has been received by HMCTS.</li></ol><p>In 2020 the level of applications being made increased and the service faced unprecedented challenges due to the impact of Covid 19.</p><p>Despite this, and as a result of HMCTS increasing resources to meet demand, the average length of time taken for a Grant of Probate to be issued improved quarter on quarter throughout the year.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 137112 question first answered 18/01/2021 15:35:53 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	18 label Biography information for Dame Cheryl Gillan

1276368

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Probate
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what average time has been taken by his Department to issue a grant of probate after receipt of an application in the most recent period for which that information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Dame Cheryl Gillan
	uin	137112
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>Data showing the volume of applications for Grant of Probate that are outstanding includes both cases that have not yet been issued and also all cases which could not be processed by HMCTS, on initial receipt, due to missing or inaccurate information (cases which are ‘stopped’):</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Outstanding<sup>1</sup> Grant of Probate Application at 27 December 2020, England and Wales <sup>1,2, 3, 4</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Probate</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Volume of outstanding applications</p></td><td><p>Volume of stopped applications</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>27-Dec-20</p></td><td><p>20,759</p></td><td><p>18,824</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><ol><li>The number of grant applications submitted but not yet withdrawn or issued. Dormant Applications have been excluded.</li><li>Stopped cases are a subset of the volumes of cases and include cases with a status of 'Case stopped re-issue', 'Case Stopped', 'Stopped'.</li><li>Data and management information and may differ from previously published data. are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics. Data in line with published MI (14/1/2021).</li><li>Data has not been cross referenced with case files and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics.</li></ol><p>The overall volume of outstanding cases has been steadily reducing in recent months.</p><p>The most recently published information regarding waiting times for a grant of probate covers July 2020 to September 2020 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 26):</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Average time to grant issue for probate grants, England and Wales <sup>1,2, 3</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Application submission to grant issue</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Document receipt to grant issue<sup>3</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2020 to September 2020</p></td><td><p>6.7</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>4.4</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Source HMCTS Core Case Data</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><ol><li>HMCTS Core Case Data (CCD) came into effect at the end of March 2019, following a transition between data systems recording information regarding The Probate Service.</li><li>The average timeliness figures are produced by calculating the time from application/document receipt (which may be from an earlier period) to the grant issued made in that period.</li><li>Document receipt occurs after payment has been made and all accompanying paperwork has been received by HMCTS.</li></ol><p>In 2020 the level of applications being made increased and the service faced unprecedented challenges due to the impact of Covid 19.</p><p>Despite this, and as a result of HMCTS increasing resources to meet demand, the average length of time taken for a Grant of Probate to be issued improved quarter on quarter throughout the year.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 137111 question first answered 18/01/2021 15:35:53 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	18 label Biography information for Dame Cheryl Gillan

1551504

	registered interest
	date	14/12/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Probate Service: Standards
	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 help reduce the time it takes for the Probate Office to respond to applications.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Green
	uin	110831
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2022 answer text <p>Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and the increased volume of applications that there have been seen since, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between five and seven weeks – with the average responses being almost 2 weeks faster in quarter 3 of 2022 than the yearly average for 2020 and 2021.</p><p>Average waiting times for probate grants, up to September 2022, are published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25): <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2022</a></p><p>HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.</p><p>The improvement of the online probate system remains a priority for HMCTS, to ensure more applications can be issued first time and resources can be focused on reducing waiting times.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 19/12/2022 15:55:22 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green

1523381

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2022
	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, what steps his Department is taking to minimise the impact of divorce proceedings on children.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Green
	uin	66098
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2022 answer text <p>In April of this year the Government implemented the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. This landmark legislation reduces conflict between couples within the legal process for divorce or dissolution by removing the ‘fault’ element from the process, thereby reducing the impact of divorce on any children by assisting parents to focus on their children’s best interests.</p> answering member constituency Dartford answering member printed Gareth Johnson question first answered 21/10/2022 08:18:49 answering member 3970 label Biography information for Gareth Johnson
	tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green

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

1683170

	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	Family Proceedings: Dispute Resolution
	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 increase the number of family disputes resolved outside of court in instances where it is safe and appropriate to do so.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Green
	uin	10326
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to helping more parents resolve their issues earlier and without coming to court, where this is safe and appropriate.</p><p>In March 2021, the Government launched the Mediation Voucher Scheme to help families to access mediation and resolve their issues away from the family court. As of 18 January 2024, 24,379 vouchers have been issued and we are now investing up to £23.6m in the scheme, which we expect to see continue to March 2025.</p><p>In March 2023, the Government published a consultation asking for views on proposals to support families to reach agreements earlier and without court involvement, where appropriate to do so. The Government response to this consultation, setting out our plans for reform in this area, will be published imminently.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 24/01/2024 11:34:44 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green

1226578

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Autism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to include the recording of autism in the Prison Population Statistics.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Dame Cheryl Gillan
	uin	76555
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/09/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is committed to supporting all vulnerable people who come into contact with the criminal justice system, including individuals with autism. We recognise the importance of meeting the needs of this cohort, are therefore taking steps to improve the collection and recording of data on disability.</p><p>This includes ongoing work by HM Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) to implement a new data categorisation list which aligns with that used by the World Health Organisation and the Government Statistical Service on the new Prison National Offender Management Information System (new-NOMIS). This will provide a better structured and more intuitively organised list of conditions, allowing more accurate recording of disabilities and health conditions, including Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Improving this data will allow us to better understand and support the prison population and its individual needs, as well as enabling the identification of any disparity in outcomes. Once the categorisation has fully bedded into our systems and we have sufficient completion rates and data quality, we will aim to publish this within our annual Official Statistics report ‘Offender Equalities’.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 01/09/2020 09:49:02 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	18 label Biography information for Dame Cheryl Gillan