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1312339

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Leeds
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to establish a civil justice centre in Leeds.
tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
uin	188051
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>There are currently no plans to establish a civil justice centre in Leeds. Our estate in Leeds is regularly reviewed to make sure it continues to meet our operational requirements.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 29/04/2021 11:59:23 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

1312423

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
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 adequacy of legal aid provision in (a) Newport West and (b) England.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	188157
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Legal Aid Agency commissions and monitors legal aid services by ‘Procurement Area’ as opposed to by constituency. A full list of contracted providers in England and Wales is published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers</a> which can be filtered by selected geographic area.</p><p>The LAA seeks to award a minimum of 1 contract for each civil category of law for each procurement area, save in family law where the LAA seeks to award 5 contracts per procurement area. The procurement area which includes Newport West currently exceeds both standards.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 29/04/2021 11:38:29 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1312032

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Magistrates' Courts: Sentencing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of increasing the sentencing powers of Magistrates in accordance with Section 154 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 on the number of outstanding cases at Crown Courts.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	187181
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The government keeps this policy under review, but an assessment of the impact on outstanding cases at the Crown Court cannot be made available at this time.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 29/04/2021 12:00:41 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1312035

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Emergency Services: Crimes of Violence
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 7 September 2020 to Question 78583 on Emergency Services: Crimes of Violence, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Shipley to supply that information.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	187182
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>Obtaining the necessary information to fully answer the question asked on 22 July 2020, involves accessing the Police National Computer (PNC). This system can only be accessed via a fixed location in our offices. Access to the PNC has been severely restricted since March 2020 due to the national restrictions and the need to minimise non-essential travel.</p><p> </p><p>Work to clear the backlog of parliamentary questions, alongside data uploads and other priority work using the PNC, has commenced but there is continued reduced capacity to do this due to the need to adhere to social distancing guidelines. I will write to the Hon Member with the requested information as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 29/04/2021 12:07:48 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1312060

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the minutes of the 84th SAGE meeting on covid-19, 25 March 2021, point 23, what proportion of the PCR tests taken by (a) staff via weekly routine testing, and (b) prisoners at key transition points including reception and transfer, are screened for covid variants of concern.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	187183
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>Over the course of the pandemic we have expanded the use of testing based on public health recommendations, and we now offer testing routinely to all staff and those prisoners who are moving into or within the prison estate. We also conduct mass testing as part of a multi-agency response to outbreaks. We are constantly seeking to harness the benefits that new testing technologies might be able to offer, as soon as they become available, to strengthen our defences against the virus further.</p><p> </p><p>PCR tests are only sent for genomic sequencing if a positive result is indicated and as required according to Public Health guidance. HMPPS is working with health partners to ensure these tests are prioritised for sequencing along with positive cases in the care home sector. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to work closely with PHE and PHW to determine the appropriate testing regime in prisons, including any changes due to the effect of vaccination.</p><p> </p><p>Vaccines are at the centre of the Government’s plan to ensure life can return to as normal as soon as possible. Social distancing and basic hygiene, however, continue to be effective controls to reduce transmission and we continue to provide access to the right cleaning and hygiene products in prisons as we move into recovery.</p><p> </p><p>The vaccination programme is managed by the NHS, although we continue to support healthcare colleagues to vaccinate prisoners. Prisoners are being vaccinated in line with the community, and based on the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Whilst it is voluntary, we are strongly encouraging all those who are eligible to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and those around them.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 187185 question first answered 29/04/2021 11:32:14 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1312062

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the minutes of the 84th SAGE meeting on covid-19 of 25 March 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions noted on the (a) speed of vaccination and (b) uptake of vaccination of (i) prison staff and (ii) prisoners.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	187185
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>Over the course of the pandemic we have expanded the use of testing based on public health recommendations, and we now offer testing routinely to all staff and those prisoners who are moving into or within the prison estate. We also conduct mass testing as part of a multi-agency response to outbreaks. We are constantly seeking to harness the benefits that new testing technologies might be able to offer, as soon as they become available, to strengthen our defences against the virus further.</p><p> </p><p>PCR tests are only sent for genomic sequencing if a positive result is indicated and as required according to Public Health guidance. HMPPS is working with health partners to ensure these tests are prioritised for sequencing along with positive cases in the care home sector. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to work closely with PHE and PHW to determine the appropriate testing regime in prisons, including any changes due to the effect of vaccination.</p><p> </p><p>Vaccines are at the centre of the Government’s plan to ensure life can return to as normal as soon as possible. Social distancing and basic hygiene, however, continue to be effective controls to reduce transmission and we continue to provide access to the right cleaning and hygiene products in prisons as we move into recovery.</p><p> </p><p>The vaccination programme is managed by the NHS, although we continue to support healthcare colleagues to vaccinate prisoners. Prisoners are being vaccinated in line with the community, and based on the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Whilst it is voluntary, we are strongly encouraging all those who are eligible to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and those around them.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 187183 question first answered 29/04/2021 11:32:14 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1312244

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Ombudsman: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with the Office for Legal Complaints on reducing the time taken by the Legal Ombudsman to assess cases during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	187233
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has a partnership arrangement with the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC), set out in a framework document, through which performance of the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) scheme is monitored on a regular basis. During the pandemic, there have been frequent discussions with the OLC and members of the executive at LeO to monitor performance, including the impact of the pandemic on the timeliness of cases. A key part of the partnership arrangement is quarterly holding to account meetings with the OLC and LeO in which Performance is a standing agenda item. At these meetings, the OLC’s actions to reduce wait times for consumers are discussed. Monthly reports on performance are also reviewed by the MoJ and the Legal Services Board (LSB) – the oversight regulator for the legal profession – to assess the progress of these actions. Senior officials from the MOJ are in regular contact with the OLC and senior staff at LEO to discuss performance issues and work to improve performance.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 29/04/2021 11:35:30 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1311471

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of facilities for lawyers to safely see their clients at courts during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	185873
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>HMCTS buildings are COVID-secure and we continuously monitor and review our guidance and practices to ensure that we are complying with the latest public health advice. There is an ongoing dialogue with legal professionals at all levels to allow them to feed into this process. Where there are concerns about capacity legal professionals can raise this locally, regionally or nationally. For staff and agency staff in HMCTS as a whole (including tribunals), positive test rates are falling in line with national numbers. The incident rate amongst staff is trending around the national average.</p><p> </p><p>The HMCTS Organisational Risk Assessment sets out the suite of measures put in place to ensure our buildings remain safe for those who use them, and these measures have been developed with the endorsement of public health agencies. All court and tribunal buildings are individually risk assessed – at least weekly – to make sure they continue to meet public health guidelines. These assessments include the spaces for lawyers to safely see their clients. A copy of the court assessment can be obtained from the senior person on site.</p><p> </p><p>Where it has been assessed as safe to do so, rooms within a court building suitable for private consultations are open. These rooms can be identified by posters on the doors, which confirm the maximum capacity and safety measures to be followed. More rooms will open once the Government’s review on social distancing measures and public health advice allows this to happen safely.</p><p> </p><p>In relation to mobile units, HMCTS has prioritised the available space on its estate to house portable cabins to increase the ability to conduct more jury trials. The cabins are used by jurors who are safely marshalled, to limit transmission risk, between the cabin and court room. HMCTS will continue to prioritise the use of cabins in this way as part of a wider package of recovery measures, such as the use of Nightingale courts, that form its overall response to the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>Both HMCTS and HMPPS have taken action to provide measures to keep consolations with defendants in custody as safe as possible. Since the start of the pandemic, HMPPS took urgent action to enable the criminal justice system (CJS) to continue running by enabling CJS professionals to consult defendants in custody by video. First, it enabled secure remote access to the previously closed prison–to–court video links by deploying over 900 cloud video platform video meeting rooms. HMPPS then increased physical video capacity by over 50% in prisons with a remand function and by over 77% across the wider custodial estate. To date, 371 new video points have been installed, with further installations planned in the coming weeks. In addition, prisons with a remand function were asked to extend their video operating hours.</p><p> </p><p>There will be occasions when lawyers must meet their clients in the court cells. HMCTS works closely with the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS), who have the responsibility to risk assess the custody areas, to keep the same level of safety maintained throughout the court building. As public health advice changes, PECS review, assess and adapt their risk assessments accordingly to ensure that the custody suite remains safe. This ensures transmission risk is kept to a minimum during client consultations and the transfer of prisoners from cells to the court room. HMCTS will record, on its site-specific risk assessment, any safety concern identified by PECS and the action taken to resolve.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 185874 185875 question first answered 27/04/2021 16:38:34 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1311472

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has considered the potential merits of using mobile units at courts to allow lawyers to meet their clients in a safe environment during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	185874
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>HMCTS buildings are COVID-secure and we continuously monitor and review our guidance and practices to ensure that we are complying with the latest public health advice. There is an ongoing dialogue with legal professionals at all levels to allow them to feed into this process. Where there are concerns about capacity legal professionals can raise this locally, regionally or nationally. For staff and agency staff in HMCTS as a whole (including tribunals), positive test rates are falling in line with national numbers. The incident rate amongst staff is trending around the national average.</p><p> </p><p>The HMCTS Organisational Risk Assessment sets out the suite of measures put in place to ensure our buildings remain safe for those who use them, and these measures have been developed with the endorsement of public health agencies. All court and tribunal buildings are individually risk assessed – at least weekly – to make sure they continue to meet public health guidelines. These assessments include the spaces for lawyers to safely see their clients. A copy of the court assessment can be obtained from the senior person on site.</p><p> </p><p>Where it has been assessed as safe to do so, rooms within a court building suitable for private consultations are open. These rooms can be identified by posters on the doors, which confirm the maximum capacity and safety measures to be followed. More rooms will open once the Government’s review on social distancing measures and public health advice allows this to happen safely.</p><p> </p><p>In relation to mobile units, HMCTS has prioritised the available space on its estate to house portable cabins to increase the ability to conduct more jury trials. The cabins are used by jurors who are safely marshalled, to limit transmission risk, between the cabin and court room. HMCTS will continue to prioritise the use of cabins in this way as part of a wider package of recovery measures, such as the use of Nightingale courts, that form its overall response to the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>Both HMCTS and HMPPS have taken action to provide measures to keep consolations with defendants in custody as safe as possible. Since the start of the pandemic, HMPPS took urgent action to enable the criminal justice system (CJS) to continue running by enabling CJS professionals to consult defendants in custody by video. First, it enabled secure remote access to the previously closed prison–to–court video links by deploying over 900 cloud video platform video meeting rooms. HMPPS then increased physical video capacity by over 50% in prisons with a remand function and by over 77% across the wider custodial estate. To date, 371 new video points have been installed, with further installations planned in the coming weeks. In addition, prisons with a remand function were asked to extend their video operating hours.</p><p> </p><p>There will be occasions when lawyers must meet their clients in the court cells. HMCTS works closely with the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS), who have the responsibility to risk assess the custody areas, to keep the same level of safety maintained throughout the court building. As public health advice changes, PECS review, assess and adapt their risk assessments accordingly to ensure that the custody suite remains safe. This ensures transmission risk is kept to a minimum during client consultations and the transfer of prisoners from cells to the court room. HMCTS will record, on its site-specific risk assessment, any safety concern identified by PECS and the action taken to resolve.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 185873 185875 question first answered 27/04/2021 16:38:34 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1311473

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Coronavirus
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 safety of court cells for lawyers to meet clients during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	185875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>HMCTS buildings are COVID-secure and we continuously monitor and review our guidance and practices to ensure that we are complying with the latest public health advice. There is an ongoing dialogue with legal professionals at all levels to allow them to feed into this process. Where there are concerns about capacity legal professionals can raise this locally, regionally or nationally. For staff and agency staff in HMCTS as a whole (including tribunals), positive test rates are falling in line with national numbers. The incident rate amongst staff is trending around the national average.</p><p> </p><p>The HMCTS Organisational Risk Assessment sets out the suite of measures put in place to ensure our buildings remain safe for those who use them, and these measures have been developed with the endorsement of public health agencies. All court and tribunal buildings are individually risk assessed – at least weekly – to make sure they continue to meet public health guidelines. These assessments include the spaces for lawyers to safely see their clients. A copy of the court assessment can be obtained from the senior person on site.</p><p> </p><p>Where it has been assessed as safe to do so, rooms within a court building suitable for private consultations are open. These rooms can be identified by posters on the doors, which confirm the maximum capacity and safety measures to be followed. More rooms will open once the Government’s review on social distancing measures and public health advice allows this to happen safely.</p><p> </p><p>In relation to mobile units, HMCTS has prioritised the available space on its estate to house portable cabins to increase the ability to conduct more jury trials. The cabins are used by jurors who are safely marshalled, to limit transmission risk, between the cabin and court room. HMCTS will continue to prioritise the use of cabins in this way as part of a wider package of recovery measures, such as the use of Nightingale courts, that form its overall response to the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>Both HMCTS and HMPPS have taken action to provide measures to keep consolations with defendants in custody as safe as possible. Since the start of the pandemic, HMPPS took urgent action to enable the criminal justice system (CJS) to continue running by enabling CJS professionals to consult defendants in custody by video. First, it enabled secure remote access to the previously closed prison–to–court video links by deploying over 900 cloud video platform video meeting rooms. HMPPS then increased physical video capacity by over 50% in prisons with a remand function and by over 77% across the wider custodial estate. To date, 371 new video points have been installed, with further installations planned in the coming weeks. In addition, prisons with a remand function were asked to extend their video operating hours.</p><p> </p><p>There will be occasions when lawyers must meet their clients in the court cells. HMCTS works closely with the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS), who have the responsibility to risk assess the custody areas, to keep the same level of safety maintained throughout the court building. As public health advice changes, PECS review, assess and adapt their risk assessments accordingly to ensure that the custody suite remains safe. This ensures transmission risk is kept to a minimum during client consultations and the transfer of prisoners from cells to the court room. HMCTS will record, on its site-specific risk assessment, any safety concern identified by PECS and the action taken to resolve.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 185873 185874 question first answered 27/04/2021 16:38:34 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham