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1093461

registered interest
date	22/03/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Mother and Baby Units
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on plans to revise the Prison Service Instruction for Mother and Baby Units which expired at the end of last year; and whether those plans will include mandatory standards for the care and support of all pregnant women and new mothers in custody, including those who are separated from their babies.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	235767
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2019 answer text <p>There are plans to conduct a full review of the Mother and Baby Unit instruction imminently, and will consult with stakeholders in the summer. As part of the review we will look at what can usefully be included within the instruction to support all pregnant women and new mothers. This will also take account of mothers who are separated from their babies. The review will involve consultation from colleges in other government departments as well as our stakeholders.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 01/04/2019 16:48:49 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1035009

registered interest
date	04/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Family Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many fact-finding hearings where domestic abuse is alleged have been conducted since the revised Practice Direction PD12J – Domestic Abuse was introduced on 2 October 2017.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	205332
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold the requested data. Family court statistics are published on a quarterly basis in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly, which is publicly available on gov.uk. However, this data does not distinguish between fact-finding hearings and the number of hearings overall.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 14/01/2019 14:38:02 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1029464

registered interest
date	20/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	CAFCASS: Legal Representation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children are currently being represented by children and family court advisory and support service guardians in courts in England.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	204583
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2019 answer text <p>In total, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is acting as a Guardian for 25,440 children (22,007 in public law and 3,433 in private law Rule 6.4 cases).</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 14/01/2019 15:35:19 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1029468

registered interest
date	20/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Family Courts: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often the judiciary in family courts including the lay bench have mandatory specialist training on domestic abuse.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	204584
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2019 answer text <p>Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, responsibility for the training of the judiciary rests with the Lord Chief Justice as Head of the Judiciary. This is exercised through the Judicial College under judicial direction. The Lord Chief Justice requires judges and magistrates to attend induction training before sitting in Private Family law cases, which includes a module on dealing with domestic abuse, and thereafter attend continuation training for the family jurisdiction, which also includes a domestic abuse module, on a minimum of a three-year cycle. Judicial guidance on domestic abuse in child arrangements and contact cases is provided by Practice Direction 12J and vulnerable persons’ participation by Practice Direction 3AA which are available under the procedure rules on the justice website.</p><p> </p><p>The Judicial College produces two core training packs on domestic abuse specifically for magistrates: one for the criminal jurisdiction, and one for the family jurisdiction about domestic abuse and its effects, including the effect of domestic abuse on children. The Family Court Bench Book to support magistrates was updated and re-published in 2018.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 14/01/2019 15:42:38 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1029531

registered interest
date	20/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	CAFCASS: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often Cafcass professionals undergo mandatory specialist training on domestic abuse.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	204585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2019 answer text <p>Cafcass provides all social work staff who join with specialist training on domestic abuse. Cafcass has a range of tools for identifying domestic abuse, assessing its impact and making recommendations to the court about programmes to address perpetrator behaviour and the implications for child arrangements.</p><p>Guidance and programmes have been developed in collaboration with a range of organisations with specialist knowledge of domestic abuse. In addition to training, Cafcass has: monthly ‘Learning and Development Bulletins’ highlighting recent learning; ‘knowledge alerts’ that are shared when new practices are in place; ‘development days’ for teams on relevant topics; eLearning (via Cafcass’ eLearning platform which includes learning specific to domestic abuse) and; the Cafcass Library which provides up-to-date information.</p><p>Cafcass has recently made several commitments to improve training around domestic abuse. Cafcass has commissioned additional training from Barnardo’s on the domestic violence risk identification matrix tool, with a view to considering how this material can complement the Cafcass domestic abuse pathway. Cafcass also works closely with Respect on best practice for working with perpetrators as part of national commissioning of perpetrator programmes.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 10/01/2019 18:08:34 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

967889

registered interest
date	04/09/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Women's Centres
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he is making in the development of the new women centres announced on 27 June 2018; and if he will ensure that such provision will be made available in Wales.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	170386
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2018 answer text <p>We are working with local and national partners to develop a pilot for ‘residential women’s centres’ in at least five sites across England and Wales.</p><p>Over the next few months, we are undertaking an initial engagement process with stakeholders and potential providers and partners to refine the design and delivery model for the pilot. This will support our co-design approach for taking forward the pilot.</p><p>As part of this engagement process, we want to identify the most suitable areas for the pilot sites. It is not possible yet to say where they will be at this time. However, as with other areas, we are keen to engage with stakeholders and partners in Wales to determine appetite and suitability.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 11/09/2018 13:23:07 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

837845

registered interest
date	06/02/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assistance his Department provides for women engaged with the criminal justice system as a result of domestic abuse.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	126876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2018 answer text <p>We recognise that female offenders often have complex circumstances, including backgrounds of domestic abuse, and we are committed to addressing their needs. We are developing a strategy to improve outcomes for female offenders in the community and in custody.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking steps to provide assistance for women engaged with the criminal justice system who have experienced domestic abuse. This includes a confidential 24-hour helpline, run by Refuge and Women’s Aid, which is available in all women’s prisons and provides practical and emotional support and advice.</p><p> </p><p>We have also invested £1m between 2016 and 2020 to support local areas to develop holistic, multi-agency approaches which aim to address the complex needs of female offenders and women at risk of offending, including those who have suffered domestic abuse.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to publishing a draft Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill. This will be accompanied by a programme of non-legislative work, and an additional £20m of funding to support victims of domestic abuse. Our aim is that all victims and survivors of domestic abuse will benefit from measures brought forward following consultation, including women engaged with the criminal justice system.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 14/02/2018 13:35:50 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

805240

registered interest
date	12/12/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Mother and Baby Units
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women in prison have been refused a place in a mother and baby unit in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	118912
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2017 answer text <p>The table below details the number of applications that were made for a place on a prison mother and baby unit in the last five financial years, together with the number of applications approved and refused.</p><p><strong>Table: Mother &amp; Baby Units (MBU) Management Information, by year 2010/11 to 2016/17<sup>1</sup></strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014/15</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of applications received for admission to MBU</p></td><td><p>215</p></td><td><p>210</p></td><td><p>197</p></td><td><p>144</p></td><td><p>119</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of applications approved by a board<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>114</p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>74</p></td><td><p>69</p></td><td><p>61</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of applications refused by a board<sup>2</sup></p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>32</p></td><td><p>41</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>(1) Figures are management information drawn from administrative data systems. They are provisional figures and subject to change following final quality assurance. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.</p><p> </p><p>(2) Not all applications to MBUs will be approved or refused, many will not proceed for other reasons. Applications may not be assessed in the month in which they are received.</p> answering member constituency Bracknell answering member printed Dr Phillip Lee question first answered 20/12/2017 11:17:31 answering member 3921 label Biography information for Dr Phillip Lee
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

802312

registered interest
date	06/12/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Immigration: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of bringing non-asylum immigration claims for children back into scope of legal aid.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	117999
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2017 answer text <p>The Government is committed to the protection of vulnerable children, especially in cases where children lack adequate parental support. Changes to the availability of legal aid for civil legal cases were made in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and as such a consideration of the effects of the changes will be made as part of our Post-Implementation Review of the Act, which will report by summer recess 2018.</p><p> </p><p>Support for children in non-asylum immigration cases remains available through the Exceptional Case Funding Scheme (ECF) where failure to provide legal aid would breach their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights or EU law, subject to means and merits tests.</p> answering member constituency Esher and Walton answering member printed Dominic Raab question first answered 13/12/2017 12:19:17 answering member 4007 label Biography information for Dominic Raab
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

797921

registered interest
date	30/11/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Eastwood Park Prison
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Welsh women are serving sentences in Eastwood Park prison.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	116828
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2017 answer text <p>Closeness to home is one of a number of factors considered when choosing where to place prisoners. We also consider other factors such as length of sentence, security category and offending behaviour requirements.</p><p> </p><p>The following table shows how many women with a Welsh origin address are serving sentences in Eastwood Park prison. This is based on data as at 30 September 2017.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Sentence Status</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(1) Sent</p></td><td><p>50</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(2) Sent 12m -</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(3) Sent 4 y+</p></td><td><p>18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(4) IPP</p></td><td><p>≤5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(5) Life</p></td><td><p>≤5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(6) Recall</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>(7) Unknown</p></td><td><p>≤5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>125</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>If a request is made for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ must consider whether this could lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). We believe that the release of some of this information would risk identification of the individuals concerned. For this reason, MoJ has chosen not to provide an exact figure where the true number falls between one and five. However, it should not be assumed that the actual figure represented falls at any particular point within this scale; '≤5' is used as a replacement value from which it would be difficult to isolate or extract any individual data.</p><p> </p><p>It is important to stress that it is not possible to infer from an address in Wales that an individual considers themselves Welsh. HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) cannot identify English and Welsh prisoners. Someone with an address, for example in London, may well consider themselves to be Welsh, while someone with an address in Wales may not. UK nationals have a nationality of British. Therefore the data shown are not necessarily representative of those who identify as English or Welsh. The results are sorted by origin address (home address on reception into custody) and not nationality. English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish are not captured on our database as separate nationalities.</p><p> </p><p>Around 97% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. This information is included in the data provided in the tables above. Those with no recorded origin are typically foreign nationals or those recently received into custody. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 3% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.</p><p> </p><p>The numerical information provided has been drawn from administrative IT systems, which as with any large scale recording system are subject to possible error with data entry and processing. Further guidance on the considerations for processing a request under FOIA, can be found by following the links: <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/contents" target="_blank">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/contents</a> and <a href="http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foi-step-by-step.htm" target="_blank">http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foi-step-by-step.htm</a></p><p> </p><p>Female prisons HMP/YOI Eastwood Park and HMP/YOI Styal, which both hold a number of Welsh offenders, employ Welsh speaking members of staff and provide written information in Welsh. On release offenders from Wales also have access to Through The Gate services including help with accommodation, employment and training to help them adjust to life outside prison and prevent reoffending.</p> answering member constituency Bracknell answering member printed Dr Phillip Lee question first answered 06/12/2017 12:34:02 answering member 3921 label Biography information for Dr Phillip Lee
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris