Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1185360

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which officials of his Department sit on his Department's Complex Cases Review Team.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	29839
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), is an independent body, established by the Criminal Appeals Act 1995, to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>No officials from the Ministry of Justice are members of the CCRC.</p><p> </p><p>All CCRC Commissioners are independent from Government and the Civil Service.</p><p> </p><p>Commissioners are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Appointments to the CCRC are made in line with the principles of the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 19/03/2020 16:39:54 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1185361

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Compensation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money has been disbursed from the public public purse in compensation by his Department's Complex Cases Review Team in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	29840
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>Claims for compensation for a miscarriage of justice under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 are dealt with by the Ministry of Justice Application Service. In the last 12 months, the department paid out £10,000 in compensation.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 19/03/2020 16:57:35 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1182178

registered interest
date	03/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Chief Coroner has taken to ensure that coronial decision-making is consistent throughout the UK.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	24260
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2020 answer text <p>The Chief Coroner provides judicial leadership to coroners on a range of statutory and non-statutory matters. In doing so, he publishes guidance and advice to promote consistency of practice and service across England and Wales which is available at <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/office-chief-coroner/guidance-law-sheets/coroners-guidance/" target="_blank">https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/office-chief-coroner/guidance-law-sheets/coroners-guidance/</a>. This guidance, including the Bench Book for coroners, is in the process of being reviewed.</p><p> </p><p>The Chief Coroner also provides training to all coroners and coroners' officers via the Judicial College, further promoting consistency and ensuring that coroners follow the most recent standards of practice. These are also supported by the Chief Coroner’s monitoring duties. In particular, he registers cases lasting more than 12 months, as required by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, allowing him to keep any delays under review.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Chief Coroner has a statutory duty to provide an annual report to the Lord Chancellor which, among other matters, must include an assessment for the year of the consistency of standards between coroner areas.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 11/03/2020 13:40:01 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1181395

registered interest
date	27/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Representation: Death
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 27 February to Question 19769, whether the Legal Aid Means Test Review will examine whether the finances of non-married people sharing a property with an applicant of legal aid will remain relevant to means-tested application for inquests into state-related deaths.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	21897
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2020 answer text <p>The Legal Aid Means Test Review was announced on 7 February 2019, as part of the Legal Support Action Plan.</p><p> </p><p>The review is already underway and is considering the full range of means-testing criteria including the applicable thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with wider criteria such as the treatment of partner and other household resources. This includes the evidence gathered as part of the Government’s Review of Legal Aid for Inquests published on 7 February 2019.</p><p> </p><p>This comprehensive review is due to conclude in late summer 2020, followed by a public consultation on potential policy changes.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 03/03/2020 16:03:14 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1180004

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Representation: Death
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to support access to non-means tested legal representation in cases of state-related death.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	19769
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government’s Review of Legal Aid for Inquests published on 7 February 2019 found that representation for bereaved families is not necessary at the vast majority of inquests because the process is designed to establish the truth and learn lessons and cannot apportion blame.</p><p> </p><p>The Government realises, however, that there may be some instances where legal representation is required at inquests and funding may be available through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme (ECF). The decision to provide funding under ECF is taken by the Legal Aid Agency which makes its decisions independently from political and Government influence. The Government’s Legal Support Action Plan published on 7 February 2019 following the post implementation review of LASPO, includes a commitment to simplify the ECF scheme to ensure it works as effectively as possible for those who need it. We’re also making changes to ensure there is more support for bereaved families including making improvements to guidance and advice literature to improve understanding and awareness of the availability of legal aid for inquests.</p><p> </p><p>The evidence that we gathered as part of our Review for Legal Aid for Inquests will also be considered as part of the Legal Aid Means Test Review, which is looking at the thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with the wider criteria. This comprehensive review is due to conclude in the summer of 2020, followed by a public consultation on potential policy changes.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 27/02/2020 14:50:55 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1179385

registered interest
date	21/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Age of Criminal Responsibility
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	18586
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2020 answer text <p>We do not have any plans to change the age of criminal responsibility.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 02/03/2020 16:32:42 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1132147

registered interest
date	13/06/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Mentally Disordered Offenders: Prisoners' Transfers
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 to reduce waiting times for the transfer of offenders to mental health hospitals under sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	264365
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>We are determined to improve the process of transfer from prison to hospital under the Mental Health Act to ensure delays are reduced. We take the mental health of prisoners extremely seriously, which is why we have increased the support available to vulnerable offenders, especially during the first 24 hours in custody. We are updating the mental health training for prison officers and so far over 24,000 new and existing prison staff have completed at least one module of the revised suicide and self-harm prevention training. HMPPS is working with NHS England and Public Health England to improve and redesign services for people in prison with mental health needs. This includes revising approaches to secure hospital transfers under section 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act when a person needs to be in a hospital setting for their mental health assessment and treatment. HMPPS and NHS England have worked together to collect new evidence and have increased understanding of where transfers work well and how delays arise, identifying areas for improvement. NHS England are currently consulting on an updated version of DHSC’s good practice guidance on transfers and remissions, which will inform our approach. In addition, the independent review of the Mental Health Act, published in December 2018, made recommendations in relation to patients in the criminal justice system, which require detailed consideration in the context of transfers from prison to hospital and we will respond to these in due course. Officials in the Mental Health Casework Section (MHCS) in HMPPS issue transfer warrants on behalf of the Secretary of State. MHCS has an internal target to produce a transfer warrant within 24 hours of receipt of all necessary information. In the vast majority of cases (96%), transfer warrants are issued within 24 hours of MHCS receiving all necessary information. By holding partners to account where information is missing, MHCS has recently reduced the average time from initial notification to the issue of a warrant from 14 calendar days to 3 calendar days.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 21/06/2019 13:49:22 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1124721

registered interest
date	03/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Sentences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people given a sentence of six months or less, have previously served (a) 19 short sentences of six months or less, (b) 20 short sentences of six months or less, (c) 50 short sentences of six months or less and (d) 100 short sentences of 6 months or less between 31 October 2017 and 1 September 2018.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	250789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>For those offenders sentenced to an immediate custodial sentence of six months or less between 31<sup>st</sup> October 2017 and 1<sup>st</sup> September 2018:</p><p>a) 246 had 19 previous immediate custodial sentences of six months or less,</p><p>b) 223 had 20 previous immediate custodial sentences of six months or less,</p><p>c) 12 had 50 previous immediate custodial sentences of six months or less, and</p><p>d) 0 had 100 previous immediate custodial sentences of six months or less.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 13/05/2019 16:16:32 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1123070

registered interest
date	25/04/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Tim Parker
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department made of any potential conflicts of interest arising from his chairmanship of Post Office Limited.prior to the appointment of Tim Parker as Chairman of the Board of HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	247618
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2019 answer text <p>Tim Parker was appointed Chairman of the HMCTS Board in April 2018 following an open and transparent recruitment process. As required under the terms of the HMCTS Framework Document, Tim’s appointment was made by the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals, following the unanimous recommendation made by the recruitment panel. All of those involved in the appointment were aware of the fact that Mr. Parker is also Chairman of the Board of Post Office Limited, which they concluded did not present any conflict. HMCTS manages the administration of courts and tribunals; it has no influence on the outcome of hearings, which are decisions entirely for the independent judiciary.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 03/05/2019 13:00:45 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1122633

registered interest
date	24/04/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Sentences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people since 2016, who have been given a sentence of six months or less, have previously served (a) 20 short sentences of six months or less, (b) 50 short sentences six months or less and (c) 100 short sentences of 6 months or less.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	246959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2019 answer text <p>For those offenders sentenced to an immediate custodial sentence of six months or less between 1<sup>st</sup> January 2017 and 30<sup>th</sup> September 2018, 339 offenders had 20 previous custodial sentences of six months or less, 20 offenders had 50 previous custodial sentences of six months or less and 1 offender had 100 previous custodial sentences of six months or less.</p><p>There is a strong case to abolish sentences of six months or less, with some exceptions. We are exploring options to restrict the use of short custodial sentences, but we have not at this stage reached any conclusions.</p><p>There is persuasive evidence showing community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 involved around 350,000 sentencing occasions over 4 years and used 130 different variables to construct matched groups of offenders and examine the effect of short sentences relative to community sentences. This study found a reduction of around 3 percentage points in proven reoffences if offenders receiving sentences of less than 12 months were to get a community order instead. This is statistically significant and equates to around 30,000 proven reoffences in total over a one-year period. This means fewer victims of crime.</p><p>Unless we tackle the underlying causes of offending, we cannot protect the public from being victims of crime. Effective community orders can address offenders’ behaviour, answer their mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs, and provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 29/04/2019 16:47:45 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones