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1138516

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges
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 July 2019 to Question 272279, how many people (a) are entitled to be and (b) have been reimbursed for employment tribunal fees.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	276237
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The number of people (a) entitled to an employment tribunal fee refund is 64,426 and (b) the number that have been reimbursed is 33,787.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 16/07/2019 10:06:11 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1138526

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate Service: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Probate Service in each of the last six months.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	276239
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Jan-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Feb-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Mar-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Apr-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>May-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Jun-19</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>AGENCY STAFF RESOURCE</p></td><td><p>29.4</p></td><td><p>27.4</p></td><td><p>26.4</p></td><td><p>26.4</p></td><td><p>26.4</p></td><td><p>26.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>FTE STAFF RESOURCE</p></td><td><p>124.49</p></td><td><p>122.94</p></td><td><p>120.94</p></td><td><p>120.9</p></td><td><p>120.9</p></td><td><p>118</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Further to these totals we have arrange additional help from HMCTS and other government departments, these are:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>HMRC SURGE TEAM</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BRADFORD DSCS</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HMCTS LEGAL ADVISERS</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>2.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>ADDITIONAL HMCTS RESOURCE</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>TOTALS (FTE)</p></td><td><p>153.89</p></td><td><p>150.34</p></td><td><p>147.34</p></td><td><p>147.3</p></td><td><p>147.3</p></td><td><p>179.9</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>In addition to these we also now have 35 staff in the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre who are trained in probate.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 16/07/2019 09:58:45 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1138066

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Translation Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much HM Courts and Tribunals Service has spent on (a) courts translation services and (b) Capita Translation Services in each of the last 10 financial years.
tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
uin	275723
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>HMCTS was created on the 1 April 2011. We are unable to provide information for financial years prior to that date. This question has been interpreted to mean costs for all language services, both translators, and interpreters provided in a court setting, and for printed materials available in HMCTS buildings.</p><p> </p><p>The contract with Capita commenced on 30th January 2012, and ended on 30th October 2016. The new Language Services Contracts commenced on the 31st October 2016, with services provided by thebigword Group Limited, Clarion Interpreting and The Language Shop.</p><p> </p><p>The spend by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service on courts translations services was as follows, by financial year:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Total Cost (£)</p></td><td><p>Capita Charges (£)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12 (Commenced from 30th January 2012)</p></td><td><p>7,080,332</p></td><td><p>1,440</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>4,955,510</p></td><td><p>1,083,181</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>7,305,324</p></td><td><p>6,501,870</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>7,431,045</p></td><td><p>7,182,866</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>7,111,949</p></td><td><p>6,548,023</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>9,683,794</p></td><td><p>4,264,196</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Our most recent statistics show language service requests are at their highest since the new contract was introduced in 2016 the clear majority – 97% - were fulfilled. It is vital that victims, witnesses and defendants understand what is happening in court to ensure justice is done, and we will always take steps to ensure a qualified interpreter is provided when needed.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 15/07/2019 16:17:49 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1138105

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Solicitors
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the reform of legal aid on average annual earnings of legal aid solicitors.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
uin	275783
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>On 7 February 2019, the Government published the Post Implementation Review (PIR) of Part 1 of The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-implementation-review-of-part-1-of-laspo" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-implementation-review-of-part-1-of-laspo</a></p><p> </p><p>The review did not look at the earnings of individual solicitors, but reported instead on the impact on legal aid providers, including solicitors firms and individual barristers.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 15/07/2019 16:01:05 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1138106

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Proceedings: 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 his Department has made of the financial impact on defendants of the introduction of an upper limit on disposable income for people claiming legal aid for Crown Court representation.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
uin	275784
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>On 7 February 2019, the Government published the Post Implementation Review (PIR) of Part 1 of The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 which included an assessment of the impact of the £37,500 disposable income threshold introduced at the Crown Court: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-implementation-review-of-part-1-of-laspo" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-implementation-review-of-part-1-of-laspo</a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Alongside the PIR, the Government also published its Legal Support Action Plan in which it announced a comprehensive review of the wider legal aid eligibility regime; this will include the Crown Court thresholds. The review is expected to conclude by Summer 2020 after which we will publish a full consultation paper setting out our future policy proposals in this area. We will seek to implement any final recommendations as soon as practicable following public consultation.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 15/07/2019 16:26:26 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1138145

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of local authority areas that do not have a housing legal aid provider in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	275673
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The LAA commissions services on a ‘Procurement Area’ basis. Procurement Areas align to one or a number of combined local authority areas and have been developed based on various local factors.</p><p> </p><p>Individuals are not limited to accessing legal advice providers in the Procurement Area where they live and may access services from providers located in neighbouring local authorities, or at other contracted legal advice providers located locally.</p><p> </p><p>The LAA has recently tendered for new face-to-face housing contracts across the 134 housing and debt procurement areas across England and Wales. As of 30 June 2019, there is at least one provider offering housing and debt services in all but 4 procurement areas, and the LAA is considering how to secure provision in these areas and will set out next steps shortly.</p><p> </p><p>Legal advice is still available in these areas through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service and irrespective of a client’s location in England and Wales, legal advice for housing remains available through a telephone service as well.</p><p> </p><p>The following table shows the number of providers in each of the locations enquired about, and the number of procurement areas which fall within each.</p><p> </p><p>The Legal Aid Agency keeps availability of legal support under constant review and takes urgent action whenever it has concerns.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Geographical Location</p></td><td><p># of Procurement Areas</p></td><td><p># of Providers</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>235</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other</p></td><td><p>96</p></td><td><p>212</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>This government spent £1.6 billion on legal aid last year and in addition to the Civil Legal Advice Telephone service, we are investing £5m in innovative technologies to help people access legal support wherever they are.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 15/07/2019 16:06:15 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138209

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Service: Blood Diseases
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prison officers (b) other prison staff contracted a blood-borne virus at work in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Leeds East
tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
uin	275791
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Since December 2017 any staff who are potentially exposed to blood and other body fluids are able to call our Body Fluid Exposure and Sharps Injury 24/7 telephone helpline to obtain prompt medical advice. If the employee is advised to attend A&amp;E this signifies that the body fluid exposure is high risk and medical assessment by A&amp;E is required to obtain blood for serum save and to assess suitability for post exposure prophylaxis and/or Hepatitis B injection.</p><p> </p><p>Should Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) be required, the member of staff will call the Body Fluid Exposure and Sharps Injury helpline with details of treatment they have received. Follow up testing for Blood Borne Virus (BBV) is provided for all injured staff to determine if they have contracted a BBV, however, staff are not required to report if they have contracted a blood borne virus at work and the data is therefore it is not possible to report data with any certainty.</p><p> </p><p>If an employee were to contract a Blood Borne Virus from an occupational exposure and had reported this to the Body Fluid Exposure and Sharps Injury helpline (provided by HMPPS’ Occupational Health supplier Optima Health) then HMPPS are required to be made aware under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) with the employees consent. None of these cases have been reported to date.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 15/07/2019 16:42:19 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1137663

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the probate system.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	911811
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Waiting times in the probate service have recently increased. However, following urgent action by the courts service, they are now starting to improve.</p><p> </p><p>The temporary delays were the result of more work coming into the system and the impact of the initial move to a new IT system for managing probate work.</p><p> </p><p>Now that move is complete, and the unusually high workload has been dealt with, we expect waiting times to continue to improve – and be back to normal levels in the coming weeks.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 09/07/2019 16:19:12 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

1137664

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Camp Hill Prison
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What progress he has made on the sale of the Camp Hill prison site to Isle of Wight Council.
tabling member constituency	Isle of Wight
tabling member printed	Mr Bob Seely
uin	911812
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>We have commissioned a demolition survey of the former prison results should hopefully be available, in late July.</p><p> </p><p>The Camp Hill element of HM Prison Isle of Wight closed on 31 March 2013. In summer 2014, the then Secretary of State decided that the former prison sites at Camp Hill, Reading and Wellingborough would be retained in case they offered a useful contingency option to deal with population pressures. The site was released for disposal on 10 January 2017.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 09/07/2019 15:58:09 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4681 label Biography information for Bob Seely

1137665

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Bristol Prison: Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps he is taking to help ensure a safe regime for (a) staff and (b) prisoners in Horfield prison in Bristol.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	911813
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>An Urgent Notification was invoked at HMP Bristol on 13th June 2019. There has been some progress at HMP Bristol under Special Measures to bolster staff to a sufficient level, reduce illicit drug use and improve living conditions by refurbishing a wing and a number of the showers. However, we know more support is needed. The Secretary of State will publish his response and an initial action plan within 28 calendar days (on 11<sup>th</sup> July) in response to the most serious and urgent concerns raised.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Immediate action has been taken to ensure prisoners can speak to Samaritans on their in-cell phones. In addition, action has been taken to address issues raised regarding the safer custody hotline and prevent issues from recurring, so prisoners’ family and friends can report any concerns about a prisoner’s welfare directly to the prison.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 09/07/2019 16:00:18 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire