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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

1647991

registered interest
date	21/06/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Victims: Criminal Proceedings
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 the treatment of victims in the criminal justice system.
tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
tabling member printed	Sarah Green
uin	905655
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2023 answer text <p>The Victims Funding Strategy was published in May 2022. It set out a framework which will improve the way we fund victim support services across government, seeking to better align and co-ordinate funding to enable victims to receive the support they need.</p><p>In 2018 we published the first ever cross-government Victims Strategy. This clarified the specific support victims can expect, beginning immediately after a crime and ending long after court proceedings.</p><p>It also committed to first consult on a revised Victims’ Code before bringing forward proposals for a Victims Law, including strengthening compliance with the Code.</p><p>A new Victims’ Code was published in 2021. The Code was restructured into 12 key entitlements in a way which is clear, concise and easy to understand, outlining the minimum levels of service victims can expect at each stage of the criminal justice process.</p><p>Additional entitlements for victims in the Code include increased communication between victims and the CPS and promoting the use of Community Impact Statements.</p><p>On 29 March, we introduced the Victims and Prisoners Bill to Parliament, to improve victims' experiences of the criminal justice system, strengthen the parole system to ensure that the public and victims are better protected, and prohibit whole life prisoners from marrying or forming civil partnerships to drive up confidence in the justice system.</p><p>These changes for victims have been accompanied by a greater investment in victims’ services. We are more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 27/06/2023 16:08:23 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green

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

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

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

1503541

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Presumption of Parental Involvement Review
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the conclusions of his Department's review of the presumption of parental involvement will be published.
tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
tabling member printed	Sarah Green
uin	45222
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2022 answer text <p>Work on the research underpinning the review of the presumption of parental involvement, which includes a literature review, a qualitative research project and a case file analysis, is underway and is due to be completed by the end of December 2022. The outcome of the review will be published in due course following the completion of the research.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 07/09/2022 10:59:13 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4918 label Biography information for Sarah Green

1489966

registered interest
date	18/07/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Dispute Resolution
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to bring forward policy proposals in response to the Government's call for evidence on dispute resolution in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
tabling member printed	Sarah Green
uin	38889
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice published a Summary of Responses to the Call for Evidence on Dispute Resolution in England &amp; Wales in March this year. Policy proposals informed by these responses are under development and will be the subject of further public consultation in due course.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 21/07/2022 15:41:17 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
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