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1713823

registered interest
date	25/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Convention on the International Protection of Adults and Mental Capacity
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 support people who have lasting power of attorney for an individual who has been assessed as lacking mental capacity with accessing funds held outside the UK; and if he will take steps to ratify the Hague Convention of 13 January 2000 on the International Protection of Adults.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Lloyd Russell-Moyle
uin	23777
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2024 answer text <p>There are existing ways in which a Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) made in England and Wales under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 can be accepted abroad for the purpose of accessing funds. A certified copy of the LPA, signed off by a notary public with an apostille (a special sealed certificate) attached by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides one method. Alternatively, a translation of the LPA can be formally recognised by the appropriate court of the country in which funds are held.</p><p> </p><p>Although the UK has ratified the 2000 Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults in respect of Scotland, we have not yet done so in relation to England and Wales or Northern Ireland. However, in respect of England and Wales, the majority of its provisions are contained in Schedule 3 of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Schedule 3 provides a framework for recognition and enforcement of ‘protective measures’ such as LPAs in the place of an individual’s habitual residence.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the importance of ratifying the 2000 Hague Convention, as this will bring about international co‐operation to deal with the affairs of individuals across member states. We will progress this work when legislative time allows.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 03/05/2024 12:02:19 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4615 label Biography information for Lloyd Russell-Moyle

1713915

registered interest
date	25/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Proceedings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the average time taken for (a) drug dealing, (b) domestic violence, (c) GBH, (d) domestic burglary and (e) theft cases to be completed in court in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
tabling member printed	Dame Siobhain McDonagh
uin	23669
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>We have interpreted waiting time to refer to the time between the date of first hearing at the magistrates’ court to completion of the case at the Crown Court.</p><p> </p><p>The median number of days from first listing to completion at the Crown Court for a) drug dealing, b) GBH, c) domestic burglary, d) theft cases offences has been provided in the attached table. To note, Crown Court data is only available from 2014 onwards and domestic violence offences cannot be separately identified as they are not defined as such in legislation.</p><p> </p><p>While the Crown Court is still recovering from the impact of the pandemic and disruptive action from the Bar which reduced our ability to hear cases swiftly, the latest published statistics show, across all cases currently in the outstanding caseload, the median age for those cases was around 6 months.</p><p>We are committed to ensuring the delivery of swift justice for all victims and have introduced a raft of measures to achieve that aim. This includes funding around 107,000 sitting days during the most recent financial year (FY23/24), recruiting up to 1,000 judges annually across all jurisdictions and investing in the continued use of 20 Nightingale courtrooms into this financial year (FY24/25) to allow the courts to work at full capacity.</p><p> </p><p>Judges do prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, and seek to ensure that domestic abuse, serious sexual offences and those with vulnerable witnesses are listed at the first available opportunity.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 07/05/2024 14:16:51 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer attachment 1 file name 2024-05-07 PQ 23669 Table.xlsx title Table
tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh

1713957

registered interest
date	25/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken is for a child maintenance case to come before a tribunal.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	23712
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 07/05/2024 14:18:39 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1713964

registered interest
date	25/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Synthetic Cannabinoids
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 (a) the detection of and (b) testing methods for synthetic cannabinoids in the prison estate; and what steps he is taking to improve effectiveness in these areas.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	23726
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs, and we are highly aware of the threat synthetic drugs present. In response, HMPPS has developed capabilities to drug test prisoners who are suspected to have used, or are at risk of using, these dangerous substances. In addition, all prisons have been provided with access to forensic testing of items seized or found within the estate.</p><p> </p><p>Our drug testing contract enables us to deliver key commitments in the cross-Government drug strategy such as: testing of offenders who receive a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement, the pilot of Intensive Supervision Courts, and increased flexibility to test for a broader range of drugs.</p><p> </p><p>Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners, resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. Under this programme, all public sector sites have also been provided with next-generation drug trace detection machines. This technology enables prisons to detect attempts to convey drugs, including synthetic cannabinoids, into prisons. The equipment is effective in identifying synthetic cannabinoids that have been soaked onto letters, clothing and other items.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/05/2024 11:21:52 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1713458

registered interest
date	24/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	War Memorials: Vandalism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of criminal damage to war memorials in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	23374
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted and sentencing outcomes for criminal damage offences across the last 5 years, in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65bd0675704282000d752143/outcomes-by-offence-june-2023.xlsx" target="_blank">Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023</a>.</p><p>However, for criminal damage offences, the specific target of the criminal damage is not recorded in the Court Proceedings Database and so it is not possible to distinguish criminal damage to memorials from wider criminal damage. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 03/05/2024 09:47:42 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1713469

registered interest
date	24/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Officers: Vacancies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies there were for band 3 prison officers in the Long Term High Security Estate - South at the start of each year from 2017 to 2023.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	23505
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2024 answer text <p>Following a period of staffing challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers has increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 - 2023, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign. <br> <br> Table One below shows the number of indicative vacancies for Band 3 Prison Officers in the Long Term &amp; High Security Estate (for prisons in the South) for January 2018, January 2019, January 2020, January 2021, January 2022 and January 2023. Data is not held for the period January 2017 and has not been provided.</p><p> </p><p>In reality, many establishments will routinely sit marginally below their Target Staffing level due to normal attrition and time to hire and so we would not expect establishments to run consistently at 100% staffing.</p><p> </p><p>Where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level, these are routinely supplemented (e.g., by using Payment Plus, a form of overtime) which is not accounted for in the indicative vacancy data provided. Use of detached duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the data.</p><p> </p><p><strong><br> Table One: Total Band 3 Prison Officer Indicative Vacancies across Long Term &amp; High Security Estate (LTHSE) South, January 2018 to January 2023</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Indicative vacancies (FTE)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-18</p></td><td><p>104</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-19</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-20</p></td><td><p>62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-21</p></td><td><p>86</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-22</p></td><td><p>127</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-23</p></td><td><p>323</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Notes </strong></p><ul><li>All data is taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and show the average position across January for each year, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.</li><li>Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by Prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.</li><li>Data shows average resource across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.</li><li>The Long Term &amp; High Security Estate South includes: Belmarsh, Isle of Wight, Long Lartin, Swaleside, Whitemoor and Woodhill.</li><li>Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post at an individual establishment level. Where Staff in Post (FTE) exceeds Target Staffing (FTE) for an establishment, the number of indicative vacancies has been shown as 0 FTE. Indicative vacancies have been summed across establishments to give the number of indicative vacancies for LTHSE South.</li><li>Target Staffing level is the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.</li><li>The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size. Over the reporting period in question, Target Staffing levels for the LTHSE estate has increased which in part explains the increase in vacancies.</li><li>Band 3 Prison Officers include 'Prison Officer - Band 3' and 'Prison Officer - Youth Justice Worker - Band 3'.</li><li>Target Staffing levels are established based on a 39-hour working week. Staff in Post (FTE) is set at 1.0 FTE for those on a 39-hour contract / 1.05 FTE for those on a 41-hour contract and 0.95 FTE for those on a 37-hour contract.</li><li>Target Staffing levels cannot be used to directly calculate vacancies due to the discretion governors have to change establishment level staffing requirements through Governors' Freedoms. As a result, the Ministry of Justice does not regularly present vacancy data and the data presented should be treated with caution.</li><li>Staff in Post data used to calculate an indicative number of vacancies does not take into account those on long-term absences (e.g. career breaks / loans / secondments / agency staff or other forms of overtime).</li><li>Where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level, these are routinely supplemented (e.g., by using Payment Plus, a form of overtime) which is not accounted for in the indicative vacancy data provided. Use of detached duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the data.</li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 30/04/2024 15:10:38 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1713538

registered interest
date	24/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Child Rearing
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle parental alienation.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	23537
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government does not recognise the concept of “parental alienation” and does not accept that it is a syndrome capable of diagnosis.</p><p>In his judgment in the case of <em>Re C</em> the President of the Family Division detailed that the courts focus should be on the “identification of ‘alienating behaviour’” rather than seeking “to determine whether the label ‘parental alienation’ can be applied”. In providing advice to the court, Cafcass does not recognise “parental alienation” and instead looks at the individual behaviours of a parent. In cases where a child is resistant, or refuses, to see a parent Cafcass Family Court Advisers must first consider whether domestic abuse or other forms of harmful parenting are a contributing factor.</p><p>The Government is aware of concerns of about unregulated “parental alienation” experts being instructed in the family courts. To address this issue, we are working with the Family Procedure Rule Committee to make changes to the Family Procedure Rules and their associated Practice Directions to prevent the instruction of these unregulated experts.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 01/05/2024 16:39:25 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1713565

registered interest
date	24/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released early under the end of custody supervised license scheme since October 2023.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	23546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>The number of releases under End of Custody Supervised Licence will be published when sufficient robust and comprehensive data is available. To support orderly release, its publication will be announced through the GOV.UK release calendar.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 02/05/2024 13:00:33 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1713571

registered interest
date	24/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the end of custody supervised licence scheme on rates of recidivism among early-release prisoners.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	23552
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2024 answer text <p>We are constantly monitoring the use of End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) and its impact.</p><p>We are taking action to drive down the reoffending rate for all offenders by investing in a wide range of rehabilitative interventions to get them into skills training, work, and stable accommodation. This includes delivering our ground-breaking transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service – Tier 3 (CAS-3), so prison-leavers have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release. By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of their release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions versus non-CAS3 regions.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 03/05/2024 13:40:29 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1713642

registered interest
date	24/04/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Homicide: Convictions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there were for murder in each year since 2005; and what the conviction rate was in the same period.
tabling member constituency	Luton South
tabling member printed	Rachel Hopkins
uin	23614
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice holds data on convictions for murder offences.</p><p> </p><p>The published data, from 2010 to 2022, can be found in the following tool: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65bcce7b63a23d0013c820f5/outcomes-by-offence-2022-revised.xlsx" target="_blank">Outcomes by Offence tool: December 2022</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The most recent published data available, from year ending June 2011 until the year ending June 2023, can be found in the following tool: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65bd0675704282000d752143/outcomes-by-offence-june-2023.xlsx" target="_blank">Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The full calendar year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool, expected in May 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The data can be accessed by navigating to the ‘<em>Prosecutions and convictions’ </em>tab and using the offence code filer to select the following offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool:</p><ul><li>00101 Murder – victim aged 1 year or over</li><li>00102 Murder – victim under one year old</li></ul><p> </p><p>To cover the full period requested, convictions for murder offences from 2005 to 2009 have been provided in Table 1.</p><p> </p><p>It is not advised to use this data to calculate conviction rate due to the Court Proceedings Database counting two separate records at two separate stages. We cannot track the defendant throughout their court journey and an individual may appear at each court in separate years, or for a different principal offence at different stages. As a result, this rate is not an accurate measure of the proportion of prosecutions that result in a conviction.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 29/04/2024 15:37:24 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris attachment 1 file name 2024-04-29 PQ 23614 table.xlsx title Table
tabling member	4873 label Biography information for Rachel Hopkins