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177566

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria are applied to children and young people applying to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	223066
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The Government is acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that vulnerable people such as children and young people have access to justice.</p><p> </p><p>The Lord Chancellor’s Guidance on Exceptional Funding sets out some of the points that caseworkers at the Legal Aid Agency should take into account when deciding any application for civil legal aid exceptional funding, including those from children and young people. These factors include the importance of the issues at stake, the complexity of the procedures and the capability of the applicant to present their case effectively. The age of the child or young person applicant is one factor which caseworkers will always consider and the Guidance sets out specific questions which may be relevant in the case of a child applicant.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 10/02/2015 12:52:58 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

177567

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will passport all (a) children and (b) young people aged from 18 to 24 through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	223067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Parliament agreed an exceptional case funding scheme to provide an avenue for providing legal aid to those cases that would normally be out of scope, in order to ensure we meet our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law.</p><p> </p><p>The civil legal aid exceptional funding scheme does not provide a general power to fund cases or individuals that fall outside the scope of legal aid – that is not its purpose. We therefore have no current plans to passport all children and/or young people aged from 18 to 24 through the scheme.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 10/02/2015 12:56:51 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

177574

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications from people aged (a) under 18 and (b) 18 to 24 to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme have been successful.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	223099
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p>Table 1: Number of successful applications to the ECF funding scheme, October 2013 to September 2014.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>Under 18</p></td><td><p>18-24</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td><td> </td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2"><p>Grants</p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><del class="ministerial">9</del><ins class="ministerial">3</ins></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><del class="ministerial">3</del><ins class="ministerial">9</ins></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p>12</p></td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding was collected from October 2013 onwards. The latest available published data is to September 2014. The number of successful applications in this instance also corresponds to the number of applicants, i.e. unique individuals granted legal aid.</p><p> </p><p>These numbers assume that the date of birth recorded corresponds to the age of the applicant benefiting from the legal aid. In inquest cases this should be the date of birth of the applicant, not the deceased.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 10/02/2015 12:42:34 question first ministerially corrected 10/02/2015 14:07:40 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara previous answer version 43713 answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

177211

registered interest
date	02/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 and (b) 18 to 24 year olds have applied for legal aid under the Exceptional Case Funding Scheme in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15 to date.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	222961
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2015 answer text <p>Figures presented are taken from published legal aid statistics or more detailed breakdowns where necessary. The age groupings provided are taken from the statistical reporting currently produced and are the latest figures available.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Age of client for Legal Help and Civil Representation covering family, immigration and social welfare outcomes, 2010/11 to 2013/14</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Age Band</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Family</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Immigration</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Social Welfare</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>24,035</p></td><td><p>13,192</p></td><td><p>3,716</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>61,027</p></td><td><p>28,320</p></td><td><p>39,469</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>27,431</p></td><td><p>8,222</p></td><td><p>3,075</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>61,181</p></td><td><p>18,141</p></td><td><p>33,581</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>30,227</p></td><td><p>5,252</p></td><td><p>2,567</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>57,143</p></td><td><p>14,818</p></td><td><p>26,406</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>36,703</p></td><td><p>4,159</p></td><td><p>1,477</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>44,561</p></td><td><p>11,812</p></td><td><p>11,530</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Figures covering prison law outcomes are not available from the administrative system as applicant dates of birth are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2: Age of client in all legal aid scheme outcomes for 2012/13 and 2013/14</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>18 and under</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>19-25</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>97,078</p></td><td><p>244,453</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>92,965</p></td><td><p>204,641</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The full official published statistics are available since 2012/13 and can be found here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322449/clients.csv" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322449/clients.csv</a>. Corresponding figures for 2011/12 are not available across all areas of law.</p><p>These published figures suppress values where low volumes may allow identification of the client alongside further attributes released in the same data extract including ethnicity, gender and disability status.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested on Exceptional Case Funding applicants is supplied in the table below:</p><p><strong>Table 3: Age of applicant ECF Oct 2013 to Sep 2014</strong></p><p /> <p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Under 18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>18 to 24</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2013 to Mar 2014</p></td><td><p>36</p></td><td><p>56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2014 to Sep 2014</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>39</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding applicants was collected from October 2013 onwards. The latest available published data is to September 2014 and the figures supplied show each individual applicant only once.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 222917 222918 question first answered 05/02/2015 17:52:07 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

177212

registered interest
date	02/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the speech by the Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties of 24 September 2014 at the Family Mediation Association Annual Conference 2014, whether his Department plans to seek the views of children, young people and expert non-governmental organisaitons in its review of children's access to legal aid.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	222962
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2015 answer text <p>Following the reforms to civil legal aid, funding remains available in around 95% of cases where a child or young person is the applicant. This includes legal aid for all public law children cases, and where a child is a party in private family law cases.<br><br>The Government has made clear that it will undertake a post-implementation review of the legal aid provisions within the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) within 3-5 years of implementation. Although the scope of this review has not been finalised, it is expected that it will consider evidence from a wide range of sources. <br><br>In the mean time, the Government continues at all times to review the operation of the legal aid system. Ministers have considered, and will continue to consider, all representations and evidence about the impact of LASPO on young people.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 05/02/2015 16:42:21 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

177213

registered interest
date	02/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children received (a) social welfare, (b) family, (c) immigration and (d) prison legal aid in each of the last four years.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	222917
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2015 answer text <p>Figures presented are taken from published legal aid statistics or more detailed breakdowns where necessary. The age groupings provided are taken from the statistical reporting currently produced and are the latest figures available.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Age of client for Legal Help and Civil Representation covering family, immigration and social welfare outcomes, 2010/11 to 2013/14</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Age Band</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Family</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Immigration</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Social Welfare</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>24,035</p></td><td><p>13,192</p></td><td><p>3,716</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>61,027</p></td><td><p>28,320</p></td><td><p>39,469</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>27,431</p></td><td><p>8,222</p></td><td><p>3,075</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>61,181</p></td><td><p>18,141</p></td><td><p>33,581</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>30,227</p></td><td><p>5,252</p></td><td><p>2,567</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>57,143</p></td><td><p>14,818</p></td><td><p>26,406</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>36,703</p></td><td><p>4,159</p></td><td><p>1,477</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>44,561</p></td><td><p>11,812</p></td><td><p>11,530</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Figures covering prison law outcomes are not available from the administrative system as applicant dates of birth are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2: Age of client in all legal aid scheme outcomes for 2012/13 and 2013/14</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>18 and under</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>19-25</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>97,078</p></td><td><p>244,453</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>92,965</p></td><td><p>204,641</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The full official published statistics are available since 2012/13 and can be found here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322449/clients.csv" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322449/clients.csv</a>. Corresponding figures for 2011/12 are not available across all areas of law.</p><p>These published figures suppress values where low volumes may allow identification of the client alongside further attributes released in the same data extract including ethnicity, gender and disability status.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested on Exceptional Case Funding applicants is supplied in the table below:</p><p><strong>Table 3: Age of applicant ECF Oct 2013 to Sep 2014</strong></p><p /> <p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Under 18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>18 to 24</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2013 to Mar 2014</p></td><td><p>36</p></td><td><p>56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2014 to Sep 2014</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>39</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding applicants was collected from October 2013 onwards. The latest available published data is to September 2014 and the figures supplied show each individual applicant only once.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 222918 222961 question first answered 05/02/2015 17:52:07 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

177214

registered interest
date	02/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 and (b) 18 to 24 year olds received legal aid in (i) 2011-12, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	222918
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2015 answer text <p>Figures presented are taken from published legal aid statistics or more detailed breakdowns where necessary. The age groupings provided are taken from the statistical reporting currently produced and are the latest figures available.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Age of client for Legal Help and Civil Representation covering family, immigration and social welfare outcomes, 2010/11 to 2013/14</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Age Band</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Family</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Immigration</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Social Welfare</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>24,035</p></td><td><p>13,192</p></td><td><p>3,716</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>61,027</p></td><td><p>28,320</p></td><td><p>39,469</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>27,431</p></td><td><p>8,222</p></td><td><p>3,075</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>61,181</p></td><td><p>18,141</p></td><td><p>33,581</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>30,227</p></td><td><p>5,252</p></td><td><p>2,567</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>57,143</p></td><td><p>14,818</p></td><td><p>26,406</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>18 and under</p></td><td><p>36,703</p></td><td><p>4,159</p></td><td><p>1,477</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p>19-25</p></td><td><p>44,561</p></td><td><p>11,812</p></td><td><p>11,530</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Figures covering prison law outcomes are not available from the administrative system as applicant dates of birth are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2: Age of client in all legal aid scheme outcomes for 2012/13 and 2013/14</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>18 and under</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>19-25</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>97,078</p></td><td><p>244,453</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>92,965</p></td><td><p>204,641</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The full official published statistics are available since 2012/13 and can be found here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322449/clients.csv" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322449/clients.csv</a>. Corresponding figures for 2011/12 are not available across all areas of law.</p><p>These published figures suppress values where low volumes may allow identification of the client alongside further attributes released in the same data extract including ethnicity, gender and disability status.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested on Exceptional Case Funding applicants is supplied in the table below:</p><p><strong>Table 3: Age of applicant ECF Oct 2013 to Sep 2014</strong></p><p /> <p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Under 18</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>18 to 24</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2013 to Mar 2014</p></td><td><p>36</p></td><td><p>56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr 2014 to Sep 2014</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>39</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding applicants was collected from October 2013 onwards. The latest available published data is to September 2014 and the figures supplied show each individual applicant only once.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 222917 222961 question first answered 05/02/2015 17:52:07 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

175010

registered interest
date	21/01/2015
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Legal Costs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the Government spent on legal fees in the case of Moore and Coates v the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which ruling was made on 21 January 2015.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	221613
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>Planning casework is a quasi-judicial function of the Department, and as was the case under the last Administration, it attracts a high volume of legal challenges which end up in the courts. This is particularly the case in light of the long-term growth of judicial review and the growing creep of European Union directives, regulations and case law; equality law and human rights law.</p><p> </p><p>Costs to date in these two claims are £68,825 excluding VAT.</p><p> </p><p>The Government makes no apologies for seeking to safeguard Green Belt protection and trying to bring a sense of fair play to the planning system. The Government’s planning policy is clear that both temporary and permanent traveller sites are inappropriate development in the Green Belt. The judgment does not question that principle.</p><p> </p><p>Indeed, there have been a number of recent legal cases where the planning appeal decisions of the Secretary of State have succeeded in relation to traveller development in the Green Belt and awarded costs in favour of DCLG, including:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>Mulvenna v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government</li><li>Barney-Smith v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government</li><li>Dear v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government</li><li>Connors, Connors, Sines, Lee, and Doran v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government – five separate claims heard together.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Hence, any payment of costs in Moore vs Coates needs to be seen in this context as my Department has successfully defended the eight claims above and costs are due to my Department.</p><p> </p><p>To place the Department’s spending in context more broadly, I would observe that the Department spent £1.7 million in external lawyers’ fees in 2009-10 (excluding Treasury Solicitors), in 2013-14, the figure had fallen to £699,000.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 23/02/2015 17:09:33 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis previous answer version 41181 answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

168350

registered interest
date	05/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Judicial Review
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his contribution of 1 December 2014, Official Report, column 72, on the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, what estimate he has made of the number of applications for judicial review which were granted on minor technicalities since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	217565
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p>The Government has not made an estimate of the number of applications for judicial review which are granted on procedural defects or minor technicalities. Judicial review applications are not recorded in an accessible and reliable electronic form, but rather in paper case files which would need to be manually searched and as such there is no central figure. However, those involved in judicial reviews, including government departments, local authorities and businesses, are fully aware of the ways in which the judicial review process can be misused.</p><p>One of the reforms we are taking forward in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill (clause 84 of the print of the Bill currently awaiting Royal Assent) is to improve the way the courts deal with judicial reviews based on procedural defects. This is an important part of the Government’s programme to tackle public burdens, promote growth and stimulate economic recovery.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 10/02/2015 17:40:55 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

168351

registered interest
date	05/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Travel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 7 April 2014 to Question 190548, how much his Department has spent on first class (a) flight travel for Ministers and officials in each year since 2010 and (b) rail travel for Ministers and officials in 2014 to date.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	217566
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2015 answer text <p>Since 2013, the Ministry of Justice has prohibited first class travel and business class travel for flights of less than eight hours duration, except for flights of five hours and over where there is a compelling business need, such as where staff are required to go straight into a meeting following a flight or where they are required to work on a flight. An exception to this ban is to support the needs of some disabled staff carrying out their duties.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice publishes within its transparency data the costs of all flights taken by Ministers and Senior Civil Servants (<a title="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-cabinet-office" href="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-cabinet-office" target="_blank">http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-cabinet-office</a> / <a title="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/flights-booked-through-gps-framework-moj" href="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/flights-booked-through-gps-framework-moj" target="_blank">http://data.gov.uk/dataset/flights-booked-through-gps-framework-moj</a>) Flights taken by staff below this level are not centrally recorded.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Spend data from 2012 onwards for first class air travel is available through the Redfern travel contract. This data is provided below:</p><p>2012 £605.32</p><p> </p><p>2013 £0</p><p> </p><p>2014 £0</p><p> </p><p>In one instance, the MoJ booked a business class ticket. This ticket covered a four leg journey. On one of those legs, a passenger was seated in first class due to a lack of availability of a business class seat.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This includes expenditure by one of the MoJ’s Non Departmental Public Bodies (NDPB).</p><p> </p><p>This level of information prior to 2012 is not held centrally.</p><p> </p><p>The total Rail spend data through the Redfern travel contract for Ministers and officials, in 2014 to date is: £34,943.53. This has decreased by 99% since 2009, when the annual spend on rail travel for Ministers and officials[1] was £3,989,713, This shows a reduction of £1,589,275 over the period. The Secretary of State has put in place a ban on all first-class rail travel. An exception to this ban is to support the needs of some disabled staff in carrying out their duties, where it is reasonable to do so, and which exceptionally justify the use of first-class rail travel.</p><p> </p><p>[1] Spend information is available only for the period April to December 2009.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 12/03/2015 14:55:58 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter