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1537361

	registered interest
	date	31/10/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Non-molestation Orders
	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 assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing the period of time for which non-molestation orders can be issued.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Aaron Bell
	uin	74983
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2022 answer text <p>Non-molestation orders are civil orders made by the family court to protect victims and their children from the harms of domestic abuse and there is no time limit on the duration of an order.</p><p>Non-molestation orders can be made for a specified time or until a further order is made. As non-molestation orders have no statutory minimum or maximum time limit, the duration of each order is at the discretion of the court. The duration of each order will be determined by a number of factors, including, the risks of further domestic abuse, whether the order was made on notice or without notice to the respondent, and whether there has been a follow-up hearing (known as a return hearing).</p><p>In practice, these orders are often made for a period of 6-12 months, during which time the order can be varied (including to extend it) or discharged.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/11/2022 12:49:26 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4837 label Biography information for Aaron Bell

1543341

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Legal Profession
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to improve the level of retention of legal aid lawyers.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
	tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
	uin	89901
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2022 answer text <p>Legal aid lawyers play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law and are a fundamental part of our justice system.</p><p>We have already invested up to £74m in criminal legal aid over the last 4 years. This includes up to £51m for both barristers and solicitors in 2020, and £23m for a reformed Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) in 2018.</p><p>Following the recommendations of the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review, we have implemented a 15 per cent fee increase for nearly all criminal legal aid fees worth £63 million annually for solicitors.</p><p>Our proposals to increase legal aid fees will put criminal legal aid on a sound footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. With our further proposals we are increasing expected criminal legal aid spend to £1.2 billion per year.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 25/11/2022 13:57:54 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1544629

	registered interest
	date	22/11/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Victims' Commissioner: Public Appointments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there is a timeline for the appointment of a new Victims Commissioner.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
	tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
	uin	93633
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2022 answer text <p>A recruitment campaign is underway and we expect to identify a new Victims’ Commissioner in early 2023.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 25/11/2022 14:21:52 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1544630

	registered interest
	date	22/11/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Courts: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made a comparative assessment of variations in the length of waiting lists in (a) county and (b) family courts in each region of England.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
	tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
	uin	93634
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2022 answer text <p>A comparative assessment of variations in the lengths of waiting lists in the county and family courts in each region of England is not available, however the Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistics on civil and family justice on the GOV.UK website. These datasets were most recently updated in September and October 2022: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-justice-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2022" target="_blank">Civil justice statistics quarterly: April to June 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2022#full-publication-update-history" target="_blank">Family Court Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p>The impact of the pandemic in courts has been felt across all jurisdictions. However, the impact has been uneven across England and Wales, with civil and family court users in some areas experiencing longer waiting times than in others.</p><p>We are continually working, in close partnership with the judiciary, to improve the service in the county and family courts. We are replacing inefficient processes with our reformed digital services, using available courtroom capacity and supporting the use of remote hearings (where a judge deems it appropriate) to maximise the number of sitting days utilised in the jurisdiction.</p><p>These efforts are beginning to show improvements, for example, in possession cases measures of timeliness to first hearing have improved, with over 90% of courts now offering a first hearing within eight weeks compared to 60% in January.</p><p>The MoJ and the judiciary have taken and are taking action to increase judicial capacity across all jurisdictions. This includes a recruitment programme of around 1,000 judges and tribunal members in 2022/23. HMCTS is also working to ensure we have sufficient staffing resource in place to support the number of sitting days utilised across jurisdictions.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 25/11/2022 13:59:52 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1564968

	registered interest
	date	09/01/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Crimes of Violence: Sentencing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of including (a) affray, (b) wounding, (c) actual bodily harm and (d) possession of an offensive weapon under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.
	tabling member constituency	South Leicestershire
	tabling member printed	Alberto Costa
	uin	119188
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2023 answer text <p>The Government keeps the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme under consideration and understands that a case may be made for additional offences to be included within the scheme. We will listen to any representations made to this effect.</p><p> </p><p>As a general rule, it is right that there is finality to sentencing. That is why Parliament intended for this to be an exceptional power reserved for the most serious cases, including all indictable-only offences, and certain triable either-way offences such as some terrorism offences and child sex offences.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 16/01/2023 16:05:56 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4439 label Biography information for Alberto Costa

1625170

	registered interest
	date	02/05/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prosecutions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were prosecuted under the single justice procedure in each month of 2022 broken down by offence; and what the plea rates were for offences charged under the single justice procedure in each month of 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	183405
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>Data showing the number of defendants dealt with via single justice procedures (SJP) notices at the magistrates’ courts by plea and offence in England and Wales from January to December 2022 (latest available) can be found in the attached table.</p><p>The data supplied is a subset of published information relating to the timeliness of defendants dealt with by SJP notice which is available in Table T1 of the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly, latest to December 2022.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 09/05/2023 10:01:41 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar attachment 1 file name 2023-05-09 PQ 183405 Table.xlsx title Table
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1640561

	registered interest
	date	25/05/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Witnesses: Video Recordings
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time is between a case being reported where section 28 evidence is recorded and the start of trial where the evidence is presented to the court.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	186903
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2023 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the average length of time between a case being reported where section 28 evidence is recorded and the start of a trial where the evidence is presented to the court.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 05/06/2023 10:36:39 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1641157

	registered interest
	date	02/06/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Sexual Offences: Evidence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the impact of the use of (a) section 28 pre-recorded evidence and (b) live evidence on jurors' perception of witnesses in rape and serious sexual offences cases.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	187566
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2023 answer text <p>Since September 2022, when we completed the rollout of pre-recorded cross-examination (Section 28) for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Courts in England and Wales, we have completed a process evaluation of the provision. The process evaluation, published on gov.uk on 3 April 2023, explored if the section 28 provision was working as intended and if any improvements were required. The evaluation did not examine the impact of section 28, therefore it did not compare the impact of pre-recorded versus live evidence.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/06/2023 08:44:27 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1651766

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Treatment of, and Outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Individuals in the Criminal Justice System Independent Review
	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 12 June 2023 to Question 188259 on Treatment of, and Outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Individuals in the Criminal Justice System Independent Review, what the average sentence was for people convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent by (a) Crown Court and (b) the defendant’s (i) gender, (ii) ethnicity, and (iii) age in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	193167
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2023 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes information from 2010 to 2022 on the number of defendants <del class="ministerial">prosecuted </del><ins class="ministerial">prosecuted, convicted and sentenced</ins> for offences under Section 18 of Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (offence code 00501), in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool.</p><p>The attached tables provide a breakdown of <ins class="ministerial">average custodial sentence length (ACSL) for defendants sentenced</ins> <del class="ministerial">convictions</del> for the offence contrary to Section 18 of the Offences Against Person Act 1861 (causing grievous bodily harm with intent) within the last three years, where it has been treated as a principal offence by Crown Court (table 1), and in all courts by information on gender (table 2), ethnicity (table 3), and age (table 4).</p><p>Detailed offence data at Crown Court are only available in the Court Proceedings Database from 2020 onwards. Therefore, figures for all tables have been limited to 2020 onwards in order to give a complete view of each year presented.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/07/2023 11:24:42 question first ministerially corrected 04/09/2023 14:26:34 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar attachment 1 file name PQ_193167_final_revision.xlsx title Table (revised) previous answer version 87381 answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar attachment 1 file name 2023-07-13 PQ 193167 Table.xlsx title Table
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1674478

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prison Accommodation: Costs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost was of a prison place in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	4725
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2023 answer text <p>An average cost per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year.</p><p>Information on prison expenditure can be accessed in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each financial year on the <a href="http://www.gov.uk" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a> website that can be accessed on this link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics" target="_blank">Prison and Probation Performance Statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p>The average cost per prisoner place for the last five years is provided in the table below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial Year</p></td><td><p>Average Cost Per Prisoner</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£37,543</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£41,136</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>£42,670</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>£48,409</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>£47,434</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 2022/23 figures have not yet been published.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 06/12/2023 12:37:28 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham