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1131835

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Reform
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total spending was on (a) academic research and (b) public consultations undertaken by his Department to inform the HMCTS reform programme in each financial year since 2011-12.
	tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
	tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
	uin	263790
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice have undertaken a number of formal written consultation exercises since the Reform Programme began in 2016. This included the Ministry of Justice consultation on the Reform Programme entitled Transforming our Justice System, which set out the Government’s broad approach to reform and sought views on three specific sets of proposals: the assisted digital strategy; automatic online conviction and statutory standard penalty; and tribunal panel composition.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS has spent the following amounts on academic research for evaluation of reform:</p><p> </p><p>2016/17: £220,000 for research on the Citizen user Experience</p><p>2017/18: £50,000 for research on the Professional User Experience</p><p>2017/18: £40,000 for a survey of SSCS appellants digital capability</p><p>2018/19: £49,000 for LSE evaluation of video hearings in tax</p><p>2018/19: £47,976 for research on Flexible Operating Hours</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS undertakes public consultation when reorganising estate or closing a tribunal building. This work is conducted by civil servants alongside other duties and it is not possible to capture an accurate assessment of the time and cost spent on this.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/07/2019 15:36:55 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1132395

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2019
	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, what estimate he has made of the average length of time for probate to be granted in the last (a) three months and (b) financial year.
	tabling member constituency	Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
	tabling member printed	Simon Hart
	uin	265484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>Official statistics are not published on the average length of time from receipt of the application to the issue of a grant of probate. Internal management information, which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics, however shows that in the last financial year (2018/2019) the average time was three weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst timeliness data are not yet available for the last three months, it is clear that waiting times have increased. Urgent action has been taken to address these temporary delays, staffing has been increased and the digital service further improved, and as a result waiting times are starting to reduce.</p><p> </p><p>There are no prescribed target times for dealing with probate applications. The recent increase in waiting times has been caused by a combination of an increased volume of incoming work and the transition to a new case management IT system. The move to the new system meant that staff had to spend time being trained and familiarising themselves with the system – which also had some initial performance issues that have been addressed.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/07/2019 15:38:49 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3944 label Biography information for Simon Hart

1138525

	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
	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 average time taken by the Probate Service to complete a grant of probate application in each in of the last four quarters.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds East
	tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
	uin	276238
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>Official statistics are not published on the average length of time from receipt of the application to the issue of a grant of probate. Internal management information, which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics, has been used to show the following average time from receipt of an application to a grant being issued:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Quarter </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average weeks to grant issued</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2018 to September 2018</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2018 to December 2018</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2019 to March 2019</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2019 to June 2019</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>These figures do not include cases which are waiting for a grant to be issued. The data from April to June 2019 has been extracted from the HMCTS Reform Core Case Data system, which is a new system in active development, and may not be directly comparable with figures for earlier periods. All figures, especially those for April 2019 to June 2019, are provisional and subject to revision.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Some grants are experiencing delays of between four and six weeks outside of our targets as a result of significant increases in work during March and April and some IT issues which have now been resolved. We have recruited more staff and are now issuing in excess of 1,000 grants a day that is bringing waiting times down further.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/07/2019 17:03:25 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1137549

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the target waiting time is for benefit tribunals; and what the timeframe is for that target to be met.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	uin	274534
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has not set a target waiting time for benefit appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. This is because waiting times fluctuate geographically owing to a number of factors including venue capacity, the volumes of benefit decisions made locally, the complexity of the case and the availability of panel members. Furthermore, the listing of appeals, including consideration of whether a hearing should be expedited, is a function of the Tribunal’s judiciary. There are also no targets for staffing levels for medical members, disability qualified members or judges in the SSCS jurisdiction. Levels are set based on forecast receipts to the SSCS jurisdiction, outstanding workload, and venue capacity.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the SSCS jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 274535 question first answered 17/07/2019 17:10:49 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1137550

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	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 19 February to Question 221635, what the target staffing levels are for (a) medical members, (b) disability qualified members and (c) judges in the social security and child support jurisdiction.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	uin	274535
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has not set a target waiting time for benefit appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. This is because waiting times fluctuate geographically owing to a number of factors including venue capacity, the volumes of benefit decisions made locally, the complexity of the case and the availability of panel members. Furthermore, the listing of appeals, including consideration of whether a hearing should be expedited, is a function of the Tribunal’s judiciary. There are also no targets for staffing levels for medical members, disability qualified members or judges in the SSCS jurisdiction. Levels are set based on forecast receipts to the SSCS jurisdiction, outstanding workload, and venue capacity.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the SSCS jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard grouped question UIN 274534 question first answered 17/07/2019 17:10:49 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1138097

	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	Personal Names: Deed Poll
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans to end the requirement for the consent of a spouse when entering into a change of name deed to be enrolled at the Royal Courts of Justice using form LOC020.
	tabling member constituency	South Cambridgeshire
	tabling member printed	Heidi Allen
	uin	275802
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government has no current plans to end the requirement, in the Enrolment of Deeds (Change of Name) Regulations 1994, that a court should satisfy itself that the spouse or civil partner is aware when an applicant wishes to change their name through the courts by deed poll. This recognises that the change of name may have implications other than for the applicant. It is not mandatory in all cases – an applicant may seek to demonstrate to the court that there is good reason to dispense with such consent.</p><p> </p><p>This process is for those who wish to have a court-based verification and validation of the change of name Under the common law, it is open to a person aged 16 or above to change their name by deed poll themselves through the ‘unenrolled’ process. This simply requires the deed to be witnessed and attested by the signature of two witnesses.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/07/2019 15:25:31 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4516 label Biography information for Heidi Allen