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1716409

	registered interest
	date	08/05/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Cryptocurrencies: Crime
	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 number of convictions relating to cryptocurrency offences in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	25220
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders found guilty of criminal offences in England and Wales, up to June 2023, available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2023" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2023</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Information on whether offenders were convicted for offences relating to cryptocurrency is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as this may appear under various offences, such as fraud or money laundering.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 17/05/2024 10:44:20 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1713005

	registered interest
	date	23/04/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Crown Court: Standards
	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 tackle the backlog in the Crown Court.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	23198
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>We remain committed to tackling the outstanding caseload in the Crown Court and have introduced a range of measures to achieve this aim.</p><p> </p><p>We expect to have sat around 107,000 days at the Crown Court in the last financial year (FY2023/24), representing around a 30% increase on sitting day levels during the 2019/20 financial year. We have also recruited around 1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions in the last financial year so we can hear more cases.</p><p> </p><p>Judges have worked tirelessly to complete more cases. HMCTS Management Information shows that disposals have increased throughout the last calendar year, with February disposals being at their highest level than at any other point in the last 12 months, with 9,958 disposals in February 2024, up 18% on February 2023 (8,451).</p><p> </p><p>We are also investing more in our criminal courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings across the next two years, up to March 2025. We have also continued the use of 20 Nightingale courtrooms into the 2024/25 financial year, to allow courts to work at full capacity.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 01/05/2024 16:05:23 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1697026

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Convictions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions for domestic abuse there have been in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	19356
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions for criminal offences covering the period requested. The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained in the following published 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>However, it is not possible to separately identify convictions for ‘domestic abuse’ because the information held centrally is related to the offence in law for which a defendant is convicted for. Domestic abuse related offences can be prosecuted under a wide range of legally defined offences. This information may be held on court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 27/03/2024 12:56:58 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1697027

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Crimes of Violence: Convictions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions for aggravated assault there have been in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	19357
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions for criminal offences, including various assault offences, covering the time period requested. The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained in the following published 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>Information relating to aggravating factors for assault offences is only available centrally where this forms a specific offence in legislation, including those listed below. Information on other aggravating factors may be held on court records but to examine individual court records to identify all aggravated assaults would be of disproportionate costs.</p><ul><li>8.06 Racially or religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm</li><li>8.07 Racially or religiously aggravated common assault or beating</li></ul> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 27/03/2024 12:52:43 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1691596

	registered interest
	date	26/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Shamima Begum
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse was for legal fees relating to the Shamima Begum case.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	15639
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2024 answer text <p>Please note that legal aid is not paid directly to the individual in receipt of legal aid. Legal aid is paid to legal representatives to ensure access to justice.</p><p>The scope of immigration and asylum matters covered by legal aid are set out at Schedule 1 to Part 1 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.</p><p>In civil legal aid cases an applicant must satisfy both a merits and strict financial eligibility test to qualify for legal aid (unless a specific exemption applies). If they do not satisfy these tests, then legal aid will not be made available to them. Applicants who meet the relevant financial eligibility thresholds may still be required to pay a significant contribution towards the costs of their case. The eligibility criteria are kept under review as the case progresses and legal aid may be withdrawn where they are no longer satisfied.</p><p>As at the time of writing, a total of £246,097.34 has been paid to legal aid providers in connection with representing Shamima Begum. A breakdown of these costs can be found in the table below:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Case Type</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Matter/Proceeding</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Start Date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>End Date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Solicitors</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Barristers</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total Costs</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Civil rep - Immigration</p></td><td><p>Special Immigration Appeals Commission - Asylum</p></td><td><p>15/04/2019</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>£0.00</p></td><td><p>£238,000.34</p></td><td><p>£238,000.34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Civil rep - Public Law</p></td><td><p>Action for Judicial Review - Pub Law</p></td><td><p>23/08/2021</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>£8,097.00</p></td><td><p>£0.00</p></td><td><p>£8,097.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>£8,097.00</p></td><td><p>£238,000.34</p></td><td><p>£246,097.34</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The costs include VAT and disbursements where applicable. Disbursements are expenses incurred which although paid by the Legal Aid Agency directly to legal aid providers, are then paid to other parties involved in the case.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 04/03/2024 14:17:46 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1690719

	registered interest
	date	21/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Television Licences: Non-payment
	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 prosecuted for non-payment of TV licence fees in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	15067
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice holds information on prosecutions for non-payment of TV licence fees, covering the period requested. The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained in the following published 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>In the data tool, navigate to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab. In the ‘Offence’ filter, select ‘191A Television licence evasion’.</p><p>The pivot table will now present the number of prosecutions at all courts from year ending June 2011, including the requested last five years, from year ending June 2019 to year ending June 2023.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 29/02/2024 16:45:09 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1689860

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Espionage: Convictions
	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 espionage offences in the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	14581
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2024 answer text <p>Espionage offences dealt with under the National Security Act 2023 received royal ascent in July 2023, and are therefore not yet available in the source data.</p><p> </p><p>Convictions relating to espionage offences prior to the act (under the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 1920 and 1989), up to June 2023, will have been prosecuted under a range of offences, many of which are available in the Outcomes by <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65bd0675704282000d752143/outcomes-by-offence-june-2023.xlsx" target="_blank">Offence data tool: June 2023</a>.</p><p> </p><p>They can be accessed by navigating to the ‘<em>Prosecutions and convictions</em>’ tab and using the <em>HO Offence Code</em> filter to select the below offences:</p><p> </p><ul><li>06629 - Unauthorised use of uniforms; falsification of reports, forgery, personation, and false documents. Interfering with officers of the police or members of His Majesty’s forces. Duty of giving information as to commission of offences.</li><li>06630 - Committing an act prejudicial to the safety or the interest of the State</li><li>06631 - Knowingly harbouring spy</li><li>06632 - Serving or former member of Security or intelligence Services disclosing information relating to security or intelligence. Person notified as subject to security or intelligence provisions unlawfully disclosing secret</li><li>06633 - Former or current Crown Servant or Government Contractor making damaging disclosure relating to security or intelligence</li><li>06634 - Former or current Crown Servant or Government Contractor making damaging disclosure relating to defence matter</li><li>06635 - Former or current Crown Servant or Government Contractor making damaging disclosure of confidential matter from Foreign State or relating to international relations</li><li>06636 - Former or current Crown Servant or Government Contractor disclosing information resulting in commission of offence, facilitating escape from custody, facilitating act prejudicial to safekeeping of person in custody, impeding prevention or detection of offence or apprehension or prosecution of suspected offender etc.</li><li>06637 - Making damaging disclosure of protected information</li><li>06689 - Making damaging disclosure of information entrusted to other State or organisation.</li><li>06695 - Disclosing information which can be used to gain access to protected information</li></ul><p> </p><p>In addition to these, HO code 195/99 contains offences under s8 Official Secrets Act, which are not able to be disaggregated through published products. Bespoke analysis concluded that there was 1 person prosecuted for offences under this legislation between years ending June 2019 and 2023. There may be other prosecutions related to espionage that are prosecuted under other legislation but it is not possible to identify those from the data.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 27/02/2024 17:23:24 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1687336

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Employment
	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 encourage newly released prisoners into employment.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	13005
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2024 answer text <p>Getting more prison leavers into employment is crucial to this government’s mission to cut crime and make our streets safer by reducing reoffending. We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why I am pleased to say that, in England and Wales, the proportion of prison leavers who were employed six months after their release almost doubled from 14% in April 2021 to over 30% in March 2023.</p><p>In England and Wales, we have completed recruitment of dedicated Prison Employment Leads, who get prisoners work ready and match them to jobs on release. They work with key partners in the prison including DWP, probation, education and Information Advice and Guidance providers to ensure joined-up working. In custody and in the community, HMPPS Creating Future Opportunities (CFO) provides tailored resettlement services in England, focusing on supporting those furthest from the labour market.</p><p>The Government will continue to progress this work to help businesses fill the nearly one million vacancies in the UK, while also cutting crime and reducing reoffending.</p><p>Prisons and Probation services are devolved in Northern Ireland, and employment support is a transferred matter and the responsibility of the Department for Communities.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 09/02/2024 16:32:06 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1685793

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offences against Children: Convictions and 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 (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of child cruelty offences in the latest period for which data is available.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	11993
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions and convictions for a range of child cruelty offences, from the year ending June 2011 to the year ending June 2023, in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65a7e44aed27ca001327b161/outcomes-by-offence-june-2023.xlsx" target="_blank">Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023</a>.</p><p>This can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the HO Offence Code filter to select the following offences:</p><ul><li>01103 – Cruelty to or neglect of children</li><li>00407 – Causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person</li><li>00411 - Causing or allowing child or vulnerable adult to suffer serious physical harm.</li></ul><p>The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 increased the maximum penalties for:</p><ul><li>Causing or allowing a child or vulnerable adult to die from 14 years’ imprisonment to life imprisonment;</li><li>Causing or allowing a child or vulnerable adult to suffer serious physical harm from 10 to 14 years’ imprisonment; and</li><li>Cruelty to a person under 16 from 10 to 14 years’ imprisonment.</li></ul><p>A consequence of increasing the maximum penalty for causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult to life imprisonment is that offenders sentenced to 7 years or more for that offence will spend two thirds of their sentence, rather than half, in custody.</p><p>Partly as a result of these measures, average custodial sentence length for child cruelty offences has increased by 79.9% since 2010.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 07/02/2024 17:13:37 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1682392

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Victim Support Schemes
	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 increase the level of support available to victims of domestic abuse who are waiting for their trials to begin.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	9822
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/01/2024 answer text <p>We are doing more than ever to ensure victims continue to receive the support they need as we work hard to ensure swift justice.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that support services play a vital role, and that Independent Domestic Violence Advisors can be critical to helping victims of domestic abuse at all stages of the criminal justice system. This includes when they are waiting for their trial to begin.</p><p> </p><p>We are quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10. The funding will allow us to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers by 300 to over 1,000, a 43% increase over this spending review period (2022/23 to 2024/25 inclusive).</p><p> </p><p>To ensure that there is clarity on what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice system response, on 8 November 2023 we reintroduced the Victims and Prisoners Bill, alongside a wider package of measures designed to improve victims' experiences of the criminal justice system.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 24/01/2024 15:32:14 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon