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1050628

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Magistrates' Courts: Witnesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of non-appearances by (a) defendants and (b) witnesses in magistrates’ courts over the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	214137
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>There are two main sources of data on defendants failing to appear (FTA). Data on trials where the defendant fails to appear in the magistrates’ court shows that there has been an increase between 2015 and 2017. <table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>FTA</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>63141</p></td><td><p>65922</p></td><td><p>67411</p></td></tr></tbody></table>In the same time period there has been little change in the total number of warrants issued for failure to attend in magistrates’ courts for all hearings.<table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Numbers of FTA warrants issued</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>92983</p></td><td><p>92862</p></td><td><p>93317</p></td></tr></tbody></table>Figures for warrants are broader, including warrants that relate not only to trials but also all other hearings and those issued for failure to comply with the requirements of an order or breach on summons in relation to an order. Analysts in HMCTS and MoJ have confirmed we cannot be sure of the causes of changes in FTA. Data on non-appearance of witnesses is not held by the Ministry of Justice or HMCTS.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/03/2019 18:23:28 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 99534 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1138100

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2019
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Coroners: Government Departments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) legal advice and (b) representation at inquests for Government Departments in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	275781
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The table below sets out the total amounts billed by the Government Legal Department (GLD) Litigation Group in relation to inquests in which they have been instructed by Government Departments and other public bodies.</p><p>GLD represents most, but not all, Government Departments in litigation. In addition, during parts of the period covered by the table, a small number of Departments (that GLD now acts for in litigation) handled their own litigation (including inquests).</p><p>The amounts are set out by financial year from 2010-11 and are exclusive of VAT. It is not possible to provide a separate breakdown of the totals by reference to legal advice and representation.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2010-11</p><p>2011-12</p><p>2012-13</p><p>2013-14</p><p>2014-15</p><p>2015-16</p><p>2016-17</p><p>2017-18</p><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>£2,600,951</p><p>£2,476,100</p><p>£2,621,377</p><p>£3,575,348</p><p>£3,405,809</p><p>£3,883,929</p><p>£4,283,521</p><p>£4,851,059</p><p>£5,783,648</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 16/07/2019 14:21:58 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 129156 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

919203

	registered interest
	date	07/06/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Immigration: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many immigration appeal cases the applicant had to represent themselves as a litigant in person in 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	151211
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The term “litigant in person” applies to appellants without a legal representative or a representative recognised by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. In the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) any person may be permitted to act as a representative, including a friend, relative or litigation friend. The case management system cannot provide a breakdown between different types of representative.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 13/06/2018 16:08:16 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 63011 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1050626

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Magistrates' Courts: Closures
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of magistrates’ court closures on access to justice.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	214135
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2019 answer text <p>The decision to close a court is never taken lightly. In the case of each magistrates’ court closure, we undertook a public consultation exercise and considered the responses we received very carefully. The Lord Chancellor only agreed to close the court when satisfied that effective access to justice would be maintained when the court closed.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 07/02/2019 17:42:08 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 99519 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1109231

	registered interest
	date	02/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of solicitors qualified to conduct Criminal Legal Aid work in rural Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	240032
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>The Lord Chancellor (via the Legal Aid Agency) has a duty to ensure that qualifying individuals who require assistance at the police station or the magistrates’ courts and who do not have their own solicitor have access to a Duty Solicitor. The LAA monitors capacity in each duty scheme area based on the number of solicitor organisations in that area, as well as the proportion of duty solicitors each of those organisations engages. There are currently 126 offices contracted to deliver criminal legal aid services in the Wales area. Additionally, across the 16 areas which make up the Duty Solicitor scheme in Wales, there are 260 solicitors listed on the rota who are available to provide advice and assistance. We are confident we have solicitors to fulfil criminal cases and will make sure we continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The Legal Aid Agency monitors access to public funding according to the location of the solicitor providing the service. Client location is not reliably captured for the majority of the criminal legal aid scheme and therefore accurate data based on a defendant’s residence is not available. Information on expenditure under criminal legal aid by solicitor offices located in Wales is proactively published, and is available to view at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720217/legal-aid-statistics-crime-provider-area-data-to-mar-2018.ods" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720217/legal-aid-statistics-crime-provider-area-data-to-mar-2018.ods</a>.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 240033 question first answered 09/04/2019 14:56:07 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 112749 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1109233

	registered interest
	date	02/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total amount spent on Criminal Legal Aid was in cases in which the defendant’s place of abode was in Wales in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	240033
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>The Lord Chancellor (via the Legal Aid Agency) has a duty to ensure that qualifying individuals who require assistance at the police station or the magistrates’ courts and who do not have their own solicitor have access to a Duty Solicitor. The LAA monitors capacity in each duty scheme area based on the number of solicitor organisations in that area, as well as the proportion of duty solicitors each of those organisations engages. There are currently 126 offices contracted to deliver criminal legal aid services in the Wales area. Additionally, across the 16 areas which make up the Duty Solicitor scheme in Wales, there are 260 solicitors listed on the rota who are available to provide advice and assistance. We are confident we have solicitors to fulfil criminal cases and will make sure we continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The Legal Aid Agency monitors access to public funding according to the location of the solicitor providing the service. Client location is not reliably captured for the majority of the criminal legal aid scheme and therefore accurate data based on a defendant’s residence is not available. Information on expenditure under criminal legal aid by solicitor offices located in Wales is proactively published, and is available to view at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720217/legal-aid-statistics-crime-provider-area-data-to-mar-2018.ods" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720217/legal-aid-statistics-crime-provider-area-data-to-mar-2018.ods</a>.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 240032 question first answered 09/04/2019 14:56:07 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 112740 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1109234

	registered interest
	date	02/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Representation: Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people represented themselves at (a) magistrates and (b) Crown courts in Wales in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	240034
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department publishes County Court, Family Court and Crown Court figures on defendants or parties with no (or unknown) representation. These data do not represent the number of litigants in person, however, because a party may be without representation for only part of a case. Information on unrepresented defendants in Magistrates’ Courts is not held centrally.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice holds data on representation status at (a) first hearing and (b) any hearing for defendants dealt with in the Crown Court, and the latest available data is published here for England and Wales combined: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-annual-january-to-march-2018. Data specifically for Wales is shown in the following tables.</p><p><strong>Representation status, at first hearing, of defendants dealt with in the Crown Court, Wales, annually 2014 - 2017</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3"><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Total number <br> of defendants</strong></p></td><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Representation status at first hearing</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Known represention<sup>1</sup></strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>No advocate representation/ unknown<sup>2</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number</p></td><td><p>Number</p></td><td><p>Percentage</p></td><td><p>Number</p></td><td><p>Percentage</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p><strong>5,368</strong></p></td><td><p>5,175</p></td><td><p><em>96%</em></p></td><td><p>193</p></td><td><p><em>4%</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p><strong>5,677</strong></p></td><td><p>5,433</p></td><td><p><em>96%</em></p></td><td><p>244</p></td><td><p><em>4%</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p><strong>4,759</strong></p></td><td><p>4,587</p></td><td><p><em>96%</em></p></td><td><p>172</p></td><td><p><em>4%</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p><strong>4,343</strong></p></td><td><p>4,244</p></td><td><p><em>98%</em></p></td><td><p>99</p></td><td><p><em>2%</em></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Representation status, any hearing, of defendants dealt with in the Crown Court, Wales, annually 2014 – 2017</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3"><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Total number <br> of defendants</strong></p></td><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Representation status at any hearing<sup>3</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Known represention<sup>4</sup></strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>No advocate representation/ unknown<sup>5</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number</p></td><td><p>Number</p></td><td><p>Percentage</p></td><td><p>Number</p></td><td><p>Percentage</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p><strong>5,368</strong></p></td><td><p>5,351</p></td><td><p>100%</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p><strong>5,677</strong></p></td><td><p>5,655</p></td><td><p>100%</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p><strong>4,759</strong></p></td><td><p>4,729</p></td><td><p>99%</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p><strong>4,343</strong></p></td><td><p>4,313</p></td><td><p>99%</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>1%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes</p><p>1) Includes defendants who were known to be represented by an advocate or solicitor at first hearing.</p><p>2) Includes defendants who did not have an advocate recorded at the first hearing and defendants whose advocate representation was unknown.</p><p>3) These figures do not indicate how many hearings, within a trial, had representation.</p><p>4) Includes defendants who were known to be represented by an advocate or solicitor at any hearing.</p><p>5) Includes defendants who did not have an advocate recorded at any hearing and defendants whose advocate representation was unknown.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 09/04/2019 15:06:41 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 112741 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

818811

	registered interest
	date	08/01/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Overcrowding
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to reduce overcrowding on the prison estate in the last six months.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	121575
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2018 answer text <p>Prison numbers can fluctuate, which is why we have a robust set of plans in place to ensure we will always have enough places for offenders committed to custody by the courts. This includes modernising the estate and building new accommodation.</p><p> </p><p>We will modernise the prison estate, closing older prisons that are not fit for purpose and creating in their place high-quality, rehabilitative establishments. We have started to redevelop the prisons at Glen Parva (Leicestershire) and Wellingborough (Northamptonshire). We are building a new houseblock at Stocken prison (Rutland). Additionally, we plan to build four modern prisons which includes the development of sites at Full Sutton (East Yorkshire), Hindley (Greater Manchester), Rochester (Kent) and Port Talbot (Neath Port Talbot, South Wales).</p><p>The Verne, a former HM Prison and Probation Service operated immigration removal centre in Dorset, will be reopening as a prison as early as possible this year and is expected to house 580 offenders.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 15/01/2018 17:28:20 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart previous answer version 33552 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1050627

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Profession
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of leaving the EU on the UK’s legal sectors.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	214136
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2019 answer text <p>Leaving the single market will have implications for market access and some UK and EU service suppliers will not enjoy the same rights as they do today. The Political Declaration outlines the EU and the UK’s commitment to, among other things, ambitious arrangements for services and investment that go well beyond WTO commitments, and build on recent EU FTAs.</p><p> </p><p>Delivering the deal negotiated with the EU remains the Government’s top priority. Alongside this the Government is also accelerating no deal preparations to ensure the country is prepared for every eventuality. The technical notice <em>providing services including those of a qualified professional if there's no Brexit deal</em>, published by the Government on 12 October 2018 sets out the implications of a no deal exit for EEA legal professionals and business owners in the UK. An impact assessment was published alongside the SI implementing these changes.</p><p> </p><p>As outlined in the EU Commission technical notice published on 21 June 2018, in a no deal scenario the rights of practice, ownership and establishment of UK nationals and businesses in the EU will be governed by the national policies and rules of individual member states.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 07/02/2019 17:32:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 99522 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1039096

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offences against Children: Sports
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to extend the provisions of Section 21 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to include Council funded sports coaches within the occupations classified as a position of trust.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	207266
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2019 answer text <p>Any sexual activity with a child under 16 is a criminal offence, regardless of whether consent is given. Any non-consensual sexual activity is also a crime, whatever the age of the victim and whatever the relationship between the victim and perpetrator.</p><p> </p><p>Where a manipulative offender grooms a child prior to them reaching the age of consent and then engages in a sexual relationship with them when they are over 16, this could be prosecuted under offences such as Section 15a of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.</p><p> </p><p>We remain absolutely committed to protecting children and young people from sexual abuse and we already have a wide range of criminal offences under which to prosecute and sentence those who carry out such acts. We continue to keep this under review.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 16/01/2019 15:48:45 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer previous answer version 95560 answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens