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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

1108786

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
	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 number of solicitors’ firms accepting Criminal Legal Aid cases in the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	239262
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2019 answer text <p>Based on the most recent data available, the table below shows how many firms (and where a firm has multiple branches, the total number of offices) were active in any given year providing legal aid services in criminal matters.</p><p> </p><p>Numbers of both firms and offices have fluctuated due to a number of factors, including mergers and acquisitions, trends in the rates of criminal offending, and the impact of other policies and market conditions.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>2018/19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Firms</p></td><td><p>1,861</p></td><td><p>1,722</p></td><td><p>1,656</p></td><td><p>1,603</p></td><td><p>1,517</p></td><td><p>1,512</p></td><td><p>1,388</p></td><td><p>1,314</p></td><td><p>1,271</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Offices</p></td><td><p>2,598</p></td><td><p>2,415</p></td><td><p>2,338</p></td><td><p>2,282</p></td><td><p>2,172</p></td><td><p>2,240</p></td><td><p>1,991</p></td><td><p>1,998</p></td><td><p>1,921</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The Legal Aid Agency measures capacity according to the type of scheme in question. For criminal legal aid, all Criminal Justice System Areas over England and Wales have firms of solicitors operating under a criminal legal aid contract, in addition to approximately 250 Duty Solicitor schemes providing advice and representation in Police Stations and Magistrates courts. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) monitors capacity across criminal legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis. Where issues are identified, the LAA takes action to ensure there is ongoing availability of criminal legal advice for the public.</p><p> </p><p>For civil legal aid, there is at least one firm operating in each ‘Procurement Area’ providing services in every category of law, save for the ‘Housing and Debt’ category. Of the 134 Procurement Areas for this category, 4 do not currently have a provider holding a Housing and Debt contract, representing over 97% coverage across England and Wales. The Legal Aid Agency has since undertaken a further tender to secure provision in the remaining areas. In addition to the Civil Legal Advice Telephone Service, offering legal services in a range of issues to those who need it, we are establishing a £5m innovation fund to help people access legal support wherever they are in England and Wales.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 239263 question first answered 04/04/2019 16:36:17 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1108787

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice: Rural Areas
	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 ability of people living in rural areas to access justice.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	239263
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2019 answer text <p>Based on the most recent data available, the table below shows how many firms (and where a firm has multiple branches, the total number of offices) were active in any given year providing legal aid services in criminal matters.</p><p> </p><p>Numbers of both firms and offices have fluctuated due to a number of factors, including mergers and acquisitions, trends in the rates of criminal offending, and the impact of other policies and market conditions.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>2018/19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Firms</p></td><td><p>1,861</p></td><td><p>1,722</p></td><td><p>1,656</p></td><td><p>1,603</p></td><td><p>1,517</p></td><td><p>1,512</p></td><td><p>1,388</p></td><td><p>1,314</p></td><td><p>1,271</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Offices</p></td><td><p>2,598</p></td><td><p>2,415</p></td><td><p>2,338</p></td><td><p>2,282</p></td><td><p>2,172</p></td><td><p>2,240</p></td><td><p>1,991</p></td><td><p>1,998</p></td><td><p>1,921</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The Legal Aid Agency measures capacity according to the type of scheme in question. For criminal legal aid, all Criminal Justice System Areas over England and Wales have firms of solicitors operating under a criminal legal aid contract, in addition to approximately 250 Duty Solicitor schemes providing advice and representation in Police Stations and Magistrates courts. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) monitors capacity across criminal legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis. Where issues are identified, the LAA takes action to ensure there is ongoing availability of criminal legal advice for the public.</p><p> </p><p>For civil legal aid, there is at least one firm operating in each ‘Procurement Area’ providing services in every category of law, save for the ‘Housing and Debt’ category. Of the 134 Procurement Areas for this category, 4 do not currently have a provider holding a Housing and Debt contract, representing over 97% coverage across England and Wales. The Legal Aid Agency has since undertaken a further tender to secure provision in the remaining areas. In addition to the Civil Legal Advice Telephone Service, offering legal services in a range of issues to those who need it, we are establishing a £5m innovation fund to help people access legal support wherever they are in England and Wales.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 239262 question first answered 04/04/2019 16:36:17 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

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

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

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

1015369

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2018
	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 (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful prosecutions were made under section 121 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 in each year since its commencement.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	196215
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>Figures on the number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates’ courts and the outcomes of those prosecutions at all courts under section 121 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 can be found in the ‘Outcomes by Offence data tool’</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733981/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017-update.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733981/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017-update.xlsx</a></p><p>Search ‘Offence’ for ‘36.1 Forced marriage’ from the offence drop down list.</p><p>It is important to remember that these figures are on a principle offence basis. When a defendant has been prosecuted for two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty would be imposed.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 03/12/2018 16:34:54 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

971711

	registered interest
	date	11/09/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Solicitors
	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 (a) number and (b) geographical distribution of practicing legal aid solicitors.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	173629
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2018 answer text <p>The reforms introduced under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 were intended to discourage unnecessary and adversarial litigation at public expense, to target legal aid at those who need it most, to make significant savings to the cost of the scheme, and to deliver better overall value for money for the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p>Last year we spent £1.6 billion on legal aid – just over a fifth of the department’s budget - and we regularly monitor the provision of services to ensure this is adequate across the country.</p><p> </p><p>In the recent re-tender of the face-to-face contracts, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) received tenders from more than 1,700 organisations wishing to deliver face-to-face civil legal aid work.</p><p> </p><p>These organisations were required to verify their bids and at the present time over 1440 contracts have been awarded with more expected to be awarded, with a view to starting on the 1<sup>st</sup> October.</p><p> </p><p>The LAA will consider the outcome of the tender process once the verification process has been completed and will take any necessary action if there are any gaps in access to services.</p><p> </p><p>We are already working closely with partners in the legal system to review the changes we made to legal aid in 2012, to make sure they are delivering the efficiency and fairness we need. We greatly value the work of legal aid practitioners and will continue to engage with them during the review process and beyond on how best to ensure a sustainable legal aid service.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 09/10/2018 15:59:09 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

968153

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2018
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Mentally Disordered Offenders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the discussion paper, Criminal Liability: Insanity and Automatism, published by the Law Commission in July 2013, whether the Government has plans to reform the legislation on the defence of insanity.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	170806
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2018 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has no current plans to reform the law of the defence of insanity.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 10/09/2018 16:50:59 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens