1 10 0 To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 21 May (HL Deb, col 1863), what consideration they have given to providing (1) separate waiting facilities for the parties, and (2) facilities to enable the giving of evidence by screen or video link, for court cases relating to domestic abuse. Justice Courts: Domestic Abuse HL15915 54 2019-05-22 Lord Beecham Ministry of Justice 2019-06-06T15:23:08.577Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-06-06 Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie <p>From context we have assumed the honourable member is asking about the family courts.</p><p> </p><p>(1) In family courts, vulnerable parties and witnesses may request the use of a separate entrance and waiting area. Where dedicated separate entrances or waiting areas are not available, court staff will make alternative arrangements wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>(2) In the family court over 300 protective screens have been provided over the last two years to ensure that vulnerable parties and witnesses can be shielded from an alleged abuser in the courtroom. Video links may also be used either from a secure location within the court building or from a remote location. Use of these facilities must be approved by the Judge. Use of telephone hearings for without notice Family Law Act injunction hearings is being encouraged to avoid the need for victims of domestic abuse to attend court.</p><p> </p><p>We are determined that the family courts should never be used to further or perpetrate abuse. The Government announced on 21 May 2019 the establishment of an expert panel to gather evidence of how the family courts protect children and parents in cases of domestic abuse and other serious offences. Once formed, it is intended that the panel will report within three months.</p> 2 Biography information for Lord Beecham false Justice House of Lords HL15868 54 2 Lord Alton of Liverpool Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool 2019-06-05T16:00:03.64Z Table i.xlsx Table (i) Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-06-05 <p>The huge number of officers we have recently recruited inevitably means there are more staff - and more leavers with less than one years' experience. Attached is a table containing reason for leaving and grade. (Table i)</p><p> </p><p>We are working hard to retain staff, giving staff the biggest pay increase in a decade last year and by providing additional training.</p> Justice To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the number of prison officers resigning within 12 months of taking up their posts; and whether those reasons include the level of violence in UK prisons. false Justice Ministry of Justice 2019-05-21 Prison Officers: Resignations Lord Scriven 2019-05-31T11:15:22.797Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-31 <table><tbody><tr><td><p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) closely monitors waiting times. However, HMCTS does not keep data on waiting times within the specific and localised timeframes cited in the earlier question, answered on 10 May (HL15362), to which this question refers – namely, (1) up to six months, (2) six to 12 months, (3) 12 to 24 months, and (4) over 24 months. Information about volumes and waiting times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. HMCTS receives a bi-annual forecast of expected appeals from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and that informs our resourcing plans as well as informing judicial recruitment. Additional fee-paid judicial office holders have been recruited: 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 118 disability qualified members and up to 232 medical members. In addition, more PIP appeals are being listed per session and case-management “triage” sessions have been introduced, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. All these measures will increase the capacity of the tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> Justice To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 10 May (HL15362), if such data on the waiting times for appeal hearings on Personal Independence Payment claims are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost, how they determine whether (1) claims are being dealt with in a timely manner, and (2) the resources allocated to deal with appeals are adequate to meet the backlog of appeal claims. 2 Biography information for Lord Scriven Ministry of Justice 54 2019-05-16 false Justice Personal Independence Payment: Appeals HL15811 To ask Her Majesty's Government how many criminal justice placements have been (1) available, and (2) filled, in secure children's homes in each month in each of the last three years. HL15758 Ministry of Justice 54 2 Biography information for Lord German false Justice Lord German Justice 2019-05-15 2019-05-30T13:59:37.977Z Table for HL15758.docx Table for HL15758 Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-30 <p>The information requested is published on gov.uk and is provided in the tables attached with this answer.</p><p> </p><p>Following remand or sentencing, the Youth Custody Service (YCS) decides where children should be placed and this will be either at a secure training centre, secure children’s home or under-18 young offender institution (for young males only).</p><p> </p><p>The placement decision is based on the information provided by youth offending teams (YOTs). The YCS’s Placement Team will contact YOTs to make sure the needs, risks and circumstances of each young person has been taken into account.</p> Secure Accommodation Lord Trefgarne Ministry of Justice 54 2019-05-15 HL15788 2 Justice 2019-05-30T14:00:09.927Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-30 <p>The following table gives the unreleased IPP and life sentence prison population as at 31 March 2019 as well as showing how many prisoners, in each sentence category and according to gender, remain in custody beyond the expiry of their original tariff or are still serving their tariff period.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>IPP</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Life</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total population</p></td><td><p>2,403</p></td><td><p>7,038</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Post-tariff total</p></td><td><p>2,198</p></td><td><p>1,784</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Post-tariff male</p></td><td><p>2,155</p></td><td><p>1756</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Post-tariff female</p></td><td><p>43</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pre-tariff total</p></td><td><p>204</p></td><td><p>5,041</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pre-tariff male</p></td><td><p>204</p></td><td><p>4,780</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pre-tariff female</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>261</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tariff expiry date not available*</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>213</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>* Includes cases where a confirmed tariff expiry date has yet to be received and any unmatched records. As with any large-scale recording system, administrative IT systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</p> Prison Sentences Biography information for Lord Trefgarne Justice false To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) women, and (2) men, currently serving indeterminate prison sentences have exceeded the tariff relating to the crime for which they were originally convicted. Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett HL15678 Euthanasia: Vulnerable Adults Justice 2019-05-13 Baroness Lister of Burtersett 2019-05-24T12:37:47.84Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-24 <p>We have not seen evidence from the courts that the current provisions permitting mentally competent adults to refuse life-sustaining treatment provide inadequate protection for vulnerable people.</p> Justice false To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the current law permitting mentally competent adults to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment has ever been proven inadequate in the courts to protect vulnerable people from being pressured to end their life prematurely. 2 Ministry of Justice 54 2019-05-13 54 false To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent research from the UK's Assisted Dying Coalition, published on 8 February, which found that more than one person a week now travels from the UK to Switzerland to end their life; and in light of that research, whether they plan to review the UK's assisted dying law. Ministry of Justice Justice 2019-05-24T12:29:24.593Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-24 <p>It remains the Government’s view that any change to the law in this area in England and Wales is an issue of conscience and a matter for Parliament to decide rather than one for Government policy.</p><p> </p><p>Parliament has not so far voted to legalise assisted suicide in any circumstances.</p> HL15679 2 Euthanasia Baroness Lister of Burtersett Justice Justice 2 2019-05-13 54 Justice HL15680 Baroness Lister of Burtersett National Preventive Mechanism Ministry of Justice To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to implement the recommendation of the UN Sub-Committee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment that the National Preventive Mechanism be placed on a legislative basis. false 2019-05-24T12:37:28.587Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-24 <p>In 2009, the UK Government established the UK’s independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) which currently comprises 21 inspection, visiting and monitoring bodies covering detention places across the UK. The UK continues to comply with its international obligations under the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, under which the NPM was established.</p><p> </p><p>We note the sub-committee on Prevention of Torture’s recommendation, and we continue to explore with the NPM how it may be addressed.</p> 2 false The Countess of Mar HL15635 Justice 2019-05-23T16:25:26.593Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-23 <p>The Ministry of Justice has published data for prosecutions and convictions up to the end of December 2018. Data for 2019 will be published in May 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The number of prosecutions and convictions for offences under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 between 2014 and 2018 are shown in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="11"><p><strong>Table: Prosecutions and convictions under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988, 2014–18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>2018</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Prosecuted</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Convicted</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table> Ministry of Justice Furniture: Fire Resistant Materials 54 To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prosecutions were made by Trading Standards for offences under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 between 2014 and 2019; and how many of these prosecutions resulted in a conviction. 2019-05-09 Justice Biography information for The Countess of Mar 54 To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they hold on the number of, and circumstances behind, arson attacks on churches in (1) the UK, and (2) overseas, in the last two years; how many prosecutions there have been for such attacks in the UK; and what assessment they have made of the motives of those responsible. Lord Alton of Liverpool 2019-05-21T16:16:04.16Z Lord Keen of Elie false 2019-05-21 <table><tbody><tr><td><p>We have consulted Home Office, who do not hold detailed information for all police forces around the circumstances and location of offences. Detailed information on the location of arson offences, such as churches, may be held on court record but to be able to identify these cases, as they are not held centrally, we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost. Matters relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for those respective devolved administrations.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> HL15527 Justice Justice 2019-05-07 2 Arson: Churches false Ministry of Justice 715