Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

178188

registered interest
date	05/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Asylum: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who are currently waiting for appeals relating to asylum applications have been waiting over (a) one year and (b) two years.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Mike Hancock
uin	223525
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p>The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration &amp; Asylum Chamber) hears appeals against decisions to refuse a claim for asylum. The Upper Tribunal (Immigration &amp; Asylum Chamber) hears appeals on a point of law against a First-tier Tribunal decision.</p><p><br>(a) As of 9 February 2015 case management records show there are 211 outstanding asylum appeals in the First-tier Tribunal and 121 outstanding asylum appeals in the Upper Tribunal that were received at least one year ago.</p><p><br>(b) Of these records, 55 First-tier Tribunal appeals and 83 Upper Tribunal appeals were received at least two years ago.<br>Only a tiny percentage of cases take more than a year, and when they do it is because they raise complex issues. Official statistics published on the 11 December 2014, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2014 show that the average time taken to dispose of an asylum appeal within the First-tier Tribunal was 12 weeks between July and September 2014.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 12/02/2015 17:22:18 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	59 label Biography information for Mr Mike Hancock

178200

registered interest
date	05/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Court Orders: Grandparents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for Court Orders there have been from grandparents wishing to see grandchildren after the divorce of the parents of those children in the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	223614
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The number of applications by grandparents for Child Arrangement Orders (child to spend time with a named person) are shown below. Prior to 22<sup>nd</sup> April 2014 these were called Contact Orders.</p><p> </p><p>These applications will most often be the result of parental separation involving both married and unmarried parents. It is not possible to provide figures for applications made only as a result of parents who have divorced as this is not held centrally.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial year</p></td><td><p>Number of applications for contact by Grandparents</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2319</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2649</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2517</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>The latest full financial year available data is for 2013-14.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 12/02/2015 14:48:10 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

177745

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Contempt of Court
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent on 2 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley by HM Courts and Tribunals Service's Performance, Analysis and Reporting Team, what the (a) name of the judge, (b) date and (c) period of committal was of each court order issued by the High Court to the Prison Service for contempt of court since November 2014.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Yardley
tabling member printed	John Hemming
uin	223310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p>Details of contempt of court hearings are not held on Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) case management systems, and HMCTS do not centrally collate data on contempt of court cases. Contempt of court can cover a wide variety of circumstances and can be committed by a party in a case or by someone unconnected with specific proceedings such as a juror or a member of the press. Those relating to a specific case will be noted on the court log or daily list and the warrant retained on file. Those not relating to specific cases will be recorded on daily lists and warrants stored along with other orders.</p><p> </p><p>The High Court in London has been able to check its records since November 2014 and have imprisoned two people for contempt of court, both of which were heard in open court. The details are provided in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Division</p></td><td><p>Judge</p></td><td><p>Date</p></td><td><p>Period</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Queens Bench</p></td><td><p>HHJ Seymour</p></td><td><p>20-11-14</p></td><td><p>3 Months</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Chancery</p></td><td><p>Justice Asplin</p></td><td><p>2-2-15</p></td><td><p>3 Months</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>However, in order to identify any cases where a contempt of court occurred in the courts in Birmingham HMCTS would have to manually check every court file at each court for the relevant period. This would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst prisons log the offence for which prisoners are sent to prison, they do not record the details that have been requested. In order to obtain the requested information, the individual records of all prisoners currently held in prisons, together with those that have been discharged during the period requested, would need to be located and individually checked. This would incur disproportionate costs.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 223311 question first answered 12/02/2015 15:25:54 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1483 label Biography information for John Hemming

177747

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Contempt of Court
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent on 2 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley by HM Courts and Tribunals Service's Performance, Analysis and Reporting Team, what the (a) name of the judge, (b) date and (c) period of committal was of each court order issued by (i) Birmingham County Court, (ii) Birmingham High Court and (iii) Birmingham Family Court for contempt of court since May 2013.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Yardley
tabling member printed	John Hemming
uin	223311
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p>Details of contempt of court hearings are not held on Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) case management systems, and HMCTS do not centrally collate data on contempt of court cases. Contempt of court can cover a wide variety of circumstances and can be committed by a party in a case or by someone unconnected with specific proceedings such as a juror or a member of the press. Those relating to a specific case will be noted on the court log or daily list and the warrant retained on file. Those not relating to specific cases will be recorded on daily lists and warrants stored along with other orders.</p><p> </p><p>The High Court in London has been able to check its records since November 2014 and have imprisoned two people for contempt of court, both of which were heard in open court. The details are provided in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Division</p></td><td><p>Judge</p></td><td><p>Date</p></td><td><p>Period</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Queens Bench</p></td><td><p>HHJ Seymour</p></td><td><p>20-11-14</p></td><td><p>3 Months</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Chancery</p></td><td><p>Justice Asplin</p></td><td><p>2-2-15</p></td><td><p>3 Months</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>However, in order to identify any cases where a contempt of court occurred in the courts in Birmingham HMCTS would have to manually check every court file at each court for the relevant period. This would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst prisons log the offence for which prisoners are sent to prison, they do not record the details that have been requested. In order to obtain the requested information, the individual records of all prisoners currently held in prisons, together with those that have been discharged during the period requested, would need to be located and individually checked. This would incur disproportionate costs.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 223310 question first answered 12/02/2015 15:25:54 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1483 label Biography information for John Hemming

177901

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Just Solutions International
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consultant, non-executive directors and associates have worked with Just Solutions International since it was established; when each such person was appointed; and what the remuneration of each such person for that work is.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	223441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Just Solutions International (JSi) is a brand within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) that the Agency adopted in early 2013.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice contracted with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the provision of support for the development by NOMS of a business model to generate commercial income through the provision of advice and support to other governments on prison and probation issues.</p><p> </p><p>The contract was awarded to PwC in September 2012 and was for a period of 8 months from January to August 2013. The amount paid for the provision of services was £101,179 excluding VAT. A redacted version of the contract was published under the transparency agenda and can be found on the Contract Finder website at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk:443/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&amp;lang=en&amp;NoticeId=790687" target="_blank">https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk:443/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&amp;lang=en&amp;NoticeId=790687</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to this contract, NOMS, through JSi, worked with PwC in Pakistan supporting reform of Punjab prisons. The amount paid to PwC for their services was £7,308.40 excluding VAT by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 17/03/2015 15:16:02 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

177902

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Inspectorate of Probation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost was of the most recent recruitment process for the Chief Inspector of Probation that led to the appointment of Mr Paul McDowell.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	223440
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p>The recruitment of Mr Paul McDowell as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation (HMCIP) was fully compliant with the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice.</p><p> </p><p>Shortlisting was undertaken by a panel comprising:</p><p>- A panel chair nominated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments;</p><p>- A Ministry of Justice Director; and</p><p>- Two independent members.</p><p> </p><p>The shortlist was approved by the Secretary of State for Justice as the appointing Minister under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.</p><p> </p><p>The interviews were conducted by the same Panel, with the outcomes communicated to the Secretary of State for Justice as the appointing Minister. The Secretary of State for Justice referred to preferred candidate to the Justice Select Committee for a pre-appointment hearing. On consideration of the Select Committee’s report the Secretary of State for Justice confirmed the appointment and by convention, the Queen was informed.</p><p> </p><p>The total cost of the appointment process for Paul McDowell as HMCIP, including the cost of external agency use, was £30,903.90 (inclusive of VAT).</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the need to attract a strong and diverse range of candidates for all public appointments. For this reason, recruitment consultants may be used to assist with competitions for particularly significant roles, such as Chief Inspector of Probation, to ensure that this need is met and where advertising alone may not suffice.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 223438 223439 question first answered 10/02/2015 10:44:43 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

177903

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Inspectorate of Probation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who was involved in the (a) shortlisting and (b) final appointment of Mr Paul McDowell as Chief Inspector of Probation.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	223438
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The recruitment of Mr Paul McDowell as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation (HMCIP) was fully compliant with the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice.</p><p> </p><p>Shortlisting was undertaken by a panel comprising:</p><p>- A panel chair nominated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments;</p><p>- A Ministry of Justice Director; and</p><p>- Two independent members.</p><p> </p><p>The shortlist was approved by the Secretary of State for Justice as the appointing Minister under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.</p><p> </p><p>The interviews were conducted by the same Panel, with the outcomes communicated to the Secretary of State for Justice as the appointing Minister. The Secretary of State for Justice referred to preferred candidate to the Justice Select Committee for a pre-appointment hearing. On consideration of the Select Committee’s report the Secretary of State for Justice confirmed the appointment and by convention, the Queen was informed.</p><p> </p><p>The total cost of the appointment process for Paul McDowell as HMCIP, including the cost of external agency use, was £30,903.90 (inclusive of VAT).</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the need to attract a strong and diverse range of candidates for all public appointments. For this reason, recruitment consultants may be used to assist with competitions for particularly significant roles, such as Chief Inspector of Probation, to ensure that this need is met and where advertising alone may not suffice.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 223439 223440 question first answered 10/02/2015 10:44:41 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

177904

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Inspectorate of Probation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on external agencies involved in the appointment process of Mr Paul McDowell as Chief Inspector of Probation.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	223439
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p>The recruitment of Mr Paul McDowell as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation (HMCIP) was fully compliant with the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice.</p><p> </p><p>Shortlisting was undertaken by a panel comprising:</p><p>- A panel chair nominated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments;</p><p>- A Ministry of Justice Director; and</p><p>- Two independent members.</p><p> </p><p>The shortlist was approved by the Secretary of State for Justice as the appointing Minister under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.</p><p> </p><p>The interviews were conducted by the same Panel, with the outcomes communicated to the Secretary of State for Justice as the appointing Minister. The Secretary of State for Justice referred to preferred candidate to the Justice Select Committee for a pre-appointment hearing. On consideration of the Select Committee’s report the Secretary of State for Justice confirmed the appointment and by convention, the Queen was informed.</p><p> </p><p>The total cost of the appointment process for Paul McDowell as HMCIP, including the cost of external agency use, was £30,903.90 (inclusive of VAT).</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the need to attract a strong and diverse range of candidates for all public appointments. For this reason, recruitment consultants may be used to assist with competitions for particularly significant roles, such as Chief Inspector of Probation, to ensure that this need is met and where advertising alone may not suffice.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous grouped question UIN 223438 223440 question first answered 10/02/2015 10:44:43 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

177566

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
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 criteria are applied to children and young people applying to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	223066
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The Government is acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that vulnerable people such as children and young people have access to justice.</p><p> </p><p>The Lord Chancellor’s Guidance on Exceptional Funding sets out some of the points that caseworkers at the Legal Aid Agency should take into account when deciding any application for civil legal aid exceptional funding, including those from children and young people. These factors include the importance of the issues at stake, the complexity of the procedures and the capability of the applicant to present their case effectively. The age of the child or young person applicant is one factor which caseworkers will always consider and the Guidance sets out specific questions which may be relevant in the case of a child applicant.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 10/02/2015 12:52:58 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

177567

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
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, if he will passport all (a) children and (b) young people aged from 18 to 24 through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	223067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Parliament agreed an exceptional case funding scheme to provide an avenue for providing legal aid to those cases that would normally be out of scope, in order to ensure we meet our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law.</p><p> </p><p>The civil legal aid exceptional funding scheme does not provide a general power to fund cases or individuals that fall outside the scope of legal aid – that is not its purpose. We therefore have no current plans to passport all children and/or young people aged from 18 to 24 through the scheme.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 10/02/2015 12:56:51 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter