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1719698

registered interest
date	21/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Juries: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether jurors undergo veteran awareness training.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	27260
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 24/05/2024 13:49:34 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1719251

registered interest
date	20/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Administration of Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sitting days each (a) court and (b) tribunal has been allocated in the 2024-25 financial year.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	27052
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Sitting days in courts and tribunals are subject to formal agreement between the Lord Chancellor, Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals via an annual process. This process has not yet concluded for the financial year 2024/25 and therefore sitting day allocations, and the associated budget information, is not yet available.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 27053 question first answered 23/05/2024 12:42:59 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1719252

registered interest
date	20/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Administration of Justice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been allocated to each (a) court and (b) tribunal in HM Courts and Tribunals Service budget for the financial year 2024-25.
tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
uin	27053
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Sitting days in courts and tribunals are subject to formal agreement between the Lord Chancellor, Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals via an annual process. This process has not yet concluded for the financial year 2024/25 and therefore sitting day allocations, and the associated budget information, is not yet available.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 27052 question first answered 23/05/2024 12:42:59 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1719347

registered interest
date	20/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Black Lives Matter
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Ministers in his Department have met representatives of Black Lives Matter UK in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	26951
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2024 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 24/05/2024 13:19:35 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1718752

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve the (a) practical and (b) emotional support provided to (i) families and (ii) other witnesses attending the Coroners’ Courts.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	26765
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is grateful for the important and valuable work that the Coroners Courts Support Service (CCSS) does in providing practical and emotional support for bereaved families in many coroner areas across England and Wales. This work is key to the Government’s objective of ensuring that the bereaved are placed at the heart of the inquest process.</p><p>We are keen to see support services in every coroner’s court in England and Wales, subject to affordability. Following the Justice Committee’s recommendation in the 2021 report on its Inquiry into the Coroner Service, the Ministry of Justice is taking forward an engagement plan, including with the CCSS, to better understand the support services currently available in coroners’ courts in England and Wales, and what is needed going forward. We aim to complete this assessment in as soon as practicable.</p><p>We are also undertaking a factual update of our <strong><em>Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People</em></strong>, which will be followed by a more fundamental review to take account of forthcoming changes which will impact on coroner services, including implementation of the statutory Medical Examiner scheme and the Independent Public Advocate. The review will also look at ways of improving the accessibility of the Guide, so that bereaved people are better able to engage with it at what is inevitably a very difficult time in their lives.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 26766 26767 question first answered 23/05/2024 12:49:44 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1718753

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the (a) practical and (b) emotional support provided to (i) families and (ii) other witnesses attending the Coroners’ Courts.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	26766
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is grateful for the important and valuable work that the Coroners Courts Support Service (CCSS) does in providing practical and emotional support for bereaved families in many coroner areas across England and Wales. This work is key to the Government’s objective of ensuring that the bereaved are placed at the heart of the inquest process.</p><p>We are keen to see support services in every coroner’s court in England and Wales, subject to affordability. Following the Justice Committee’s recommendation in the 2021 report on its Inquiry into the Coroner Service, the Ministry of Justice is taking forward an engagement plan, including with the CCSS, to better understand the support services currently available in coroners’ courts in England and Wales, and what is needed going forward. We aim to complete this assessment in as soon as practicable.</p><p>We are also undertaking a factual update of our <strong><em>Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People</em></strong>, which will be followed by a more fundamental review to take account of forthcoming changes which will impact on coroner services, including implementation of the statutory Medical Examiner scheme and the Independent Public Advocate. The review will also look at ways of improving the accessibility of the Guide, so that bereaved people are better able to engage with it at what is inevitably a very difficult time in their lives.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 26765 26767 question first answered 23/05/2024 12:49:44 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1718754

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has had recent discussions with the Coroners Courts Support Service on taking steps to improve the (a) practical and (b) emotional support provided to (i) families and (ii) other witnesses attending the Coroners’ Courts.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	26767
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is grateful for the important and valuable work that the Coroners Courts Support Service (CCSS) does in providing practical and emotional support for bereaved families in many coroner areas across England and Wales. This work is key to the Government’s objective of ensuring that the bereaved are placed at the heart of the inquest process.</p><p>We are keen to see support services in every coroner’s court in England and Wales, subject to affordability. Following the Justice Committee’s recommendation in the 2021 report on its Inquiry into the Coroner Service, the Ministry of Justice is taking forward an engagement plan, including with the CCSS, to better understand the support services currently available in coroners’ courts in England and Wales, and what is needed going forward. We aim to complete this assessment in as soon as practicable.</p><p>We are also undertaking a factual update of our <strong><em>Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People</em></strong>, which will be followed by a more fundamental review to take account of forthcoming changes which will impact on coroner services, including implementation of the statutory Medical Examiner scheme and the Independent Public Advocate. The review will also look at ways of improving the accessibility of the Guide, so that bereaved people are better able to engage with it at what is inevitably a very difficult time in their lives.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 26765 26766 question first answered 23/05/2024 12:49:44 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1718755

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle delays at Coroners’ Courts.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	26768
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>It is important that the inquest process is as swift and efficient as possible to avoid additional distress for bereaved families at such a difficult time in their lives.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst the Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy, this Department does not have operational responsibility for coroner services as they are a local service, funded and administered by individual local authorities. However, we are keen to understand the factors underlying the length of time for the completion of inquests, and to provide support where possible and appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>To that end, we have introduced a raft of statutory measures to help streamline coroner processes, and intend to take forward further measures when Parliamentary time allows.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, on 9 September 2024, the Government is implementing the statutory Medical Examiner scheme which, by providing a more robust framework for the scrutiny of cause of death, is expected to decrease the number of deaths which are unnecessarily referred to the coroner, thereby reducing pressure on coroner services.</p><p> </p><p>I am also engaging with Ministerial colleagues to identify and implement an action plan to address the complex issues underlying the shortage of coronial pathology provision, which contributes significantly to inquest delays. As a first step, the Ministry of Justice is undertaking a review of the statutory fees for coronial pathology work.</p><p><br>I have recently discussed this and wider issues around inquest delay with the Justice Committee in the context of its follow up Inquiry into the Coroner Service and look forward to receiving its recommendations in due course.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 23/05/2024 12:52:44 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1718812

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate
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 assessment of the potential impact of (a) staffing levels and (b) staff training on the time taken to process probate applications in each of the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Stockport
tabling member printed	Navendu Mishra
uin	26787
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service recruited 100 full time equivalent (FTE) staff between June 2022 and June 2023 for the probate service. HMCTS are now holding staffing levels at around 280 FTE compared to 153 FTE in March 2020. This is to maintain the increased volume of grants being issued and providing capacity for a rolling training programme to build the capability of the workforce.</p><p> </p><p>More recent Management Information published by HMCTS shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate (following receipt of the documents required) reduced by 3 weeks in March 2024 compared to February 2024. The average timeliness for cases completing in March was 9 weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Official statistics show that the average time (median) from application submission to grant issue for all grant types was 11.0 weeks in 2023 (mean average time was 13.9 weeks). From the document receipt to grant issue the median average time was 8.7 weeks (mean average time 12.0).</p><p> </p><p>Despite the probate service receiving record levels of applications during 2023 the open workable caseload (cases not waiting for more information from the applicant) has reduced by 30,500 cases since August 2023 and currently stands at 37,406 in March 2024.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 21/05/2024 16:17:23 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4811 label Biography information for Navendu Mishra

1718884

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the longest wait for a case to be heard at tribunal once referred.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	26706
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 23/05/2024 12:43:57 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson