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

1675890

registered interest
date	06/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2023, published on 22 November 2023, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposals to remove access to legal aid for Universal Credit claimants who have had an open-ended sanction for over six months on access to justice.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	5538
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2023 answer text <p>The DWP proposals on the Back to Work Plan will not remove access to legal aid for those Universal Credit (UC) claimants who may be sanctioned. Whilst anyone whose UC claim is closed would no longer be passported through the legal aid means test income assessment, the individual would remain eligible for civil or criminal legal aid, subject to the application of the full means assessment in the usual way. The additional provisions being built into DWP’s policy proposals will also mean that no vulnerable individual would face having their claim closed, thereby providing a further tier of protection for many legal aid user groups, such as the disabled and the homeless.</p><p> </p><p>Over coming months, MoJ officials will be working closely with DWP officials as the policy develops.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 5539 question first answered 12/12/2023 14:34:51 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1675891

registered interest
date	06/12/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2023, published on 22 November 2023, whether the proposal to end access to legal aid for sanctioned Universal Credit claimants (a) relates to (i) criminal and (ii) civil legal aid and (b) would prevent those people from (A) passporting and (B) accessing all legal aid.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	5539
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2023 answer text <p>The DWP proposals on the Back to Work Plan will not remove access to legal aid for those Universal Credit (UC) claimants who may be sanctioned. Whilst anyone whose UC claim is closed would no longer be passported through the legal aid means test income assessment, the individual would remain eligible for civil or criminal legal aid, subject to the application of the full means assessment in the usual way. The additional provisions being built into DWP’s policy proposals will also mean that no vulnerable individual would face having their claim closed, thereby providing a further tier of protection for many legal aid user groups, such as the disabled and the homeless.</p><p> </p><p>Over coming months, MoJ officials will be working closely with DWP officials as the policy develops.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 5538 question first answered 12/12/2023 14:34:51 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1662954

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Concrete
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any court buildings have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC); and whether his Department plans to fund emergency mitigation works to any courts in which RAAC is identified.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	200808
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2023 answer text <p>I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 26 September 2023 to Question 199292:</p><p><a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-09-13/199292" target="_blank">https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-09-13/199292</a>.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 18/10/2023 15:20:20 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1651669

registered interest
date	10/07/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Law Centres: Closures
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 estimate of the number of Law Centres that have closed in England since 2010; and how much funding his Department has provided to Law Centres since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	193071
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2023 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice does not hold direct information on the number of law centres in England or those that have ceased operating.</p><p>Since 2015/16, the Legal Aid Agency has paid £57.2m to law centres across England and Wales, in respect of Civil and Criminal Legal Aid work. We are unable to provide the information from 2010 onwards as Legal Aid Provider Statistics data is only available from 2015/16 onwards.</p><p>Further, the Government has invested over £25m in grant funding for the not-for-profit sector including law centres since 2014.</p><p>In March 2023, the Government announced a new £10.4m Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support (IOTLS) grant. This grant runs from July 2023 until March 2025 and is being administered by the Access to Justice Foundation on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. The grant has been awarded to 59 organisations across England and Wales, including 15 law centres. This funding will enable organisations to provide legal advice and support to help people resolve their problems as early as possible.</p><p>The IOTLS grant builds on the previous legal support grants including the £4.8m Help Accessing Legal Support grant which ran from September 2022 until June 2023 and supported 52 front line organisations including 14 law centres.</p><p>Between April 2020 and March 2021, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations were awarded Government emergency grant funding totalling £5.4m via the Covid-19 Specialist Advice Service Scheme. Of the total amount, £3m was distributed to law centres via the Law Centres Network. This funding enabled organisations to continue providing critical services to the most vulnerable and prevented the closure of a number of law centres.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 13/07/2023 11:44:24 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1648824

registered interest
date	29/06/2023
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, whether his Department collects data on the number of cells that are overcrowded in each prison.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	191750
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2023 answer text <p>All prisoner accommodation is certified in line with the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/certified-prisoner-accommodation-policy-framework" target="_blank">Certified Prisoner Accommodation Framework</a>. Cells are only shared where a Prison Group Director has certified them to be of an adequate size and condition. The process of certification requires every prison to record all cells that have been assessed as suitable for crowding, and this information is held centrally.</p><p>Crowding data is published annually as part of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-april-2021-to-march-2022" target="_blank">HMPPS Annual Digest.</a> The 2022/23 version of the Annual Digest is due to be published on 27 July 2023.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 04/07/2023 09:57:44 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1648152

registered interest
date	27/06/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Accommodation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187087 on Prison Accommodation, for what reason it is not practicable to collect data on time out of cell for each prison in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	191271
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2023 answer text <p>Prison governors set a regime for each day specifying when prisoners will ordinarily be unlocked. There will be occasions, however, when certain prisoners will remain in their cell during these times. Reasons for this will include illness, being over retirement age, the management of operational incidents, and other operational reasons such as staff needing to be deployed to other duties.</p><p> </p><p>There will also be occasions where prisoners will be out of cell at times when they are scheduled to be locked in, for example to attend medical appointments at hospital, a late arrival from court, or a transfer between prisons.</p><p> </p><p>To accurately record the amount of time prisoners spend out of cell, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) would therefore be required to record information for each individual prisoner, taking into account their unique movements on a daily basis.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 03/07/2023 08:24:25 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1641089

registered interest
date	02/06/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Accommodation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183237 on Prison Accommodation, what guidance his Department issues on the appropriate amount of time out of cell for prisoners.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	187087
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2023 answer text <p>We are committed to delivering purposeful activity within prisons: our plans for prison regime reform are set out in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038765/prisons-strategy-white-paper.pdf" target="_blank">Prisons Strategy White Paper - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p>As noted in my reply of 9 May, there is no central requirement governing the amount of time that prisoners should spend out of their cells. Governors have the flexibility to deliver balanced regimes to meet the needs of their establishment’s population. The collection of data on time spent out of cell is not currently practicable.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 187088 question first answered 07/06/2023 10:07:19 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1641090

registered interest
date	02/06/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Accommodation
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 merits of his Department holding data on time spent out of cell across all prisons in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	187088
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2023 answer text <p>We are committed to delivering purposeful activity within prisons: our plans for prison regime reform are set out in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038765/prisons-strategy-white-paper.pdf" target="_blank">Prisons Strategy White Paper - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p>As noted in my reply of 9 May, there is no central requirement governing the amount of time that prisoners should spend out of their cells. Governors have the flexibility to deliver balanced regimes to meet the needs of their establishment’s population. The collection of data on time spent out of cell is not currently practicable.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 187087 question first answered 07/06/2023 10:07:19 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1624740

registered interest
date	28/04/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department expects to have completed its implementation of local regime leads across the entire prison estate through the National Regime Model.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	183236
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>All prisons will have a local regime lead in place by the end of 2023/24.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 09/05/2023 16:49:54 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1624741

registered interest
date	28/04/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Accommodation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will publish data on the average time spent out of cell in each prison in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	183237
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>The information requested for adult prisoners is not held by the Ministry of Justice as collecting it would require the detailed monitoring of cell activity in each prison establishment.</p><p>There is no central requirement governing the amount of time that prisoners should spend out of their cells. Governors are instead afforded the flexibility to deliver balanced regimes that maintain an appropriate level of time out of cell on a range of activities, including association, which meet the needs of the establishment’s population.</p><p>HMPPS has introduced a Regime Dashboard which reports the percentage of prisoners receiving different levels of regime each week. We are further developing this to align to future regimes. A performance metric has also been introduced to hold prisons to account on their levels of regime delivery. Data from this are scheduled for publication in July 2023.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 09/05/2023 08:41:50 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter