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1186716

registered interest
date	19/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received any reports of COVID-19 infection among the imprisoned community; whether HM Prison Service has made arrangements to protect others imprisoned in the same establishment; and what estimate they have made of the number of COVID-19 infected prisoners that can be managed within the total prison estate.
tabling member printed	Lord Myners
uin	HL2781
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2020 answer text <p>COVID-19 presents a unique set of challenges that we must address in order to maintain the provision of services in custody. HMPPS are working very closely with Public Health England (PHE) to ensure our approach is based on the best scientific advice available. The safety and wellbeing of staff, prisoners and visitors is paramount and at the heart of our approach.</p><p> </p><p>We have existing, well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases. This means prisons are well prepared to take immediate action whenever cases or suspected cases are identified. In line with broader clinical advice, HMPPS has introduced a procedure for the protective isolation of individuals in prison custody when it is considered that they may be potentially infected with the virus.</p><p> </p><p>As of 24 March, prisons in England and Wales are temporarily closed to visitors. This is to ensure prisons are complying with PHE social distancing rules. The usual regime in prisons has also been paused temporarily to apply social distancing. These measures are vital for keeping prisoners and staff safe and preventing the spread of the virus.</p><p> </p><p>We are closely monitoring the number of individuals within the imprisoned community who have tested positive for COVID-19. As of 31 March, 69 prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 across 25 prisons.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 02/04/2020 14:47:39 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

1185116

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how long, on average, it takes to gain grant of probate following an application for probate.
tabling member printed	Baroness Hodgson of Abinger
uin	HL2618
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) internal management information (which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics) has been used to show average times from receipt of an application to a grant being issued in February 2020.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Measure </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average Weeks to issued </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Median to issue </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Submission to issue for all grants issued in the month (including those stopped for queries or missing documentation)</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From submission to issue for grants issued in the month that were not stopped.</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>These figures include applications made via the online service and use the receipt date of the digital application for recording the time of issue, rather than the time the necessary supporting documentation is sent to HMCTS in order to start processing the application. The data has been extracted from the HMCTS Reform Core Case Data system, which is a new system in active development, and may not be directly comparable with figures for earlier periods.</p><p>Probate users can telephone the national Courts and Tribunal Service Centres with queries relating to Probate applications. In the month of February 2020, calls were answered within 3 minutes on average.</p><p>Official statistics are not held or published on the average length of time to grant probate after the filing of an inheritance tax form.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL2619 HL2622 question first answered 24/03/2020 17:57:50 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4301 label Biography information for Baroness Hodgson of Abinger

1185117

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether people can telephone a probate registry to find out how their application is progressing; and what is the average length of time for such telephone calls to be answered.
tabling member printed	Baroness Hodgson of Abinger
uin	HL2619
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) internal management information (which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics) has been used to show average times from receipt of an application to a grant being issued in February 2020.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Measure </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average Weeks to issued </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Median to issue </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Submission to issue for all grants issued in the month (including those stopped for queries or missing documentation)</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From submission to issue for grants issued in the month that were not stopped.</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>These figures include applications made via the online service and use the receipt date of the digital application for recording the time of issue, rather than the time the necessary supporting documentation is sent to HMCTS in order to start processing the application. The data has been extracted from the HMCTS Reform Core Case Data system, which is a new system in active development, and may not be directly comparable with figures for earlier periods.</p><p>Probate users can telephone the national Courts and Tribunal Service Centres with queries relating to Probate applications. In the month of February 2020, calls were answered within 3 minutes on average.</p><p>Official statistics are not held or published on the average length of time to grant probate after the filing of an inheritance tax form.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL2618 HL2622 question first answered 24/03/2020 17:57:50 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4301 label Biography information for Baroness Hodgson of Abinger

1185120

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how long, on average, it takes to be granted probate after filing inheritance tax forms with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
tabling member printed	Baroness Hodgson of Abinger
uin	HL2622
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) internal management information (which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics) has been used to show average times from receipt of an application to a grant being issued in February 2020.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Measure </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average Weeks to issued </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Median to issue </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Submission to issue for all grants issued in the month (including those stopped for queries or missing documentation)</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From submission to issue for grants issued in the month that were not stopped.</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>These figures include applications made via the online service and use the receipt date of the digital application for recording the time of issue, rather than the time the necessary supporting documentation is sent to HMCTS in order to start processing the application. The data has been extracted from the HMCTS Reform Core Case Data system, which is a new system in active development, and may not be directly comparable with figures for earlier periods.</p><p>Probate users can telephone the national Courts and Tribunal Service Centres with queries relating to Probate applications. In the month of February 2020, calls were answered within 3 minutes on average.</p><p>Official statistics are not held or published on the average length of time to grant probate after the filing of an inheritance tax form.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL2618 HL2619 question first answered 24/03/2020 17:57:50 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4301 label Biography information for Baroness Hodgson of Abinger

1185133

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Transgender People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 13 March (HL2223), what guidance is given to prison governors on how to assess the balance between the rights of transgender individuals in custody and those of others in custody around them, as referred to in the Ministry of Justice Policy Framework on The care and management of individuals who are transgender; what examples are provided to illustrate this guidance; and how this guidance enables prison governors to assess the appropriate balance between the risk to inmates of a women's prison from being housed with a biologically male transgender prisoner who has a history of sexual offending and the risk of serious harm to the transgender prisoner if they were housed in a men's prison.
tabling member printed	Lord Lucas
uin	HL2635
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>Governors do not have jurisdiction over the estate that a transgender individual is housed within. Rather, Complex Case Boards (CCBs) assess cases of transfers of transgender individuals between the male and female estates. These are chaired by Prison Group Directors (PGDs), who hold the ultimate responsibility for decisions. They are aided by experts and staff who have expertise on transgender identity and/or on the individual in question.</p><p>All PGDs who chair such boards are specially trained—in part using case studies, and many also have direct experience of cases. Additionally, there are core members of the CCB process who are invited to all CCBs and have experience of previous cases they have been involved with.</p><p>If a transgender female must legally be housed in the female estate, but a CCB deems their risk too high to be managed safely within the general population, HMPPS have alternative provision to enable this – namely through location on HMP Downview E Wing.</p><p>The ‘Care and management of individuals who are transgender’ Policy Framework was published on gov.uk within the Prison &amp; Probation Policy Frameworks collection. Operational guidance was also published to accompany the Policy Framework which is available to all Governors and staff, to help them care for and manage transgender individuals. Additionally, E Learning on how best to care for and manage transgender individuals is also available to all Governors and staff.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 24/03/2020 17:58:31 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	1879 label Biography information for Lord Lucas

1185135

registered interest
date	16/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Sexual Offences: Compensation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 13 March (HL2225), what is their policy on limiting the discretion of courts to refuse to make a compensation order on the basis of the behaviour of the victim; and what information they hold on the percentage of cases in which compensation was refused for such reasons in the last year for which figures are available.
tabling member printed	Lord Lucas
uin	HL2637
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2020 answer text <p>Under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, courts are required to consider making a compensation order in cases involving personal injury, loss or damage, and to give reasons where no such order is made. There are no current plans to amend the court’s powers in respect of compensation orders.</p><p>Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for the independent courts taking into account the circumstances of the case.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice has published information on convictions and sentencing up to December 2018, which is available in the ‘Outcomes by Offence data tool’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx</p><p>Information on the sentencing considerations for individual cases is not held centrally and would require a manual search of court records which would be of disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 25/03/2020 17:20:18 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	1879 label Biography information for Lord Lucas

1184989

registered interest
date	13/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by Lord Farmer The Farmer Review: The Importance of Strengthening Prisoners' Family Ties to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime, published in August 2017, what consideration they have given to the recommendation that prisons should ensure that virtual visits, using video calling technology, are available "for the small percentage of families or individual family members who cannot visit frequently or at all due to infirmity, distance or other factors".
tabling member printed	Lord Farmer
uin	HL2578
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2020 answer text <p>HMPPS recognises that families or significant relationships can play an important role in supporting prisoners to reduce their risk of reoffending following release. We have implemented a number of the recommendations from the 2017 Farmer Review and continue to publish updates on progress on these every six months.</p><p>Visits have been suspended after the Government took vital steps to limit travel and social interactions in order to limit the spread of the virus. In recognition of the importance of continued contact with family, however, the Government has moved swiftly to keep prisoners in touch with their family members by other means.</p><p>As part of new measures introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ministers have approved the use of 900 locked SIM card handsets, allowing risk-assessed prisoners to speak to a small number of pre-authorised contacts.</p><p>Strict measures will ensure the phones are not misused with calls being time-limited and monitored closely. Additionally, handsets will include tamper-proof tape to prevent non-secure SIM cards being used.</p><p>As well as helping prisoners connect with their families, the phones will give prisoners access to support services such as the Samaritans, therefore reducing their risk of self-harm at a uniquely difficult time.</p><p>We are also urgently exploring options for the safe and secure use of video solutions in a range of establishments to facilitate family video calling. We expect that this approach will be available imminently to support the current situation, but beyond this, will consider how best to utilise the video-calling services to enable prisoners to maintain contact where they have historically not received regular visits.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL2579 question first answered 27/03/2020 11:02:09 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4321 label Biography information for Lord Farmer

1184990

registered interest
date	13/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance has been given to prison governors about visits from family and significant others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
tabling member printed	Lord Farmer
uin	HL2579
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2020 answer text <p>HMPPS recognises that families or significant relationships can play an important role in supporting prisoners to reduce their risk of reoffending following release. We have implemented a number of the recommendations from the 2017 Farmer Review and continue to publish updates on progress on these every six months.</p><p>Visits have been suspended after the Government took vital steps to limit travel and social interactions in order to limit the spread of the virus. In recognition of the importance of continued contact with family, however, the Government has moved swiftly to keep prisoners in touch with their family members by other means.</p><p>As part of new measures introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ministers have approved the use of 900 locked SIM card handsets, allowing risk-assessed prisoners to speak to a small number of pre-authorised contacts.</p><p>Strict measures will ensure the phones are not misused with calls being time-limited and monitored closely. Additionally, handsets will include tamper-proof tape to prevent non-secure SIM cards being used.</p><p>As well as helping prisoners connect with their families, the phones will give prisoners access to support services such as the Samaritans, therefore reducing their risk of self-harm at a uniquely difficult time.</p><p>We are also urgently exploring options for the safe and secure use of video solutions in a range of establishments to facilitate family video calling. We expect that this approach will be available imminently to support the current situation, but beyond this, will consider how best to utilise the video-calling services to enable prisoners to maintain contact where they have historically not received regular visits.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL2578 question first answered 27/03/2020 11:02:09 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4321 label Biography information for Lord Farmer

1184204

registered interest
date	10/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Youth Justice Board
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future of the Youth Justice Board.
tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
uin	HL2471
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>The Youth Justice Board will continue to fulfil its role in overseeing the youth justice system. Once a new chair is appointed, they may wish to discuss their vision for the future of the Youth Justice Board with Ministers.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 24/03/2020 16:51:46 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman

1184205

registered interest
date	10/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Youth Offending Teams: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of current funding streams to fund youth diversion activity undertaken by youth offending teams.
tabling member printed	Lord Wasserman
uin	HL2472
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>Ministry of Justice funding for Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) is delivered through the Youth Justice Board (YJB), which provides an annual grant to local authorities to deliver youth offending services. Though varying by YOT, on average this makes up less than a third of the funding YOTs receive. Local authorities and partner agencies provide the rest of their funding. The YJB does not specify how the grant should be spent.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities hold the statutory responsibility to deliver youth justice services in their area and services are designed according to local context and needs. Diversion from the criminal justice system is not a statutory requirement for Youth Offending Teams, however they may choose to pay for these activities based on locally identified needs and priorities.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 24/03/2020 15:27:20 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4207 label Biography information for Lord Wasserman