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1330028

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
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, how much funding the Government has allocated to legal aid in England and Wales in each financial year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	11466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>The Lord Chancellor has a duty to ensure that legal aid is made available in accordance with the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012), for cases where the relevant criteria, such as the financial eligibility of the applicant and/or the degree of legal merit in their case, is met, where applicable.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice works within HM Treasury allocations as shown in the Main and Supplementary Estimates (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-main-estimates" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-main-estimates</a>) each year. However, the nature of Legal Aid funding means that it is demand led, and as such the MoJ ensures sufficient allocation is made to cover the incurred costs.</p><p>Spend on legal aid since 2010 can be viewed at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics</a>, which currently shows expenditure up to and including December 2020.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/06/2021 15:27:48 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy

1330112

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken is for a probate grant to be issued; what plans he has to reduce that time taken; what progress he has made in reducing the length of the time taken to process all probate cases in 2021; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Yorkshire
tabling member printed	Sir Greg Knight
uin	11482
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>The most recently published information regarding combined waiting times for a grant of probate, on paper and digital cases, covers September 2020 to December 2020 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 26):</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2020</a></p><p>Average time to grant issue for grants of Probate, England and Wales, quarterly Q2 2019 - Q4 2020<sup>1,2,3</sup></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="6"><p><strong>Probate - All</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Application submission to grant issue</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Document receipt to grant issue<sup>4</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Quarter</p></td><td><p>Grants issued</p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>Q2<sup>5</sup></p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2,019</p></td><td><p>Q3</p></td><td><p>53,403</p></td><td><p>9.5</p></td><td><p>8.0</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>9.5</p></td><td><p>8.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2,019</p></td><td><p>Q4</p></td><td><p>54,389</p></td><td><p>7.8</p></td><td><p>5.6</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>7.6</p></td><td><p>5.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>Q1</p></td><td><p>49,706</p></td><td><p>6.7</p></td><td><p>4.3</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.5</p></td><td><p>4.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>Q2</p></td><td><p>45,493</p></td><td><p>6.6</p></td><td><p>4.6</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.3</p></td><td><p>4.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>Q3</p></td><td><p>60,225</p></td><td><p>6.7</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.0</p></td><td><p>4.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>Q4</p></td><td><p>54,476</p></td><td><p>7.2</p></td><td><p>5.3</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.2</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="6"><p><strong>Probate - Digital</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Application submission to grant issue</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Document receipt to grant issue<sup>4</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Grants issued</p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>7,166</p></td><td><p>9.4</p></td><td><p>7.6</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>9.0</p></td><td><p>7.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11,060</p></td><td><p>10.2</p></td><td><p>9.0</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>9.2</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10,784</p></td><td><p>7.1</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.0</p></td><td><p>3.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10,955</p></td><td><p>6.1</p></td><td><p>3.7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td><td><p>2.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>21,591</p></td><td><p>6.4</p></td><td><p>4.4</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4.3</p></td><td><p>2.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>21,875</p></td><td><p>6.6</p></td><td><p>3.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4.2</p></td><td><p>0.3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="6"><p><strong>Probate - Paper</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Application submission to grant issue</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Document receipt to grant issue<sup>4</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Grants issued</p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td><td><p>:</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>46,237</p></td><td><p>9.6</p></td><td><p>8.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>9.6</p></td><td><p>8.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>43,329</p></td><td><p>7.2</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>7.2</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>38,922</p></td><td><p>6.6</p></td><td><p>4.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.6</p></td><td><p>4.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>34,538</p></td><td><p>6.8</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.8</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>38,634</p></td><td><p>6.9</p></td><td><p>5.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6.9</p></td><td><p>5.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>32,601</p></td><td><p>7.6</p></td><td><p>6.3</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>7.6</p></td><td><p>6.3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: HMCTS Core Case Data</p><p><em>Notes: </em></p><p><em>1) HMCTS Core Case Data came into effect at the end of March 2019, following a transition between data systems recording information regarding the Probate Service.</em></p><p><em>2) The average timeliness figures are produced by calculating the time from application/document receipt (which may be from an earlier period) to the grant issued made in that period. Currently grants being issued on the same day as the application submission/document receipt are being calculated as 0 days. This is being reviewed as to whether it is an accurate reflection of workload and may be adjusted in future..</em></p><p><em>3) Some averages presented here may be based on a small number of grants. Where this occurs, any conclusion drawn from these will be limited..</em></p><p><em>4) Document receipt occurs after payment has been made and all accompanying paperwork has been received by HMCTS.</em></p><p><em>5) Due to quality issues in the transition between data systems, the breakdown by type of grant has not been published for Q2 2019.</em></p><p><em>6) A probate application can be stopped for several reasons: a caveat can be entered when there’s a dispute about either who can apply for probate or issues with a will or proposed will, or if an error is identified and a request for further information is made.</em></p><p> </p><p>Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, the average waiting for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between four to six weeks.</p><p>More recent management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) provides waiting time information up to March 2021. This shows that the waiting time on digital grant of probate applications, which are not stopped due to errors or missing documentation, has been below one week since September 2020. Similarly paper cases, not stopped, took less than three weeks on average in March 2021 compared to five weeks in March 2020.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-march-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-march-2021</a></p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/06/2021 14:39:15 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	1200 label Biography information for Sir Greg Knight

1330145

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Solicitors: North East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to encourage solicitors to practice in the North East of England.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne East
tabling member printed	Mr Nicholas Brown
uin	11481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>Under the framework established by the Legal Services Act 2007, the legal profession in England and Wales, and the bodies that regulate it, are independent from government. We continue to ensure that legal aid advice remains accessible to those who need it, and the Legal Aid Agency keeps market capacity under continual review to ensure adequate provision across England and Wales.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/06/2021 14:34:00 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	523 label Biography information for Mr Nicholas Brown

1330223

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Curfews
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to widen the criteria for, and (2) to increase the use of, the Home Detention Curfew scheme for individuals released from prison.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL757
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The Home Detention Curfew is a robust scheme which allows suitable, risk-assessed, prisoners to work towards rehabilitation in the community, while remaining subject to strict monitoring and other conditions. If they breach these conditions, they can be returned to custody. There are currently no plans to change the scheme.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 21/06/2021 15:48:40 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1330224

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will implement all of the commitments in their Female Offender Strategy (Cm 9642), published on 27 June 2018.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL758
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The Government remains committed to delivering its commitments in the Female Offender Strategy. The Strategy has three overarching aims: 1) fewer women offending and reoffending; 2) fewer women in custody, especially on short sentences, with more managed effectively in custody; and 3) better conditions for women in custody that support effective rehabilitation. Considering how we can best address the needs of female offenders and to improve outcomes for them, their families and their communities, is a complex issue that we want to get right. The Strategy’s publication was the start of a new and significant programme of work to deliver better outcomes for female offenders that will take some years to deliver.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 21/06/2021 16:46:58 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1330290

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Judicial Review
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform judicial review.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL793
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The Independent Review of Administrative Law made recommendations for reform and the Government consulted on these and other proposals. We are considering the responses to the consultation before deciding on the measures to take forward but the Government will introduce legislation in the current session.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 21/06/2021 15:41:24 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1330292

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Crimes of Violence: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve support in the justice system for the victims of violence against women and girls.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL794
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>Protecting women and girls from violence and abuse, and supporting victims, are key priorities for this Government. These crimes are extremely serious and have a huge impact both for those subjected to such violence and more broadly on our economy, health services, and the criminal justice system.</p><p>In 2021-22, we will provide just under £151m for victim and witness support services. This includes an extra £51m to increase support for rape and domestic abuse victims, building on the emergency funding already provided to help domestic abuse and sexual violence services meet Covid-driven demand. This compares to a total budget of £48.5m in 2010-2011.</p><p>This funding includes £27m for 700 Independent Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse Advisers and £20.7m for local sexual violence and domestic abuse services.</p><p>We continue to work closely with the Home Office on the development of the Government’s forthcoming Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. The new Strategy will focus on prevention, drive forward improvements in the effort to target perpetrators, respond to the changing nature of crimes against women and girls and, most importantly, will continue to put victims at the heart of our approach.</p><p>In addition, the forthcoming Victims’ Bill, which we will consult on later this year, will ensure that all victims are supported, and their rights are recognised, at every stage of the criminal justice system and beyond</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 21/06/2021 16:02:03 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1330293

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Crimes of Violence: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase minimum sentences for perpetrators of violence against women and girls.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL795
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The government keeps offences and penalties under review, including those in relation to violence against women and girls. Minimum sentences are rarely used; there are currently no plans to introduce minimum sentences in this area.</p><p> </p><p>The government is committed to keeping people safe from all forms of sexual violence. In 2020 we legislated to end the automatic halfway release of serious violent and sexual offenders who receive a standard determinate sentence (SDS) of 7 years or more. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will extend this change further by ensuring certain serious violent and sexual offenders who receive a SDS of between 4 and 7 years will also have to spend two thirds of their sentence in custody, demonstrating how seriously the government takes this type of offending.</p><p> </p><p>The government will also be publishing a new cross-government “Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy” later this year which will help further transform the response to these crimes, from prevention and raising awareness, to ensuring perpetrators are brought to justice.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 21/06/2021 16:10:22 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1330296

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Youth Custody: Self-harm and Violence
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle (1) violence, and (2) self-harm, on the youth secure estate.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL797
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>We are committed to reducing violence in youth custody. Whilst there are fewer young people in custody than ever before – those in the youth estate are a cohort with complex needs. Children and young people (including 18-year olds) serving sentences for violence against the person offences accounted for more than half (55%) of the youth custody population in 2019/20.</p><p>We are investing in staff, education, psychology services and mental health support, alongside a package of interventions within the Behaviour Management Strategy that address the needs of children and young people through early intervention and multi-agency work. This is underpinned by ‘SECURE STAIRS’ - the framework of integrated care jointly led by the NHS and Youth Custody Service (YCS), which provides the foundations as to how the YCS works with children – which has adapted its approach during the COVID-19 pandemic to take into account the vulnerabilities of children at this time. In addition, the YCS has been progressing work with a focus on some of the most vulnerable and challenging young people in custody alongside NHS colleagues through the Critical Case Pathway. This provides a greater level of oversight and support to professionals working with children who self-harm, and those with the most complex needs to ensure effective assessment, planning and co-ordination. Additionally the ‘COVID-19 Support Plan’, a less intensive and physically distanced version of the Custody Support Plan (which provides children with a named officer to work with on a weekly basis) is also being delivered, to maintain key relationships between staff and children.</p><p>The roll out of the youth justice specialist roles has continued with funding provided for every prison officer to take up a degree level qualification in youth justice. As of March, there were 201 youth justice specialist officers already in post. A further 319 staff are currently signed up or undertaking the learning, with the last cohort due to start in October 2022 with up to 110 more frontline staff participating.</p><p>We are continuing to look to further open up regime opportunities in a manner that is safe and sustainable, to provide further support to children. Given the uncertainty this period has presented, it has been encouraging to see that levels of self-harm have fallen during the pandemic with - the annualised rate of self-harming per 100 children falling by 56% in the three months to December 2020. We are also carrying out work to ensure that lessons learned from the COVID-19 period are taken into account going forwards, and the YCS has commissioned a programme of research, in collaboration with academics, to evaluate these lessons with the results used to further inform recovery planning.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 21/06/2021 15:50:02 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1330298

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts and Tribunals: Standards
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle the backlog of cases in (1) courts, and (2) tribunals.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL798
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>Restoring the ability of courts and tribunals to hear cases, even within the continuing operational constraints presented by the pandemic, is crucial in tackling the increase in outstanding cases. We have allocated over £250m, we have made courts COVID-secure, opened 60 Nightingale courtrooms, and enabled remote hearings in their thousands.</p><p>As a result of our actions so far, we are completing cases in the Crown Court at the same level as before the pandemic began. This progress means that increases in outstanding cases caused by COVID have stabilised, and in some areas – like the Magistrates’ Court – the outstanding cases are reducing.</p><p>As restrictions ease, we will maximise the system and enable judges to safely hold as many hearings as possible. We will run each Crown Court site to its fullest, with no limit on sitting days this financial year, so more cases can be heard and waiting times can come down. There are also additional sitting days compared to the allocation last year in other jurisdictions.</p><p>To go further, we will continue to recruit more judges and staff, continue to make use of efficiencies and technology, and make legislative changes to protect court time. For example, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will allow for more virtual hearings to support the ongoing use of live links and remote hearings (using video and audio technology), underpinning open justice by allowing remote observation of proceedings. We plan to legislate to give the Crown Court new powers to send such cases back to the Magistrates’ Court for trial and for sentencing, where appropriate.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 21/06/2021 15:47:30 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick