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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

1717957

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2024 to Question 16213 on Probate, what recent progress his Department has made on reducing waiting times in relation to probate grants.
tabling member constituency	Broxbourne
tabling member printed	Sir Charles Walker
uin	26095
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS remains focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications. 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 in March was 9 weeks.</p><p>The first quarter of 2024 (January to March 2024) saw the highest quarterly number of grants issued on record.</p><p> </p><p>A full time series of Official Statistics back to Q3 2019 is published in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly</a> and currently covers the period up to December 2023.</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 2023 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmcts-management-information" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmcts-management-information</a>.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 17/05/2024 14:02:13 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker

1718003

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
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, what steps he is taking to reduce the backlog in processing probate applications.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	26217
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS is focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness and the outstanding caseload on all types of applications. HMCTS has increased staffing levels, streamlined internal processes and continued to invest in further improving the digital service.</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 grouped question UIN 26218 question first answered 22/05/2024 13:46:39 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1718006

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
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, what the average processing time was for probate applications in the past 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	26218
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS is focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness and the outstanding caseload on all types of applications. HMCTS has increased staffing levels, streamlined internal processes and continued to invest in further improving the digital service.</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 grouped question UIN 26217 question first answered 22/05/2024 13:46:39 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1716683

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial and emotional impact of delays related to the Probate Portal following results from a survey conducted by The Law Society and published in their October 2023 report, Online court services: Delivering a more efficient digital justice system, which found that 62 per cent of respondents experienced delays in court proceedings.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4463
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS recognises that average waiting times for a grant of probate increased during 2023 following on from a sustained increase in receipts.</p><p>HMCTS remains focused on improving the service and doing all we can do to make it as effective and speedy as possible. In addition, HMCTS has increased staffing levels and streamlined internal processes to improve waiting times.</p><p>Management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate from receipt of documentation reduced by three weeks in March 2024 to nine weeks.</p><p>The increase in the probate application fee to £300 was implemented on 1 May 2024. This was one of 172 court and tribunal fees that were increased by 10% to partially reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index since 2021, the last time that court and tribunal fees were increased. Given the short period of time the higher fee has been in place, an assessment on the impact of the probate fee increase has not been completed at this time. The increases are estimated to raise additional income of £30m-37m per annum, which will provide funding to support the effective delivery of court and tribunal services.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy grouped question UIN HL4464 question first answered 23/05/2024 09:00:24 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1716684

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Law Society’s report Online court services: Delivering a more efficient digital justice system in October 2023, what assessment they have made of the increase in fees for probate applications at a time when those using the probate online portal are experiencing increased delays and errors.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4464
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>HMCTS recognises that average waiting times for a grant of probate increased during 2023 following on from a sustained increase in receipts.</p><p>HMCTS remains focused on improving the service and doing all we can do to make it as effective and speedy as possible. In addition, HMCTS has increased staffing levels and streamlined internal processes to improve waiting times.</p><p>Management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate from receipt of documentation reduced by three weeks in March 2024 to nine weeks.</p><p>The increase in the probate application fee to £300 was implemented on 1 May 2024. This was one of 172 court and tribunal fees that were increased by 10% to partially reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index since 2021, the last time that court and tribunal fees were increased. Given the short period of time the higher fee has been in place, an assessment on the impact of the probate fee increase has not been completed at this time. The increases are estimated to raise additional income of £30m-37m per annum, which will provide funding to support the effective delivery of court and tribunal services.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy grouped question UIN HL4463 question first answered 23/05/2024 09:00:24 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1715963

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the probate system on the average length of time taken to complete probate.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4416
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>Since the launch of the new digital service in 2019, over 1.2 million probate applications have been processed on the new platform and around 80% of applications are made digitally. HMCTS is committed to continually improving the system, using feedback from our users to help shape future improvements. In addition, HMCTS has increased staffing levels and streamlined internal processes to improve waiting times.</p><p>Management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, from receipt of documentation, reduced by 3 weeks in March 2024 to 9 weeks. Overall output has also increased, the first quarter of 2024 (January to March 2024) saw the highest quarterly number of grants issued since the statistics have been published, with 83,060 grants issued. This is a 32% increase on the same period in 2023.</p><p>Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and HMCTS Management information and currently cover the period up to December 2023 and March 2023 respectively.</p> answering member printed Lord Bellamy question first answered 21/05/2024 12:10:15 answering member 4941 label Biography information for Lord Bellamy
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath