Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the offence of assault against an emergency worker on trends in the level of (a) arrests and (b) convictions of women.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the legislation relating to assaults on emergency workers, has not made an assessment of the impact, or potential impact, of the offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 on trends relating to the arrest or conviction of women. Nor does it plan to conduct further assessments or research relating specifically to the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Following changes made by provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the then Government published an Equalities Impact Assessment of the changes on the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. The assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-equality-statements/assault-on-emergency-workers-in-the-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-equalities-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to undertake research on the potential impact of the offence of assault against an emergency worker on women.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the legislation relating to assaults on emergency workers, has not made an assessment of the impact, or potential impact, of the offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 on trends relating to the arrest or conviction of women. Nor does it plan to conduct further assessments or research relating specifically to the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Following changes made by provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the then Government published an Equalities Impact Assessment of the changes on the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. The assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-equality-statements/assault-on-emergency-workers-in-the-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-equalities-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will conduct an equality impact assessment for the offence of assault against an emergency worker.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the legislation relating to assaults on emergency workers, has not made an assessment of the impact, or potential impact, of the offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 on trends relating to the arrest or conviction of women. Nor does it plan to conduct further assessments or research relating specifically to the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Following changes made by provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the then Government published an Equalities Impact Assessment of the changes on the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. The assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-equality-statements/assault-on-emergency-workers-in-the-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-equalities-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many N1 claim forms (CPR Part 7) were submitted in the most recent year for which figures are available, and how many of them indicated that the claim does, or will, include any issues under the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested is not held.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the volume of claims received by claim type: Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the defence of reasonable chastisement has been raised in English courts since 2015; and whether it has led to any acquittals.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the implementation of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the legislation relating to assaults on emergency workers, has not made an assessment of the impact, or potential impact, of the offence under section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 on trends relating to the arrest or conviction of women. Nor does it plan to conduct further assessments or research relating specifically to the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Following changes made by provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 the then Government published an Equalities Impact Assessment of the changes on the offence in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. The assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill-2021-equality-statements/assault-on-emergency-workers-in-the-police-crime-sentencing-courts-bill-equalities-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of grooming gangs have applied for compensation; and how many have been rejected.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) deeply sympathises with all victims of sexual crimes and recognises the trauma suffered by victims of these abhorrent offences.
CICA cannot provide figures about compensation to victims of grooming gangs. This is because awards of compensation under the statutory Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme are made for the physical and/or mental injuries sustained by the victim rather than the type of offence committed.
Each claim for compensation is considered on its own facts and decided using all the information available from the applicant, the police, and other relevant sources.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Spending Review 2025 on the safeguarding of victims of (a) sexual and (b) domestic abuse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the scale of violence against women and girls and is treating it as a national emergency. A new cross-government strategy to tackle this will be published this summer.
Action has already been taken by piloting Domestic Abuse Protection Orders; introducing new offences for sexually explicit deepfakes, intimate image abuse and spiking and providing free transcripts of sentencing remarks to victims of sexual offences in the Crown Court.
We will also establish specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force and introduce free independent legal advice for victims of adult rape.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the budget for victim and witness support services will be lower in 2025-26 than 2024-25.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice remains committed to supporting victims and witnesses of crime. For the 2025–26 financial year, the Department has protected funding levels for ringfenced sexual violence and domestic abuse support, maintaining them at the same level as in 2024–25.
There has been a small reduction to the core budget allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), who are responsible for commissioning local victim support services based on assessed need. This decision was taken in the context of a challenging fiscal environment left behind by the previous Government.
The Department continues to work closely with PCCs and sector partners to support the delivery of high-quality services.