Asked by: Harriet Cross (Conservative - Gordon and Buchan)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill on the intelligence services.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Bill will apply to all public authorities, including the intelligence services. At Second Reading of the Bill, the Prime Minister was clear that the duty of candour would need to apply in a particular way to the intelligence services to get the right balance. We are clear that nothing should undermine our national security.
We are continuing to work closely with families, stakeholders and the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee to bring forward amendments that achieve this balance. We will update the House in due course.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to amend the Contempt of Court Act 1981 to reflect public comments about trials on social media platforms.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Rules and restrictions on what can be said during ongoing court proceedings are vital to ensure that trials are fair and justice is delivered. The Government recognises that social media is putting these long-established rules under strain, especially in cases where partial and inaccurate information appears online. The Law Commission is undertaking a review of contempt law which considers whether existing legal frameworks allow us to respond effectively to publications and communications that seriously impede or prejudice the course of justice.
At the Government’s request, the Commission expedited parts of the review relating to our ability to counter misinformation. That report was published in November covering liability and contempt and the role of the Attorney General in contempt proceedings.
We are carefully considering the recommendations and will issue a formal response once both reports have been published.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the prevalence of (a) drug use and (b) synthetic drug use among the prison population in England and Wales.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We recognise that illicit drug use in prisons is too high, and are committed to tackling this to improve safety, support rehabilitation and reduce reoffending. We are investing over £40 million in physical security measures this financial year and have funded Incentivised Substance Free Living Units in 85 prisons. We work closely with health partners to identify prisoners with a drug dependency and support them into treatment and recovery and are rolling out naloxone in prisons – life saving medication which can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose.
We are currently unable to publish performance data on drug level use in prisons because due to reduced testing levels, reduced number of prisons with sufficient testing and the need to update the testing panel, the data is currently not sufficient to robustly estimate the percentage positive. Prisons across the estate strive to conduct target levels of rMDT, but in recent years Governors have had to make difficult decisions about how to balance the demands of testing with wider capacity pressures. However, rMDT is only one element of a wider testing regime, which includes suspicion-based testing for those suspected of illicit use, and compact-based testing on Incentivised Substance Free Living Units and Drug Recovery Wings. Our testing regime enables us to monitor a wide range of substances and assess the prevalence of different types of drugs. We keep this under regular review to ensure we identify emerging trends to keep both prisoners and staff safe. Our new drug testing contract supports this by giving us greater flexibility to respond to emerging drug threats, including synthetic drugs.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with a learning disability have (i) entered and (ii) exited the prison population in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The information requested is not held within the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to reduce the potential impact of construction traffic on villages in Mid Buckinghamshire constituency during the construction of the new Category C prison.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to delivering crucial new prison places in Buckinghamshire and are working constructively with Buckinghamshire Council to agree how to manage construction traffic.
We have committed to making improvements to a key junction and funding will be provided to improve local bus services.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the transparency of sentencing.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Government is committed to transparency in our courts and tribunals, and I know the judiciary are too.
Last month we announced that we are expanding free access to sentencing remarks to all victims whose case is sentenced in the Crown Court.
This is a landmark moment for transparency and open justice, and a meaningful improvement for victims across the country.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to help improve victims’ confidence in the justice system.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are putting victims first with a record £550 million investment in specialist support services over the next three years, alongside reforms to ensure our justice system delivers swift, fair justice.
We will soon be consulting on a new Victims’ Code which, once launched, will help to ensure victims know their rights.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on supporting the victims of cross-border grooming gangs.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government is committed to working closely with the Scottish Government to strengthen protections for victims of cross-border grooming gangs.
We have accepted all 12 recommendations of Baroness Casey’s report, ensuring a comprehensive, victim focused response to tackling group-based child sexual exploitation.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of convictions for violence against women and girls in England and Wales in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Violence against women and girls constitutes a number of offences. The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on convictions for a number of offences including offences related to violence against women and girls in the Outcomes by Offence data tool. This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
The Government cannot and does not seek to influence convictions or judicial outcomes, which are rightly matters for the independent judiciary. However, as part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, we recognise it is vital for victims to feel able to come forward and obtain the justice they deserve.
In December, we published our ‘Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy’, which sets out the actions we are taking to achieve our VAWG mission. To support victims to come forward and feel able to stay engaged throughout the justice process, our strategy sets out a comprehensive package of measures to strengthen support at every stage of the criminal justice system. This includes court measures to protect victims from intrusive cross-examination, stronger perpetrator management through a national rollout of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, and the largest-ever investment of £550 million into victim support services over the next three years.
Asked by: Lee Barron (Labour - Corby and East Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the rationale for requiring separate applications for a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney and a Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney, where both powers are granted to the same individual.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows a person (the donor) to choose people they trust (the attorney) to make decisions for them should they lose the mental capacity to make their own decisions. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides the legal framework for LPAs, one for Property and Financial Affairs and one for Health and Welfare, reflecting their different scopes and use.
While donors often appoint the same attorney for both, the instruments remain separate to avoid confusion arising from the differing points to which each LPA can be used and ensures donors can make clear, informed decisions about each type of power. The Health and Welfare LPA may also contain sensitive health information which is not relevant for Property and Financial Affairs decisions. There were consultations in 2012 and 2013 which included proposals for a combined form but, in line with the responses, the Department did not proceed with this idea.