Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the proportionality of sentences for people committing theft or misappropriating funds from bank accounts.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. When deciding what sentence to impose, within the maximum available for the offence, the courts take into account the circumstances of the offence and any aggravating and mitigating factors. The courts are also required to follow any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the independent Sentencing Council. The guidelines assist judges and magistrates in deciding the appropriate sentence for a criminal offence, and help to ensure that sentences are consistent and proportionate.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prisoners who have tested positive for covid-19 to date are (a) male, (b) female and (c) serving sentences under six months.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Ministry of Justice intends to publish statistics on prisoners who have tested positive for COVID-19 on an ongoing basis during the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which officials of his Department sit on his Department's Complex Cases Review Team.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), is an independent body, established by the Criminal Appeals Act 1995, to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
No officials from the Ministry of Justice are members of the CCRC.
All CCRC Commissioners are independent from Government and the Civil Service.
Commissioners are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Appointments to the CCRC are made in line with the principles of the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money has been disbursed from the public public purse in compensation by his Department's Complex Cases Review Team in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Chalk
Claims for compensation for a miscarriage of justice under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 are dealt with by the Ministry of Justice Application Service. In the last 12 months, the department paid out £10,000 in compensation.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Chief Coroner has taken to ensure that coronial decision-making is consistent throughout the UK.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Chief Coroner provides judicial leadership to coroners on a range of statutory and non-statutory matters. In doing so, he publishes guidance and advice to promote consistency of practice and service across England and Wales which is available at https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/office-chief-coroner/guidance-law-sheets/coroners-guidance/. This guidance, including the Bench Book for coroners, is in the process of being reviewed.
The Chief Coroner also provides training to all coroners and coroners' officers via the Judicial College, further promoting consistency and ensuring that coroners follow the most recent standards of practice. These are also supported by the Chief Coroner’s monitoring duties. In particular, he registers cases lasting more than 12 months, as required by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, allowing him to keep any delays under review.
In addition, the Chief Coroner has a statutory duty to provide an annual report to the Lord Chancellor which, among other matters, must include an assessment for the year of the consistency of standards between coroner areas.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February to Question 19769, whether the Legal Aid Means Test Review will examine whether the finances of non-married people sharing a property with an applicant of legal aid will remain relevant to means-tested application for inquests into state-related deaths.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Legal Aid Means Test Review was announced on 7 February 2019, as part of the Legal Support Action Plan.
The review is already underway and is considering the full range of means-testing criteria including the applicable thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with wider criteria such as the treatment of partner and other household resources. This includes the evidence gathered as part of the Government’s Review of Legal Aid for Inquests published on 7 February 2019.
This comprehensive review is due to conclude in late summer 2020, followed by a public consultation on potential policy changes.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
We do not have any plans to change the age of criminal responsibility.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to support access to non-means tested legal representation in cases of state-related death.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Government’s Review of Legal Aid for Inquests published on 7 February 2019 found that representation for bereaved families is not necessary at the vast majority of inquests because the process is designed to establish the truth and learn lessons and cannot apportion blame.
The Government realises, however, that there may be some instances where legal representation is required at inquests and funding may be available through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme (ECF). The decision to provide funding under ECF is taken by the Legal Aid Agency which makes its decisions independently from political and Government influence. The Government’s Legal Support Action Plan published on 7 February 2019 following the post implementation review of LASPO, includes a commitment to simplify the ECF scheme to ensure it works as effectively as possible for those who need it. We’re also making changes to ensure there is more support for bereaved families including making improvements to guidance and advice literature to improve understanding and awareness of the availability of legal aid for inquests.
The evidence that we gathered as part of our Review for Legal Aid for Inquests will also be considered as part of the Legal Aid Means Test Review, which is looking at the thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with the wider criteria. This comprehensive review is due to conclude in the summer of 2020, followed by a public consultation on potential policy changes.