Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who were charged with offences related to Palestine Action before 5 July are (1) on remand, and (2) on bail; and how many of those people have been awaiting trial for (a) less than three months, (b) 3–6 months, (c) 7–12 months, (d) 13–24 months, (e) 25–36 months, and (f) more than three years.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information is not centrally held. To obtain the requested data would involve a manual inspection of court records, involving disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to (a) tackle the backlog of serious court cases in the West Midlands, (b) ensure the capacity of Crown Prosecution Service lawyers to prosecute and (c) increase the court time available for those cases.
Answered by Edward Argar
The number of outstanding cases in the crown court in the West Midlands Local Criminal Justice Area, has reduced over the last 5 years by almost 50%. The published data for the West Midlands shows the number of outstanding crown court cases from end of March 2015 to end of March 2019
Period | Number of outstanding cases |
March 2015 | 2504 |
March 2016 | 2153 |
March 2017 | 1777 |
March 2018 | 1527 |
March 2019 | 1267 |
The amount of court time available is determined by the allocation of sitting days to each Region and in turn to each court. There are robust case progression systems in place to ensure that cases are ready for trial and that time estimates for the length of trial are accurate. Listing decisions are ultimately the function of the judiciary but HMCTS staff work closely to support the judiciary particularly with the management of custody cases. HMCTS is unable to answer point b in relation to CPS resources, as this would be the responsibility of the Attorney General’s Office.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy not to privatise Approved Premises.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Approved Premises are accommodation approved under section 13 of the Offender Management Act 2007 for the supervision and rehabilitation of persons convicted of offences, or the supervision of persons granted bail in criminal proceedings. Their chief function is to accommodate high-risk offenders on release from custody.
All Approved Premises are funded by the Ministry of Justice. Most are managed by the National Probation Service, and the remainder by independent charitable trusts. We have no plans to change these arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential risk to local communities of the highest risk offenders being housed in the private sector.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Approved Premises are accommodation approved under section 13 of the Offender Management Act 2007 for the supervision and rehabilitation of persons convicted of offences, or the supervision of persons granted bail in criminal proceedings. Their chief function is to accommodate high-risk offenders on release from custody.
All Approved Premises are funded by the Ministry of Justice. Most are managed by the National Probation Service, and the remainder by independent charitable trusts. We have no plans to change these arrangements.