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Written Question
Television Licences: Fees and Charges
Monday 21st February 2022

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many convictions for failure to pay for a TV licence have led to imprisonment in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

The number of people admitted to prison for failing to pay fines in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years can be viewed in the attached table.

A person cannot receive a custodial sentence for TV licence evasion but can be committed to prison for wilfully refusing to pay the fine. Imprisonment is only pursued as a matter of last resort.


Written Question
Cemeteries
Tuesday 7th April 2020

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 10 March (HL1844), whether private cemeteries should apply the same standards and principles contained in the “framework of regulation and guidance" applying to local authority burial grounds.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

As indicated in my response to the Noble Lord’s previous questions on the issue of mounding (HL1843, 1844 and 1845), the Government anticipates that those operating private burial grounds will adhere to the standards and principles underpinning the framework of regulation and guidance which applies to local authority burial grounds.

However, I will ensure that the issues raised by the Noble Lord are referred to the Law Commission in the context of its forthcoming consideration of the law governing the disposal of human remains, to which I also referred in my previous response.


Written Question
Cemeteries
Tuesday 7th April 2020

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received any reports of disputes at Tottenham Park Cemetery and Camberwell Old Cemetery on mounding; and what assessment they have made of reports that there are examples of private cemeteries potentially acting in breach of national guidance.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

As indicated in my response to the Noble Lord’s previous questions on the issue of mounding (HL1843, 1844 and 1845), the Government anticipates that those operating private burial grounds will adhere to the standards and principles underpinning the framework of regulation and guidance which applies to local authority burial grounds.

However, I will ensure that the issues raised by the Noble Lord are referred to the Law Commission in the context of its forthcoming consideration of the law governing the disposal of human remains, to which I also referred in my previous response.


Written Question
Burial
Tuesday 7th April 2020

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they can take to enforce the recording of early burials that are 'mounded' over.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

As indicated in my response to the Noble Lord’s previous questions on the issue of mounding (HL1843, 1844 and 1845), the Government anticipates that those operating private burial grounds will adhere to the standards and principles underpinning the framework of regulation and guidance which applies to local authority burial grounds.

However, I will ensure that the issues raised by the Noble Lord are referred to the Law Commission in the context of its forthcoming consideration of the law governing the disposal of human remains, to which I also referred in my previous response.


Written Question
Cemeteries
Tuesday 10th March 2020

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what regulations exist for the control of cemeteries mounding areas to create new burial spaces.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The management and maintenance of local authority burial grounds is subject to a comprehensive framework of regulation and guidance, and we anticipate that those operating private burial grounds (many of which are, in any event, regulated by bespoke legislation) will apply the same standards and principles.

Graves and monuments of historical significance can be listed in the National Heritage List for England or scheduled in accordance with the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Any changes to listed or scheduled monuments or graves require consent from the Historic England.

The Law Commission’s forthcoming Programme of Law Reform includes a project to consider modernising and streamlining the law governing the disposal of human remains, with a view to putting forward a legal framework for the future.


Written Question
Cemeteries
Tuesday 10th March 2020

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what controls exist to protect graves of historical significance from mounding in (1) private, and (2) public, burial grounds.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The management and maintenance of local authority burial grounds is subject to a comprehensive framework of regulation and guidance, and we anticipate that those operating private burial grounds (many of which are, in any event, regulated by bespoke legislation) will apply the same standards and principles.

Graves and monuments of historical significance can be listed in the National Heritage List for England or scheduled in accordance with the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Any changes to listed or scheduled monuments or graves require consent from the Historic England.

The Law Commission’s forthcoming Programme of Law Reform includes a project to consider modernising and streamlining the law governing the disposal of human remains, with a view to putting forward a legal framework for the future.


Written Question
Cemeteries
Tuesday 10th March 2020

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they ensure that the locations of early burials are (1) accurately recorded, and (2) accessible.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The management and maintenance of local authority burial grounds is subject to a comprehensive framework of regulation and guidance, and we anticipate that those operating private burial grounds (many of which are, in any event, regulated by bespoke legislation) will apply the same standards and principles.

Graves and monuments of historical significance can be listed in the National Heritage List for England or scheduled in accordance with the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Any changes to listed or scheduled monuments or graves require consent from the Historic England.

The Law Commission’s forthcoming Programme of Law Reform includes a project to consider modernising and streamlining the law governing the disposal of human remains, with a view to putting forward a legal framework for the future.


Written Question
Coroners
Wednesday 19th September 2018

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many instances of crowdfunding to cover the cost of legal representation for families involved in inquests have taken place in the last five years.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The Ministry of Justice is aware that there have been instances of crowdfunding to cover the cost of legal representation at inquest proceedings, for example at the inquests into the deaths of those who died in the Birmingham pub bombings and the inquests of the victims of Stephen Port, but the Department does not routinely collect information on instances of crowdfunding.

We are currently undertaking a review of the provision of legal aid for inquests, due to be published by the end of the year alongside the wider review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.


Written Question
Stephen Port
Wednesday 19th September 2018

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria were used in the assessment of legal aid support to families involved in the inquests covering the deaths of the victims of Stephen Port.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is not aware of having received any applications to date for public funding for representation at an inquest from the families of the victims of Stephen Port.

When assessing such applications in general, the Director of Legal Aid Casework (DLAC) must have regard to the Lord Chancellor’s guidance set out under section 4(3) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offender’s Act (LASPO) 2012. The criteria applied by the Legal Aid Agency are outlined under Section 10 of LASPO. The DLAC must also determine whether an applicant meets the financial eligibility test as provided in the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013, or decide whether to waive financial eligibility and/or contribution to costs in whole or in part, as well as satisfy the merits criteria set out in the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 2013.

An application for legal aid may be submitted to the LAA in order for such a determination to be made.


Written Question
Personal Injury: Compensation
Wednesday 20th June 2018

Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which damages claimed for are taken into consideration when determining whether a claim for damages for personal injuries should follow the small claims track; and whether special damages and future losses are taken into account in such determinations.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

There were no new definitions of damages for personal injuries introduced by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) 1998. A “claim for personal injuries” is defined in CPR 2.3 as “proceedings in which there is a claim for damages in respect of personal injuries to the claimant or any other person or in respect of a person’s death, and ‘personal injuries’ includes any disease and any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition.”

In general, cases allocated to the Small Claims track are those with a financial value of no more than £10,000. For personal injury, there is a lower small claims limit of £1,000 that applies to damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Additional damages may be recovered, such as for loss of earnings, damage to property and medical expenses, although to remain on the Small Claims track the total value of the whole claim must not exceed the relevant financial limit.