Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the incidence of (1) self-harm, and (2) suicide, in prisons.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
We take every death in custody very seriously, and we are focussing our efforts to address the levels of self-harm and support those at risk of suicide. This includes tailored action for the women’s prison estate, where a rise has been seen in self-harm incidents since Covid-19 measures were introduced.
We are under no illusions about the impact of the measures which were put in place to protect lives during the Covid-19 pandemic and we have made prisoners’ safety and wellbeing our priority.
We have produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks and promote wellbeing. Over 25,000 new and existing staff have received self-harm and suicide prevention training to help them better support offenders with complex needs. We’ve enabled continued family contact through more than 1,600 secure mobile phones and rolled out secure video call technology into every single prison in the male, female and youth estate. Each prisoner is also given £5 PIN credit per week. We have renewed our partnership with the Samaritans who are providing the excellent Listeners scheme, which trains selected prisoners to provide emotional support to their fellow prisoners. We are also delivering more in cell-activities such as distraction packs, supplementary food packs, and additional educational materials to mitigate the impact of isolation.
We have prioritised the roll-out of the revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) multi-disciplinary case management system used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide and self-harm in the women’s estate.
We will also be implementing the Offender Management in Custody model in the female estate in April. This will provide each woman with a dedicated key worker who will be able to better support them and identify concerns at an early stage so that women can receive the right support at the right time.
Every prisoner in the male closed estate should have a key worker allocated to them with vulnerable and priority group prisoners having a daily wellbeing check at the minimum and weekly key work sessions where resource and risk allows whilst in regime level 4.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to increase the rate of legal aid fees paid to barristers, and (2) to reduce the backlog of cases in the magistrates' and Crown courts.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Criminal defence lawyers play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law and the Government greatly values the work they do.
In August we announced that we would be taking forward the policy proposals that practitioners told us mattered most for the Criminal Legal Aid Review (CLAR) accelerated areas. These areas were:?unused material, cracked trials, paper-heavy cases, sending cases to the Crown Court, and?pre-charge engagement. These policies allowed us to inject up to £51 million into criminal legal aid to further strengthen the market.
We also announced that the next phase of the review would include an independently led review of the market, to ensure it can meet demand now and into the future, provide an effective and efficient service that ensures value for money for the taxpayer.
With respect to the courts, as one of the first among other comparable jurisdictions globally to resume jury trials, our Crown Courts currently list thousands of cases each week. Since late July 2020, magistrates’ courts have been completing more cases than have been received. We expect the trend of reducing the outstanding work to continue.
We are also installing plexiglass screens into over 300 courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms enabling us to open safely 250 Crown Court rooms for jury trials by the end of October. We’re also investing record amounts - the biggest single investment in court estate maintenance for more than 20 years – and unlocking vital capacity by opening Nightingale Courts to provide extra court rooms.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have not responded to the letter, dated 1 April, from Sam Johnson on behalf of the Board of Trustees of The Match Girls Union in relation to the proposed works at Manor Park Cemetery that might cause damage to the grave of Sarah Chapman.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Ms Johnson submitted a query to the Ministry of Justice on 1st April 2020 to ask if the email address she had used to send a letter to the Secretary of State was correct. On the 7th April we confirmed that the email address she had was correct.
Unfortunately, we have no record of any email or letter from Ms Johnson to the Lord Chancellor having been received; and so, we have contacted her asking if she could resubmit her correspondence.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
The Leader of the House how many of the Questions for Written Answer listed as unanswered after 10 working days in the edition of House of Lords Business dated 3 June related to COVID-19; and what steps she is taking to ensure that they are answered promptly.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
In the House of Lords Business dated 3 June, there were 164 unanswered Questions for Written Answer (QWA) relating to COVID-19. As of 11th June, 72 of these have been answered. The officials and special adviser's working in my office regularly speak with departments to ensure the timely answering of QWAs and have been doing so during the COVID-19 pandemic. I also regularly remind the Government Front Bench of their obligations to the House and the need to ensure all QWAs are answered within the established deadlines.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to legislate to ensure that women in Islamic faith marriages can seek redress through the courts in the event that the marriage breaks down.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The law has long made provision for couples, including Muslim couples, to marry in their place of worship in a way that gives them legal rights and protections. The Government shares the concern that some people may nonetheless marry in a way that does not, and without appreciating the consequences.
The independent Sharia review has recommended that it should be an offence for religious celebrants to carry out a ceremony that is outside the ambit of the Marriage Acts. Any legislative proposal, including such an offence, must be thoroughly assessed for its fairness to all religious groups and for how far it could achieve the change of practice intended. That is why it is with the greatest care that the Government is continuing the exploration of both limited reform and non-legislative options that it began in detail in the spring.
Separately from this exploration, the Law Commission began its weddings project in July last year. It will make recommendations for how the wider law on getting married in England and Wales can be systematically reformed in a way that is simple, fair and consistent.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the report of the panel assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
On 21 May 2019 we announced a public call for evidence led by a panel of experts to gather evidence on how the family courts protect children and parents in cases of domestic abuse and other serious offences.
The panel completed the call for evidence in September 2019, and published a Progress Update in October outlining the work completed and next steps.
The panel has been meeting regularly to discuss the wealth of evidence collected from 1,200 individuals and organisations, and are in the process of finalising their report. It is right that they take the time to analyse this data and to consider their recommendations for how the family courts can be reformed to improve the experiences of victims of harm. A full report outlining their findings and recommended next steps will be published by Spring 2020.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken following the disclosure of incidents involving pregnant women prisoners and their children at HMP Bronzefield.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The recent incident at HMP Bronzefield is tragic. As there are a number of ongoing investigations, including an investigation by the police, it is not appropriate to comment further on the specific details of the incident.
We are currently undertaking a fundamental review of the Mother and Baby Unit policy and the policy on managing pregnant women in custody. This will conclude in 2020.
In the meantime, all pregnant women are seen by a professional midwife at least fortnightly, or more frequently if required. Healthcare in prisons is provided by specially trained medics and nurses. Medical emergencies are dealt with by 999 calls and prisoners have access to an emergency bell to alert staff at night. Women in prison have access to the same range of services as they would in the community.
Following the events at HMP Bronzefield, we have introduced hourly checks throughout the night for all heavily pregnant women, and fortnightly pregnancy review boards are being held for them, involving a multidisciplinary team, in addition to existing support provisions.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of defendants sent summary offence notices under the single justice procedure fail to enter a plea; what is their assessment of the reasons for the level of such failures; and what steps they are taking to address that issue.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Current response rates vary dependant on the individual prosecutors, with an average of 72% of defendants failing to enter a plea. Whilst an individual is at liberty to not enter a plea without reason, Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service is actively working with prosecution authorities and our partners in the Criminal Justice System to understand the reasons why defendents do not respond and to improve engagement rates.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take following the report of the Chief Inspector of Prison Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Eastwood Park; and what assessment they have made of the reasons for the failure to prevent the conditions disclosed in the report arising.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ recent report on HMP/YOI Eastwood Park was published on 28th August 2019. HMPPS take all recommendations made by the HM Chief Inspector seriously. A
detailed action plan has been produced to address the recommendations in the report. The action plan has been published on the prison finder website and has been provided for my noble Lord
We are aware of the deterioration of unit 2 due to leaking showers as highlighted in the report. Bids for funding have been submitted to the Ministry of Justice’s Projects Team to address the issues. In
the meantime, the Prison Governor continues to meet monthly with Gov Facility Services Limited and the Service Delivery Manager to assess conditions across the prison and ensure those areas
needing remedial works are addressed promptly.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 21 May (HL Deb, col 1863), what consideration they have given to providing (1) separate waiting facilities for the parties, and (2) facilities to enable the giving of evidence by screen or video link, for court cases relating to domestic abuse.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
From context we have assumed the honourable member is asking about the family courts.
(1) In family courts, vulnerable parties and witnesses may request the use of a separate entrance and waiting area. Where dedicated separate entrances or waiting areas are not available, court staff will make alternative arrangements wherever possible.
(2) In the family court over 300 protective screens have been provided over the last two years to ensure that vulnerable parties and witnesses can be shielded from an alleged abuser in the courtroom. Video links may also be used either from a secure location within the court building or from a remote location. Use of these facilities must be approved by the Judge. Use of telephone hearings for without notice Family Law Act injunction hearings is being encouraged to avoid the need for victims of domestic abuse to attend court.
We are determined that the family courts should never be used to further or perpetrate abuse. The Government announced on 21 May 2019 the establishment of an expert panel to gather evidence of how the family courts protect children and parents in cases of domestic abuse and other serious offences. Once formed, it is intended that the panel will report within three months.