Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are in custody in England and Wales awaiting trial; and what is the average time taken from imprisonment to trial for those in custody.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The latest published data by the Ministry of Justice shows that on 31 December 2020 there were 8,222 prisoners in custody awaiting trial in England & Wales (Table 1.1, “Prison Population: 31 December 2020” https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2020).
Prison receptions data has enabled an approximation of the average time taken from imprisonment to trial for those in custody. Table 2 sets out (for those held on pre-trial remand) the average amount of time that prisoners were remanded in custody pre-trial up to the point that they were admitted to prison between conviction and sentencing in each of the last five years. In 2019 the average (mean) number of days that prisoners were remanded in custody pre-trial was 67. Published figures for the whole calendar year 2020 are not yet available.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people over the age of 18 are awaiting trial for alleged offences committed while they were 17 years old.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
As at 31 December 2020, there were 18 outstanding cases in the Crown Court where the defendant was aged 17, had entered a not-guilty plea to one or more counts and for whom a trial date had been set. There were 38 outstanding cases in the Crown Court where the defendant was aged 17 at the time of the earliest offence on the case, and on 31 December 2020, the defendant was aged 18 or more, had entered a not-guilty plea to one or more counts and for whom a trial date had been set.1 To provide this data for Magistrates Courts would require examination of individual file records and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
HMCTS prioritises and regularly reviews youth cases to clear outstanding cases and reduce the number of children awaiting trial. In 2020 outstanding youth cases at the magistrates' court reached an annual peak of 12,138 in June, then consistently fell to 9,930 cases by December. In the same period, outstanding youth cases at the Crown Court remained stable, peaking at 665 in October then falling to 629 by December. HMCTS prioritises cases where there is a possibility that the defendant may turn 18 before conviction. The judiciary has re-published a note about listing in magistrates’ courts highlighting the impact on the remand status of youth defendants and the need to list cases expeditiously where a child is about to turn 18.
1. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data are used.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people aged 17 are awaiting trial in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
As at 31 December 2020, there were 18 outstanding cases in the Crown Court where the defendant was aged 17, had entered a not-guilty plea to one or more counts and for whom a trial date had been set. There were 38 outstanding cases in the Crown Court where the defendant was aged 17 at the time of the earliest offence on the case, and on 31 December 2020, the defendant was aged 18 or more, had entered a not-guilty plea to one or more counts and for whom a trial date had been set.1 To provide this data for Magistrates Courts would require examination of individual file records and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
HMCTS prioritises and regularly reviews youth cases to clear outstanding cases and reduce the number of children awaiting trial. In 2020 outstanding youth cases at the magistrates' court reached an annual peak of 12,138 in June, then consistently fell to 9,930 cases by December. In the same period, outstanding youth cases at the Crown Court remained stable, peaking at 665 in October then falling to 629 by December. HMCTS prioritises cases where there is a possibility that the defendant may turn 18 before conviction. The judiciary has re-published a note about listing in magistrates’ courts highlighting the impact on the remand status of youth defendants and the need to list cases expeditiously where a child is about to turn 18.
1. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data are used.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to bring forward measures to safeguard against predatory marriages, particularly those involving older people.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
A registration official has a duty to stop proceedings if they are of opinion that either of the parties to a marriage does not have the capacity to marry. The Government has no current legislative plans to change the existing safeguards.
The Law Commission is currently reviewing how and where weddings take place, including the formalities and safeguarding checks required before a marriage is conducted. The Government looks forward to publication of the Law Commission’s consultation paper in September.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the condition of the prison estate.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
We recognise the need to invest in the maintenance of the existing prison estate. £156m of maintenance funding has been committed for financial year 2020/21 as a first step to addressing maintenance pressures. We will be targeting this funding at worn out and failing infrastructure, as well as supporting additional maintenance workload.
In the previous financial year, we invested an additional £31m to improve conditions in some of the prisons with the most pressing issues. This saw us refurbish nearly 1,000 cells, over 100 shower blocks and 14 food serveries, and in addition carry out essential fire safety work.
We have launched a Living Conditions Audit across 60 prisons and a national Clean and Decent Project is also underway, producing materials such as cleaning schedules, guidance and training for all prisons to draw on to improve conditions.
We have set out our commitment to build 10,000 additional prison places through an investment of £2.5 billion to refurbish the estate and to create modern prisons. Work to construct a new prison at Wellingborough is progressing on schedule and we have planning permission to build a 1,680-place prison at Glen Parva, scheduled to start in Summer 2020.
We will also be seeking further longer-term increases in capital funding in discussions with HM Treasury in order for us to continue to make progress on the condition of the prison estate.