Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases have been adjourned in (1) family courts, (2) civil courts, (3) magistrates courts, (4) crown courts, and (5) tribunals, in each of the last three months.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Comprehensive figures for adjournments are not held for (1) family courts (2) civil courts (3) magistrates’ courts (4) crown courts and (5) most tribunals.
MoJ publishes figures on adjournments in the First Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), Social Security and Child Support, Criminal Injuries Compensation, Mental Health, and Special Educational Needs and Disability as part of National Statistics, and the figures relating to the period in the request are due for publication later in 2020.
On 11 June 2020, HMCTS published new management information on the gov.uk website to provide stakeholders and the public with information to understand the very latest high-level position on the impact on workload volumes and activity across HMCTS. Annex A shows the volumes of hearings listed and hearings adjourned due to COVID-19 in the civil jurisdiction only.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the 4,066 hearings in England and Wales as of 27 April were adjourned to be determined at a future date.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Comprehensive figures for adjournments are not held for (1) family courts (2) civil courts (3) magistrates’ courts (4) crown courts and (5) most tribunals.
MoJ publishes figures on adjournments in the First Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), Social Security and Child Support, Criminal Injuries Compensation, Mental Health, and Special Educational Needs and Disability as part of National Statistics, and the figures relating to the period in the request are due for publication later in 2020.
On 11 June 2020, HMCTS published new management information on the gov.uk website to provide stakeholders and the public with information to understand the very latest high-level position on the impact on workload volumes and activity across HMCTS. Annex A shows the volumes of hearings listed and hearings adjourned due to COVID-19 in the civil jurisdiction only.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), what mechanism they have used to increase awareness of the Business Appointment Rules within the National Offender Management Service.
Answered by Lord Faulks
As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.
The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.
We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), what resources were allocated to, and who led, that review.
Answered by Lord Faulks
As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.
The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.
We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), whether they will publish the letter to TDPi.
Answered by Lord Faulks
As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.
The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.
We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), how they have strengthened procedures as a result of this investigation.
Answered by Lord Faulks
As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.
The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.
We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), what they mean by "unlikely" and what chance there is that any intellectual property belonging to, or confidential information relating to, the Ministry of Justice or the National Offender Management Service was compromised as a result of former staff gaining employment with TDPi.
Answered by Lord Faulks
As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.
The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.
We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 5 May (HL7790), what assessment they have made of the cause of the rise in the number of applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission from 2010 to 2015.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) published annual reports from 2010 to 2015 setting out the reasons for applications to the CCRC. The CCRC casework is subject to fluctuations and the Government works closely with them to understand the reasons for these applications.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were sentenced for failure to answer to bail in each of the last five years; and what was the average (1) fine, and (2) custodial sentence imposed, for such offences in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The number of persons sentenced for failing to surrender to bail, with average fine and custodial length, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2014 (the latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Court proceedings data for 2015 will be published in due course.
Persons sentenced at all courts, with average fine and custodial length, for the offence of failing to surrender to bail(1), England & Wales, 2010 to 2014(2)(3) | |||||
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Outcome | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
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Sentenced | 18,593 | 16,700 | 13,263 | 11,284 | 9,479 |
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Average fine (£) | 62.95 | 63.61 | 67.41 | 70.30 | 70.86 |
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Average custodial sentence length (months)(4) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
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(1) An offence under Section 6 Bail Act 1976 | |||||
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(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. | |||||
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(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |||||
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(4) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. |
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Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. |
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Ref: PQ HL7575 |
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Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been received by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in payment of employment tribunal fees since 29 July 2013; how many (1) single, and (2) multiple, claims were received by employment tribunals in each year since their introduction; and what has been the total value of all grants of remission of employment tribunal fees in each year since their introduction.
Answered by Lord Faulks
To protect vulnerable workers, there is a system of fee remissions under which fees may be waived in part or in full, for those who qualify.
The total amount received from the payment of employment tribunal fees less, the value of all grants of remission of employment tribunal fees, in each year since the introduction of fees is set out in table 1.
Table 1 Employment Tribunal Income & Remission | 2013-14 [Note 1] | 2014-15 |
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Total | 4,469 | 9,039 |
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Note 1 - 2013-14 Income covers 29 July 2013 to 31 March 2014 |
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This information is published in the HMCTS annual report and accounts for 2013-14 and 2014-15.
The number of single and multiple cases received between 29 July 2013 and December 2015 is set out in table 2.
Table 2 Volume by ET Appeal Type | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
Single Cases | 14,868 | 16,420 | 13,086 |
Multiple Cases | 1,338 | 1,921 | 899 |
Total Cases | 16,206 | 18,341 | 13,985 |
Note 1 - volumes from August 2013 to March 2014. Volumes for July were not included because fees only came into force on 29 July 2013 | |||
Note 2 - volumes from April to December 2015 only. Q4 data will published on 9 June 16 | |||
Volumes for single and multiple claims and fee remissions is published in the quarterly bulletin in ‘Annex D Employment tribunal fees’ on the Tribunal statistics available on the Government website.
On 11 June we announced the start of the post-implementation review of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals. The Review is being undertaken within the Ministry of Justice.
The review is ongoing and will be published in due course.