Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many consultations the Ministry of Justice has carried out in each of the last five years; and to how many of those it published a formal response within 12 weeks of the consultation closing.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has carried out 96 consultations and calls for evidence in the last five years, as follows:
2019 - 4
2018 - 20
2017 - 13
2016 - 20
2015 - 20
2014 (12 July onwards) - 19
We published a response on GOV.UK within 12 weeks of the consultation closing in 26 instances:
2019 - 0 (12 week mark not yet reached for 3 out of 4 consultations)
2018 - 2
2017 - 2
2016 - 8
2015 - 3
2014 (12 July onwards) - 11
These figures include consultations and calls for evidence from the Ministry of Justice and our agencies, but do not include those initiated by independent bodies such as the Law Commission or the Sentencing Council. The figures include consultations run in partnership with other government departments.
All Ministry of Justice consultations and calls for evidence are available on GOV.UK and the online consultation platform, Citizen Space.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether individual prisons in England and Wales are considered contracting authorities for the purposes of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015; and if so, whether they are required to publish payment performance information online under section 113(7) of those Regulations.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Individual prisons in England and Wales are not considered contracting authorities under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and do not have authority to contract. They remain under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) as the contracting authority.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (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 26 February (HL13741), what was the potential interest liability as a result of the invoices paid late by Her Majesty's Prison and Prohibition Service in 2017–18; how much interest was paid to suppliers as a result; whether that information is published online as required by section 113(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015; and if so, where.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The information requested in respect of the potential interest liability or amount of interest paid to suppliers in respect of late payment invoices could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) does not separately collate or calculate such information.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes prompt payment data for the department in the procurement section of its gov.uk page. The most recent data and historic data can be found at these links:
MoJ is exploring an efficient method of gathering and publishing data regarding the amount of interest paid and any such interest potentially payable.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each of the last five years, what percentage of invoices submitted to UK prisons were paid to suppliers within 30 days; how many invoices were paid later than 30 days; what was the potential interest and compensation liability due to late payment; and how much interest and compensation was claimed and paid.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
In respect of information on UK prisons, prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland are a devolved matter and responsibility lies with the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive respectively.
The information requested for prisons in England and Wales could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) does not separately identify payment records relating to prisons only. Data for interest or compensation liability charges due to late payment is also not collated separately.
HMPPS data includes prisons, probation and HMPPS headquarters cost centres. As an Agency, HMPPS made approximately 230,000 invoice payments in financial year 2017/18, 85% of which were paid within 30 days. To date in 2018/19 the Agency has paid 87% of invoices received within 30 days.
On occasion, invoices are placed on hold for payment. This may be for a variety of reasons including awaiting verification that the goods or services have been delivered and are of the required standard.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the figures from the Registry Trust published in December 2016 showing a 21 per cent fall in England and Wales county court judgments against businesses in 2016 compared to 2015, what assessment they have made regarding the reasons for this fall.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has not conducted an analysis of the reasons for the fall in the number of County Court judgments against businesses.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of court fee increases for money claims brought by small and medium-sized businesses since 2015.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
In January 2015, we published an Impact Assessment setting out the estimated costs and benefits of the planned increases to the fees to commence proceedings for the recovery of money: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/court-fees-proposals-for-reform/results/impact-assessment-enhanced-fees-for-money-claims.pdf
We continue to keep court and tribunal fees under review.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the details of each court fee charged to businesses for money claims in each year since 2013.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The fees charged for money claims are specified in the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008, as amended from time to time. The relevant statutory instruments prescribing fees for money claims over this period are:
Coming into force | Title | Reference |
4 April 2011 | The Civil Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order 2011 | 2011 No 586 (L. 2) |
22 April 2014 | The Civil Proceedings (Amendment) Order 2014 | 2014 No. 874 (L.17) |
9 March 2015 | The Civil Proceedings and Family Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order 2015 | 2015 No 576 (L. 7) |
The statutory instruments can be found at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the ban on referral fees in insurance claiming has taken effect, and whether they have raised concerns with the Solicitors' Regulation Authority over its role in enforcing compliance.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The payment and receipt of referral fees by legal services providers in personal injury claims is banned under Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 which was implemented on 1 April 2013.
This Ministry of Justice is in regular contact with the regulators of legal services providers, including the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, about issues relating to enforcement.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many authorised claims management companies have been operating over the last five years.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The total number of authorised claims management companies (CMCs) operating over the last five years is as follows:
Year | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Total Authorised CMCs (at end March) | 2998 | 2693 | 2097 | 1752 | 1610 |
This information is included in the CMR Annual Report, which can be found at gov.uk.