Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans she has to reform the small claims court.
Answered by Oliver Heald
We announced our intention to introduce a new online procedure, supported by a new online rules committee, as part of the ‘transforming our justice system’ joint statement which was published on 15 September. This procedure will deliver a new online process for low value civil money claims.
In November 2015 the government announced that it would raise the small claims limit for personal injury claims from £1,000 to £5,000. We will publish details of our plans in this area shortly.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on repeal of the 1689 Bill of Rights.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government has no plans to repeal the 1689 Bill of Rights.Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has had discussions with the Crown Dependencies on the establishment of beneficial ownership registers for those companies incorporated under their jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Prime Minister has made clear that he would like a publicly accessible central register of company beneficial ownership to be the new international standard.
Her Majesty's Treasury and other Departments are in dialogue with the Crown Dependencies about UK policy in this area and progress on the wider G20 transparency agenda.
The role of my Department is to manage the constitutional relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies. We have discussed the subject of beneficial ownership with the Crown Dependencies where it impacts on that relationship.
As self-governing Dependencies of the Crown with their own directly elected legislative assemblies, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and their own courts of law, the establishment of company beneficial ownership registers rests with the government in each jurisdiction.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been in relation to offences under section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my honourable friend the member for North West Cambridgeshire on 1 July 2014, Official Report, Column 561W.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been in relation to offences under section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Data for offences under Section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 are not reported centrally to the Ministry of Justice. This information may be held by the individual courts in England and Wales and as such it can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that community rehabilitation companies operated by external providers are considered public bodies for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
Contracts with new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) formed as part of our Transforming Rehabilitation market competition will be used to ensure that the Department's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) obligations are met. This is in line with recommendations from the Justice Select Committee and current Government policy that emphasis should be placed on the use of contracts to maintain transparency, rather than a formal extension of the FOIA to private providers.
A Code of Practice will be issued later this year to remind public authorities of their obligations under FOIA in relation to information held by contractors. This will encourage public authorities and contractors to go beyond the minimum FOIA requirements, and provide a wider range of information than that which is within scope of FOIA. We will ensure a commitment to transparency in the operations of the new providers is maintained.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the level of sickness absence was at the Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust in (a) April 2014 and (b) May 2014.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The information in the table below details the levels of sickness absence for Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust since January 2012 to March 2014 (the most recent date for published staffing data on probation trusts).
The monthly figures in the latest year were broadly consistent with the monthly averages over the past 5 years.
Surrey & Sussex: | ||
Month | Average Working Days Lost | |
Jan-12 | 10.05 | |
Feb-12 | 8.13 | |
Mar-12 | 8.30 | |
Apr-12 | 6.74 | |
May-12 | 8.83 | |
Jun-12 | 8.53 | |
Jul-12 | 11.82 | |
Aug-12 | 9.16 | |
Sep-12 | 6.98 | |
Oct-12 | 10.46 | |
Nov-12 | 11.79 | |
Dec-12 | 7.69 | |
Jan-13 | 10.57 | |
Feb-13 | 10.24 | |
Mar-13 | 8.97 | |
Apr-13 | 8.67 | |
May-13 | 8.12 | |
Jun-13 | 5.96 | |
Jul-13 | 8.55 | |
Aug-13 | 8.70 | |
Sep-13 | 8.52 | |
Oct-13 | 7.56 | |
Nov-13 | 11.06 | |
Dec-13 | 10.57 | |
Jan-14 | 8.05 | |
Feb-14 | 5.94 | |
Mar-14 | 5.64 | |
As the figures presented above are annualised monthly figures, seasonality trends will be present.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the level of sickness absence was at the Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust in each month since January 2012.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The information in the table below details the levels of sickness absence for Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust since January 2012 to March 2014 (the most recent date for published staffing data on probation trusts).
The monthly figures in the latest year were broadly consistent with the monthly averages over the past 5 years.
Surrey & Sussex: | ||
Month | Average Working Days Lost | |
Jan-12 | 10.05 | |
Feb-12 | 8.13 | |
Mar-12 | 8.30 | |
Apr-12 | 6.74 | |
May-12 | 8.83 | |
Jun-12 | 8.53 | |
Jul-12 | 11.82 | |
Aug-12 | 9.16 | |
Sep-12 | 6.98 | |
Oct-12 | 10.46 | |
Nov-12 | 11.79 | |
Dec-12 | 7.69 | |
Jan-13 | 10.57 | |
Feb-13 | 10.24 | |
Mar-13 | 8.97 | |
Apr-13 | 8.67 | |
May-13 | 8.12 | |
Jun-13 | 5.96 | |
Jul-13 | 8.55 | |
Aug-13 | 8.70 | |
Sep-13 | 8.52 | |
Oct-13 | 7.56 | |
Nov-13 | 11.06 | |
Dec-13 | 10.57 | |
Jan-14 | 8.05 | |
Feb-14 | 5.94 | |
Mar-14 | 5.64 | |
As the figures presented above are annualised monthly figures, seasonality trends will be present.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he obtained clearance from the European Commission for his Department to retain a golden share in each Community Rehabilitation Company.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
On 19 September last year the Government launched the competition to find the future owners of the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) who will deliver rehabilitation services in England and Wales. The European Commission does not operate a process whereby Member States are required to seek clearance in order to retain Special Shares in a company, and instead the onus is on individual States to ensure they are operating in accordance with the law. The Department is satisfied that it is in full compliance with European law on retaining a Special Share within each of the new CRCs. The Transforming Rehabilitation competition will continue through 2014 with contracts being awarded and mobilised by 2015.