Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the recruitment of Crown Court staff.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
Recruitment commenced from June 2020, to bring in an additional 1600 people to support the work of the courts in tackling backlogs and to increase capacity in our courts including Crown Courts.
Recruitment for these posts have been undertaken through various sources, to increase the number of candidates. These have included running national recruitment campaigns, accepting staff referrals, contacting retired staff members to ask them to return, and increasing our agency workforce.
Of the 1600 people required, 1227 are already in post, and a further 354 individuals are undergoing clearances, and expected to join in the next few weeks.
In addition, more court clerks and court administrative staff are being recruited to support the running of Nightingale courts and existing courts to increase sitting day capacity.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to fund additional Nightingale courts to clear the current court backlog.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
To ensure the safety of the physical estate and continue our efforts to tackle demand on the system we are investing £142m in court buildings and facilities, and a further £113m on a range of emergency measures – including the recruitment of 1,600 additional staff and creating more Nightingale courts.
This funding – the largest investment in justice for decades – helped the system to turn a corner in December 2020 so that we were closing the same number of cases as before the pandemic in almost all jurisdictions, including Crown Courts.
Up to the end of February 2021 we have opened 23 Nightingale courts providing 44 additional courtrooms. More are opening each week and we are on track to provide a total of 60 courtrooms across the estate by the end of March.
Through our Spending Review settlement, we have secured significant additional funding in the next financial year to assist in the recovery of our courts and tribunals system, and we continue to consider the measures that are needed to achieve this.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve racial and gender diversity within the legal profession.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of Government. Statutory responsibility for encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession sits with the approved regulators and the oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board (LSB).
The Ministry of Justice remains committed to encouraging the sector to ensure it properly represents the diverse society it serves.
In 2017 the LSB published guidance for legal services regulators for encouraging a diverse workforce. In January 2020, the LSB produced a summary of progress of regulators against four diversity outcomes, which highlighted important progress but also acknowledged the need for further action.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to commission an independent review into legal aid fees.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The next phase of the Criminal Legal Aid Review will involve an independently led review, which will be ambitious and far reaching in scope. It will assess the criminal legal aid market in its entirety and aim to ensure the market meets demand now and in the future, and provides an efficient service that ensures value for money for the taxpayer, provides defendants with high-quality advice from a diverse range of practitioners, and protects access to justice. The review will consider the general level of fees for Criminal Legal Aid and whether they are broadly appropriate for the work undertaken by providers. We are currently working at pace to appoint the Chair and agree the Terms of Reference for the review and will announce these in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expand the virtual court estate for short or preliminary hearings, and non-complex matters.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In response to the COVID19 pandemic, we rapidly expanded audio and video technology capability, enabling judges and magistrates to conduct many more remote hearings. This included rolling out use of the ‘Cloud Video Platform’ (CVP), which was already in use in some jurisdictions, across all jurisdictions over the spring and summer. This has enabled many cases to be heard that otherwise would have been delayed. We will ensure remote hearings continue to be effectively supported with increased staff support and guidance for users.
The use of remote hearings is subject to judicial discretion and the interests of justice, and usage varies accordingly. Judicial guidance on the use of remote hearings in different case types has been produced by the judiciary and is available on their website. HMCTS has produced national guidance on remote participation in court and tribunal hearings across jurisdictions which is available on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the sustainability of the current funding for the justice system; and what assessment they have made of the Bar Council’s recommendation that an additional £2.48 billion of funding for the justice budget is required.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government has invested significantly in justice over the last few years which includes an additional £1.3bn in 19/20, and an extra 4.9% real terms increase in the 2020/21 Spending Round settlement. This has put the department’s funding on a more sustainable footing.
In addition, further financial support has been announced throughout 2020/21 including an extra £285m in June for improvements to the Courts and Prisons system to maintain priorities through Covid-19. On top of this, to support the increase pressures on Courts and Tribunals, we recently announced additional funding of £80m as well as an extra £51 million for criminal advocates and solicitors in the Legal Aid sector. This funding is a step forward in making improvements and ensuing a better balance across justice functions.
The Ministry continuously seeks to ensure, through any investment, that it improves the sustainability of the system and will continue to push further where necessary and appropriate. The Chancellor will confirm future year funding at conclusion of Spending Review 2020.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce early access legal advice for social welfare issues.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are carefully considering a number of changes across the full breadth of early legal support including for social welfare issues, focusing on what works for the people who need it.
Legal aid is central to access to justice, but it is only one part of a broader picture. We also intend to explore the role technology can play in helping people identify and resolve their legal issues, and will continue to review this as we recover from Covid-19. We want to be as ambitious as possible in this space to enhance further the availability of early support.
We have recently delivered additional investment of over £5m for not for profit organisations who provide specialist legal advice, such as Law Centres, and a number of other charities. In addition, in partnership with the Access to Justice Foundation, we have launched our £3.1m grant to fund services to help litigants in person dealing with a civil or family law matter. The new grant is designed to fund services provided at local, regional and national levels with the aim of understanding more about how they can combine to help people. Over £750,000 has already been awarded to national charities establishing new services that can be accessed across England and Wales, as well as to a number of specialist advice organisations supporting people through the COVID-19 pandemic.
A further £2m is being awarded this autumn to smaller not-for-profit organisations working in partnership at regional and local levels. This new grant is in addition to the more than £9m that the MoJ has invested in support for litigants in person, since 2015, through our existing Litigants in Person Support Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional training for the judiciary on online court proceedings.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. Training responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College.
The Judicial College works closely with the judiciary and HMCTS to design and deliver appropriate training that supports the judiciary in online court proceedings. To date, a mix of training and guidance materials have been issued to support the use of video technology and online hearings, including both practical use of technology, behaviours and communication styles. The College continues to review training needs and its programme of activity to best support judges to maintain operations during Covid-19.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that (1) EU nationals can still access legal services in the UK once the Brexit transition period ends, and (2) British nationals can access legal services in the EU.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises that citizens and businesses in both the UK and EU Member States rely on the expertise, experience and scale of supply that lawyers currently provide.
The government is seeking to negotiate reciprocal sector-specific provisions in the UK-EU Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement which would allow UK lawyers to provide legal advice on UK and International law in EU member states under their UK legal title on a temporary or permanent basis. These provisions remain subject to ongoing negotiations with the EU. UK lawyers will be subject to each EU Member State’s domestic framework which regulates provision of legal services. The government has posted guidance online at gov.uk and will be updating this once negotiations have concluded.
EU lawyers practising in the UK will no longer be able to provide regulated services under their home state professional title, although they can still become solicitors and barristers through existing transfer tests that are open to all foreign lawyers. The government has signposted on gov.uk that EU lawyers should speak to UK regulators for further information.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to adopt the European Union Protection Measures Regulation (606/2013) into domestic law.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by the Government ensures the EU ‘Protection Measures Regulation’ (606/2013) will continue to apply to protection measures in both the UK and EU Member States where a certificate is issued before the end of the transition period.
In relation to protection measures where certificates are issued after the end of the transition period, the Mutual Recognition of Protection Measures in Civil Matters (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 493 of 2019) provides that an incoming protection measure from an EU Member State shall continue to be recognised and will be enforceable in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
However, the instrument also removes the ability for the courts of England and Wales and Northern Ireland to issue an outgoing certificate, which is required for recognition and enforcement in an EU Member State under the Protection Measures Regulation. This is because we cannot legislate unilaterally to restore the reciprocity of approach, without which the court of an EU Member State could simply ignore protection measures issued by courts in the UK.
These issues are devolved to Scotland. I understand the Scottish Government is considering its position.