Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the status of litigation funding agreements following the Supreme Court's judgment in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government is bringing forward an amendment to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer (DMCC) Bill to mitigate the impact of the judgment on litigation funding agreements for opt-out collective proceedings in the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT). The Bill is currently being considered by Parliament.
The Government is assessing the impact of the judgment and considering options for non-CAT proceedings.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the value of legal aid expenditure available to support asylum applications from individuals from (1) Hong Kong, (2) Ukraine, and (3) Afghanistan, over the past 12 months.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Funding for legal aid is on a demand led basis, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does not have a specific budget allocation for delivery of legal aid services in relation to specific categories of law.
Statistical data is not centrally held regarding legal expenditure provided to individuals from the specified countries.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what provision has been made for moving the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) from Chichester Magistrates' Court when that Court is closed.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
HM Courts & Tribunals Service is committed to ensuring that adequate provision will be secured for the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) which will relocate from Chichester Magistrates’ Court when it closes. Options are currently being evaluated.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of closing the Chichester Combined Court Centre and Chichester Magistrates' Court on the work of (a) Chichester constabulary, (b) Chichester District Council and (c) other local services.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
All responses to the consultation were carefully considered before the decision was made to close the courts in Chichester. This included evaluating the impact on the police, the District Council and other local services. In recognition of the particular circumstances of court users in Chichester, the Combined Court Centre will not close until suitable local alternative provision is in place.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on demand for justice services of future growth in the population of Chichester.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The demand for justice services may change in future due to many factors including, but not limited to, demographic changes. The decision to close the courts in Chichester was made on the basis that the receiving courts have capacity to accommodate current and future projected workloads. The improvements which will be delivered by the reform of HM Courts & Tribunals Service will enable court services to be delivered flexibly and provide greater resilience to changes in demand.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to page 28 of his Department's consultation paper, Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal services in the South East Region, published in July 2015, on what statistical basis the figure of 78 per cent of court usage capacity was calculated; and if he will publish the data underlying that calculation.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The utilisation figure for Chichester Combined Court of approximately 78% quoted in the consultation was based on Crown Court work only (1928 hours) and only took account of the two Crown Court rooms in the Combined Court. Chichester Combined Court also hears county court work and held 1069 hours of work giving a total of 2997 hours. This provides an overall utilisation figure of approximately 60% for the four rooms (two Crown Court and two used for County Court work) at Chichester Combined Court. This adjustment will also be published in the consultation response document.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of making Chichester Combined Court Centre compliant with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
All reasonable adjustments have been made at Chichester Combined Court Centre and a temporary measure is in place to meet staff access requirements. The estimated cost of a permanent solution would be £20,000.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much Chichester (a) County Court, (b) Crown Court and (c) Combined Court Centre collected in court fees in the 2014-15 financial year.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Court fees of £0.5m were collected in County Court and the Combined Court Centre in Chichester in 2014-15 financial year. This figure is net of fee remissions. Court fees were not payable in the Crown Courts during 2014-15 so no court fees were taken.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether fast track trials in Chichester County Court (a) have been or (b) are planned to be moved to Eastbourne County Court.
Answered by Andrew Selous
To reduce the waiting times for fast track hearings in Sussex, all fast track cases have been centralised to be heard at Eastbourne County Court on two days each month. The first hearings begin on 26 October 2015 which will include cases from Chichester.