Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the maximum amount of non-means-tested legal aid that they envisage being made available for each individual bereaved person and family at inquests in England and Wales for (1) legal assistance, and (2) advocacy, under the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Bill will provide non-means tested legal help and advocacy for bereaved families at inquests where a public authority is named as an interested person. As under the current system, the amount paid will depend on the work carried out by the provider on the inquest, which will be different for each case depending on its duration and complexity.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what level of legal aid they envisage being made available for each individual bereaved person and family at inquests in England and Wales for (1) legal help, and (2) advocacy, under the provisions of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Public Office (Accountability) Bill will provide non-means tested legal aid to bereaved family members at any inquests where a public authority is named as an interested person.
Under the Bill, an “individual” is defined as being a member of another individual’s family if they are relatives (whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership), they are cohabitants (as defined in Part 4 25 of the Family Law Act 1996), or one has parental responsibility for the other.
Legal aid consists of legal help and advocacy.
a. Legal help covers advice, assistance and preparation for an inquest but not advocacy at the hearing. Under the Bill’s expansion, multiple bereaved family members will be able to receive non-means tested legal help services where a public authority is named as an interested person.
b. Advocacy covers the instruction of an advocate (usually a barrister) to prepare for and attend the inquest hearing(s) to make submissions. The Bill limits advocacy funding to one member of each family – in practice, this level of service will be granted to the first family member to apply. We believe that one legally aided advocate should in most cases be sufficient to support each family through the inquest hearing and that it is reasonable to ask members of the same family to collaborate in the instruction of a single advocate.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the name of the successful candidate for the Independent Public Advocate role will be announced.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
The Government is committed to placing victims at the heart of processes that follow a major incident, which is why we are establishing the Independent Public Advocate. We are on track for the successful candidate to take up their position in the Summer.
The public appointment campaign to appoint the Standing Advocate of the IPA was launched on 24 September 2024 and is nearing completion. Interviews concluded on 14 February, and we will announce the preferred candidate shortly.
As this public appointment is made by Ministers and regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the recruitment process must comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
The candidate will be subject to a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Justice Select Committee.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the successful candidate for the Independent Public Advocate role will take up their position.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
The Government is committed to placing victims at the heart of processes that follow a major incident, which is why we are establishing the Independent Public Advocate. We are on track for the successful candidate to take up their position in the Summer.
The public appointment campaign to appoint the Standing Advocate of the IPA was launched on 24 September 2024 and is nearing completion. Interviews concluded on 14 February, and we will announce the preferred candidate shortly.
As this public appointment is made by Ministers and regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the recruitment process must comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
The candidate will be subject to a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Justice Select Committee.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the interviews for Independent Public Advocate concluded.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
The Government is committed to placing victims at the heart of processes that follow a major incident, which is why we are establishing the Independent Public Advocate. We are on track for the successful candidate to take up their position in the Summer.
The public appointment campaign to appoint the Standing Advocate of the IPA was launched on 24 September 2024 and is nearing completion. Interviews concluded on 14 February, and we will announce the preferred candidate shortly.
As this public appointment is made by Ministers and regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the recruitment process must comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
The candidate will be subject to a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Justice Select Committee.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs of the continuing delays by the Office of the Public Guardian in granting Lasting Powers of Attorney to (1) individuals seeking Lasting Powers of Attorney, and (2) taxpayers.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is facing high demand to register Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) applications, including overcoming a backlog created during the pandemic. OPG is advising customers that the processing time for LPA applications is currently up to 20 weeks, including the statutory four-week waiting period.
Delays in processing LPAs have not led to any increased fee for customers who make an LPA application. OPG aims to achieve 100% cost recovery every year. In 2018/19 and 2019/20, OPG achieved 100.7% cost recovery. If full cost recovery is not achieved, then OPG’s costs are underwritten by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In the past few years full cost recovery has not been achieved, driven by low demand for LPAs during the pandemic. In 2020/21, MoJ provided £18.9m of taxpayer funds, and £9.16m in 2021/22. This financial position is improving and OPG is waiting for the audit to be concluded for financial year 2022/23, which will be published in due course in the OPG annual report.
The Government fully understands that delays in registering and dispatching LPA applications are frustrating for customers. To return to processing times achieved before the pandemic, extra staff have been hired, staff are working overtime and across multiple shift patterns, and process efficiencies have been introduced. The government is also supporting the Powers of Attorney Bill sponsored by Stephen Metcalfe MP. The Bill will enable modernisation of the process for making and registering an LPA, bringing in a new digital channel and improving the paper one. This will create a faster and simpler service for customers and make the system more resilient to future disruption.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the continuing delays by the Office of the Public Guardian in granting Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is facing high demand to register Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) applications, including overcoming a backlog created during the pandemic. OPG is advising customers that the processing time for LPA applications is currently up to 20 weeks, including the statutory four-week waiting period.
Delays in processing LPAs have not led to any increased fee for customers who make an LPA application. OPG aims to achieve 100% cost recovery every year. In 2018/19 and 2019/20, OPG achieved 100.7% cost recovery. If full cost recovery is not achieved, then OPG’s costs are underwritten by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In the past few years full cost recovery has not been achieved, driven by low demand for LPAs during the pandemic. In 2020/21, MoJ provided £18.9m of taxpayer funds, and £9.16m in 2021/22. This financial position is improving and OPG is waiting for the audit to be concluded for financial year 2022/23, which will be published in due course in the OPG annual report.
The Government fully understands that delays in registering and dispatching LPA applications are frustrating for customers. To return to processing times achieved before the pandemic, extra staff have been hired, staff are working overtime and across multiple shift patterns, and process efficiencies have been introduced. The government is also supporting the Powers of Attorney Bill sponsored by Stephen Metcalfe MP. The Bill will enable modernisation of the process for making and registering an LPA, bringing in a new digital channel and improving the paper one. This will create a faster and simpler service for customers and make the system more resilient to future disruption.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to establish an independent public advocate.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government is committed to supporting bereaved families after public disasters and during public inquests.We have consulted on proposals to establish an independent public advocate and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in respect of the offence of manslaughter by gross negligence (1) how many case have been prosecuted, (2) how many cases have been successfully prosecuted, and (3) how many convictions have been quashed on appeal, in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The law relating to manslaughter by gross negligence was clarified in the case of R v Adomako (1994) where a four stage test, known as the Adomako Test, was outlined by the House of Lords. Before convicting a defendant of gross negligence manslaughter a jury has to be satisfied that:
(a) that there was the existence of a duty of care to the deceased;
(b) that there was a breach of that duty of care;
(c) that the breach of that duty of care caused (or significantly contributed) to the death of the victim; and
(d) that the breach of the duty of care “departed so far from accepted standards” as to be characterised as gross negligence, and therefore a crime.
The Government takes the view that the Adamako Test continues to provide effective and appropriate guidance in aiding the determination of gross negligence manslaughter cases. In allowing Dr Sellu’s appeal, the Court of Appeal did not call for the law to be changed, and the Government has no plans to reform the law in this area.
The overall statistics on manslaughter are available in the ‘Criminal Justice Statistics’ series at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015. Statistics are not separately captured on whether a case of manslaughter occurred as a result of gross negligence.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the need for changes to the offence of manslaughter by gross negligence, in the light of the Court of Appeal ruling that the conviction of Dr David Sellu was not safe.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The law relating to manslaughter by gross negligence was clarified in the case of R v Adomako (1994) where a four stage test, known as the Adomako Test, was outlined by the House of Lords. Before convicting a defendant of gross negligence manslaughter a jury has to be satisfied that:
(a) that there was the existence of a duty of care to the deceased;
(b) that there was a breach of that duty of care;
(c) that the breach of that duty of care caused (or significantly contributed) to the death of the victim; and
(d) that the breach of the duty of care “departed so far from accepted standards” as to be characterised as gross negligence, and therefore a crime.
The Government takes the view that the Adamako Test continues to provide effective and appropriate guidance in aiding the determination of gross negligence manslaughter cases. In allowing Dr Sellu’s appeal, the Court of Appeal did not call for the law to be changed, and the Government has no plans to reform the law in this area.
The overall statistics on manslaughter are available in the ‘Criminal Justice Statistics’ series at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015. Statistics are not separately captured on whether a case of manslaughter occurred as a result of gross negligence.