Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Justice Committee's oral evidence session on the work of the Ministry of Justice on 31 January 2023 and Question 59 on the £73.7 million attributed to a lease of undeveloped land, whether his Department plans to seek a change in the covenant to allow the land to be used for broader purposes.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My officials have engaged with the landowner to seek a change to the restrictions on the lease, so that the surplus land can be put to alternative use as soon as possible. This would require the agreement of the landowner.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2023 to Question 137767 on Ministry of Justice: Liability, what specific legal challenge caused the increase in value.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The legal challenge referred to in my previous answer (Question 137767) is an appeal against a Court decision to greatly restrict the Claimant’s case that the Secretary of State ruled incorrectly on Prison Service Pay Review Body recommendations.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's annual report and accounts for 2021-22, for what reason his Department has increased the contingent liability for injuries to staff, prisoners and the public.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The contingent liabilities in question relate to HMPPS and are in respect of claims for injuries to staff, prisoners and the public but also third-party contract disputes and other legal claims brought against the agency, where the likelihood for a liability arising is deemed possible but unlikely.
The increase in the value reported related to a specific legal challenge which does not relate to injuries.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on how many property sales were held up in England and Wales due to delays to probate decisions in 2021-22.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hearings for trials in (a) magistrates' and (b) Crown courts could not take place when listed due to a prosecutor not being available for those hearings in (i) 2018, (ii) 2019, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2021 and (v) 2022 to date.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This information is published as part of Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly – ‘Trial effectiveness at the criminal courts’ tool. The tool includes ineffective trials by reason and court type. The latest tool is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2022.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the causes of delays within the Probate Service; and what steps he is taking tackle those delays.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and the increased volume of applications that have been seen since, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between five and seven weeks – with the average responses being almost 1 week faster in quarter 2 of 2022 than the yearly average for 2020 and 2021.
HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.
Average waiting times for probate grants, from April 2022 to June 2022, are published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25):
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2022
Information covering up to September 2022 will be published on 15 December.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 25 April 2022 to Question 158877 on Wormwood Scrubs Prison: Prison Governors, if he will place a copy of the security assessment in the Library; and if he will list vulnerabilities identified by the security assessment.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As with all proposals for new uses of Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) sites we have drawn up a site mitigation assessment plan. This ensures we have given full consideration of issues related to physical security, and other vulnerabilities such as estate boundaries, personal safety of staff and residents, and use of technology. It is not possible to place a copy of the assessment in the library nor to publish a list of vulnerabilities as this would compromise security and public safety.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has undertaken a risk assessment in respect of plans to develop the former governor's house at HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
A Full Planning Application has been submitted. Various reports and assessments have been undertaken as part of the application, including a security assessment. Details of the Planning Application can be viewed via the following link:
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has plans to develop the former governor's house at HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
A Full Planning Application has been submitted. Various reports and assessments have been undertaken as part of the application, including a security assessment. Details of the Planning Application can be viewed via the following link:
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) total and (b) full-time equivalent prison officers were employed in each of the Prison Service Establishment Regions in each year since 2010.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The number of band 3-5 officers in post, by Prison Service Structure each year since 2010 can be found in the attachement: Table 1 (headcount) and Table 2 (full time equivalent).
The number of prison officers has increased by more than 4,000 in the last four years and we have committed to hiring an extra 5,000 officers by the mid-2020s.