Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what provision the Serious Fraud Office made in its Annual Report 2022-23 for special payments for the case involving three executives of G4S.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Serious Fraud Office’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2022-23 included a provision of £6 million to cover any claims that could be made during the year in relation to casework outcomes, this would include any settlements that result from ongoing claims relating to G4S, which have yet to be agreed.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any court buildings have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC); and whether his Department plans to fund emergency mitigation works to any courts in which RAAC is identified.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 26 September 2023 to Question 199292:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-09-13/199292.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many corporate self-reports the Serious Fraud Office has received in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
In financial year 2018/19 the SFO received 7 corporate self-reports.
In financial year 2019/20 the SFO received 6 corporate self-reports.
In financial year 2020/21 the SFO received 3 corporate self-reports.
In financial year 2021/22 the SFO received 8 corporate self-reports.
In financial year 2022/23 the SFO received 8 corporate self-reports.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, from which budget the Government will allocate funds for remedial work to schools affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day-to-day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.
The Department has acted decisively and proactively to tackle this issue. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. The Department issued comprehensive guidance in 2018, and subsequent years, to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. The most recent guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance.
There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.
The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. We are pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.
The Department is contacting responsible bodies to help them respond to this request and to advise on what needs to be done, so that they can establish whether they believe they have RAAC. This work will continue until we have a response for all target era schools.
Schools and colleges where RAAC is suspected are being fast tracked for surveying, which is used to confirm whether RAAC is actually present. All schools and colleges that have already told us they suspect they might have RAAC will be surveyed within a matter of weeks, in many cases in a matter of days.
All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning.
Across Government, Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. The Department for Education published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.
Schools will contact parents where RAAC is identified and inform them of any impacts on their child. The vast majority of schools are unaffected. Any parents that are unsure if their child’s school is affected should contact their school directly.
While some short term disruption is inevitable, all available measures will be taken to minimise disruption to pupil learning and ensure that pupils continue to receive face-to-face teaching. Where there is any disturbance to face-to-face education, schools will prioritise attendance for vulnerable children and young people and children of key workers. The guidance published by the Department in August also includes guidance on provision for pupils with SEND and sets out expectations that schools continue to provide free school meals to eligible pupils.
The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
All previously confirmed Schol Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Further information on RAAC in education settings is available on the Education Hub: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/06/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a senior judge to lead that review.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
As announced in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, will shortly launch an independent review into the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraud.
The review will consider the following:
Phase 1
Phase 2
The terms of reference will be published once a review chair is in post and the review is launched. The Home Office is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify suitable candidates to lead the review.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, whether she plans to publish the terms of reference on the proposed review of the disclosure regime.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
As announced in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, will shortly launch an independent review into the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraud.
The review will consider the following:
Phase 1
Phase 2
The terms of reference will be published once a review chair is in post and the review is launched. The Home Office is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify suitable candidates to lead the review.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 21 of her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, when she plans to launch the first phase of the independent review on the disclosure regime.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
As announced in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, will shortly launch an independent review into the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraud.
The review will consider the following:
Phase 1
Phase 2
The terms of reference will be published once a review chair is in post and the review is launched. The Home Office is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify suitable candidates to lead the review.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the number of Law Centres that have closed in England since 2010; and how much funding his Department has provided to Law Centres since 2010.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not hold direct information on the number of law centres in England or those that have ceased operating.
Since 2015/16, the Legal Aid Agency has paid £57.2m to law centres across England and Wales, in respect of Civil and Criminal Legal Aid work. We are unable to provide the information from 2010 onwards as Legal Aid Provider Statistics data is only available from 2015/16 onwards.
Further, the Government has invested over £25m in grant funding for the not-for-profit sector including law centres since 2014.
In March 2023, the Government announced a new £10.4m Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support (IOTLS) grant. This grant runs from July 2023 until March 2025 and is being administered by the Access to Justice Foundation on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. The grant has been awarded to 59 organisations across England and Wales, including 15 law centres. This funding will enable organisations to provide legal advice and support to help people resolve their problems as early as possible.
The IOTLS grant builds on the previous legal support grants including the £4.8m Help Accessing Legal Support grant which ran from September 2022 until June 2023 and supported 52 front line organisations including 14 law centres.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations were awarded Government emergency grant funding totalling £5.4m via the Covid-19 Specialist Advice Service Scheme. Of the total amount, £3m was distributed to law centres via the Law Centres Network. This funding enabled organisations to continue providing critical services to the most vulnerable and prevented the closure of a number of law centres.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects data on the number of cells that are overcrowded in each prison.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All prisoner accommodation is certified in line with the Certified Prisoner Accommodation Framework. Cells are only shared where a Prison Group Director has certified them to be of an adequate size and condition. The process of certification requires every prison to record all cells that have been assessed as suitable for crowding, and this information is held centrally.
Crowding data is published annually as part of the HMPPS Annual Digest. The 2022/23 version of the Annual Digest is due to be published on 27 July 2023.
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 7 June 2023 to Question 187087 on Prison Accommodation, for what reason it is not practicable to collect data on time out of cell for each prison in England and Wales.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Prison governors set a regime for each day specifying when prisoners will ordinarily be unlocked. There will be occasions, however, when certain prisoners will remain in their cell during these times. Reasons for this will include illness, being over retirement age, the management of operational incidents, and other operational reasons such as staff needing to be deployed to other duties.
There will also be occasions where prisoners will be out of cell at times when they are scheduled to be locked in, for example to attend medical appointments at hospital, a late arrival from court, or a transfer between prisons.
To accurately record the amount of time prisoners spend out of cell, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) would therefore be required to record information for each individual prisoner, taking into account their unique movements on a daily basis.