Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) civil injunctions in relation to anti-social behaviour, (b) Community Protection Notices and (c) Criminal Behaviour Orders have been issued in each financial year from 2010 to date.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether it is a requirement for firms supplying forensic services in support of family court cases to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 standards.
Answered by Dominic Raab
When forensic expert evidence is commissioned by a party or their legal adviser for the purposes of a family court case, there is no requirement currently for such tests to meet any specific scientific testing standard. The court will consider the veracity of that evidence as for any other expert evidence.
In a family court case where the court directs that a DNA test be undertaken to establish paternity, that test must be carried out by a laboratory accredited by the Ministry of Justice for that specific purpose. Those laboratories must hold current ISO 17025 accreditation.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) the Government and (b) a local authority commissioned services from Trimega (i) before 10 July 2013 and (ii) after 11 April 2014.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Expert forensic toxicology evidence in family court cases is commissioned directly by a party or their legal adviser from a laboratory of their choice. This can include a commission from a local authority for the purpose of family court cases. Such tests may have been commissioned before 10 July 2013. It is understood that Trimega went into liquidation in April 2014.
The Department for Education has written to all local authorities in England asking them to review whether the commissioned forensic hair strand tests for drug and alcohol use by Trimega during the period January 2010 to April 2014.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement HCWS265, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) tests and (b) individuals tested by Trimega between 2010 and 2014.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government’s immediate priority is to work with the police to establish the full scale of the potential impact on the public of the alleged manipulation of toxicology test results. Due to apparent poor record keeping by Trimega, a reliable estimate of the number of tests and the number of individuals involved is not possible at this time.
The Government recognises the concern many family court users will have and the potential impact on their families. This is why a bespoke court process has been created with a specific court form to enable the individuals concerned to ask the court to consider varying or setting aside a final order from the original proceedings.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2017, HCWS265, on toxicology, what assessment he has made of the capacity of HM Courts and Tribunal Service to expedite cases in which test results have been manipulated.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the judiciary are aware of the seriousness of this issue, and arrangements are in place to monitor any increased demand on the courts.
This will include monitoring the number of applications for leave to appeal in criminal cases and any substantive appeals in the Court of Appeal. The number of bespoke family court forms submitted to ask the court to consider varying or setting aside their final family court order will be monitored too.
This will ensure the process is kept under review to meet the requirements of family court users.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2017, HCWS265, on toxicology, if he will provide legal aid to all people affected by alleged malpractice by (a) Trimega and (b) Randox Testing Services.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government recognises that individuals may be concerned about alleged malpractice in toxicology testing and how this may impact on any proceedings that they have been involved in.
Individuals will continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis within the existing legislative provisions as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the squatting of premises in the commercial property sector.
Answered by Dominic Raab
We have no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit squatting in commercial properties. The investigation of offences committed during squatting in commercial properties is a matter for the police and, where there is sufficient evidence to justify a prosecution, it is for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether one is required in the public interest. There have been no recent discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service about this.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Crown Prosecution Service on ensuring that prosecutions are brought against people committing crimes whilst squatting premises in the commercial property sector.
Answered by Dominic Raab
We have no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit squatting in commercial properties. The investigation of offences committed during squatting in commercial properties is a matter for the police and, where there is sufficient evidence to justify a prosecution, it is for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether one is required in the public interest. There have been no recent discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service about this.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claimants have had their tribunal appointment rescheduled due to insufficient time on the day in the last 12 months.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The number of tribunal hearings rescheduled, due to insufficient time on the day, in the last 12 months1, is 1354. This is out of 210937 cases listed, representing less than 1%.
The current average waiting time for Employment and Support Allowance appeals is 17.7 weeks2.
Information on the current average waiting time for rescheduled tribunal hearings is not held centrally.
1 Last 12 months for which data are available, in line with published statistics: July 16 to June 17
2 The most recent period for which data are available, the first quarter of the financial year April 2017 to June 2017
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current average waiting time is for an employment and support allowance tribunal appointment.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The number of tribunal hearings rescheduled, due to insufficient time on the day, in the last 12 months1, is 1354. This is out of 210937 cases listed, representing less than 1%.
The current average waiting time for Employment and Support Allowance appeals is 17.7 weeks2.
Information on the current average waiting time for rescheduled tribunal hearings is not held centrally.
1 Last 12 months for which data are available, in line with published statistics: July 16 to June 17
2 The most recent period for which data are available, the first quarter of the financial year April 2017 to June 2017
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available.