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Written Question
Prisoner Escorts: Contracts
Tuesday 4th February 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to collate data on the number of prisoners not produced in court by companies operating prisoner escort contracts.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The next generation of Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) contracts will commence in August this year. Under these contracts data specifically related to any contractor failure to produce prisoners in court will be collated.


Written Question
Prisoner Escorts: Contracts
Tuesday 4th February 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to collate data on the number of court days lost as a result of prisoners not being produced in court by companies operating prisoner escort contracts.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

HMCTS does record data on the number of trials that are ineffective in both Crown and Magistrate’s Courts as a result of a defendant not being produced by prisoner escort custody services. These statistics are published in Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly publication on gov.uk and the latest data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2019

There is currently no requirement or plans for HMCTS to collate data on the number of court days lost as a result of prisoners not being produced in court by companies operating prisoner escort contracts.


Written Question
Prisoner Escorts: Contracts
Tuesday 4th February 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to collate data on the costs incurred as a result of prisoners not being produced in court by companies operating prisoner escort contracts.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

In both the current and next generation of the Prisoner Escort Custody Services contract there are financial remedies in place when contractors delay proceedings in courts.

There is currently no requirement or any plans for HMCTS to collate data on the costs incurred as a result of prisoners not being produced in court by companies operating prisoner escort contracts.


Written Question
Cremation
Tuesday 23rd July 2019

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the use of alkaline hydrolysis as an alternative to traditional cremations.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government currently has no plans to bring forward legislation in this area.


Written Question
Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs
Thursday 5th April 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of making adjudication compulsory for claims against non-medical professionals similar to adjudication for construction disputes under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government is this year carrying out a post-implementation review of the costs and funding reforms introduced by Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. The review will consider costs protection arrangements (including qualified one way costs shifting) in personal injury and other cases.

The Government is supportive of alternatives to costly litigation, such as adjudication. A voluntary pilot scheme of adjudication in professional negligence claims was commenced in February 2015. Proposals are now being considered to add the scheme to the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence Disputes.


Written Question
Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs
Thursday 5th April 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing qualified one-way costs shifting for claims against non-medical professionals in line with claims against medical professionals.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government is this year carrying out a post-implementation review of the costs and funding reforms introduced by Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. The review will consider costs protection arrangements (including qualified one way costs shifting) in personal injury and other cases.

The Government is supportive of alternatives to costly litigation, such as adjudication. A voluntary pilot scheme of adjudication in professional negligence claims was commenced in February 2015. Proposals are now being considered to add the scheme to the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence Disputes.


Written Question
Prisoners
Thursday 7th September 2017

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to reduce violence and self-harm among prisoners.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

I take our duty to keep both prisoners in our care and our hard-working staff safe extremely seriously.

I chair a weekly safer custody meeting with officials to drive forward improvements. I review details of every self-inflicted death to see how we might prevent others.

We are improving support for prisoners in their early days in custody and working to improve case management processes for those at risk.

We are also bringing in more staff dedicated to safer custody work to ensure prisons are following all the processes they need to.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release
Wednesday 19th July 2017

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to bring about the release of prisoners subject to a sentence of imprisonment for public protection who have served their tariff.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

The release of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) who have completed their tariff is a matter for the independent Parole Board. Before directing the release of an IPP prisoner, the Board must be satisfied that his detention is no longer necessary for the protection of the public.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have worked hard in supporting the Parole Board to reduce significantly the backlog of oral hearings for IPP prisoners. Earlier this year, HMPPS set up a new unit to support this effort has now embedded the learning in all pre-release casework, so as to enhance the efficiency of the parole process.


HMPPS is focused on giving IPP prisoners the support, opportunities and motivation they need to progress more quickly when they are reviewed by the Parole Board so that they have the best possible prospect for securing release. HMPPS and the Parole Board have implemented a joint action plan, the purpose of which is to deliver further improvements and efficiencies in the effort to help IPP prisoners progress towards release. During 2016/17, 46% of all IPP prisoners considered by the Parole Board were released and 24% recommended for a move to open conditions.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release
Thursday 27th April 2017

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to bring about the release of prisoners subject to a sentence of imprisonment for public protection who served their tariff.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Offenders: Employment
Friday 16th December 2016

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to incentivise employers to recruit ex-offenders.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

We want prisons to be places of hard work and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn. We also want prison staff to prioritise education and employment opportunities. We are giving governors greater control over their budgets to bring in education and employment schemes that deliver real results. More private sector companies now employ ex-offenders than ever before, but we are keen to increase the number of employers who can provide valuable vocational work for offenders in prison, and who are able to offer them employment on release.