Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases a qualified legal representative was (a) required and (b) not available.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme was introduced in July 2022, following the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
As of 20 March 2024, there are currently 366 QLRs registered to undertake work in the family courts and 78 QLRs registered to undertake work in the civil courts. We do not hold central data on total registrations since the publication of the statutory guidance.
Circumstances under which a QLR is required vary, for example, depending on whether parties have their own representation, and decisions on which cases require QLRs are taken by the courts. We do not collect data centrally on how many cases have required a QLR, or the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
We do not hold central data on how many QLRs have completed training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The Government encourages legal professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts, and to complete the required training as early as practicable.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the backlog in civil courts; and whether he has set targets to reduce average waiting times by case type.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the honourable Member for Stockton North to the answer I gave on 19 February 2024 to PQ 13277 and the answer I gave on the 23 January 2024 to PQ 9675 in relation to the steps being taken to improve timeliness in civil courts.
Due to the nature of Civil claims, data relating to the number of people awaiting hearing is not held centrally. The time to hearing in relation to the small proportion of civil claims which are defended and proceed to trial is published quarterly: Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time for a first hearing of a civil justice case was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the honourable Member for Stockton North to the answer I gave on 19 February 2024 to PQ 13277 and the answer I gave on the 23 January 2024 to PQ 9675 in relation to the steps being taken to improve timeliness in civil courts.
Due to the nature of Civil claims, data relating to the number of people awaiting hearing is not held centrally. The time to hearing in relation to the small proportion of civil claims which are defended and proceed to trial is published quarterly: Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people are waiting for their civil case to be heard by claim type.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the honourable Member for Stockton North to the answer I gave on 19 February 2024 to PQ 13277 and the answer I gave on the 23 January 2024 to PQ 9675 in relation to the steps being taken to improve timeliness in civil courts.
Due to the nature of Civil claims, data relating to the number of people awaiting hearing is not held centrally. The time to hearing in relation to the small proportion of civil claims which are defended and proceed to trial is published quarterly: Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average settlement time is for minor injury claims going through the Official Injury Claim portal.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Average settlement time for claims going through the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal at the end of February 2024 was 239 days. This can be broken down to 259 days for represented claimants and 115 days for unrepresented claimants. Further information and data on OIC can be found here: https://www.officialinjuryclaim.org.uk/resources-for-professionals/data/.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Over £1 billion savings for motorists as whiplash reforms come into force, published on 31 May 2021, what estimate he has made of the average saving on motor insurance in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Part 3 of the Civil Liability Act 2018 (the Act) requires motor insurers in England and Wales to provide the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with data on savings arising from its provisions and on how they have been passed on to policy holders. The Act also requires that a report on the savings made must be completed and laid before Parliament by no later than 1 April 2025. The data gathering phase has been completed and the FCA are now working with HM Treasury officials to prepare a report which will be published in line with statutory deadlines.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) barristers, (b) solicitors and (c) CILEX practitioners have (i) applied for and (ii) completed training to become a qualified legal representative under the Cross Examination Prohibition Scheme since July 2022; and whether he has made an estimate of the number these individuals that have presented cases under the scheme.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We have assumed that both questions refer to the Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme which was introduced in July 2022 and follows the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
Barristers, solicitors, and CILEX practitioners can register to undertake work as part of the QLR scheme at GOV.UK: Register to be a qualified legal representative (justice.gov.uk). The statutory guidance sets out the requirement for QLRs to have undertaken advocacy and vulnerable witness training, or to have made a commitment to attend such training within six months of having registered on the court list of qualified legal representatives: Statutory Guidance for the Qualified Legal Representative Scheme. The Government encourages professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts.
As of 27 February 2024, in total, there were 363 QLRs registered for family cases, and 78 QLRs registered for civil cases. We do not hold monthly data on registrations, or central data on how many QLRs have completed or applied for training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The QLR register does not record whether practitioners are barristers, solicitors, or CILEX practitioners. We do not collect data on the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) barristers, (b) solicitors and (c) CILEX practitioners have registered for work under the Cross Examination Prohibition Scheme in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We have assumed that both questions refer to the Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme which was introduced in July 2022 and follows the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
Barristers, solicitors, and CILEX practitioners can register to undertake work as part of the QLR scheme at GOV.UK: Register to be a qualified legal representative (justice.gov.uk). The statutory guidance sets out the requirement for QLRs to have undertaken advocacy and vulnerable witness training, or to have made a commitment to attend such training within six months of having registered on the court list of qualified legal representatives: Statutory Guidance for the Qualified Legal Representative Scheme. The Government encourages professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts.
As of 27 February 2024, in total, there were 363 QLRs registered for family cases, and 78 QLRs registered for civil cases. We do not hold monthly data on registrations, or central data on how many QLRs have completed or applied for training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The QLR register does not record whether practitioners are barristers, solicitors, or CILEX practitioners. We do not collect data on the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total number of claims sitting with the Tribunals Service was on 9 February 2024.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Information about the number of open Tribunal cases administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service is published quarterly in Tribunal Statistics. The most recent date for which information is available is 31 October 2023: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of claimants appeared before the Tribunals Service as litigants in person in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Information about the number and proportion of litigants in person appearing before Tribunals administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service is not centrally collated.
However, information specific to the Employment Tribunal only has been published up to 2022/23: