Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions have been made for the illegitimate supply of nitrous oxide under the The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders convicted for various offences under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, including for the supply of a psychoactive substance, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022.
However, it is not possible to disaggregate the supply of nitrous oxide from other psychoactive substances, as detail of exactly what substance is supplied is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings database.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential effect of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on access to justice for asylum seekers.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Illegal Migration Act will ensure that the only way to come to the UK for asylum will be through safe and legal routes, and we are working across Government to ensure access to justice for asylum seekers.
All individuals who receive a removal notice under the Illegal Migration Act will have access to legal aid, without facing a means or merits test, to help ensure access to justice.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department issues guidance to judges in family courts on the importance of breastfeeding to child health and well-being.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice, Senior President of Tribunals and Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The Lord Chief Justice is responsible for issuing guidance to the courts judiciary in England and Wales, and for the provision of its training, which is delivered by the Judicial College.
The Judicial College issues regularly updated guidance through the Equal Treatment Bench Book (ETBB), which is made available to all judicial office holders. Chapter 6 of the ETBB provides guidance on breastfeeding, and recommends consideration be given, and suitable provision be made for any breastfeeding or expressing mothers appearing in court, whether they are parties, witnesses, or representatives. Appendix A of the ETBB also includes guidance on how the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 in maternity and pregnancy discrimination may relate to breastfeeding.
The latest version of the ETBB is available on: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Equal-Treatment-Bench-Book-April-2023-revision.pdf.
As justice is devolved in Scotland, any questions relating to courts across its jurisdiction may be directed to the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many unexplained wealth orders have been obtained in each year since their inception.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) were introduced in 2018, orders have been made on a total of nine occasions, broken down by calendar year in the table below.
2018 | 3 |
2019 | 6 |
2020 | 0 |
2021 | 0 |
2022 | 0 |
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what childcare provision is available for people called for jury service.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are no child-minding facilities at court. If jurors need to make specific childcare arrangements whilst on jury service they may be able to claim this through expenses as a financial loss.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service recognise that sometimes it may be inconvenient for some people to serve on the date originally summoned, for reasons which could include the needs of a child. Jurors are given the opportunity when responding to their summons to apply for a deferral to a more suitable date within the next twelve months. Those that believe they cannot serve as a juror at any time during the next 12 months can apply to be excused from their jury service.
Deferral and excusal applications are considered by summoning officers at the Jury Central Summoning Bureau (JCSB). Each application is carefully considered on its own merits and in light of individual circumstances.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to introduce an exemption from jury service to people breastfeeding.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Currently all jurors, including breastfeeding women, can apply to change the date of their jury service, (to a maximum of 12 months after the original date) if the original date is inconvenient for any good reason. If a juror believes they cannot serve at any time within the next 12 months, they can apply for an excusal. Deferral and excusal applications are considered by summoning officers at the Jury Central Summoning Bureau (JCSB). This is done on individual merit and is done carefully, sympathetically and with regard to individual circumstances.
While it is vital juries represent a cross-section of society, we are urgently reviewing our guidance to make it clearer that new mothers should be able to serve at a time that is right for them.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What steps the Government is taking to reduce reoffending rates for violent crimes.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Reoffending is costing society approximately £15bn per year. It is only through a concerted effort across Government that we will be able to reduce reoffending.
That is why we set up the Reducing Reoffending Board to identify how the Government can work more collaboratively in addressing the drivers of reoffending, and to consider innovative ways of addressing these drivers.
We are looking particularly closely at what we can do to strengthen probation, which is responsible for managing and supporting offenders in the community to turn away from crime. I want to see a wider range of rehabilitative programmes on offer, so that offenders can be directed towards programmes that are targeted to their behaviour.
For instance, we have found that our general offending behaviour programme can reduce violent reoffending by 17 percentage points.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many First-tier immigration tribunals were lodged in each month since October 2015; and for each such month how many are outstanding.
Answered by Phillip Lee
We do everything we can to avoid unnecessary delay in the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal, and have provided an additional 4,950 tribunal sitting days for this financial year to ensure current case loads do not increase. We are keeping performance under close review and are confident there is sufficient capacity to deal with the number of appeals we expect to receive.
The number of appeals since October 2015, both lodged and outstanding, in First-tier immigration appeals are in the table below:
| Appeals Lodged | Outstanding |
Oct 15 | 6,231 | 54,446 |
Nov 15 | 6,063 | 55,907 |
Dec 15 | 6,079 | 57,951 |
Jan 16 | 4,822 | 59,533 |
Feb 16 | 6,457 | 60,488 |
Mar 16 | 6,103 | 61,901 |
Apr 16 | 5,370 | 62,668 |
May 16 | 5,374 | 63,598 |
Jun 16 | 5,254 | 64,821 |
Jul 16 | 4,770 | 64,108 |
Aug 16 | 5,177 | 63,604 |
Sep 16 | 4,524 | 62,903 |
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) facilities and (b) other support her Department provides for (i) visitors and (ii) staff for (A) lactating mothers and (B) the expressing of breast milk.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Private areas are available in all MOJ buildings for use by nursing mothers. The department’s maternity leave guidance states that managers must ensure that suitable rest facilities are available for mothers to breastfeed or express milk and to be flexible about giving breaks to enable them to do so. In addition, a new and expectant parent network has recently been established which provides support to staff with advice and assistance on parental issues.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Glasgow Central on 14 September 2016 regarding breastfeeding and the expressing of breast milk for female offenders.
Answered by Phillip Lee
I wrote to the hon. Member on behalf of the Secretary of State on 7 November, providing details of the policy and practice in prisons and in courts to make appropriate provision for women offenders who wish to breastfeed or express milk.