Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time was for a First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) appeal for (a) personal independence payment and (b) universal credit in (i) Mid Cheshire constituency, (ii) Cheshire and (iii) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. The average waiting times data requested can be found under “Tribunal Statistics CSV files”.
The information requested about the number of appellants waiting for appeals to be listed is not held centrally.
HMCTS cannot isolate the number of appellants waiting for their appeal to be listed, as opposed to the number of appeals waiting to be listed. An appellant may have more than one appeal waiting to be listed: appeals can be made against (amongst other things) initial decisions on entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), overpayments, or period of time for which PIP has been awarded, for which separate appeals can be lodged.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appellants are waiting for First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) appeals to be listed for personal independence payment in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. The average waiting times data requested can be found under “Tribunal Statistics CSV files”.
The information requested about the number of appellants waiting for appeals to be listed is not held centrally.
HMCTS cannot isolate the number of appellants waiting for their appeal to be listed, as opposed to the number of appeals waiting to be listed. An appellant may have more than one appeal waiting to be listed: appeals can be made against (amongst other things) initial decisions on entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), overpayments, or period of time for which PIP has been awarded, for which separate appeals can be lodged.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of trends in the levels of reoffending rates in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England in each of the last five years; and what steps her Department is taking to help reduce reoffending rates in those areas.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The overall proven reoffending rate for England has decreased from 29.1% in 2017/18 to 25.0% in 2021/22 (the latest year for which reoffending data is available – see Table 1).
The overall proven reoffending rate for Cheshire has decreased from 29.6% in 2017/18 to 27.5% in 2021/22 (the latest year for which reoffending data is available – see Table 1).
We do not currently hold reoffending data broken down by parliamentary constituency.
Table 1: Rate of reoffending for the regions of Cheshire, and England, across the past 5 years | |||||
Region | Apr 2017- Mar 2018 | Apr 2018 - Mar 2019 | Apr 2019 - Mar 2020 | Apr 2020 - Mar 2021 | Apr 2021 - Mar 2022 |
Cheshire | 29.6% | 27.8% | 26.5% | 25.7% | 27.5% |
England | 29.1% | 27.9% | 25.4% | 24.1% | 25.0% |
This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by giving people the tools they need to turn their backs on crime. To do that, we will increase prisoners’ access to purposeful activity, including education and employment, which we know can reduce reoffending by up to 9 percentage points.
For example, we have recruited specialist education and employment roles in prisons to support and prepare prisoners for work on release, including Prison Employment Leads who match prisoners to jobs. Prison Employment Leads are currently in place at HMP Risley, HMP Styal and HMP Thorn Cross, three prisons located in Cheshire.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of appeals to the tribunals service in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England which related to (i) personal independence payments and (ii) universal credit were successful in (A) the most recent period for which figures are available and (B) each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
The data requested can be found under “Tribunal Statistics CSV files”.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the number of victims of domestic violence who have withdrawn their cases due to court delays in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is not possible to separately identify cases of domestic violence, which will be recorded under the specific offences for which they are prosecuted, for example, intentional strangulation or suffocation.
Victims and survivors of domestic abuse also may choose to withdraw their cases for a number of reasons (for example, personal reasons).
This Government inherited record and rising court backlogs which have seen too many victims waiting far too long for justice. We are committed to bearing down on the caseload backlog to speed up the delivery of justice for all victims.
Timely and effective justice is key to increasing the confidence of victims and survivors in the justice system. Strengthening the justice system response to domestic abuse and increasing victim confidence are crucial to achieving this Government’s ambitious commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) this decade.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time was for a domestic violence case to be heard in court in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is not possible to separately identify cases of domestic violence, which will be recorded under the specific offences for which they are prosecuted, for example, co intentional strangulation or suffocation.
This Government inherited a record and rising court backlog which have seen too many victims waiting far too long for justice. We are committed to bearing down on the caseload to speed up the delivery of justice for all victims.
Timely and effective justice is key to increasing the confidence of victims and survivors in the justice system. Strengthening the justice system response to domestic abuse and increasing victim confidence are crucial to achieving this Government’s ambitious commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) this decade.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking with the Attorney General to speed up the justice system for victims of domestic violence.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government inherited a record and rising court backlogs which have seen too many victims waiting far too long for justice.
We are committed to bearing down on the court backlog to speed up the delivery of justice.
Timely and effective justice is key to increasing the confidence of victims and survivors in the justice system. Strengthening the justice system response to domestic abuse and increasing victim confidence are crucial to achieving this Government’s ambitious commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) this decade.
The decision on when and where a case is listed is the responsibility of the independent judiciary, although judges do look to prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, such as victims and survivors of domestic abuse, wherever possible.
In addition, CPS, NPCC and College of Policing’s Joint Justice Plan aims to transform how the police and the CPS investigate and prosecute domestic abuse cases, including a commitment to improve the timelessness and effectiveness of investigating and charging in domestic abuse cases. I look forward to the publication of this plan in November.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact on victims of SDS40 applying to sentences being served concurrently with sentences of sexual or domestic abuse.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Offenders’ eligibility for SDS40 is determined by each specific sentence. Release provisions for different sentence types and length are fixed by law. This change has amended the automatic release point for standard determinate sentences that are not excluded. This means that by law, an offender serving multiple sentences could have a mixture of some sentences that are eligible for the 40% release point and others that are not. Someone serving a sentence for an excluded offence will not see their custodial time for that sentence reduced, but any sentences for non-excluded offences will be impacted.
Certain offences have been excluded from the Standard Determinate Sentences SDS40 change. These include sex offences irrespective of sentence length; serious violent offences with a sentence of four years or more; specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length (including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation); as well as offences concerning national security. The change will also not apply to sentences subject to release at the discretion of the Parole Board or to offences which currently attract automatic release from an SDS at the two-thirds point (certain serious sexual and violent offences).
If victims are part of the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) or Victim Notification Scheme (VNS), they will be informed about a change to an offender’s release date. Victims of a sexual, violent or terrorism offence are eligible for the VCS where an offender receives a specified custodial sentence of 12 months or more. They are eligible for the VNS if they are a victim of a stalking or harassment offence regardless of the length of the custodial sentence. This includes breach of a restraining order.
For victims of domestic abuse, there are national helplines that victims can also contact for more immediate help and support, which do offer translation services if your first language is not English. These are 24 hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline; the Men’s advice line for domestic abuse; and the 24 hour National Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence helpline in Wales.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making actual bodily harm an excluded offence under SDS40 when being served concurrently with sexual or domestic abuse offences.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Offenders’ eligibility for Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS40) is determined by each specific sentence. Release provisions for different sentence types and length are fixed by law. This change has amended the automatic release point for standard determinate sentences that are not excluded. This means that by law, an offender serving multiple sentences could have a mixture of some sentences that are eligible for the 40% release point and others that are not. Someone serving a sentence for an excluded offence will not see their custodial time for that sentence reduced.
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is excluded where the sentence is four years or more. Other offences have also been excluded from the change, including sex offences irrespective of sentence length; other serious violent offences with a sentence of four years or more; specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length (including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation); as well as offences concerning national security.
Offenders who are eligible for release at the 40% point are subject to a robust risk assessment to manage them safely in the community. This will include checks with partners from other agencies, such as the police. Once released, offenders will be subject to the same set of strict licence conditions that would apply had they been release at a 50% automatic release point, for example to prohibit the offender from having contact with named persons, such as the victim or victim’s family, or to impose exclusion zones to prevent the offender from going to specified places.