Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve the condition of (a) court buildings and (b) other physical infrastructure in the courts system.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Secretary of State for Transport
It is important that the infrastructure of our courts does not prevent hearings from taking place.
HMCTS has a facilities management contract with Equans for undertaking routine court maintenance which has delivered over 30,000 routine maintenance jobs across the court and tribunal estate since 1 April 2024.
Capital maintenance funding is prioritised to sites that need it most to ensure that buildings are safe, secure, meet statutory requirements and able to ensure the continuity of court and tribunal business for the longer term.
HMCTS has a range of capital estate projects planned for financial year 2024/25, including 31 roof, 16 lift and 15 boiler replacements.
As a result of this action, less than 0.1% of available sitting days across all jurisdictions are lost due to planned and unplanned maintenance. When conducting estate maintenance works, every effort is made to minimise operational impacts as far as possible.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle the backlog of cases awaiting Crown Court hearings.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Secretary of State for Transport
The Crown Court outstanding caseload remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Criminal Justice System and we are committed to reducing the caseload and bringing waiting times down.
We want to make sure every victim has the swift access to justice they deserve - however, we recognise that some cases currently take longer to conclude. This is particularly true for rape victims, who on average wait over a year for their case to go to trial. That is why we have committed to fast-tracking rape cases through the courts, ensuring timely and effective justice for victims of these abhorrent offences.
More widely, as part of our efforts to hear more cases, we have increased funding so that 106,500 sitting days can be sat at the Crown Court this year - more than six out of the last seven years - and 500 days more than the 106,000 agreed by the previous government in June.
Alongside this, we invest consistently in the recruitment of c.1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions annually. Crown Court recruitment has been a particular priority and we have successfully increased the number of Circuit judges and Recorders in recent years. We also continue to use 18 Nightingale courtrooms across eight venues to hear more cases.
Most recently, we have announced plans to allow magistrates’ courts to hand down custodial sentences of up to 12 months for a single triable either way offence – doubling their current powers – from mid-November.
Allowing magistrates to deal with more cases will save up to 2,000 sitting days in the Crown Court, so that time can be reserved for the more serious and complex cases, helping address the Crown Court outstanding caseload.
To go further, the Government is considering what can be learned from the Lord Justice Auld’s 2001 Review, including looking again at ideas to help increase capacity in the Crown Court.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for tribunal hearings.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Secretary of State for Transport
We are working to reduce the outstanding caseload in the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal including the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. Reducing outstanding caseloads is the key measure to bringing down the waiting times for tribunal hearings.
HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology.
Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the smuggling of (a) drugs and (b) communication devices into prisons.
Answered by Edward Argar
We are committed to tackling the smuggling of all illicit items into prisons, including drugs and communication devices such as mobile phones.
We completed the £100 million Security Investment Programme in March 2022, which included funding to bolster physical security measures. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners, resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we had recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the supply of drugs and mobile phones into prisons. We also deployed Enhanced Gate Security to 42 high-risk prisons under this investment, implementing routine searching of staff and visitors. This included 659 dedicated staff, 154 drug sniffing dogs and over 200 pieces of equipment.
We have 165 drug trace detection machines across the prison estate to prevent the smuggling of drugs, such as psychoactive substances, through the mail. The rollout of an additional 20 next-generation devices was completed in March 2024, meaning every public section prison now has this next-generation equipment.
X-ray baggage scanners have been installed at 49 sites (45 prisons and 4 learning centres) building on the rollout of our X-ray body scanners, gate security and drug trace detection machines.
New airspace restrictions took effect on 25 January 2024 to create 400 metre flight restriction zones around all closed prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales. These will ensure swift action is taken against criminal drone activity, including the smuggling of illicit items.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) digitising and (b) not physically storing probate documents on the accessibility of the justice system to litigants.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Government has recently concluded a consultation on storage and preservation of wills. We will be publishing the response later this year, and this will address these issues and consider possible options for reform.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the contribution of the preservation of original probate documents to cultural heritage.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Government has recently concluded a consultation on storage and preservation of wills. We will be publishing the response later this year, and this will address these issues and consider possible options for reform.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy that original probate documents are permanently preserved.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Government has just undertaken a consultation on the storage and preservation of wills and other documents submitted in applications for probate. We will be publishing our response, setting out the outcome of the consultation, later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Shadow Minister (Housing and Planning)
Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, as required by statute.
As an independent body, the Sentencing Council decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and reviewing guidelines. Therefore, the Government cannot require the Council to review particular guidelines. However, it is open to individuals to approach the Council to ask that it does so.
The Council’s published criteria for developing or revising guidelines is available on its website at: www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-and-the-council/about-the-sentencing-council/our-criteria-for-developing-or-revising-guidelines.
The Ministry of Justice regularly monitors the effectiveness of the sentencing framework.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted under human trafficking laws in each year since 2010.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Shadow Minister (Housing and Planning)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under human trafficking laws, from 2010 to 2022, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022, and from year ending June 2011 to the year ending June 2023, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023:
Offences under sections 2(1), 4 and 30(1) and 30(3) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 can be found using following HO codes:
03608 - Conspire to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation
03610 - Commit offence other than kidnapping or false imprisonment with intent to commit human trafficking offence
03611 - Commit offence of kidnapping or false imprisonment with intention of committing human trafficking offence
03612 - Breach a slavery and trafficking risk or prevention order
Offences under sections 57, 58, 59, 59A(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 & Offences under sections 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 can be found by using following offences:
72 Human trafficking for sexual exploitation
78.1 Human trafficking for non-sexual exploitation
These can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the HO Offence Code and Offence filters to select the above offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool.
In 2015, the UK Government introduced the world-leading Modern Slavery Act, giving law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle trafficking, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims.
Since the Modern Slavery Act was passed in 2015, we have seen significant law enforcement activity focused on modern slavery, which has led to an increase in the number of live police modern slavery investigations.
This has also led to an increase in the number of prosecutions brought and convictions secured.
Measures under the Nationality and Borders Act came into force in 2023 which have helped clarify our obligations to providing support for victims of modern slavery.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will (a) repeal the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and (b) re-establish the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 provided for the Supreme Court to assume the jurisdiction of the Appellate Committee, established the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, and shared responsibilities for the administration of justice between the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice. The Act is therefore the statutory basis of a broad sweep of constitutional matters, and it continues to underpin relationships with the judicial branch of the state.
It is not a current priority to review the arrangements that resulted from the 2005 Act or to assess whether further legislative changes might be necessary. The Supreme Court is rightly held in high esteem not just within the UK but also overseas, and the Lord Chancellor remains committed to maintaining an effective partnership with the judiciary within the legal framework the Act created.