Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Justice

Oral Answers to Questions

Andy Carter Excerpts
Tuesday 21st February 2023

(1 year, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Dominic Raab Portrait Dominic Raab
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I certainly support the hon. Gentleman’s pursuit of maximum transparency. If he is having problems, he can feel free to drop me a line and I will see what I can do, but the FOI Act sets out clearly prescribed limits, and we want to make sure we process those applications fairly and properly.

Andy Carter Portrait Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)
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Around 12 months ago, the Minister set out a plan to recruit a further 4,000 magistrates. Can he give us an update on how that is progressing? What steps is he taking to retain the most experienced presiding justices?

Mike Freer Portrait Mike Freer
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There are a couple of things we are doing to achieve our target of 1,000 additional judicial vacancies this year, which is on track, and I am willing to share that with my hon. Friend. We have reformed judicial pensions today. In addition, we have increased the age limit, so that we can retain the best judiciary.