Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of criminal court cases.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We remain committed to reducing the outstanding caseload in the Criminal Court to ensure the swift delivery of justice for court users and have introduced a raft of measures to achieve this aim.
In the Crown Court we funded over 100,000 sitting days last financial year and plan to deliver the same again this financial year. Thanks to our investment in judicial recruitment, we expect to have recruited more than 1,000 judges by the end of this financial year.
To aid our efforts in the magistrates’ courts, we have invested over £1 million in a programme of work to support the recruitment of new magistrates and launched a new marketing campaign to target a more diverse pool of potential magistrates and raise the overall profile of the magistracy.
We are also investing more in our courts across England and Wales. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings across the next two years, up to March 2025.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Lammy review: final report, published on 8 September 2017, if he will publish a progress report on the implementation of the recommendations of that review.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Spring, the Government will again update Parliament regarding the work of the Inclusive Britain Strategy, as it did in April last year. As we work towards this, we are also considering what further updates may be provided from the Ministry of Justice regarding our work to tackle racial disparities in the Criminal Justice System, including the work we committed to in response to the Lammy Review.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Barnardo’s report entitled Double discrimination: Black care-experienced young adults navigating the criminal justice system, published on 21 September 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are grateful for the work Barnardo's have done to highlight the challenges faced by young black care-experienced people in our criminal justice system, and look forward to working with Barnardo's further to ensure we are tackling these issues.
Across the criminal justice system, we are taking forward an extensive programme of work to tackle unexplained disparities where they are identified. The Inclusive Britain strategy is central to the development of this work and contains some of our flagship efforts.
We are also updating our strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system, to ensure we are using care-experienced people’s time in the criminal justice system to support them to lead crime-free lives. This will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience in the criminal justice system.
We are aiming to publish this strategy later this year.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to update the HM Prison and Probation Service Strategy for care-experienced people.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are grateful for the work Barnardo's have done to highlight the challenges faced by young black care-experienced people in our criminal justice system, and look forward to working with Barnardo's further to ensure we are tackling these issues.
Across the criminal justice system, we are taking forward an extensive programme of work to tackle unexplained disparities where they are identified. The Inclusive Britain strategy is central to the development of this work and contains some of our flagship efforts.
We are also updating our strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system, to ensure we are using care-experienced people’s time in the criminal justice system to support them to lead crime-free lives. This will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience in the criminal justice system.
We are aiming to publish this strategy later this year.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Young Women's Strategy will include policies to help tackle (a) trauma, (b) gender, (c) age and (d) cultural challenges faced by young women.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Young Women’s Strategy forms part of the Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan, which sets out what we will deliver over the period 2022-25. We do not yet have a specific publication date.
We are running young women’s residential pilots in two women’s prisons: learning from these will inform the Young Women’s Strategy. We will also be engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including specialist organisations and young women with lived experience.
The Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan exemplifies the Government’s commitment to take a gender-specific and trauma-responsive approach that acknowledges the impact of neglect and abuse (as well as other forms of trauma) on health, mental health and behaviour. In developing the Young Women’s Strategy we will have due regard to issues of age and race.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to consult with (a) young women with lived experience, (b) specialists and (c) women and girls’ organisations on the development of the Young Women’s Strategy.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Young Women’s Strategy forms part of the Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan, which sets out what we will deliver over the period 2022-25. We do not yet have a specific publication date.
We are running young women’s residential pilots in two women’s prisons: learning from these will inform the Young Women’s Strategy. We will also be engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including specialist organisations and young women with lived experience.
The Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan exemplifies the Government’s commitment to take a gender-specific and trauma-responsive approach that acknowledges the impact of neglect and abuse (as well as other forms of trauma) on health, mental health and behaviour. In developing the Young Women’s Strategy we will have due regard to issues of age and race.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the Young Women’s Strategy.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Young Women’s Strategy forms part of the Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan, which sets out what we will deliver over the period 2022-25. We do not yet have a specific publication date.
We are running young women’s residential pilots in two women’s prisons: learning from these will inform the Young Women’s Strategy. We will also be engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including specialist organisations and young women with lived experience.
The Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan exemplifies the Government’s commitment to take a gender-specific and trauma-responsive approach that acknowledges the impact of neglect and abuse (as well as other forms of trauma) on health, mental health and behaviour. In developing the Young Women’s Strategy we will have due regard to issues of age and race.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if the Government will support amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to strengthen protections for shopworkers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises that the violence and abuse faced by retail workers can have a significant impact. It also understands that the pandemic has resulted in some shop workers feeling more vulnerable and susceptible to adverse societal behaviours and at an increased risk of harm from members of the public. The Government is clear that no worker should be made to suffer such abuse or violence in providing a service to the public – it is wholly unacceptable.
We therefore understand the motivations behind the campaigns to create a new assault offence for retail workers but there are already a wide range of offences which exist, and which cover assaults against any worker, including shop workers. In all cases, the fact that an offence has been committed against a person serving the public will be considered as an aggravating factor for the purpose of passing sentence.
The Government is committed to keeping our retail environments safe by driving down violence and abuse towards shop staff and this is being tackled by other means. That is why we are working with retail stakeholders through the Home Office led National Retail Crime Steering Group chaired by the Minister for Crime and Policing and the British Retail consortium to ensure the response to these crimes is as robust as it possibly can be. We are taking necessary steps to ensure that abuse and violence towards retail workers are reported to the police by victims and/or their employers. We believe these practical steps will offer a more direct and robust solution in the longer term.
We are also aware that two amendments have been tabled to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. For now, we remain unpersuaded of the necessity of a new criminal offence to deal with assaults against retail workers. But we will continue to keep the matter under review and listen to the debate on this matter.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support survivors of domestic abuse who commit offences as a result of trauma from their past abuse.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises the ongoing impact that trauma caused by past domestic abuse can have, and the importance of supporting victims who commit offences as a result of their experiences. The Government remains committed to delivering its Female Offender Strategy, published in June 2018, and which makes clear that a different approach is likely to be more effective in addressing the needs of female offenders and women at risk of entering the criminal justice system. £7 million has been invested since publication of the Strategy, which is sustaining and enhancing current women’s services, filling gaps in provision, and providing properties for new women’s centres.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has also committed unprecedented funding to support all victims, including £40m announced by the Ministry of Justice on 1 February for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence and a further £11m announced on 15 March to recruit additional Independent Sexual Violence and Independent Domestic Abuse Advisors over the next two years.
This year, we will publish two new strategies that will build on our landmark Domestic Abuse Bill, on violence against women and girls and on domestic abuse, which will take further our drive for a step-change in the response to these crimes.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to (a) halt mounding at Manor Park Cemetery and (b) establish an independent inspection of the effect of earlier mounding at that cemetery on remains.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Private burial grounds such as Manor Park Cemetery are not covered by the same legislation that governs local authority burial grounds, and the Government’s intervention and enforcement powers are limited.
However, we anticipate that those operating private burial grounds will adhere to the standards and principles underpinning the framework of regulation and guidance which applies to local authority burial grounds. I have asked my officials to ensure that this expectation is conveyed to officials at Manor Park Cemetery.
I will also ask them to ensure that the issue of mounding is brought to the attention of the Law Commission in the context of its forthcoming project, as part of its current Programme of Law Reform, to consider modernising and streamlining the law governing the disposal of human remains with a view to putting forward a legal framework for the future.