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Written Question
Custodial Treatment
Thursday 29th June 2023

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving in category (a) C and (b) D prisons have been in custody for 10 years or longer as of 21 June 2023.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

We are unable to provide data on the number of people serving in category C and D prisons who have been in custody for 10 years or longer as of 21 June 2023 at this time. This is because they are exempt from disclosure under statistics publication rules outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics; as they will form a subset of future published statistics.

Data relating to 21 June would need to be extracted from information which will be used to form the next Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication which is scheduled for release on 27 July 2023.


Written Question
Prison Accommodation
Thursday 4th May 2023

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will publish its data on the average time spent out of cell in each prison in England and Wales.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The information requested for adult prisoners is not held by the Ministry of Justice as collecting it would require the detailed monitoring of cell activity in each prison establishment.

There is no central mandate which governs the amount of time that prisoners should spend out of their cells. Governors are instead afforded the flexibility to deliver balanced regimes that maintain an appropriate level of time out of cell on a range of activities, including association, which meet the needs of the establishment’s population.

HMPPS has introduced a Regime Dashboard which reports the percentage of prisoners receiving different levels of regime each week. We are further developing this to align to future regimes. A performance metric has also been introduced to hold prisons to account on their levels of regime delivery. Data from this are scheduled for publication in July 2023.


Written Question
Prisons
Thursday 4th May 2023

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to have fully implemented local regime leads across the entire prison estate through the National Regime Model.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

All prisons will have a local regime lead in place by the end of 2023/24.


Written Question
Ministry of Justice: Quarantine
Monday 1st November 2021

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of his Department's ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning to the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting official business.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Details of Ministers’ overseas travel are published quarterly on GOV.UK, and all travel is arranged in line with official regulations.

Ministers are able to claim an exemption from travel restrictions under the ‘Crown Servants or government contractors exemption’. The full text of this exemption can be found under the Government guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): jobs that qualify for travel exemptions, available on GOV.UK.


Written Question
Mediation: Family Proceedings
Monday 22nd January 2018

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the post-legislative memorandum on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2014, submitted to the Justice Select Committee on 30 October 2017, what steps he is taking to increase the take-up of family mediation.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government is committed to promoting mediation and its benefits. Mediation can be less stressful and quicker than going to court and can help to reduce conflict after a separation and avoid court battles. Funding remains available for family mediation cases where the applicants are eligible for legal aid. Since November 2014, legal aid has also funded the cost of Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAM) and the first mediation session for both parties in a dispute, even if just one of them is eligible. The Government continues working to improve information and signposting on digital platforms to encourage couples to consider mediation.

The Government recently announced the start of a Post-Implementation Review (PIR) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). The review will assess the effect of changes to legal aid provision for mediation in private family law cases which were made under LASPO.


Written Question
Mediation
Monday 22nd January 2018

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his polity to introduce targets for increasing the number of mediation meetings relating to the pre-Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government remains committed to promoting mediation and its benefits in resolving disputes out of court, and legal aid continues to be available for mediation in family disputes about children and finances. Everyone who wants to apply to court for certain private law proceedings relating to children and financial remedy, must first consider mediation as a way to settle their dispute and attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting unless they are exempt, for example due to domestic abuse.


Written Question
Mediation: Family Proceedings
Monday 22nd January 2018

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 6853 on Mediation: Family Proceedings, what steps he is taking to promote the use of existing powers in family procedure rules to refer people to family mediation at any stage in proceedings.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government remains committed to support mediation as an effective way for separating couples to resolve disputes about finances on divorce and child arrangements, when it is safe and appropriate to do so. The existing legislation is clear that at every stage during the court process the judge should consider whether non-court dispute resolution is appropriate, and may adjourn proceedings to enable parties to obtain information and non-court dispute resolution or, where parties agree, to enable this to take place. This is in addition to the statutory requirement for prospective applicants to certain proceedings to attend a MIAM (Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting), unless they are exempt, and to consider dispute resolution services such as mediation, before applying to court. Training and guidance on the court’s powers is available for the judiciary and court staff. Judges are free, however, to exercise their discretion based on the circumstances of each case. We continue to work with the judiciary, HMCTS and the mediation sector to promote awareness of mediation and its benefits.


Written Question
Mediation: Family Proceedings
Monday 22nd January 2018

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if it remains his policy to ensure the availability of legal aid for family mediation.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Legal aid remains available for mediation in private family cases subject to a means and merits test. Since November 2014, legal aid has covered the cost of the Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) and the first mediation session for both parties, even if just one of them is eligible. The Government continues working to improve information and signposting on digital platforms to encourage parties to consider mediation.

The Government recently announced the start of a Post-Implementation Review (PIR) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). The review will assess the effect of changes to legal aid provision for mediation in private family law cases which were made under LASPO.


Written Question
Road Traffic Offences: Reviews
Friday 15th January 2016

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Government plans to commence its review of driving offences; when he plans that the public consultation on that review will take place; and what timetable he has set for the completion of that review.

Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner

Driving offences can have devastating consequences for victims and their loved ones, which is why tough sentences are available to the courts. It is our intention to consult on sentencing proposals, including driving, before the end of this year.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Curfews
Thursday 19th November 2015

Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the number of prisoners being released on Home Detention Curfews in Devon decreased between 2011 and 2014.

Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner

The number of prisoners released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) in England and Wales has fallen in recent years. This is principally due to the reduction in the number of prisoners eligible for the scheme.


The Ministry of Justice only collates data on the number of prisoners released on HDC who are then recalled to prison for breach of their curfew conditions and this data is only available for England and Wales as a whole. It would incur disproportionate cost to isolate from this overall data those recalled prisoners who had been released on HDC from prisons in Devon.


This data is published and can be located at the following link (table A3.5 details HDC recalls):



https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/424903/prison-releases-annual-2014.xlsx