Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost was of planned maintenance for HM Prisons in England and Wales in each year from 2012 to 2018.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of crime have been affected by delays in court proceedings during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps have been taken to communicate with them.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is working hard in partnership with the judiciary to keep our justice system functioning during this unprecedented public health emergency. Our priorities are to maintain access to justice and to protect the safety of all who work in the courts and tribunals.
We are continuously reviewing our approach in light of Public Health England advice and to understand impacts on our users. We do not collect information centrally on numbers of victims affected by delays in court proceedings during the outbreak. However, we are committed to ensuring victims continue to receive the support they need during this challenging time, and have robust and flexible plans in place to ensure that we can continue to deliver key services across the justice system, including the support of victims. We have been working across government and with justice partner agencies to ensure that there will be comprehensive support for victims and witnesses across England and Wales.
During the outbreak, magistrates’ courts have been covering urgent work and trials are now re-starting. Crown Courts have also been continuing to deal with a range of work, including sentencing hearings. The Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor are currently in close discussion regarding the safe re-start of limited Jury trials, which we hope can be resumed before the end of May. The decision to re-start jury trials is dependent on the system as a whole being ready. This will include HMCTS, the professions, those supporting victims and witnesses, and jurors who should have confidence that trials are able to operate effectively within social distancing guidelines.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to publish its response to the call for evidence on extending corporate liability for economic crimes that closed on 31 March 2017.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Ministry of Justice carried out a call for evidence on corporate criminal liability for economic crime in 2017, to establish whether further reform of the law was necessary. The response is expected to issue in due course.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases of rape were (a) recorded and (b) prosecuted in each of the last three years in (i) the North East and (ii) England.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Figures for the number of offences of rape recorded by the police are published by the Office for National Statistics.
The number of defendants prosecuted in the North East and England for rape offences are published by the Ministry of Justice and can be found in the Court Outcomes by Police Force Area data tool in the following link:
o 19C Rape of a female aged 16 or over
o 19D Rape of a female aged under 16
o 19E Rape of a female child under 13 by a male
o 19F Rape of a male aged under 16
o 19G Rape of a male aged 16 or over
o 19H Rape of a male child under 13 by a male
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has plans for an independent statutory inquiry into the family courts’ handling of domestic abuse.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are determined to improve the treatment of domestic abuse victims in the family justice system. We believe that the Government’s consultation on domestic abuse provides the best avenue for considering how best to build on the recent improvements we have made in this area. We are examining responses received to the consultation, ahead of publishing a formal Government response in autumn 2018.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure special protection measures are implemented for all victims of domestic abuse across all UK jurisdictions.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I am only able to respond in relation to special measures that are available in criminal justice, family and civil proceedings in England and Wales.
In the criminal courts, complainants of offences which involve domestic abuse are eligible for special measures as ‘intimidated witnesses’ if the quality of their evidence is likely to be diminished by reason of fear or distress as a result of testifying in the proceedings. They may also be eligible as ‘vulnerable witnesses’ if they are under 18 or the quality of their evidence is likely to be diminished by reason of a mental or physical disability or disorder.
In the civil and family courts, parties can apply to the judge for protective measures such as screens and videolinks and over the last year staff have received training on providing additional measures such as separate entrances, exits and waiting rooms.
We are considering how best to build on the recent improvements we have made in this area and we have recently consulted on creating a legislative assumption that all victims of domestic abuse are eligible for assistance on the grounds of fear and distress in criminal proceedings. We have also sought views on what more the Government can do to support victims and will be publishing a formal response to the Consultation (Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse) in the autumn 2018.
The government has published its Victims Strategy, which commits to improving the support and protections available to all victims of crime.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that women are better represented in the UK judicial system.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In recent years, there has been progress in achieving greater representation of women in the judicial system and women now make up 29% of judges in the courts in England & Wales, 46% in UK tribunals and 55% of magistrates in England & Wales. Diversity in the judiciary remains a complex picture and there is more to be done. The Ministry of Justice is committed to working with the Lord Chief Justice and Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission to consider all practical actions that would impact positively on diversity, assess the impact of our existing activities and measure progress. In April 2018, MoJ announced funding for the pre-application judicial education programme (PAJE). This is a Judicial Diversity Forum initiative, to support and encourage lawyers interested in a judicial career and will target lawyers from underrepresented groups to apply for judicial office: women, BAME, lawyers with disabilities and those from a non-barrister professional background (including solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives).
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has plans for an independent statutory inquiry into the family courts’ handling of domestic abuse.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are determined to improve the treatment of domestic abuse victims in the family justice system. We believe that the Government’s consultation on domestic abuse provides the best avenue for considering how best to build on the recent improvements we have made in this area. We are examining responses received to the consultation, ahead of publishing a formal Government response in autumn 2018.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure special protection measures are implemented for all victims of domestic abuse across all UK jurisdictions.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I am only able to respond in relation to special measures that are available in criminal justice, family and civil proceedings in England and Wales.
In the criminal courts, complainants of offences which involve domestic abuse are eligible for special measures as ‘intimidated witnesses’ if the quality of their evidence is likely to be diminished by reason of fear or distress as a result of testifying in the proceedings. They may also be eligible as ‘vulnerable witnesses’ if they are under 18 or the quality of their evidence is likely to be diminished by reason of a mental or physical disability or disorder.
In the civil and family courts, parties can apply to the judge for protective measures such as screens and videolinks and over the last year staff have received training on providing additional measures such as separate entrances, exits and waiting rooms.
We are considering how best to build on the recent improvements we have made in this area and we have recently consulted on creating a legislative assumption that all victims of domestic abuse are eligible for assistance on the grounds of fear and distress in criminal proceedings. We have also sought views on what more the Government can do to support victims and will be publishing a formal response to the Consultation (Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse) in the autumn 2018.
The government has published its Victims Strategy, which commits to improving the support and protections available to all victims of crime.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent statutory inquiry on the family courts’ handling of domestic abuse.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are determined to improve the treatment of domestic abuse victims in the family justice system. We believe that the Government’s consultation on domestic abuse provides a good avenue for considering how best to build on the recent improvements we have made in this area. We are examining responses received to the consultation, ahead of publishing a formal Government response later in the autumn.