Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of offenders on probation housed in Approved Premises.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Approved Premises (formerly known as probation or bail hostels) are used to provide enhanced supervision for higher-risk offenders who have been released from prison after completing the custodial part of their sentence. They also house a small number of defendants on bail. My Department is analysing the capacity and distribution of the Approved Premises estate to establish whether more places are needed.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Approved Premises have been operational and (b) people have resided in each of those premises in each year since 2010.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
100 Approved Premises have been operational since 2010. Figures on the number of individuals who have resided in each of the Approved Premises are not held centrally.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what advice her Department provides to people living in Approved Premises who have (a) an addiction, (b) a mental health condition and (c) other health conditions.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Offenders required to reside in Approved Premises are entitled to the same health provision as ordinary members of the public.
Approved Premises staff are not medically qualified and so cannot give clinical advice. They do have a general duty of care and Approved Premises staff are trained in identifying and working with people with addictions or mental health problems. All residents are obliged to be registered with a GP, and many Approved Premises have arranged provision such as on-site GP attendance and run healthy living programmes.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to (a) shorten the immigration appeals process and (b) reduce the number of immigration appeals.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Immigration appeals are determined by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) which are administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
HMCTS works with the Home Office and others to monitor and continuously improve appeal processes and timeliness.
The Immigration Act 2014 simplified the appeals system, reducing the number of decisions that can be appealed. For the quarter October to December 2015, 18,368 appeals were received – a 29% reduction when compared with the same quarter in 2014.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of immigration appeals have been successful in each year since 2004.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Published statistics detailing the total number of appeals disposed of by the tribunals, and the percentage of these which have been allowed and dismissed by the First-tier Tribunal from 2007/08 and the Upper Tribunal from 2010/11, can be viewed on the following link:
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what regulations govern parental consent for the recording of interviews with lone children in cases involving Cafcass.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
There are no regulations governing parental consent for the recording of interviews with lone children in cases involving the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass). The extent of the role and responsibilities of Cafcass officers is set out in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and Practice Direction 16a, and this refers to the duty to “make such investigations as may be necessary”. Cafcass practitioners are aware that they must consider the best interests of the child in all aspects of their casework, including dealing with a request from a parent to record an interview.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Cafcass in (a) domestic abuse cases and (b) other private law cases.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government has made no specific assessment of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service’s (Cafcass) performance in cases where domestic violence or abuse is alleged or admitted. However, in 2014, Ofsted inspected Cafcass as a national organisation. It judged that as a minimum all children, young people and families receive a service where the quality and effectiveness of Cafcass private law practice is ‘good’. The protective measures of a non-molestation order or occupation order available from the family court for an adult party in cases of domestic violence or abuse do not involve Cafcass.
In relation to other private law cases involving children, Cafcass is most often involved in proceedings for a child arrangements order where parents are in dispute. In every case where a child arrangements order is sought, Cafcass undertakes safeguarding checks with the police and local authority. Relevant matters are communicated to the court prior to the first hearing via a safeguarding letter. In this way, Cafcass provides judges with the information they need to ensure that any decisions made are safe for the child and adult parties.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department provides to academic research on new prisoner rehabilitation methods.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) are committed to developing the evidence base to support prisoner rehabilitation and prison reform. NOMS allocates an annual budget for research undertaken by external organisations. NOMS research reports, including those undertaken by external contractors, are published on the gov.uk website here:
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what process there is for updating victims on the progress of a prisoner's appeal.
Answered by Mike Penning
I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 19160 on 15 December 2015.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether victims of crime are informed (a) when prisoners appeal against their sentences and (b) the progress of such appeals.
Answered by Mike Penning
Victims of crime are informed of any notice of appeal; the date, time and location of any hearing and the outcome of that appeal, including any changes to the original sentence in accordance with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.
Victims are notified of this information on appeals from the magistrates’ courts to the Crown Court within one working day. For appeals from the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal, vulnerable or intimidated victims will receive this information within one working day and for all other victims of crime within five working days.