Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many exhumations due to wrongful or incorrect burial there were in the Northampton Borough Council area in each year since 2010.
Answered by Phillip Lee
A family concerned that a relative has been buried in the wrong plot should immediately alert the relevant burial authority. A licence from the Ministry of Justice would be required to move the body to the correct grave.
The operation of local authority cemeteries is regulated by the Local Authorities Cemetery Order 1977. The then Department for Constitutional Affairs issued guidance to burial ground managers in 2005.
The Ministry of Justice is only aware of one instance since 2010 of a body being buried in the wrong plot in a Northampton Borough Council cemetery.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department takes to ensure that all human burials are conducted appropriately; and what oversight her Department has of people conducting burials.
Answered by Phillip Lee
A family concerned that a relative has been buried in the wrong plot should immediately alert the relevant burial authority. A licence from the Ministry of Justice would be required to move the body to the correct grave.
The operation of local authority cemeteries is regulated by the Local Authorities Cemetery Order 1977. The then Department for Constitutional Affairs issued guidance to burial ground managers in 2005.
The Ministry of Justice is only aware of one instance since 2010 of a body being buried in the wrong plot in a Northampton Borough Council cemetery.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department advises families to take who have had relatives buried in the wrong plot.
Answered by Phillip Lee
A family concerned that a relative has been buried in the wrong plot should immediately alert the relevant burial authority. A licence from the Ministry of Justice would be required to move the body to the correct grave.
The operation of local authority cemeteries is regulated by the Local Authorities Cemetery Order 1977. The then Department for Constitutional Affairs issued guidance to burial ground managers in 2005.
The Ministry of Justice is only aware of one instance since 2010 of a body being buried in the wrong plot in a Northampton Borough Council cemetery.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making the presentation of birth certificates compulsory for UK-born residents leaving prison to help ensure that they have adequate ID for accessing benefits and other services.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The MoJ has not made such an assessment. Our work to improve resettlement of prisoners after release is to prioritise finding accommodation and employment and building a life free from crime.
We are carrying out a comprehensive review of the probation service to improve outcomes for offenders and communities. Public protection is our top priority and we will not hesitate to take the necessary action to make sure our vital reforms are being delivered to reduce reoffending, cut crime and prevent future victims.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that re-offending rates are reduced.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We want to ensure that prisons are places of safety and rehabilitation. The key to this is achieving better outcomes for prisoners in employment, education and health, in order to reduce reoffending and protect the public. We will do this by giving governors increased responsibility on the front line and by putting sharper accountability in place, and will announce proposals for reform in autumn.
We have already reformed the way adult offenders are managed in the community.
Almost all adult offenders now receive targeted support on release, getting the help they need to turn away from crime and keep communities safer. For young offenders, Charlie Taylor has conducted a review of the youth justice system. This has been submitted to ministers and will be published in the autumn.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to educate prisoners nearing release so that they are able better to reintegrate into society.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Prisons should be places of safety and reform. I am determined to make sure that we achieve better outcomes for prisoners in employment, education and health. Fewer than half the people entering prisons have basic standards of literacy and numeracy. This is a huge problem because we know that low levels of education can prevent people from securing jobs on release and leading law abiding lives. I want to see much clearer accountability for prison governors for the education delivered whilst prisoners are in prison and the results they achieve, to get significant improvement.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that prisoners with mental health problems can access appropriate treatment.
Answered by Andrew Selous
We are developing pathways into mental health treatment, which will be offered to offenders at all stages of the criminal justice system. All prisons have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves, and we have increased resources to undertake this work.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to provide young offenders with (a) rehabilitation and (b) education to reduce the likelihood of them reoffending.
Answered by Andrew Selous
Although youth crime is down, reoffending rates are far too high and the care and supervision of young offenders in custody is not good enough.
That is why the Justice Secretary has asked Charlie Taylor to conduct a review of youth justice. He will report back later this year with recommendations on how to improve the treatment of young people in our care.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to ensure (a) the efficiency of the transition to new courts of cases from courts that are planned for closure and (b) minimal adverse effect on those remaining courts.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Implementation of court closures has commenced and is expected to take place on a phased basis over the next two years. A schedule of anticipated closure dates has been published and can be accessed online at www.gov.uk/moj.
Detailed implementation plans are being developed by each region of HM Courts & Tribunals Service. Local implementation groups will be established to oversee each closure. They will work in close cooperation with the judiciary where appropriate. The groups are responsible for ensuring that the transfer of work to receiving sites takes place efficiently and that effective service delivery is maintained at receiving sites throughout the process of court closure.