Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 makes provision for HM Courts and Tribunals Service to allow people seeking to bring a private prosecution to do so via a video link.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The circumstances in which live-links may be used are the same for private prosecutions as for other cases. A court would consider any relevant statutory provisions, procedure rules, and inherent powers when determining whether live links may be used at a hearing.
More generally, HMCTS operates a reasonable adjustments policy to give customers with disabilities access to information and services. Users wishing to request a reasonable adjustment should speak to a member of staff at the court where their case is being heard. A request for a reasonable adjustment at a hearing is referred to a judge.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the length was of the longest social security appeal heard by an appeals tribunal for appeals lodged in each year from 2010-11 to date.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The First-tier Tribunal – Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service, hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ decisions on a range of benefits.
1. Information about the timeliness of SSCS appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. The data requested can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
2. The following table provides the age in weeks of the oldest case cleared at a tribunal hearing in the years 2010/11 to 2014/15[1]:
Year | Age of the oldest case disposed of |
2009-10 | 394 |
2010-11 | 320 |
2011-12 | 431 |
2012-13 | 649 |
2013-14 | 362 |
2014-15 | 331 |
A number of factors can influence the time it takes for an appeal to reach final conclusion. In particular, these data include the total elapsed time for cases which were heard, appealed to the Upper Tribunal, and subsequently reheard at the First-tier Tribunal. The age of one case at clearance in any one year does not reflect the experience of the vast majority of appellants.
[1] The age of the oldest case disposed of in the period April to September 2015 (the latest period for which statistics have been published) has not been included as this only reflects a part-year.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length was of a social security appeal heard by an appeals tribunal in each year from 2010-11 to date.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The First-tier Tribunal – Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service, hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ decisions on a range of benefits.
1. Information about the timeliness of SSCS appeals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. The data requested can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
2. The following table provides the age in weeks of the oldest case cleared at a tribunal hearing in the years 2010/11 to 2014/15[1]:
Year | Age of the oldest case disposed of |
2009-10 | 394 |
2010-11 | 320 |
2011-12 | 431 |
2012-13 | 649 |
2013-14 | 362 |
2014-15 | 331 |
A number of factors can influence the time it takes for an appeal to reach final conclusion. In particular, these data include the total elapsed time for cases which were heard, appealed to the Upper Tribunal, and subsequently reheard at the First-tier Tribunal. The age of one case at clearance in any one year does not reflect the experience of the vast majority of appellants.
[1] The age of the oldest case disposed of in the period April to September 2015 (the latest period for which statistics have been published) has not been included as this only reflects a part-year.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress the Government has made on developing proposals for reform of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Dominic Raab
This Government will fully consult on our proposals, this session, before introducing legislation for a British Bill of Rights. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what impact assessment he has commissioned on the effects of court closures on access to justice in deprived areas.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
We will consider all identified impacts once the consultation closes. To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services, including the use of other civic buildings.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to promote access to justice.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Government's overall reform programme to promote access to justice aims to deliver a simpler justice system that is more accessible to the public; limit the scope for inappropriate litigation and the involvement of lawyers in issues which do not need legal input; and support people in resolving their disputes through simpler, more informal remedies.