Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to enable the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to restore the full value of their grants in cases where a deduction has been made in respect of a compensation order but subsequently discharged.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the Scheme) exists to compensate for serious physical or psychological injury attributable to being a direct victim of a crime of violence. It provides an important avenue of redress for such victims and is part of the wider package of general and specialist support available to victims of crime.
The Scheme is a route of last resort and requires awards to be withheld or reduced if an applicant receives a compensation order made in criminal proceedings which the convicted offender is expected to pay. This reflects the long-standing legal principle of avoiding double compensation for the same injury and protects taxpayer funded compensation awards for those unable to access compensation or similar payments by other means. Under the Scheme, once a final award of compensation has been made, there are limited circumstances in which the application can be reconsidered, which are: (a) a person who has accepted an award subsequently dies as a result of the criminal injury giving rise to the award; or (b) there has been so material a change in the applicant’s medical condition resulting from the criminal injury, that allowing the original determination to stand would give rise to an injustice to them.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time taken to grant probate; and what plans he has to improve that service.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The most recently published information regarding combined waiting times for a grant of probate, on paper and digital cases, covers January 2021 to March 2021 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25):
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2021
Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and as a result of HMCTS increasing resources to meet demand, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between four to six weeks.
HMCTS continues to invest in the improvement of the online Probate system which was developed as part of the wider HMCTS Reform Programme to further streamline ways of working resulting in a system that is simpler and easy to understand for applicants; is accessible; and more efficient and robust to run.
Further information regarding how HMCTS is collaborating with service users to enhance the service can be found at https://insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk/2021/08/06/collaborating-is-key-to-enhancing-probate-users-experience-of-using-myhmcts/
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for judicial review involving coronavirus regulations await (a) initial decision by a judge and (b) an oral hearing; and how long on average each of those applications has been waiting to be determined.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are 6 outstanding cases in the Administrative Court seeking to judicially review the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care which involve a challenge to the coronavirus regulations. These can be broken down as follows:
Of the 4 applications awaiting an initial decision, 3 have been waiting for an average of 7 weeks. One of the applications has been ongoing for 50 weeks, having been held back pending a decision of the Court of Appeal on a related case.
The application in which permission was refused is listed for a renewal hearing in April, which will be 31 weeks since it was received.
The final case in which judgment was reserved, took 13 weeks from receipt to the date permission was granted and a total of 37 weeks from receipt to the final hearing.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to provide (a) personal protective equipment, (b) covid-19 tests and (c) covid-19 vaccinations to prison officers.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is very clear that our prison staff are vital key workers, and many are going above and beyond the call of duty to keep the public, their colleagues, and prisoners safe.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) staff are maintaining social distancing of two metres wherever possible. However, we are following the public health advice on the use of medical face masks alongside other items of personal protective equipment (PPE) where close contact is sustained, essential and unavoidable. We have worked closely with suppliers to ensure adequate supply of soap, cleaning materials, and PPE for staff. HMPPS also issued a face mask strategy for staff and prisoners which sets out when face coverings must be worn.
A comprehensive regular testing regime of both staff and prisoners is in place across the estate and is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus.
Vaccines are at the centre of the Government’s plan to ensure life can return to as normal as soon as possible. As we have done since the beginning of the pandemic, we are working very closely with public health bodies and the NHS to plan collaboratively for future vaccine delivery. During the first phase of vaccine delivery, priorities have been decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and those priorities apply equally to prison staff who fall within the groups identified. We are currently in discussion with the Department of Health and Social Care about how and when priorities for vaccinations in future phases of delivery will be administered to prisoners and prison staff
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide guidance to probation services on the circumstances in which face-to-face meetings with offenders can be avoided during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Probation staff are considered key workers but we are encouraging them to work from home when possible. Probation officers will continue supervising in person those who pose the highest risk ensuring the monitoring of high-risk offenders remains as tough as it always is.
Face-to-face contact will remain for terrorists, offenders without a phone and prison leavers reporting for their initial appointment. Guidance has been issued to staff on adherence to government instructions on social distancing when conducting face to face supervision. Additional hygiene products are also being provided to reporting sites.
Doorstep visits will be the default option for all other high-risk offenders and medium-risk offenders with domestic abuse or other safeguarding issues. This will involve a phone call with the offender visible to their probation officer, with a separation of at least 2m. Video and voice calls will be used in addition.
Lower-risk offenders will now be supervised more frequently, via telephone or video messaging rather than face-to-face. If staff believe it is the right thing to do, offenders can always be recalled to prison.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department last made an assessment of the efficiency of the dispatch of probate; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Her Majesty Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) constantly monitor and review performance on the processing of probate applications. From April 2019 to September 2019, there was a temporary increase in waiting times which was caused by a combination of an increased volume of incoming work and the transition to a new case management system. The move to the new system meant that staff had to spend time being trained and familiarising themselves with it. There were also some initial performance issues which have now been resolved.
Official statistics are not published on the average length of time from receipt of the application to the issue of a grant of probate. Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) internal management information, which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics, has been used to show average times from receipt of an application to a grant being issued in January 2020.
Measure | Average Weeks to issued | Median to issue |
Submission to issue for all grants issued in the month (including those stopped for queries or missing documentation) | 7 | 5 |
From submission to issue for grants issued in the month that were not stopped. | 5 | 4 |
These figures include applications made via the online service and uses the receipt date of the digital application for recording the time of issue, rather than the time the necessary supporting documentation is sent to HMCTS in order to start processing the application. The data has been extracted from the HMCTS Reform Core Case Data system, which is a new system in active development, and may not be directly comparable with figures for earlier periods.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he has made an estimate of the proportion of veteran prisoners mentored under Project Phoenix; and if he will consider securing funds to extend the reach of that project.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Today I met with Care After Combat to discuss Project Phoenix. I am very pleased they will be the first military charity to submit data for analysis to the Ministry of Justice’s Data Lab, to assess the effectiveness of Project Phoenix in reducing reoffending.
A recent Ministry of Justice Experimental Statistics publication indicated that there were at least 2,032 former members of the Armed Services in prison as at 30 June 2018. This represented 4% of the matched prison population. I understand an evaluation of Project Phoenix in 2017 highlighted there were 162 prisoners engaging with the programme.
We are keen to use the skills and expertise of voluntary sector organisations, including military charities, in addressing the needs and supporting those offenders with a military background who enter the Criminal Justice System. These services are part of our wider commissioning decisions and, to ensure open and fair competition, all contracts and grants should be subject to open competition.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 7193, what progress he has made on the review of the maximum penalties for driving offences resulting in death and or serious injury.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The government response to the consultation on driving offences and penalties relating to causing death or serious injury was published on 16 October 2017.
We will bring forward proposals for changes in the law as soon as parliamentary time allows. These proposals will take account of, and incorporate, all of government’s proposals for safer roads, including any arising from the Department of Transport’s review of cycle safety.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he has plans to remove the same roof rule from the criminal injuries compensations scheme.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are determined to make sure every victim gets the compensation to which they are entitled.
The Justice Secretary announced, in the cross-government victims strategy published yesterday [on 10 September], a full review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to ensure it reflects the changing nature of crime and can better support victims. The review will consider how the Scheme might better serve victims - especially victims of child sexual abuse – and take account of the interim findings and recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA.)
We also committed within the victims strategy to remove the pre-1979 ‘same roof rule’.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) resignations and (b) dismissals there have been from the Chaplaincy Service at HMP Brixton in each of the last six months.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Other than one sessional chaplain (who resigned in October in order to take up a post in the police force), there have been no resignations or dismissals from the Chaplaincy Service at HMP Brixton during the last six months.
Regular Christian classes are held throughout the week, including several Bible study classes. The Alpha course has not been provided at the prison for a number of years – records show the most recent session as having been held on 27 January 2010. Plans are in place, however, to restart the course.
We recognise the importance of faith and the positive impact that it can have on the lives of offenders, which is why there are multi-faith chaplaincy teams in every prison.