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Written Question
Immigration: Legal Aid Scheme
Thursday 27th April 2023

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Immigration and Asylum legal aid advisers are registered in (a) each constituency in England and (b) each local authority of (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Northern Ireland and (iv) Scotland.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA), which is responsible for commissioning legal aid services in England and Wales only tracks the number of organisations (referred to as ‘providers’) which hold a contract permitting them to undertake legal aid work, not the number of individual practitioners who provide legal aid services. The LAA commissions and monitors legal aid services by ‘Procurement Area’ or ‘Access Point’ rather than by constituency or local authority. Procurement areas differ for different categories of law.

The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services is met across the country.

The Department holds no information regarding legal aid advisers in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Matters concerning Justice and Policing are devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish Parliament respectively.


Written Question
Prisons: Kingston upon Hull
Monday 9th January 2023

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce drug use in prisons in Hull.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Our landmark Drugs Strategy published in December 2021, is an ambitious cross government 10-year plan to address illegal drug use in both prison and the community.

We are investing a further £120m to keep drugs out of prisons and get offenders off drugs and into recovery, including in HMP Hull. This includes expanding the use of Incentivised Substance-Free Living units where prisoners commit to remain drug-free and undergo regular drug tests, rolling out up to 18 new Drug Recovery Wings which will support those recovering from opiate misuse to become abstinent, and recruiting Health and Justice Coordinators across all probation regions to ensure continuity of care for prison leavers.

Our £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, was completed in March 2022. This investment included delivery of 75 additional X-ray body scanners, resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. There are now 97 scanners across 95 prisons, including HMP Hull.


Written Question
Abortion
Tuesday 18th October 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will carry out a review of the criminal sanctions associated with abortion.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The Government has no current plans to review the offences relating to abortion in England and Wales, under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 or the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929.


Written Question
Crime: Victims
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support victims of crime.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Supporting victims of crime is a priority for this Government. We know that victim support services are crucial for victims to rebuild and recover from the impact of crime. We are increasing funding for these services to £192 million by 2024/25, an uplift of 92% on core budgets in 2020/21 and more than quadruple the level in 2009/10. We have committed £154 million of this budget per annum on a multi-year basis, for the next three years (2022/23 to 2024/25 inclusive), allowing victim support services to build capacity and strengthen resilience.

We also recently published a draft Victims Bill, along with a wider package of measures, that will amplify victims’ voices in the criminal justice process, improve the support they receive, and strengthen oversight of criminal justice agencies. Measures include:

  • Sending a clear signal about what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice system by placing the Victims’ Code into law.
  • Increasing transparency and oversight of criminal justice agencies’ services to victims, so that we can identify problems, drive up standards and give the public confidence.
  • Enabling improvements in the quality and consistency of support services for victims, by improving how organisations work together to commission support services to better meet the needs of victims and increasing awareness of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. We are also increasing the number of ISVAs and IDVAs we fund by 43% - from 700 to more than 1,000 by 2024/25.

We continue to deliver the Rape Review action plan to more than double the number of adult rape cases reaching court by the end of this parliament. In 2021, the number of convictions for rape offences was 67% higher than in 2020. We are:

  • Introducing a single source of 24/7 support for victims of rape and sexual abuse later this year.
  • Rolling out of a new investigatory model focusing on the suspect’s behaviour, Operation Soteria, which currently operates across five police forces and will be rolled out nationally by June 2023.
  • Expanding pre-recorded cross-examination (Section 28) for rape victims across England and Wales, which is currently available in almost half of all Crown Courts.
  • Launching a pilot of enhanced specialist sexual violence support in Crown Courts in Leeds, Newcastle, and Snaresbrook in London, to support rape victims to stay engaged in the process and get the justice they deserve.
  • Publishing the second local Criminal Justice System (CJS) Delivery Data Dashboard (formally called CJS scorecards) which bring together data from across the system to increase transparency, understanding of the justice system, and support collaboration.

Written Question
Crimes of Violence and Sexual Offences: Victims
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the court backlog on the wellbeing of victims of (a) sexual offences and (b) violent offences.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

We recognise the impact the pandemic has had on timeliness in the Crown Court and the adverse impact this can have on victims. The Government is committed to continuing to work to reduce waiting times for victims, witnesses and other court users.

The outstanding caseload in the Crown Court has reduced from around 60,700 cases in June 2021 to around 58,300 cases at the end of April 2022.

Thanks to measures we are taking, by the end of March 2023, we expect to get through 20% more Crown Court cases than we did pre-Covid. It is encouraging that latest data shows the average number of days for adult rape from CPS charge to the case being completed continued to fall, down by over 5 weeks, or 38 days (8.3 percent) since the peak in June 2021 – from 457 days, to 419 in October to December 2021.

On 16 June, we announced a pilot of enhanced specialist sexual violence support in the Crown Court. These court centres will be enabled with the technology to allow victims to give pre-recorded evidence, with court staff who have received trauma-informed training. Victims will also have access to Independent Sexual Violence Advisers – or ISVAs – to give them expert support and help guide them through the process.

We are also expanding pre-recorded cross-examination (Section 28) rollout to all Crown Court locations. this vital measure is now available in almost half of all Crown Court locations (37 locations) so victims don’t have to endure the glare of a live trial.

We are increasing MoJ funding for victims’ services to £192 million by 2024/25, more than quadruple the level in 2009/10, with £154 million of this committed for victim support on a multi-year basis. This will allow us to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers by 300 to 1,000 and introduce new key services like the 24/7 support for victims of rape and sexual violence.

To allow for more cases to be heard more quickly, we have extended 30 Nightingale courtrooms beyond the end of March 2022 and removed the limit on the number of sitting days the Crown Court can sit this financial year.

The listing of cases is a judicial function and judges continue to work to prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, such as serious sex cases.


Written Question
Community Orders
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of community sentences at reducing reoffending rates.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

This Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe by addressing the complex issues that lead to offending, while also strengthening the supervision of offenders in the community. Since 2009/10, the proven reoffending rate for adults serving a sentence in the community (i.e. a community order or suspended sentence order) has fallen by 7.2 percentage points (from 36.2% in 2009/10 to 29.0% in 2019/20). Over the same time period, the overall reoffending rate has fallen from 31% to 26%.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. Community sentences can and should be tailored to address the individual needs, as well as to punish offenders and provide reparation to the community. Evidence suggests that community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective in reducing reoffending than short custodial sentences.

In September 2020 we published the Sentencing White Paper which set out our plans for more robust and effective community sentencing. We have delivered many of these reforms in the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts (PCSC) Act 2022. This includes piloting Problem-Solving Courts (PSCs) which will trial innovative incentives and sanctions to improve compliance with court orders, reduce reoffending, and support rehabilitation. The PCSC Act also enables closer supervision of certain offenders, and the option for more robust and flexible use of electronically monitored curfews. The rollout of the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement last year provides an option to directly tackle alcohol related offending, imposing an alcohol ban for up to 120 days; on 97% of the days monitored the ban was complied with.


Written Question
Criminal Proceedings
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the timeliness of processing criminal court cases.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Government is committed to supporting recovery and improving timeliness across the court system. Over the next three financial years, we are investing an extra £477 million for the Criminal Justice System to help improve waiting times for victims of crime and reduce the Crown Court backlog to an estimated 53,000 cases by March 2025.

The outstanding caseload in the Crown Court has reduced from around 60,700 cases in June 2021 to around 58,300 cases at the end of April 2022.

By the end of March 2023, we expect to get through 20% more Crown Court cases than we did pre-Covid (117,000 in 2022/23 compared to 97,000 in 2019/20).

We have expanded the capacity of the Crown Court so that we are able to hear more cases. We have extended 30 Nightingale courtrooms beyond the end of March 2022, including 22 Crown courtrooms. We have also opened two new ‘super courtrooms’ in Manchester and Loughborough, allowing up to an extra 250 cases a year to be heard across England and Wales.

We have once again removed the limit on sitting days in the Crown Court for this financial year to allow courts to work at full capacity, delivering swifter justice for victims and reducing the backlog of cases.

We are expanding our plans for judicial recruitment to secure enough capacity to sit at the required levels in 2022/2023 and beyond.

We have published the Criminal Justice Delivery Data Dashboard which brings together local and national data from across the system on key priority areas to increase transparency, increase understanding of the justice system and support collaboration, particularly at a local level.

The dashboard measures progress against priority areas such as improving timeliness, increasing victim engagement and improving the quality of justice. For the adult rape dashboard, we also measure progress against the Rape Review ambition to more than double the number of adult rape cases reaching the court by the end of Parliament.

We are also implementing our Court Reform programme, which aims to make our court processes more efficient, meaning we can get through more cases in fewer sitting days.


Written Question
Coroners: West Sussex
Monday 23rd May 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will permit the West Sussex Coroner to hold inquests, without the final accident report, of the eight British victims of the Boeing 737 MAX ET302 air crash of 10 March 2019.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

I would like to offer my sincere condolences to all those who lost loved ones in the Ethiopian Airlines air crash on 10 March 2019.

The Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy. Coroners are independent judicial office holders and the way in which they conduct their investigations and inquests, including the evidence which is considered, is a matter solely for them to determine in accordance with the principle of judicial independence which applies to all courts and tribunals.


Written Question
Custody: Fathers
Wednesday 5th January 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that fathers going through custody proceedings are adequately supported.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

We know the difficulties parents can face in continuing a relationship with their child following parental separation, which is why this Government is committed to ensuring that all parents can get the support they need to access the justice system across England and Wales.

Since 2015, the Ministry of Justice’s Litigants In Person Support Strategy has provided close to £9m to fund a range of services to support individuals. This includes funding for: LawWorks - a charity committed to enabling access to justice to individuals in need of advice, who are not eligible for legal aid and are without the means to pay for a lawyer; Advocate - providers of pro bono legal work for litigants in person, including written advice and representation up to Court of Appeal; Royal Courts of Justice Advice - which provides free legal advice for those with civil or family cases in court; and Advicenow - a not for profit website for litigants in person offering guides and resources.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service also works closely with the charity ‘Support Through Court’, who offer practical, procedural and emotional support to all parents facing court without legal representation. Support Through Court is based at 16 courts locations in England and Wales, and also offers a national helpline.

In addition, we are currently in the second year of the two-year, £3.1m Legal Support for Litigants in Person Grant (LSLIP). Launched in April 2020, the grant has enabled local and regional partnerships to be formed which have been fundamental in increasing collaboration between neighbouring services to enhance the advice and support available for litigants in person, including parents.


Written Question
Custody: Fathers
Wednesday 5th January 2022

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the mental health needs of fathers who are going through custody proceedings.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

We know the difficulties parents can face in continuing a relationship with their child following parental separation, which is why this Government is committed to ensuring that all parents can get the support they need to access the justice system across England and Wales.

Since 2015, the Ministry of Justice’s Litigants In Person Support Strategy has provided close to £9m to fund a range of services to support individuals. This includes funding for: LawWorks - a charity committed to enabling access to justice to individuals in need of advice, who are not eligible for legal aid and are without the means to pay for a lawyer; Advocate - providers of pro bono legal work for litigants in person, including written advice and representation up to Court of Appeal; Royal Courts of Justice Advice - which provides free legal advice for those with civil or family cases in court; and Advicenow - a not for profit website for litigants in person offering guides and resources.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service also works closely with the charity ‘Support Through Court’, who offer practical, procedural and emotional support to all parents facing court without legal representation. Support Through Court is based at 16 courts locations in England and Wales, and also offers a national helpline.

In addition, we are currently in the second year of the two-year, £3.1m Legal Support for Litigants in Person Grant (LSLIP). Launched in April 2020, the grant has enabled local and regional partnerships to be formed which have been fundamental in increasing collaboration between neighbouring services to enhance the advice and support available for litigants in person, including parents.