Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with the Office of the Chief Coroner on the recording of known veterans as such in inquests where the verdict is one of suicide.
Answered by Edward Argar
Any suicide is a tragedy, and we take the welfare of our brave service men and women extremely seriously.
For data on suicides amongst veterans to be of value, the information collected must be reliable, consistent and comprehensive. It is not possible to achieve this through coroners’ inquest conclusions for a number of practical and administrative reasons, including the parameters of the coroner’s role.
Ministry of Justice officials have talked to colleagues in the Chief Coroner’s Office about the issues to do with coroners recording whether the deceased had ever served in the armed forces.
Ministers from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence have not explicitly discussed coroners accessing information held by other government departments in suicide cases, but have on several occasions discussed the issue of veterans in inquests. More widely, the Government recognises the need to gather data on veterans in the criminal justice system. The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with the Ministry of Defence and other government departments to explore how we can further this objective.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on enabling coroners to access departmental information to determine whether a person on whom an inquest has been held where the verdict was suicide was a veteran.
Answered by Edward Argar
Any suicide is a tragedy, and we take the welfare of our brave service men and women extremely seriously.
For data on suicides amongst veterans to be of value, the information collected must be reliable, consistent and comprehensive. It is not possible to achieve this through coroners’ inquest conclusions for a number of practical and administrative reasons, including the parameters of the coroner’s role.
Ministry of Justice officials have talked to colleagues in the Chief Coroner’s Office about the issues to do with coroners recording whether the deceased had ever served in the armed forces.
Ministers from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence have not explicitly discussed coroners accessing information held by other government departments in suicide cases, but have on several occasions discussed the issue of veterans in inquests. More widely, the Government recognises the need to gather data on veterans in the criminal justice system. The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with the Ministry of Defence and other government departments to explore how we can further this objective.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Edward Argar
For the Ministry of Justice, as at 21/02/2019, there are 587 members of staff undertaking an apprenticeship programme which equates to 1% of total staff.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will undertake an investigation into compliance with the Judicial Code of Conduct in relation to the trial at Preston Crown Court of Simon Blevins, Richard Roberts and Richard Loizou.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
It would not be appropriate for me or any other government minister to comment on cases which are, or have been, before the courts. Anyone who wishes to make a complaint of judicial misconduct may do so to the independent Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. The Guide to Judicial Conduct, which sets out the standards of conduct expected of judges, is publicly available at: https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/guide-to-judicial-conduct/
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Judge in the trial at Preston Crown Court in relation to Simon Blevins, Richard Roberts and Richard Loizou sought advice from (a) his Department and (b) the Attorney General on the requirements of the Judicial Code of Conduct in relation to family connections.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
It would not be appropriate for me or any other government minister to comment on cases which are, or have been, before the courts. Anyone who wishes to make a complaint of judicial misconduct may do so to the independent Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. The Guide to Judicial Conduct, which sets out the standards of conduct expected of judges, is publicly available at: https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/guide-to-judicial-conduct/
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the guidance issued by his Department on the duty of care required of justices under the judicial code of conduct when presiding over a case where the circumstances involve industries in which the judge's family members have a financial interest.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
It would not be appropriate for me or any other government minister to comment on cases which are, or have been, before the courts. Anyone who wishes to make a complaint of judicial misconduct may do so to the independent Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. The Guide to Judicial Conduct, which sets out the standards of conduct expected of judges, is publicly available at: https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/guide-to-judicial-conduct/
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of the staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Phillip Lee
There are currently 120 staff employed as apprentices in MoJ as part of the Fast Track programme. In addition, there are 104 members of staff undertaking an apprenticeship programme as part of their development. This equates to approximately 0.3% of workforce based on a headcount of 67,000. There are also 119 applications pending from staff wanting to complete an apprenticeship programme.
Plans are in place to deliver the target of 2.3% of workforce undertaking an apprenticeship programme by the end of 19/20.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has for prisoners to receive professional and impartial careers advice once the current provision from the National Careers Service ends on 1 April 2018.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We are working to put in place an alternative approach to commissioning information, advice and guidance as part of our wider reforms of education - one that will encourage more joined up delivery of learning and employment guidance and support. This will support the prisoner from the beginning of their sentence and throughout their journey.
With the experienced Offender Learning and Skills Service providers, the DWP work coaches and the Community Rehabilitation Companies there will continue to be a range of employment support and guidance services for prisoners.
We are committed to providing education and training to deliver more effective rehabilitation to address the needs of offenders.
The Education Skills Funding Agency National Careers Service contract for services in custody ends in March 2018.
We are reviewing options for alternative provision as part of wider employment services. This will give governors further control over how their education and training offer is delivered.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2015 to Question 1761, how many staff of what grade are embedded in each Community Rehabilitation Company; and what training such staff have received for overseeing enhanced redundancy schemes.
Answered by Andrew Selous
Modernisation funding was allocated to the Ministry of Justice by HM Treasury in 2014/15 to bring about sustainable reductions in resource requirements across the Ministry. Some of this funding was made available for voluntary redundancies in Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). Of this, £16.4m was spent on voluntary exit packages in 2014/15 and the remainder was allocated to CRCs on a pro-rata basis, based on their size and estimated future staffing requirements.
Each Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) is managed by a Contract Management Team (CMT), headed by a Senior Contract Manager and comprising staff with commercial, contract management and operational expertise to ensure a multi-disciplinary approach. The size of teams reflects the size of the contract being managed. While it is for CRC owners to implement and oversee redundancy schemes, CMTs are ensuring that CRC owners adhere to their contractual obligations in this area. CMTs are able to draw upon commercial, financial and legal expertise from within the wider Ministry in delivering this role.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2015 to Question 1763, what the total cash value was of the Modernisation Fund; and how much of that fund was taken and distributed to Community Rehabilitation Companies for enhanced redundancy schemes following the privatisation of probation services.
Answered by Andrew Selous
Modernisation funding was allocated to the Ministry of Justice by HM Treasury in 2014/15 to bring about sustainable reductions in resource requirements across the Ministry. Some of this funding was made available for voluntary redundancies in Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). Of this, £16.4m was spent on voluntary exit packages in 2014/15 and the remainder was allocated to CRCs on a pro-rata basis, based on their size and estimated future staffing requirements.
Each Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) is managed by a Contract Management Team (CMT), headed by a Senior Contract Manager and comprising staff with commercial, contract management and operational expertise to ensure a multi-disciplinary approach. The size of teams reflects the size of the contract being managed. While it is for CRC owners to implement and oversee redundancy schemes, CMTs are ensuring that CRC owners adhere to their contractual obligations in this area. CMTs are able to draw upon commercial, financial and legal expertise from within the wider Ministry in delivering this role.