Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Government plans to bring forward legislation to reform the law relating to marital contracts.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Government is carefully considering the Law Commission’s proposals for qualifying nuptial agreements in the context of broader work on private family law.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on Action 36 of the UK Anti-Corruption plan, published in December 2014, relating to corporate criminal liability.
Answered by Mike Penning
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Gower on 28th September 2015, which can be found at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-09-09/9735/
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the effect of the proposed merger of the South and West Cambridgeshire and North and East Cambridgeshire and Peterborough coroner areas on the time taken for completion of investigations and inquests.
Answered by Simon Hughes
The Ministry of Justice and the Chief Coroner are clear that the amalgamation of coroner areas, usually after Senior Coroner retirements, improves the consistency and standard of services and can deliver savings.
The Ministry of Justice is currently carrying out a consultation to assess the impact of the proposed amalgamation of the South and West Cambridgeshire, North and East Cambridgeshire and Peterborough coroner areas. All individuals and organisations identified as being potentially affected by the merger have been invited to respond. We will consider all responses after the consultation closes on Monday, 16 February.
The table below sets out the number of senior coroners (formerly “coroners”), Assistant Coroners (formerly “deputy or assistant deputy coroners”) and coroner’s officers in the South and West Cambridgeshire, North and East Cambridgeshire and Peterborough coroner areas and in the proposed amalgamated area.
| South and West Cambridgeshire | North and East Cambridgeshire | Peterborough | Proposed amalgamated area |
No. of Senior Coroners | 1 part-time | 1 part-time | 1 part-time | 1 full-time |
No. of Assistant Coroners | 3 | 3 (1 also covers South and West Cambridgeshire) | 2 | 5 |
Number of Coroner’s Officers | 5 (shared across the two Cambridgeshire areas) | 2 | 7 | |
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) coroners, (b) deputy coroners and (c) coroner's staff are employed in (i) South and West Cambridgeshire and (ii) North and East Cambridgeshire and Peterborough coroner areas; and what estimate he has made of how many such employees will be working in the new area after the proposed merger of those areas.
Answered by Simon Hughes
The Ministry of Justice and the Chief Coroner are clear that the amalgamation of coroner areas, usually after Senior Coroner retirements, improves the consistency and standard of services and can deliver savings.
The Ministry of Justice is currently carrying out a consultation to assess the impact of the proposed amalgamation of the South and West Cambridgeshire, North and East Cambridgeshire and Peterborough coroner areas. All individuals and organisations identified as being potentially affected by the merger have been invited to respond. We will consider all responses after the consultation closes on Monday, 16 February.
The table below sets out the number of senior coroners (formerly “coroners”), Assistant Coroners (formerly “deputy or assistant deputy coroners”) and coroner’s officers in the South and West Cambridgeshire, North and East Cambridgeshire and Peterborough coroner areas and in the proposed amalgamated area.
| South and West Cambridgeshire | North and East Cambridgeshire | Peterborough | Proposed amalgamated area |
No. of Senior Coroners | 1 part-time | 1 part-time | 1 part-time | 1 full-time |
No. of Assistant Coroners | 3 | 3 (1 also covers South and West Cambridgeshire) | 2 | 5 |
Number of Coroner’s Officers | 5 (shared across the two Cambridgeshire areas) | 2 | 7 | |
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to provide an initial response to the Law Commission's report, Matrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements, published in March 2014.
Answered by Simon Hughes
In line with the terms of the protocol we have with the Law Commission, I submitted my preliminary views on the recommendations in the report to the Law Commissioner in March. In September 2014 the Government proposed to the Law Commission that a final response should be given in the next Parliament. This will allow the next Government to give the proposals full consideration without the current pressures on Parliamentary time. The Family Justice Council is also carrying out further work to clarify the meaning of ‘financial need’ in divorce cases. This will include the Council producing guidance for separating couples to help them understand the likely outcomes of their case. We expect this to be completed by the end of the year