Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has been made of the average waiting time for a First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum); and whether he plans to take steps to reduce this wait.
Answered by Mike Freer
Information about waiting times for appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (IAC) is routinely published at: Tribunals statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and HMCTS management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The latest period for which data is available is July to September 2023 (Tribunal Statistics) and December 2023 (HMCTS Management Information). Data for the period October to December 2023 (Tribunal Statistics) will be published on 14 March 2024.
HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology.
We continue to monitor and review the demand on the First-tier Tribunal (IAC) and will work with the judiciary and HMCTS on any further actions that may be needed.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average turnaround time is for access codes to be checked when dealing with enquiries where a claimant is subject to Power of Attorney.
Answered by Mike Freer
When a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) application is registered and dispatched, the donor and attorneys also receive information containing an activation key. This activation key enables the donor and attorneys to create a gov.uk account for the ‘Use my LPA’ service. Using the service, donors and attorneys can create an access code and share it with third parties (e.g. banks, hospitals, other government departments). Third parties can then use the access code to view the LPA online and check if the LPA is valid or not.
The access code is valid for 30 days, after which point the donor or attorneys can request a new access code if the third party has not viewed the LPA during that period. The donor and/or attorneys can see online if the third party has viewed the LPA.
The ‘Use my LPA’ service which donors or attorneys use to create access codes is a live digital service. Third parties then using the code to view LPAs is also a live digital service. There are therefore no average turnaround times for needing to check access codes.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183105 on Family Courts: Standards, how many judicial sitting days there were in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23; and how many judges were recruited in each of those years.
Answered by Mike Freer
Sitting Days
The number of sitting days in the Family Court and Family Division of the High Court is published in table 9.2 of the following link up to the end of 2022: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1159934/Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Annual_Tables-_2022.ods.
Data for 2023 is due for publication next year. Despite the decrease between 2022 and 2021, the number of sitting days in 2022 was the second highest since 2011 and over 10,000 more than in 2019 pre pandemic.
Recruitment
Family judges are generally from the district and circuit bench, for which there is annual recruitment of salaried judges and every 18 months for fee paid judges. Dependent on the timing of the recruitment, judges may start sitting in the following year. Judges appointed to the district bench generally cover both Civil and Family jurisdictions. Circuit bench judges are specifically appointed to either Civil, Family or Crime.
For 2021/22, the number of judges recommended to the appropriate authority for appointment in Circuit, District, Deputy District and Recorder roles can be found in Table 2.1 of the Diversity of the Judiciary: 2022 statistics (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/diversity-of-the-judiciary-2022-statistics).
For 2022/23, the number recommended to the appropriate authority for appointment to these roles can be found in, again, Table 2.1 of the Diversity of the Judiciary: 2023 statistics (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/diversity-of-the-judiciary-2023-statistics).
This regular recruitment has led to a steady increase in judicial capacity across the circuit and district bench. Further appointments have been made during 2023/24 and will be published in July 2024.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many translators work at HMP (a) Huntercombe, (b) Maidstone and (c) Morton Hall as of 16 October 2023; and what languages those translators speak.
Answered by Damian Hinds
There are no translators employed in prisons on a permanent basis. The Ministry of Justice Language Service Contract provides face-to-face and telephone interpretation services for prisons, on a case-by-case basis, on request.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have absconded from prisons since 1 January 2023, broken down by the offence for which they were imprisoned.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The data requested is published via the following link on a financial year basis, the latest year was 2022-23: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-april-2022-to-march-2023. The data for the remainder of 2023 will be published in July 2024.
Public protection is our top priority. When a prisoner absconds, police are immediately notified and are responsible for locating the offender. The majority of absconders are quickly recaptured and returned to custody.
The number of absconds in 2022-23 was 34% lower than the previous year and 77% lower than in 2009-2010.
Those who abscond face serious consequences, including being returned to closed prison conditions where they may serve up to two additional years on conviction. Prisoners subject to parole decisions will likely face longer before they are released.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the prisoner capacity is at HMP (a) Huntercombe, (b) Maidstone and (c) Morton Hall as of 16 October 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The population, operational capacity and certified normal accommodation (CNA) level of every prison is published monthly: Prison population figures: 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
HMP Huntercombe, HMP Maidstone and HMP Morton Hall are the three foreign national offenders (FNO) only prisons within HMPPS. They hold only those of interest to the Home Office with between 3 and 36 months left to serve. They include embedded Home Office staff with better access to FNOs to facilitate effective deportations.
The table below provides the operational capacity and certified normal accommodation level at (a) HMP Huntercombe, (b) HMP Maidstone and (c) HMP Morton Hall on 16 October 2023.
| CNA | Operational Capacity |
Huntercombe | 369 | 480 |
Maidstone | 565 | 613 |
Morton Hall | 353 | 353 |
The Operational Capacity of a prison is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. It is determined by the Prison Group Directors on the basis of operational judgement and experience.
We are committed to increasing the number of FNOs removed from our prisons, and all FNOs sentenced to custody are referred to us at the earliest opportunity to be considered for deportation.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU on UK citizens who are subject to legal proceedings in an EU country.
Answered by Mike Freer
If a UK citizen is subject to civil or criminal proceedings in an EU country, then that country’s domestic laws continue to apply as they did before the UK’s exit, unless an international instrument applies. In legacy cases, the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement may require the application of certain EU rules.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many unpaid (a) employment tribunal awards and (b) ACAS settlements were passed to High Court Enforcement Officers in each financial year since 2010-11; and how many of those unpaid awards and settlements (i) have been fully enforced; (ii) could not be enforced and (iii) remain unresolved.
Answered by Mike Freer
Proceedings to enforce Employment Tribunal awards can be issued in the Kings Bench Division of the High Court. These proceedings take the form of a writ of control which is then forwarded to a High Court Enforcement officer to enforce.
The number of writs that have been issued in the King’s Bench Division for the calendar years 2019 to 2021 is as follows:
2019 – 32
2020 – 7
2021 – 22
The figures provided form a subset of the writs of fifa (also known as writs of control) which are published publish in table 4.6 of the RCJ publication found here. Data up to the end of 2022 will be published on 1st June so is subject to pre-release protocol. We can only provide the data up to 2021 on this occasion
Data from 2010 to 2018 is not available. Kings Bench Division records do not distinguish between awards made at the end of Tribunal Proceedings and those cases that settled during the process. The High Court is not notified of the outcome of writs sent to High Court Enforcement Officers for enforcement.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2023 to Question 152246 on Family Courts: Standards, what steps his Department is taking to reduce those waiting times.
Answered by Mike Freer
Reducing the waiting times in the family courts remains a priority for this Department.
To work through the outstanding caseload, we are maximising judicial sitting days. We are recruiting around 1,000 judges and tribunal members in 2023/24 to help hear more cases and reduce family court waiting times.
In March 2021 the Government launched the Mediation Voucher Scheme. As of April 2023, the scheme has helped over 17,000 families to access mediation and resolve their issues away from the family court.
In March of this year, the Government published a consultation on supporting families to reach agreements earlier and more amicably, where appropriate to do so. Key proposals include families completing a co-parenting programme and attempting to mediate before they make an application to court. These proposals will help more parents resolve their issues earlier, allowing the resources of the family courts to remain focused on the families and children who are most in need of the court’s involvement.
The Family Justice Board, which brings together leaders from across the family justice system and is co-chaired by MoJ and DfE ministers, has introduced a strategic plan to deliver on their priorities of minimising delays in the family courts. We are working on a package of measures to reduce demand and increase efficiencies in private law cases, and are supporting public law projects to tackle the delays.
We are also working to support the President of the Family Division following the relaunch of the Public Law Outline, to improve timeliness of public law cases and return to the 26-week target for concluding cases.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2023 to Question 156177 on Ministry of Justice: Minimum Wage, what the total value was of those companies' contracts.
Answered by Mike Freer
The value of the relevant contracts are:
- Calor Gas, £307,000. Reference https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/134be1dc-a93f-4fc0-8159-c39aae7a3c2f?origin=SearchResults&p=1(opens in a new tab).
- Centre Circle Event Management Ltd, £45,000. Reference https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/8ba63863-9e53-4f4d-8553-fcc32a38ea58?origin=SearchResults&p=1(opens in a new tab).
Our arrangement with Hays is a call-off arrangement with no guaranteed level of commitment, Call Off Contract from Public Sector Resourcing (PSR) - Contracts Finder.
As previously noted, all the arrears identified has been cleared and adjustments made to the administrative processes of each company.