Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the contribution of the Government Legal Department to levelling up in the North West.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Government Legal Department (GLD) lawyers are engaged in helping to shape and deliver the legislation required to support levelling up, including the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and supporting the implementation of the Levelling Up Fund and Town Partnerships.
The GLD is actively growing its presence in the North West. The Attorney and I were delighted to open the new GLD office in Manchester earlier this month.
In addition to recruiting qualified lawyers and other professionals into the Manchester office, GLD are committed to offering traineeships and legal apprenticeships there as the office grows. To support this, they are undertaking targeted outreach activity in the region to help raise the profile of the GLD and highlight opportunities to join at all stages of a legal career.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the CPS in handling cases where the defendant has a mental health condition or disorder.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The CPS has made a number of recent improvements in its handling of cases involving defendants with a mental health condition or disorder, which has included new and refreshed training for prosecutors, and better information sharing with other criminal justice agencies.
Every CPS Area also has at least one single point of contact (SPOC) for mental health, who provide advice and support prosecutors in making decisions on complex cases involving mental health issues.
In addition, the CPS is also developing a mental health flag for its case management system, which will help to identify those with mental health needs and ensure that their cases get the specialist attention they require.
This good work was recognised in a Criminal Justice Joint Inspection report published in November 2021.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the steps taken by the CPS to offer apprenticeship opportunities to young people.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The CPS has a strong record of outreach programmes to engage young people in its work, and to promote career opportunities, including through apprenticeships.
The CPS has over 470 apprentices currently enrolled or waiting to be enrolled onto programmes across England and Wales, with 261 having started their qualification in the last 12 months.
The CPS has also consistently met the Cabinet Office apprenticeship target, which aims to ensure apprentices represent 2.3% of the workforce. At the end of December 2021, apprentices comprised 4.1% of the CPS workforce.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government Legal Department.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Within an ever-evolving and challenging context – which has included continuing to support the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the negotiation of new international agreements, COP26, the Northern Ireland Protocol, the challenges around energy supply to name a few – GLD continues to provide first class legal services across Whitehall.
Despite these pressures, GLD have continued to meet all three of the key performance measures they have agreed with HMT, reflecting their continued commitment to high professional standards and providing an excellent service to clients. Last year:
Moreover, GLD’s performed well against the eight challenging priorities set out in their Business Plan 2021-22.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Serious Fraud Office in recovering the proceeds of crime.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The SFO continues to perform well in recovering proceeds of crime. It has a specialist division, dedicated solely to proceeds of crime casework, including restraint and confiscation, civil recovery, and money laundering investigations and prosecutions.
In 2019-20, over £13m in financial orders were obtained by the SFO. In 2020-21, over £7.3m in financial orders were obtained.
Annual asset recovery figures published by the Home Office show that in 2020-21, the SFO recovered the fourth highest amount of the 100+ UK agencies that recover the proceeds of crime, and they also placed fourth over the entire six years that the data covers. This is a remarkable achievement for what is a relatively small organisation.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the performance of the CPS in Cheshire East constituency.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Recent performance data shows that the conviction rate for CPS Mersey-Cheshire in the Cheshire Police Force Area is above with national average, with 87.1% of prosecutions resulting in a conviction.
As part of their ongoing Area Inspection Programme, Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) are currently conducting an inspection on the performance of CPS Mersey-Cheshire and will publish the report on the Area in the coming months.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking to ensure that revised Guidelines on Disclosure will result in improved performance across the criminal justice system.
Answered by Suella Braverman
Effective disclosure is a vital part of the criminal justice process and inseparable from the right to a fair trial.
I am currently undertaking the first Annual Review of Disclosure to assess how my revised Disclosure Guidelines, instituted in January 2021, are operating. The Solicitor General and I have been meeting with key disclosure stakeholders from a range of geographic areas and professions to hear feedback on the Guidelines.
Regular monitoring ensures all those involved in disclosure across the criminal justice system are working together and prioritising a cross-system approach. It also allows me to support efficient disclosure practice at the front-line.
I am committed to making the disclosure process an efficient and effective one, and I see the Guidelines as a practical document which can offer principled, clear and useful guidance to all those involved in disclosure.