Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support (a) under the Litigants in Person Support Strategy and (b) through the additional grant funding announced in February 2019 will be offered to (i) victims of domestic abuse and (ii) other people from the North West Durham constituency participating in family court proceedings in (A) Durham and (B) Darlington.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Since 2014-15, MoJ has invested almost £6.5 million of funding to support litigants in person in the civil and family courts through the Litigants in Person Support Strategy. The strategy works with a range of partners across England and Wales in the advice, voluntary and pro bono sectors to provide practical support for litigants in person. This includes online and self-help resources, as well as access to free or affordable legal advice and representation, where possible. For example, the Support Strategy continues to work with with the North East Law Centre in Newcastle Upon-Tyne to extend its reach and receive referrals from across the region, including from non-specialist services such as GP surgeries, and increase awareness of the expert advice available to litigants in person in the area.
In February 2019, we published the Legal Support Action Plan which included a commitment to enhancing support for litigants in person. This will be achieved by increasing the funding provided to the Litigants in Person Support Strategy to £3m a year, for the next two years. We are particularly interested in focusing this additional investment on broadening the evidence base on how the services we are delivering to litigants in person can be made even more effective.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the demand for legal aid for immigration cases.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Government is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the impact of the legal aid changes made under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. An assessment of the impact of recent changes to the provision of legal aid for non-asylum immigration cases will be made as part of the review process.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effect of changes in funding for legal aid on the level of people's access to advice and assistance on immigration issues; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Government is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the impact of the legal aid changes made under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. An assessment of the impact of recent changes to the provision of legal aid for non-asylum immigration cases will be made as part of the review process.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of prison officers on sick leave due to mental health difficulties.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In the 12 months to 31 December 2017, there were 1,561 band 3-5 prison officers who were on sick leave due to mental and behavioural disorders.
HMPPS is committed to providing safe, decent and secure places of work and takes the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees extremely seriously.
HMPPS also recognises that the physical, emotional and social wellbeing of employees is paramount to attracting and retaining staff that will build a strong and capable organisation. All HMPPS staff have access to an occupational health service and employee assistance programme. This includes 24 hour, 365 days a year access to signposting and counselling; trauma support services; a wide ranging health promotion website and personal wellbeing zone.
As well as access to comprehensive occupational health services and self-referral for confidential counselling, specialist counselling such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is also available to staff who have experienced trauma. Fast track referrals to see an occupational health nurse are encouraged for staff who have experienced trauma and where staff are absent as a result of a mental and behavioural disorder an immediate referral to occupational health is recommended.
Care teams, comprising of prison service staff, provide an immediate source of peer support and signpost staff to all of the services available.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions have been brought for the use of illegal car registration plates in each year since 2010.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Department for Transport are responsible for the policy and legislation governing vehicle registration numbers, which must be displayed in accordance with the legal requirements contained in the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001.
Data on offences committed under the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 are not reported centrally to the Ministry of Justice. Such information may be held by the individual courts in England and Wales but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.