Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to publish the HM Courts and Tribunals Service workload weekly management information for SSCS Tribunals for the period from December 2019 onwards.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following a move to a new operational system, new data extracts are under development to facilitate the production of Social Security and Child Support Tribunal datasets. These new datasets are currently undergoing stringent quality assurance checks before the data can be released into the public domain.
Once this data assurance has been completed these datasets will be released in the Ministry of Justice Official Published Statistics and in the published Management Information as they become available.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the HM Courts and Tribunals Service workload weekly management information for SSCS Tribunals has not been published in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following a move to a new operational system, new data extracts are under development to facilitate the production of Social Security and Child Support Tribunal datasets. These new datasets are currently undergoing stringent quality assurance checks before the data can be released into the public domain.
Once this data assurance has been completed these datasets will be released in the Ministry of Justice Official Published Statistics and in the published Management Information as they become available.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to extend the period of validity for notices of marriage for weddings unable to take place as a result of the covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We understand the frustration couples who have had to postpone their wedding or civil partnership must be feeling.
The requirement to solemnize a marriage within twelve months of giving notice to marry is set out in primary legislation, which does not provide for extending this period. It would require primary legislation to change this and we continue to explore potential legislative opportunities. In the meantime, the fees charged by local authorities for giving notice can be reduced, waived or refunded on compassionate grounds or in cases of hardship. It is for each local authority to determine when this can be applied.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that court hearings for breaches of non-molestation orders take place promptly during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
HMCTS is working closely with the Judiciary and criminal justice agencies to ensure cases that need to be prioritised can be.
Domestic Violence Protection Orders and Non-Molestation orders have been placed in the highest category of work in the magistrates’ and family courts for urgent hearings.
The prioritisation of cases and trials is a judicial decision and the senior judiciary has issued the following guidance:
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of offences relating to the misuse of fireworks in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Court data held on prosecutions summarises into specific offence categories. There is not a combined group of fireworks offences, but there are some individual detailed offences that relate specifically to fireworks for which data is available. For example, ‘Possessing fireworks etc. in, or when entering, a designated sports ground’ and ‘Throwing or firing any fireworks in or into a street’. Numbers of prosecutions and convictions for these offences are published here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738814/HO-Code-Tool-2017.xlsx |
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time for personal independence payments tribunals in Alyn and Deeside constituency was in each of the last four years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The volume of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals made to the tribunal has built up since it was introduced as a new benefit in 2013. As the number, and age, of appeals lodged increased so has the average waiting time.
Waiting times generally can fluctuate temporarily and geographically, owing to a number of variable factors, including volumes of benefit decisions made locally, availability of medical/disability members, and venue capacity. Any disparity in waiting times is monitored and investigated locally.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has been working with the tribunal’s judiciary to identify initiatives with potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal, including reviewing current listing practices to increase the number of PIP cases being able to be listed on a session. We are also in the process of recruiting over 350 judicial office holders to provide long term capacity in the tribunal.
The average waiting time for PIP appeals in each of the last four years, in the Alyn and Deeside constituency, is set out below.
The average time (weeks[1]) from receipt in HMCTS to outcome for PIP[2] Appeals | |
Year3 | Alyn and Deeside4 |
2013/145 | 9.8 |
2014/15 | 12.5 |
2015/16 | 17 |
2016/17 | 17 |
[1] Average Clearance Time - time taken from appeal receipt to outcome. This includes both those cleared at hearing and those cleared without the need for a tribunal hearing.
2 Personal Independence Payments (New Claim Appeals), which replaced Disability Living Allowance from 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Claims (Reassessments).
3 The table shows information in the financial year April to March.
4 First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) appeals for Alyn and Deeside constituents are heard in the Chester venue.
5 There were fewer than five PIP appeals disposed of at the Chester venue in 2013/14 and as such the waiting time may not be representative of average waiting time.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data available.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons waiting times for personal independent payment tribunals have increased over the last four years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The volume of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals made to the tribunal has built up since it was introduced as a new benefit in 2013. As the number, and age, of appeals lodged increased so has the average waiting time.
Waiting times generally can fluctuate temporarily and geographically, owing to a number of variable factors, including volumes of benefit decisions made locally, availability of medical/disability members, and venue capacity. Any disparity in waiting times is monitored and investigated locally.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has been working with the tribunal’s judiciary to identify initiatives with potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal, including reviewing current listing practices to increase the number of PIP cases being able to be listed on a session. We are also in the process of recruiting over 350 judicial office holders to provide long term capacity in the tribunal.
The average waiting time for PIP appeals in each of the last four years, in the Alyn and Deeside constituency, is set out below.
The average time (weeks[1]) from receipt in HMCTS to outcome for PIP[2] Appeals | |
Year3 | Alyn and Deeside4 |
2013/145 | 9.8 |
2014/15 | 12.5 |
2015/16 | 17 |
2016/17 | 17 |
[1] Average Clearance Time - time taken from appeal receipt to outcome. This includes both those cleared at hearing and those cleared without the need for a tribunal hearing.
2 Personal Independence Payments (New Claim Appeals), which replaced Disability Living Allowance from 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Claims (Reassessments).
3 The table shows information in the financial year April to March.
4 First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) appeals for Alyn and Deeside constituents are heard in the Chester venue.
5 There were fewer than five PIP appeals disposed of at the Chester venue in 2013/14 and as such the waiting time may not be representative of average waiting time.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data available.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many personal independence payment assessment decisions have been overturned at tribunal stage since 1 January 2017.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Data from 1 January 2017 have not yet been published.
Information about the number and outcomes of Social Security and Child Support appeals is published on gov.uk. The most recent statistics, for the period October to December 2016, can be viewed at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2016.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Decision Notice of 14 May 2013 on the extension of the reserved legal activities, what steps he is taking to educate consumers on (a) the different types of providers, (b) their respective protections and (c) options for redress.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
In the Lord Chancellor's Decision Notice of 14 May 2013, as well as confirming that he had decided not to make will writing a reserved legal activity, he indicated that further efforts should be made to see if alternatives to regulation could be made more effective in improving standards in relation to will writing.
Since then, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has taken a number of steps, with the intention of encouraging and supporting measures to improve standards, in both the regulated and unregulated legal service sectors.
In relation to the regulated sector, the LSB has written to the approved regulators, to encourage them to take steps to address concerns about the quality of will writing by authorised persons. In May 2014, the Solicitors Regulation Authority issued guidance for solicitors on will-writing.
In relation to the unregulated sector, the LSB convened a roundtable with industry stakeholders, including leading will writing trade bodies, in January 2014, to explore ways to improve the coverage and effectiveness of voluntary schemes and codes. At this roundtable, the LSB and stakeholders also discussed how to improve consumer information, to better educate consumers about the differences between regulated and unregulated will providers, and related protections and redress routes.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Decision Notice of 14 May 2013 on the extension of the reserved legal activities, what new guidance he has issued on will writing for the legal profession.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
In the Lord Chancellor's Decision Notice of 14 May 2013, as well as confirming that he had decided not to make will writing a reserved legal activity, he indicated that further efforts should be made to see if alternatives to regulation could be made more effective in improving standards in relation to will writing.
Since then, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has taken a number of steps, with the intention of encouraging and supporting measures to improve standards, in both the regulated and unregulated legal service sectors.
In relation to the regulated sector, the LSB has written to the approved regulators, to encourage them to take steps to address concerns about the quality of will writing by authorised persons. In May 2014, the Solicitors Regulation Authority issued guidance for solicitors on will-writing.
In relation to the unregulated sector, the LSB convened a roundtable with industry stakeholders, including leading will writing trade bodies, in January 2014, to explore ways to improve the coverage and effectiveness of voluntary schemes and codes. At this roundtable, the LSB and stakeholders also discussed how to improve consumer information, to better educate consumers about the differences between regulated and unregulated will providers, and related protections and redress routes.