Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of backlogs at County Courts; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in hearing cases.
Answered by Gareth Johnson
The civil courts play a crucial role in ensuring citizens have access to justice and in supporting the economy and growth. The Government is committed to resolving cases quickly and improving timeliness in our courts, ensuring that claims are dealt with appropriately and proportionately according to their complexity and value.
£1.3 billion has been invested to transform the justice system; introducing 21st Century technology and online services to increase access to justice and improve efficiency. We will spend a further £324 million over the next three years to improve timeliness in civil and family courts and tribunals. We are maximising the number of sitting days utilised across the civil jurisdiction and that appropriate administrative, and staffing is in place.
The Ministry of Justice is also taking forward proposals to ensure the early and consensual resolution of disputes where appropriate, ensuring that court resources are focused on cases that require a judgment.
Since May 2021, for example, over 300,000 claims for low-value road traffic accident personal injury claims have been made on the online Official Injury Claim service run by the Motor Insurance Bureau for the Ministry of Justice. We are also currently consulting on Increasing the use of mediation in the civil justice system, including proposing the introduction of compulsory mediation for all defended small claims.
These reforms mean a large number of cases will potentially be resolved outside the formal court process reducing both throughput and backlogs in our courts.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to (a) his Department and (b) HM Courts & Tribunal Service was of administering appeals in the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal in each year since 2012-13 for (i) all cases, (ii) Work Capability Assessment cases and (iii) Personal Independent Payment decision cases.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
With respect to part (a) of the question, it is confirmed that the costs of administering appeals in the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal are recorded by HM Courts & Tribunals Service and not by the Ministry of Justice as a department.
With respect to part (b) of the question, the total cost to HM Courts & Tribunal Service of administering appeals in the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal in each year since 2012-13 for (a) all cases was:
HM Courts & Tribunals Service | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Social Security & Child Support Tribunal | 139,720,428 | 87,357,366 | 92,554,070 | 105,776,214 | 121,482,762 | 117,804,233 | 121,771,734 | 104,792,533 | 100,057,460 |
The total cost to HM Courts & Tribunal Service of administering appeals in the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal in each year since 2012-13 specifically for (b) Work Capability Assessment cases and (c) Personal Independent Payment decision cases is not held at the requested level of granularity.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the average cost per disposed case in the Social Security & Child Support Tribunal in each year since 2012-13 for (a) all cases, (b) Work Capability Assessment cases and (c) Personal Independent Payment decision cases.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Regarding part (a) of the question, the estimated average cost per case disposed of by the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal in each year since 2012-13 for all cases was:
| 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Total Cost (£) | 139,720,428 | 87,357,366 | 92,554,070 | 105,776,214 | 121,482,762 | 117,804,233 | 121,771,734 | 104,792,533 | 100,057,460 |
Total Disposals - all cases | 543,609 | 150,978 | 156,535 | 190,071 | 214,478 | 206,402 | 192,352 | 136,080 | 91,690 |
Average Cost per disposal | 257 | 579 | 591 | 557 | 566 | 571 | 633 | 770 | 1,091 |
Total disposals include clearances of appeals that take place at hearing, or those cleared without a hearing. This estimated average cost per case is therefore based on all case types and will not be a true indication of unit cost by type.
Financial information is held on the cost of the overall First-Tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support Appeal), which includes the cost of administering Work Capability Assessment cases and Personal Independence Payment decision appeals but is not available at the requested level of granularity to provide an average cost per disposal for individual benefit types.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the role of Exela Technologies in the efficiency of the probate process.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The most recently published information regarding combined waiting times for a grant of probate, on paper and digital cases, covers January 2021 to March 2021 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25):
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2021
Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and as a result of HMCTS increasing resources to meet demand, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between four to six weeks.
HMCTS continues to invest in the improvement of the online Probate system which was developed as part of the wider HMCTS Reform Programme to further streamline ways of working resulting in a system that is simpler and easy to understand for applicants; is accessible; and more efficient and robust to run.
The introduction of digital systems and bulk scanning has proved vital during the Covid 19 pandemic, allowing HMCTS staff to continue to process incoming applications and allowing Court users to access Probate services remotely.
The Exela contract is managed in line with MOJ Policy for strategic contracts and is therefore subject to the highest levels of governance to ensure service delivery. More than half a million documents were scanned without error in 2020 and on the rare occasions where errors occur, the majority of documents are re-scanned within 24 hours of a request being made.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to tackle delays in the probate system.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The most recently published information regarding combined waiting times for a grant of probate, on paper and digital cases, covers January 2021 to March 2021 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25):
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2021
Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and as a result of HMCTS increasing resources to meet demand, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between four to six weeks.
HMCTS continues to invest in the improvement of the online Probate system which was developed as part of the wider HMCTS Reform Programme to further streamline ways of working resulting in a system that is simpler and easy to understand for applicants; is accessible; and more efficient and robust to run.
The introduction of digital systems and bulk scanning has proved vital during the Covid 19 pandemic, allowing HMCTS staff to continue to process incoming applications and allowing Court users to access Probate services remotely.
The Exela contract is managed in line with MOJ Policy for strategic contracts and is therefore subject to the highest levels of governance to ensure service delivery. More than half a million documents were scanned without error in 2020 and on the rare occasions where errors occur, the majority of documents are re-scanned within 24 hours of a request being made.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) single Employment Tribunal claims and (b) multiple claimant Employment Tribunal cases are outstanding; and in each case how many include a claim for (i) equal pay and (ii) pregnancy-related detriment or dismissal.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The latest quarterly Tribunals Statistics can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2020.
Data on the volume of outstanding claims for single and multiple claims can be found in tab s.4 of the main tables. A further breakdown of outstanding claims to show the number of (i) equal pay and (ii) pregnancy related detriment or dismissal claims is not available.
Additional published information on outstanding caseload for single claims and multiple lead cases is detailed in weekly management information and can be found at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-weekly-management-information-during-coronavirus-march-2020-to-april-2021.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued to staff in the Jury Central Summoning Bureau in respect of deferral of jury service by (a) breastfeeding mothers and (b) people on maternity and other statutory parental leave.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
HM Courts and Tribunals Service recognise that sometimes it may be difficult for some people to serve on the date originally summoned. Jurors are given the opportunity when responding to their summons to apply for a deferral to a more suitable date within the next twelve months.
Deferral and excusal applications are considered by summoning officers at the Jury Central Summoning Bureau (JCSB). Each application for deferral/excusal is considered on its own merit, in a way that is both fair to the individual and consistent with the needs of the court in providing a representative jury.
Guidance on applications for excusal or deferral in relation to breastfeeding or maternity or parental leave states that officials should consider these applications sympathetically, with deferral considered in the first instance. Breastfeeding a child would be considered a valid reason for deferring jury service. A juror could apply for an excusal if they were still unable to serve as the new date approached.