Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases has the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred to the Court of Appeal following an investigation that has revealed police (a) corruption and (b) malpractice in each year since the Criminal Cases Review Commission was established.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), funded by the Ministry of Justice, functions as an independent body, making decisions autonomously and without ministerial influence. Recognising the need to increase the size of its caseworker team and to carry out more outreach work with people who may need their services, the department has increased funding year on year of CCRC since 2020-21 with the budget for 2023-24 set at just under £8m.
In the period from 31/3/1997 to 30/11/2023, the CCRC completed a total of 30,082 reviews and they referred 829 cases to the appellate courts (Court of Appeal and Crown Court). A breakdown of CCRC data by year is provided in table 1.
The tracking of cases referred to the Court of Appeal based on a) new arguments, b) new evidence, and c) neither, has not been systematically recorded since the establishment of the CCRC in 1997. Case referrals are often a combination of both new evidence and other arguments, making it challenging for the CCRC to categorise cases exclusively into these specified criteria.
The number of referrals by the CCRC utilising the exceptional circumstances grounds outlined in section 13(2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 has not been systematically documented for each year by the CCRC since its establishment. However, the CCRC are in the process of constructing a public archive for its referrals, and it is their intention to make this data available to the public in the future. It is important to note that a portion of their referrals involves cases classified as 'no appeal,' where applicants have not exhausted the standard appeal process before approaching the CCRC. In such instances, reliance on the exceptional circumstances provision in section 13(2) becomes necessary.
The CCRC receive a significant number of no appeal cases, reapplications and ineligible cases. The final column in table 1 shows the referral rate as a percentage of the cases which pass the ‘triage’ stage and are allocated to a Case Review Manager for investigation.
Table 1
Financial year | Referrals | Intake | All Cases closed | Review Cases closed | Referral rate all closed cases | Referral rate closed review cases only |
1997/98 | 11 | 1328 | CCRC system data not robust enough for reporting | |||
1998/99 | 31 | 1033 | ||||
1999/00 | 36 | 775 | ||||
2000/01 | 45 | 799 | ||||
2001/02 | 38 | 834 | ||||
2002/03 | 35 | 933 | ||||
2003/04 | 30 | 884 | ||||
2004/05 | 45 | 955 | ||||
2005/06 | 47 | 937 | ||||
2006/07 | 39 | 1051 | ||||
2007/08 | 27 | 984 | 1085 | 629 | 2.49% | 4.29% |
2008/09 | 39 | 919 | 942 | 535 | 4.14% | 7.29% |
2009/10 | 31 | 932 | 892 | 468 | 3.48% | 6.62% |
2010/11 | 22 | 933 | 947 | 533 | 2.32% | 4.13% |
2011/12 | 22 | 1040 | 878 | 469 | 2.51% | 4.69% |
2012/13 | 21 | 1625 | 1274 | 560 | 1.65% | 3.75% |
2013/14 | 31 | 1470 | 1131 | 404 | 2.74% | 7.67% |
2014/15 | 36 | 1599 | 1632 | 758 | 2.21% | 4.75% |
2015/16 | 33 | 1480 | 1797 | 1085 | 1.84% | 3.04% |
2016/17 | 12 | 1397 | 1563 | 918 | 0.77% | 1.31% |
2017/18 | 19 | 1439 | 1538 | 904 | 1.24% | 2.10% |
2018/19 | 13 | 1371 | 1449 | 773 | 0.90% | 1.68% |
2019/20 | 29 | 1334 | 1453 | 745 | 2.00% | 3.89% |
2020/21 | 70 | 1142 | 1109 | 566 | 6.31% | 12.37% |
2021/22 | 26 | 1198 | 1183 | 546 | 2.20% | 4.76% |
2022/23 | 25 | 1424 | 1275 | 573 | 1.96% | 4.36% |
2023/24 YTD | 16 | 1071 | 983 | 399 | 1.63% | 4.01% |
Work on the creation of the public archive is not complete, but the CCRC anticipate it to be approximately 125 referrals that have involved police misconduct. The CCRC do not have a breakdown on the split between corruption cases and other conduct issues, such as breaches of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which governs the powers and procedures of the police in the investigation of criminal offenses.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission have involved (a) new arguments, (b) new evidence and (c) neither in each year since the Criminal Cases Review Commission was established.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), funded by the Ministry of Justice, functions as an independent body, making decisions autonomously and without ministerial influence. Recognising the need to increase the size of its caseworker team and to carry out more outreach work with people who may need their services, the department has increased funding year on year of CCRC since 2020-21 with the budget for 2023-24 set at just under £8m.
In the period from 31/3/1997 to 30/11/2023, the CCRC completed a total of 30,082 reviews and they referred 829 cases to the appellate courts (Court of Appeal and Crown Court). A breakdown of CCRC data by year is provided in table 1.
The tracking of cases referred to the Court of Appeal based on a) new arguments, b) new evidence, and c) neither, has not been systematically recorded since the establishment of the CCRC in 1997. Case referrals are often a combination of both new evidence and other arguments, making it challenging for the CCRC to categorise cases exclusively into these specified criteria.
The number of referrals by the CCRC utilising the exceptional circumstances grounds outlined in section 13(2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 has not been systematically documented for each year by the CCRC since its establishment. However, the CCRC are in the process of constructing a public archive for its referrals, and it is their intention to make this data available to the public in the future. It is important to note that a portion of their referrals involves cases classified as 'no appeal,' where applicants have not exhausted the standard appeal process before approaching the CCRC. In such instances, reliance on the exceptional circumstances provision in section 13(2) becomes necessary.
The CCRC receive a significant number of no appeal cases, reapplications and ineligible cases. The final column in table 1 shows the referral rate as a percentage of the cases which pass the ‘triage’ stage and are allocated to a Case Review Manager for investigation.
Table 1
Financial year | Referrals | Intake | All Cases closed | Review Cases closed | Referral rate all closed cases | Referral rate closed review cases only |
1997/98 | 11 | 1328 | CCRC system data not robust enough for reporting | |||
1998/99 | 31 | 1033 | ||||
1999/00 | 36 | 775 | ||||
2000/01 | 45 | 799 | ||||
2001/02 | 38 | 834 | ||||
2002/03 | 35 | 933 | ||||
2003/04 | 30 | 884 | ||||
2004/05 | 45 | 955 | ||||
2005/06 | 47 | 937 | ||||
2006/07 | 39 | 1051 | ||||
2007/08 | 27 | 984 | 1085 | 629 | 2.49% | 4.29% |
2008/09 | 39 | 919 | 942 | 535 | 4.14% | 7.29% |
2009/10 | 31 | 932 | 892 | 468 | 3.48% | 6.62% |
2010/11 | 22 | 933 | 947 | 533 | 2.32% | 4.13% |
2011/12 | 22 | 1040 | 878 | 469 | 2.51% | 4.69% |
2012/13 | 21 | 1625 | 1274 | 560 | 1.65% | 3.75% |
2013/14 | 31 | 1470 | 1131 | 404 | 2.74% | 7.67% |
2014/15 | 36 | 1599 | 1632 | 758 | 2.21% | 4.75% |
2015/16 | 33 | 1480 | 1797 | 1085 | 1.84% | 3.04% |
2016/17 | 12 | 1397 | 1563 | 918 | 0.77% | 1.31% |
2017/18 | 19 | 1439 | 1538 | 904 | 1.24% | 2.10% |
2018/19 | 13 | 1371 | 1449 | 773 | 0.90% | 1.68% |
2019/20 | 29 | 1334 | 1453 | 745 | 2.00% | 3.89% |
2020/21 | 70 | 1142 | 1109 | 566 | 6.31% | 12.37% |
2021/22 | 26 | 1198 | 1183 | 546 | 2.20% | 4.76% |
2022/23 | 25 | 1424 | 1275 | 573 | 1.96% | 4.36% |
2023/24 YTD | 16 | 1071 | 983 | 399 | 1.63% | 4.01% |
Work on the creation of the public archive is not complete, but the CCRC anticipate it to be approximately 125 referrals that have involved police misconduct. The CCRC do not have a breakdown on the split between corruption cases and other conduct issues, such as breaches of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which governs the powers and procedures of the police in the investigation of criminal offenses.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what has been the average referral rate for the Criminal Cases Review Commission in each year since it was established.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), funded by the Ministry of Justice, functions as an independent body, making decisions autonomously and without ministerial influence. Recognising the need to increase the size of its caseworker team and to carry out more outreach work with people who may need their services, the department has increased funding year on year of CCRC since 2020-21 with the budget for 2023-24 set at just under £8m.
In the period from 31/3/1997 to 30/11/2023, the CCRC completed a total of 30,082 reviews and they referred 829 cases to the appellate courts (Court of Appeal and Crown Court). A breakdown of CCRC data by year is provided in table 1.
The tracking of cases referred to the Court of Appeal based on a) new arguments, b) new evidence, and c) neither, has not been systematically recorded since the establishment of the CCRC in 1997. Case referrals are often a combination of both new evidence and other arguments, making it challenging for the CCRC to categorise cases exclusively into these specified criteria.
The number of referrals by the CCRC utilising the exceptional circumstances grounds outlined in section 13(2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 has not been systematically documented for each year by the CCRC since its establishment. However, the CCRC are in the process of constructing a public archive for its referrals, and it is their intention to make this data available to the public in the future. It is important to note that a portion of their referrals involves cases classified as 'no appeal,' where applicants have not exhausted the standard appeal process before approaching the CCRC. In such instances, reliance on the exceptional circumstances provision in section 13(2) becomes necessary.
The CCRC receive a significant number of no appeal cases, reapplications and ineligible cases. The final column in table 1 shows the referral rate as a percentage of the cases which pass the ‘triage’ stage and are allocated to a Case Review Manager for investigation.
Table 1
Financial year | Referrals | Intake | All Cases closed | Review Cases closed | Referral rate all closed cases | Referral rate closed review cases only |
1997/98 | 11 | 1328 | CCRC system data not robust enough for reporting | |||
1998/99 | 31 | 1033 | ||||
1999/00 | 36 | 775 | ||||
2000/01 | 45 | 799 | ||||
2001/02 | 38 | 834 | ||||
2002/03 | 35 | 933 | ||||
2003/04 | 30 | 884 | ||||
2004/05 | 45 | 955 | ||||
2005/06 | 47 | 937 | ||||
2006/07 | 39 | 1051 | ||||
2007/08 | 27 | 984 | 1085 | 629 | 2.49% | 4.29% |
2008/09 | 39 | 919 | 942 | 535 | 4.14% | 7.29% |
2009/10 | 31 | 932 | 892 | 468 | 3.48% | 6.62% |
2010/11 | 22 | 933 | 947 | 533 | 2.32% | 4.13% |
2011/12 | 22 | 1040 | 878 | 469 | 2.51% | 4.69% |
2012/13 | 21 | 1625 | 1274 | 560 | 1.65% | 3.75% |
2013/14 | 31 | 1470 | 1131 | 404 | 2.74% | 7.67% |
2014/15 | 36 | 1599 | 1632 | 758 | 2.21% | 4.75% |
2015/16 | 33 | 1480 | 1797 | 1085 | 1.84% | 3.04% |
2016/17 | 12 | 1397 | 1563 | 918 | 0.77% | 1.31% |
2017/18 | 19 | 1439 | 1538 | 904 | 1.24% | 2.10% |
2018/19 | 13 | 1371 | 1449 | 773 | 0.90% | 1.68% |
2019/20 | 29 | 1334 | 1453 | 745 | 2.00% | 3.89% |
2020/21 | 70 | 1142 | 1109 | 566 | 6.31% | 12.37% |
2021/22 | 26 | 1198 | 1183 | 546 | 2.20% | 4.76% |
2022/23 | 25 | 1424 | 1275 | 573 | 1.96% | 4.36% |
2023/24 YTD | 16 | 1071 | 983 | 399 | 1.63% | 4.01% |
Work on the creation of the public archive is not complete, but the CCRC anticipate it to be approximately 125 referrals that have involved police misconduct. The CCRC do not have a breakdown on the split between corruption cases and other conduct issues, such as breaches of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which governs the powers and procedures of the police in the investigation of criminal offenses.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with Irish Ferries on the (a) welfare and (b) employment conditions of seafarers employed on the ferry Norbay.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Irish Ferries currently operates on an international route and under international law the requirements for the welfare and employment conditions rest with the flag state, which is currently Bermuda. We would expect Irish Ferries to comply with all international requirements as required by Bermuda.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the supply of seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers to the (i) coastal and (ii) short sea ferry sectors.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following the recommendations and steer of the Maritime Skills Commission (MSC), the Department for Transport is currently modernising seafarer training with industry stakeholders. The reviews commissioned by the MSC have included a market intelligence report, a cadet training review, and a ratings review. The analysis and recommendations from these reports have been used by the Department to set up various projects to modernise and enhance seafarer training. This includes an industry Working Group, overseen by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), that targets officer training in the coastal area. Following the recent Ratings Review, the MCA will now be working with industry to promote and enhance training for ratings.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the ferry Norbay was last inspected in a UK port for compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention by surveyors from the Bermudan Ship Register.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The last renewal inspection for compliance with the requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention was carried out on board NORBAY in Dublin on 5 September 2022 by Inspectors from the Bermuda Shipping and Maritime Authority (BSMA). One Observation was made during this inspection and the vessel was issued with a Maritime Labour Convention Certificate which is valid until 27 February 2027. NORBAY is surveyed annually for issuance of a Passenger Ship Safety Certificate, and this was last completed in Liverpool by Surveyors from the BSMA on 5 January 2023.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Irish Ferries Freight’s proposal for a new service between Scotland and Northern Ireland on seafarer (a) welfare and (b) employment.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As this is a commercial decision, the Secretary of State has not met with Irish Ferries to discuss its proposal for a new freight route. We would expect Irish Ferries to comply with all international requirements as required by the flag state of the vessel and to comply with UK law as applicable.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Bermudan Ship Register's compliance with core international maritime and labour conventions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Bermuda Shipping and Maritime Authority (BSMA) were audited by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) in July 2023 to assess compliance with the mandatory International Maritime Organization (IMO) Instruments Implementation Code and UK Secretary of State for Transport's general superintendency over all British shipping matters. These are routine and regular audits. BSMA had areas of ongoing minor actions in the context of continuous improvement but were found to be satisfactorily discharging their obligations under international maritime conventions including the Maritime Labour Convention.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to support local authorities to develop (a) carbon-neutral and (b) autonomous public transport systems.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Transport Decarbonisation Plan set out how we will drive decarbonisation at the local level, outlining how a ‘place-based’ approach will help make our villages, towns and cities cleaner, greener, healthier and more prosperous places to live, work and enjoy
The Department for Transport is also committing record amounts of funding for decarbonising public transport. Since March 2020, the Department has invested over £3.5 billion in buses, including £129 million to support the transition to an entirely zero-emission bus fleet. This has helped deliver 4,000 zero-emission buses across the UK.
In March 2023, DfT announced the launch of the £381 million Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund. The LEVI Fund supports local authorities (LAs) in England to work with industry and transform the availability of EV charging for drivers without off-street parking. This will deliver tens of thousands of local chargepoints, ensuring the transition to electric vehicles (EV) takes place in every part of the country.
Additionally, £1.3 million of Government funding is supporting local authorities and regional transport operators to study how self-driving vehicle technology can improve local public transport in remote, rural, and urban areas. Studies will look into how self-driving vehicle technology could be cheaper, emit less carbon, and increase safety and security compared to other forms of mass transit. The grants will help local places to build evidence on utilising emerging transport technologies to decrease carbon emissions.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of allowing private tenants who would otherwise qualify for the Warm Homes Discount but are ineligible because they pay for their energy costs through their landlord to receive the Warm Homes Discount as a direct payment into their bank account.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Liverpool, Walton (Dan Carden) on 7 September 2023 to Question UIN 196887.