Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the adequacy of witness testimony.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are committed to helping all witnesses give their best possible evidence so that offenders are brought to justice. As part of the cross-government Victim’s Strategy (published in September 2018), the Government committed to the wider provision of special measures for vulnerable and intimated witnesses, both when giving evidence and during cross-examination.
These measures include:
instead of written statements;
that they are shielded from sight of the defendant
The Victim’s Strategy also reaffirmed our commitment to rolling out pre-recorded cross examination, as provided for in section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, for vulnerable witnesses such as child witnesses under 16 or witnesses vulnerable due to physical or mental disability. By June 2019 this has commenced at nine Crown Court centres in England and Wales. In June 2019 we also extended section 28 to intimidated witnesses who are a victim of crime in sexual and modern slavery offences by testing the provision in the Crown Court centres at Leeds, Liverpool, and Kingston upon Thames.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory training on memory science for judges; and whether he will introduce mandatory training on memory science for judges.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Responsibility for judicial training rests with the Lord Chief Justice and with the Senior President of Tribunals (for the tribunals judiciary, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, in line with the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007) and is exercised through the Judicial College.
To preserve judicial independence, the judiciary and professional staff in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, and delivery of judicial training.
Courts and tribunals across all jurisdictions rely upon individuals accurately recalling things when giving evidence, both oral and written. The cross-jurisdictional induction and continuation seminars that deal with judicial assessment of the reliability and credibility of witnesses, refer to this during presentations and workshops.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 2 October 2019 to Question 291004 and to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 290324, if he will introduce the same policy as the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and switch to an electricity provider that supplies electricity solely from renewable resources within the next 12 months; and for what reason his Department has not already ensured its electricity is supplied solely from renewable resources.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Government departments are mandated to use Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Energy frameworks for the supply of electricity. EDF is the current supplier and the current arrangement lasts until March 2022.
We are exploring with CCS how to increase the percentage of energy sourced from renewables. This includes the feasibility of changing the current percentage mix, the costs of securing matched renewable energy through obtaining Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origination (REGOs), and the timescales for doing so.
To date the Department has prioritised energy efficiency and spend to save investment on its estate. But as part of the MoJ’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2050 or sooner, the Department is exploring options for increased on-site renewable energy generation, and low and no carbon energy supply.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service will publish (a) weekly data on the number of probate grants issued in England and Wales and (b) up to date data on the average time between application for and grant of probate.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Quarterly data on the number of probate grants issued in England and Wales are published within the Family Court Statistics Quarterly bulletin: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly. The latest publication was on 26th September, however the requested information for April-June 2019 has not yet been published while we investigate quality issues identified in the transition between two data systems.
Currently there are no plans to publish this data weekly but statisticians seek views from users as part of their regular consultation on the statistics to ensure they meet the Code of Practice for Statistics with regard to quality and value.
Statisticians are considering adding data on timeliness and will work in consultation with colleagues in Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and users of the data to confirm their plans prior to any publication.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when waiting times for probate grants issued in England and Wales will return to below the historical average of three weeks.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has increased staffing levels and further improved the digital service to help reduce waiting times. HMCTS is committed to continuing to bring waiting times down further and aims to be back to normal waiting times for grants on new, complete, applications as soon as possible.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which provider supplies energy to his Department; how much CO2 was emitted through his Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria his Department uses to select an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The department is mandated to use the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Energy frameworks for the supply of gas, electricity and liquid fuels. The CCS competes the frameworks on the open market and selects the energy providers according to a set of award criteria, normally based on price and quality. The current suppliers of each of these services are as follow:
In 2018/19, the department emitted 313,464 t/CO2e through its energy use which represents a 40 % reduction compared to 2009/10. This has been achieved through smarter working, estate rationalisation, and investment in energy and carbon reduction projects such as LED lighting, boiler optimisation controls and renewable or low carbon technologies.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will sign his Department up to the UK Steel charter.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Ministry of Justice will sign the Charter. The MoJ supports the Charter where this is relevant to our commercial activities and only where consistent with the relevant procurement regulations that require fair and open competition.
Andrew Stephenson MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, wrote to Secretary of State for Justice on 29 May to ask my Department to sign the Steel Charter.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has had discussions with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the UK Steel charter.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Ministry of Justice will sign the Charter. The MoJ supports the Charter where this is relevant to our commercial activities and only where consistent with the relevant procurement regulations that require fair and open competition.
Andrew Stephenson MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, wrote to Secretary of State for Justice on 29 May to ask my Department to sign the Steel Charter.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the termination of his Department’s contract with Smee and Ford, what interim solutions will be put in place to ensure continuity of the legacy notification service for charities; and whether those solutions will include extending the current provider’s contract beyond July.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
HMCTS is currently considering a range of options for an interim service that will ensure charities continue to receive a notification service beyond the end of the current arrangements with Smee & Ford. We are committed to developing a sustainable arrangement that meets the needs of those who use it, and meets legal requirements.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the termination of the Department’s contract with Smee and Ford, what changes his Department plans make to its legacy notification service for charities to ensure the new system is fully compliant with the law.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
HMCTS are continuing to define the long-term requirements and strategy for the future delivery of this service. In doing so, they met with representatives of the charity sector last month and a summary of this meeting is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmcts-legacy-notification-service-meeting-summary-5-march-2019
HMCTS is looking to establish interim arrangements to ensure that charities continue to receive a notification service beyond the end of the current arrangements with Smee & Ford as we develop a sustainable arrangement that is both fully compliant with our legal duties and meets the needs of those who use it.