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Written Question
Rape: Criminal Proceedings
Monday 2nd March 2020

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps with the Home Secretary to include a joint inspection of the CPS and police in the Government's review of the criminal justice system handling of rape cases.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

The decline in the number of rape and serious sexual offences being charged and prosecuted in England and Wales is a cause for concern. We are determined to do everything we can to ensure these appalling crimes are tackled effectively and victims are supported.

A joint inspection between HMCPSI and HMICFRS into the handling of rape cases by the Police and CPS is currently being planned.


Written Question
Rape: Victims
Tuesday 11th February 2020

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what engagement there has been with victims of sexual violence as part of the cross-Government end-to-end review of the criminal justice system handling of rape cases.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government recognises that the decline in the number of rape and serious sexual offences being charged and prosecuted in England and Wales is a cause for concern, and we are determined to do everything we can to ensure these appalling crimes are tackled effectively and victims are supported.

The end-to-end review was commissioned in March 2019 by the National Criminal Justice Board (CJB). A sub-group of the CJB is driving forward this review and met in April 2019, June 2019 and October 2019. The sub-group includes representation from across the criminal justice system, and many members regularly engage with victims and victims’ groups.

In addition, the review has established a Stakeholder Reference Group, which is made up of victim organisations, which is consulted to ensure the inclusion of the victim experience and to provide independent scrutiny. This group met in May 2019 and February 2020, and has been involved in development of some of the research carried out as part of the review. A number of members have played crucial roles in engagement with agencies and practitioners, helping to facilitate and attending relevant focus groups.

In addition to the work of the undertaken by the Reference Group in the context of the review, we regularly consult with victims’ groups to inform our wider work on issues relevant to victims of sexual violence, such as reforms to the Victims’ Code and the Rape Victims’ Pledge. The Lord Chancellor hosted a roundtable in September 2019 which focused on victims of sexual violence and was attended by those with lived experience and a number of members of the Reference Group.


Written Question
Rape: Victims
Tuesday 11th February 2020

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings related to the cross-Government end-to-end review of the criminal justice system handling of rape cases have taken place with the (a) National Criminal Justice Board and (b) victims and survivors stakeholder group since March 2019.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government recognises that the decline in the number of rape and serious sexual offences being charged and prosecuted in England and Wales is a cause for concern, and we are determined to do everything we can to ensure these appalling crimes are tackled effectively and victims are supported.

The end-to-end review was commissioned in March 2019 by the National Criminal Justice Board (CJB). A sub-group of the CJB is driving forward this review and met in April 2019, June 2019 and October 2019. The sub-group includes representation from across the criminal justice system, and many members regularly engage with victims and victims’ groups.

In addition, the review has established a Stakeholder Reference Group, which is made up of victim organisations, which is consulted to ensure the inclusion of the victim experience and to provide independent scrutiny. This group met in May 2019 and February 2020, and has been involved in development of some of the research carried out as part of the review. A number of members have played crucial roles in engagement with agencies and practitioners, helping to facilitate and attending relevant focus groups.

In addition to the work of the undertaken by the Reference Group in the context of the review, we regularly consult with victims’ groups to inform our wider work on issues relevant to victims of sexual violence, such as reforms to the Victims’ Code and the Rape Victims’ Pledge. The Lord Chancellor hosted a roundtable in September 2019 which focused on victims of sexual violence and was attended by those with lived experience and a number of members of the Reference Group.


Written Question
Debt Collection: Enforcement
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his timescale is for responding to his Department's Review of enforcement agent (bailiff) reforms: call for evidence, published in November 2018.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

As set out in the Secretary of State for Justice’s Written Statement on bailiff reform made on 22 July, we’ve been continuing to engage with stakeholders before finalising our response. We will respond in full to the call for evidence as soon as possible.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Appeals
Tuesday 4th June 2019

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claimants (a) nationally, (b) in Leeds and (c) in Leeds West who are appealing against the refusal of their personal independence payment application have been waiting more than (i) three, (ii) six and (iii) 12 months for a tribunal hearing.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This information is not held centrally.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) records numbers, waiting times and outcomes of appeals by benefit type, but will not necessarily identify Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals made specifically because the application for that benefit was refused. PIP consists of a daily living and a mobility component, both or either of which can be paid at standard or enhanced rate. Therefore, claimants for PIP may have claimed for both components, and only been awarded one, or sought the enhanced rate and only been awarded the standard rate. A claim may be successful, but may not have been at the level sought. HMCTS is unable to isolate such appeals.

Information about the volumes and clearance times of PIP appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics

Latest figures for PIP (to December 2018) indicate that since it was introduced, 3.9 million decisions have been made. Of these, 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at Tribunals.


Written Question
Debt Collection
Thursday 25th April 2019

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to publish its response to the call for evidence on the Review of enforcement agent (bailiff) reforms.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Call for Evidence on the review of the enforcement agent (bailiff) reforms closed on 17 February 2019. The Ministry of Justice is considering the responses that we received to it and the recommendations that the Justice Committee made in its recent report about enforcement agents. We will respond to the Call for Evidence in the summer.


Written Question
Ministry of Justice: Non-departmental Public Bodies
Monday 11th June 2018

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) women and (b) men his Department has appointed to each of its non-Departmental Public Bodies in each of the last five years.

Answered by Phillip Lee

The Commissioner for Public Appointments completes and publishes an annual data survey of all new appointments and reappointments made to boards of public bodies by Government including the overall gender diversity.

Data on the gender diversity of new non-executive appointees to public boards for 2012 to 2015 is published on Gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diversity-in-public-appointments .

Figures on gender diversity of new non-executive appointees to Non Departmental Public Bodies in MoJ in 2016 and 2017 can be found in the attached table.


Written Question
Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals
Friday 14th July 2017

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time was for an ESA appeal hearing in each of the last 12 months.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

The average waiting time for disposal of ESA has reduced significantly over the last four years from 21 weeks in 2013/14 to 14 in 2015/16. The information requested is set out below.

Month/Year

Average waiting time in weeks, for the disposal of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)1 appeals from receipt to outcome2, between April 2016 and March 2017 (the latest period for which figures are available)

April 2016

15

May 2016

14

June 2016

13

July 2016

13

August 2016

14

September 2016

14

October 2016

14

November 2016

14

December 2016

15

January 2017

16

February 2017

16

March 2017

16

[1] Includes ESA and ESA (Reassessments).

2 Outcome: all appeals disposed of include those appeals disposed of with and without a Tribunal hearing.

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 that is available.

The data are a subset of official statistics extracted from the case-management system on a different date.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Legal Aid Scheme
Friday 30th June 2017

Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure that people who lose access to benefits as a result of a PIP reassessment are eligible for legal aid for expenses for any appeal against that decision.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

The Government is committed to making sure that legal aid is available to those who need it most, and for the high priority cases that require it such as those detained under mental health legislation, or parents who are facing their children being taken into care.

Legal aid remains available for appeals or applications for leave to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, subject to the applicant meeting the statutory tests of means and merits. Funding may also be available under the exceptional case funding scheme, where it is required by law.

The Government’s reform programme will modernise the courts and tribunal system, improving the experience of everyone who comes into contact with it. We will make sure that the provision of legal support reflects the new way that the justice system works.