Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to help improve pay and conditions for court interpreters in the contracted service.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on Friday 5 September to Question 73395: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-08-29/73395.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of protections for defendants under the Single Justice Procedure.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government acknowledges the criticisms in relation to the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) and the importance of ensuring that the SJP is accessible and fair to all defendants. That is why we launched a consultation on the oversight and regulation of private prosecutors which included a chapter on the adequacy of safeguards in the SJP. The consultation closed on 8 May and work is ongoing to analyse the responses received and look at ways to reform the SJP, which improves safeguards and efficiency in the process.
The Government response to the consultation is expected to be published later this year.
There are several existing safeguards built into the SJP process to ensure a defendant’s fair trial rights are protected. The defendant retains the right to have a full hearing in open court. SJP is available where they waive that right, either expressly or by failing to respond to the process, but only in circumstances where the court has first satisfied itself that the relevant documents were served on the accused.
If a defendant does not know about the case until after it has finished, they can make a statutory declaration to that effect, which will restart the proceedings again from the beginning. Magistrates can adjourn the case if further information is required, or refer the case to be heard in open court if it would be more appropriate than continuing under SJP.
Where a defendant pleads not guilty, the case is listed for summary trial before a bench of magistrates in open court.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Independent Technical Review of Qualifications and Experience Requirements for the Provision of Spoken Language Interpreting of 17 March 2025, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the sufficient recruitment of qualified Level 6 interpreters.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice recognises the importance of ensuring a sufficient supply of qualified Level 6 interpreters to meet the needs of the justice system. Following the publication of the Independent Technical Review of Qualifications and Experience Requirements for the Provision of Spoken Language Interpreting on 17 March 2025, the Department has taken steps to support recruitment and professional development in this area.
The review established Level 6 as the default professional standard for all interpreters working in complex justice settings, and its recommendations have been incorporated into the new Qualifications Framework now embedded in the upcoming contract specifications.
To support long-term sustainability, the Department has established two key stakeholder groups: the External Stakeholders Forum and the Future Pipeline Advisory Group. The latter is specifically focused on addressing ongoing challenges in interpreter supply, including qualification development.
The Future Pipeline Advisory Group will look at ways to expand access to Level 6 qualifications, particularly in rare languages where formal qualifications may not currently exist.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that awards made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority are paid out in a timely manner.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 3 July 2025 to Question 63019.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector to get more people with convictions into work.
Key employment roles are in place across all 93 resettlement prisons to prepare prisoners for work on release, match them to jobs and provide critical ID documents to secure work and a home.
We have launched regional Employment Councils which, for the first time, brings businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support offenders leaving prison. This builds on the work of Employment Advisory Boards linking prisons with business leaders to ensure prisoners have the skills and training employers need to meet labour market demand.
In addition, HM Prison and Probation Service’s Creating Future Opportunities programme offers tailored support for ex-offenders - particularly those who are furthest from the labour market - to secure employment, training and education opportunities for release.
Supporting further, the criminal records regime is designed to strike a balance providing employers with the information they need to make safer recruitment decisions and enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives. We also work closely with DWP to ensure support is in place for ex-offenders in the community, for example through co-location of services.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle parental alienation.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Government does not recognise the concept of “parental alienation” and does not accept that it is a syndrome capable of diagnosis.
In his judgment in the case of Re C the President of the Family Division detailed that the courts focus should be on the “identification of ‘alienating behaviour’” rather than seeking “to determine whether the label ‘parental alienation’ can be applied”. In providing advice to the court, Cafcass does not recognise “parental alienation” and instead looks at the individual behaviours of a parent. In cases where a child is resistant, or refuses, to see a parent Cafcass Family Court Advisers must first consider whether domestic abuse or other forms of harmful parenting are a contributing factor.
The Government is aware of concerns of about unregulated “parental alienation” experts being instructed in the family courts. To address this issue, we are working with the Family Procedure Rule Committee to make changes to the Family Procedure Rules and their associated Practice Directions to prevent the instruction of these unregulated experts.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reform the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Laura Farris
This Government has introduced a comprehensive legislative framework to prevent violence against women, including our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
We have pioneered the creation of new offences including coercive control, non-fatal strangulation and intimate image abuse; more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court compared to when we commissioned our End-to-End Rape Review; and made sure that sentences for adult rape are almost 40% longer than they were in 2010.
And through our Sentencing Bill, we will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders spend the entirety of their custodial sentence behind bars, without possibility of parole.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on the circumstances under which voluntary deportation to countries of origin is the appropriate course of action for people serving indeterminate sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) is a mandatory scheme under which all foreign national prisoners serving indeterminate sentences will be considered for removal from the UK once their tariff expires.
This scheme is jointly administered with the Home Office and decisions to approve or refuse a removal under TERS are authorised by the Public Protection Casework Section in HMPPS on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Further information about the scheme can be found on gov.uk: The Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed reforms to sections (a) 3 and (b) 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the human rights of people who are non-religious.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
With our proposed changes to section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), we aim to make sure the balance between our domestic institutions is right, by ensuring that UK courts can no longer interpret legislation contrary to Parliament’s intent.
Our proposed changes to section 6 of the HRA will ensure that those delivering vital public services can do so without the constant threat of having to defend against trivial human rights claims.
Humanist marriage is very much on my department’s radar. In 2014, the Government published a consultation paper and response assessing the potential merits of provision for non-religious belief marriages. This concluded that the matter was complex, and that by allowing Humanists to solemnise marriages in unrestricted locations, the Government would create a provision for Humanists that would not be available to all groups.
To ensure we are considering the implications of changing the law on marriage fairly for all groups, we invited the Law Commission to undertake a review which is currently underway and is expected to report in July of this year. By looking at the law comprehensively, the Law Commission will seek to put forward proposals that would ensure that, insofar as possible, groups and couples are all subject to the same rules and the same level of regulation.
Following the Law Commission report, we will take the time to consider any proposed changes to marriage laws thoroughly, including how non-religious belief organisations (such as Humanists) and/or independent celebrants could conduct legally binding weddings. Any change to legislation would then take place when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what additional targeted support his Department is providing to prison officers struggling with living costs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Prison Officer pay is reviewed annually by the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) who consider evidence from a range of parties and make recommendations for Government.
The Government submitted its evidence to the PSPRB on 23rd February 2022.
We expect the PSPRB to report with recommendations for Government in the coming months and the Government will announce the 2022/23 pay award later in the year.