Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to help reduce the time it takes for the Probate Office to respond to applications.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and the increased volume of applications that there have been seen since, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between five and seven weeks – with the average responses being almost 2 weeks faster in quarter 3 of 2022 than the yearly average for 2020 and 2021.
Average waiting times for probate grants, up to September 2022, are published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2022
HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.
The improvement of the online probate system remains a priority for HMCTS, to ensure more applications can be issued first time and resources can be focused on reducing waiting times.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of probate applications submitted in the last 12 months were processed and received a response within 30 working days.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
All applicants using the digital service receive confirmation of receipt at the point of submission and, if required, once we receive the original will or other supporting documents. In the last 12 months 56% (158,510) of all applications were either stopped or had their grant issued within 30 days of receipt of the documents needed to assess the case.
HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.
The improvement of the online probate system remains a priority for HMCTS, to ensure more applications can be issued first time and resources can be focused on reducing waiting times.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the increasing cost of living does not disproportionately impact disabled people receiving Universal Credit.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, running from October 2022- March 2023, will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year, which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households, provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
In 2023/24, the Government is protecting the most vulnerable in society, many of whom face the biggest challenge making their incomes stretch, by increasing benefits in line with inflation. This means that they will rise by September Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation – 10.1%. Uprating working age and disability benefits will cost £11bn next year. More than 10 million working age families will see their benefit payments rise from April 2023.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, the Government is providing £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable. In 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to a further £900 in Cost of Living Payments. Individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will also receive a £150 payment. Also included is the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.
For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the Pensions Ombudsman to respond to enquiries in the latest period for which data is available; and if he will set a timetable for reducing those waiting times.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has seen an increase in demand for its services in recent years from people with complaints about their occupational or personal pension schemes. The organisation has continued to perform strongly against its key performance indicators, as set out in the 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts.
In 2020/21 TPO resolved 99 per cent of its general enquiries within 28 days of being logged on TPO’s system, compared to a target of 90 per cent, and closed 74 per cent of total pension complaints within 12 months, against a target of 70 per cent.
Additional funding was provided to TPO as part of the 2021 Spending Review to recruit additional staff to clear adjudication cases. Data shows TPO productivity increased by 14% across the last two years and it is working to bring down waiting times further.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the conclusion of the Independent Complaints Assessors on the impact of his Department's policy on personalised number plates in their Annual Report 2020-21, published on 25 December 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of amending the Retention and Sale of Registration Marks Regulations 2015 to allow more flexibility for customers wishing to retain personalised licence plates.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The law allows customers to purchase the right to display a personalised registration number on their vehicle and requires the right to that registration number to be renewed before it expires. Entitlement to registration numbers under this scheme lasts for ten years. Reminders are sent to customers in advance of expiry. If an application is not made to extend the entitlement, the right to display the personalised registration number is lost. There are no plans to change the current legal requirements in this area.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing legislation to protect residents of retirement villages and for setting minimum standards for operators of retirement communities.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In the Levelling Up White Paper, we committed to a new taskforce on the issue of older people's housing, which will look at ways we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people, and support the growth of a thriving older people's housing sector in this country.
Where retirement housing providers are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing, the Regulator has the role of ensuring that providers are well-managed and are able to meet the regulatory standards.
The Care Quality Commission oversees standards of personal care services in housing-with-care retirement settings irrespective of housing tenure.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her planned timetable is for the conclusion of negotiations on a free trade agreement with India.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Free trade agreement negotiations are ongoing with India. We have provisionally closed the majority of chapters. To date, there have been five formal rounds of talks and we look forward to the next formal round of negotiations soon.
The Government is clear that in negotiations we will not sacrifice quality for speed. We will continue to review progress and only sign when we have a deal that is fair, reciprocal, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Government has made an equalities impact assessment of its proposed introduction of the statutory medical examiner system from April 2023.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
In its assessment of the impact on equality of these measures, DHSC has concluded that the policy for death certification reform and the introduction of medical examiners should not lead to any unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation of any particular group defined by sex, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help minimise the financial impact of a failure to pay child maintenance on the receiving parent.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
It is a key principle that unpaid child maintenance should be paid immediately. Where a parent fails to pay on time or in full, the CMS will take action to re-establish compliance and collect any unpaid amounts that have accrued. Where compliance cannot be achieved the CMS actively pursues all outstanding child maintenance using a variety of enforcement options including deductions from earnings, deductions from benefits and identifying and securing cash balances and assets through its enforcement actions. If non-compliance persists, then sanctions including commitment to prison or the disqualification of a driving licence and removal of passport is considered.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to minimise the impact of divorce proceedings on children.
Answered by Gareth Johnson
In April of this year the Government implemented the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. This landmark legislation reduces conflict between couples within the legal process for divorce or dissolution by removing the ‘fault’ element from the process, thereby reducing the impact of divorce on any children by assisting parents to focus on their children’s best interests.