Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure the Child Maintenance Service (a) is easier to navigate, b) reduces instances of lack of payment by one parent, (c) is faster at resolving cases and appeals and (d) reduces the total number of appeals allowed.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is taking steps to make improvements across the child maintenance system and create a modern, accessible, and robust service through our Service Modernisation Programme (SMP) and CMS reforms. Through the SMP, we have worked with suppliers who have experience of transforming organisations globally – this is ongoing, and we benefit from their insight and innovation.
The SMP has already delivered significant improvements to the customer experience through the provision of online services and Digital Assist Telephony Service, enabling parents to access their on-line My Child Maintenance Case at any time. We have restructured our telephony call routing system, made incremental improvements to customer communications, including a full review of letters, and made significant advancements to our IT systems. The wide-reaching programme aims to continue to reform and modernise CMS services with increased effectiveness and efficiency, and will continue to engage a wide range of statutory and non-statutory bodies to do this.
A principle of child maintenance is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support. Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable the CMS offers a statutory scheme for those parents who need it.
The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their obligations to children and the CMS will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 proposed regulations to support the introduction of administrative liability orders (ALOs), removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order. Introducing this process should enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and get money to children more quickly. We are working with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Scottish Government to establish a process for implementing ALOs and plan to introduce regulations to Parliament by the end of this year.
Appeals fall under the jurisdiction of HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Nightingale Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2020 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of Nightingale Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2020 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The data is limited to Nightingale Courts that have closed and does not include instances of jury trial rooms enabled by small venue hire or rooms enabled via Portacabins.
Region | Nightingale Courts closed |
London | 3 |
Midlands | 5 |
North East | 5 |
North West | 9 |
South East | 4 |
South West | 3 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of Employment Tribunal cases are withdrawn or settled before hearing due to delays in the listing process; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact on business productivity.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Settlements and withdrawals from legal proceedings may take place for a variety of reasons which are unconnected to delays in the court process. HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold separate data on reasons for settlements or withdrawals. Moreover, listing is exclusively a judicial function.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Youth Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of dedicated Youth Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. Youth Courts are normally sat by magistrates and are routinely located in magistrates’ courts. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for different jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | Youth Courts closed |
London | 1 |
Midlands | 1 |
North East | 0 |
North West | 0 |
South East | 0 |
South West | 0 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Court of Protection in (a) issuing granted orders and (b) training for staff.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Court orders in the Court of Protection are prepared and approved by the Judiciary before being sealed and sent to the parties by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. Regular management checks are conducted to review court processes, with additional training provided as necessary. Furthermore, the implementation of a new case management system in July 2024 provided extra training for all administrative teams concerning order production.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have signed up to her Department's pilot programme to provide free sentencing remarks to victims of rape and sexual offences.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In May 2024, the Ministry of Justice launched a pilot to enable victims of rape and sexual offences, whose cases are heard at the Crown Court, to request a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks for free. Between May 2024 and 25 April 2025, HM Courts & Tribunals Service received 498 applications under the pilot. The pilot is due to conclude at the end of May 2025.
We recognise the value that transcripts can have for victims of crime. Victims of rape and sexual offences were chosen for the pilot due to the particular difficulties they face when attending court. We are actively exploring opportunities to use technology to reduce the cost of transcripts of hearings in the criminal courts in future, but maintaining a high degree of accuracy will always be of paramount importance.
We are currently assessing the pilot’s uptake and impact and will be able to say more on our plans for future provision in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans make the Rape and Sexual Offences Free Sentencing Remarks pilot scheme permanent.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In May 2024, the Ministry of Justice launched a pilot to enable victims of rape and sexual offences, whose cases are heard at the Crown Court, to request a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks for free. Between May 2024 and 25 April 2025, HM Courts & Tribunals Service received 498 applications under the pilot. The pilot is due to conclude at the end of May 2025.
We recognise the value that transcripts can have for victims of crime. Victims of rape and sexual offences were chosen for the pilot due to the particular difficulties they face when attending court. We are actively exploring opportunities to use technology to reduce the cost of transcripts of hearings in the criminal courts in future, but maintaining a high degree of accuracy will always be of paramount importance.
We are currently assessing the pilot’s uptake and impact and will be able to say more on our plans for future provision in due course.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the unit of measurement for court funding to judicial working days from sitting days.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The funding of HM Courts and Tribunals Service is agreed annually between the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals, via the Concordat process.
Sitting days are an important metric used in this process, because they currently provide the best basis for estimating the number of case disposals that can be achieved for a given level of funding. This is essential to assess any funding proposal’s impact on waiting times, caseloads and access to justice.
Judicial working time incorporates other important tasks (including work outside the hearing room, training, recruitment and leadership work) in addition to the time sitting in courts and tribunals. Work is underway to consider whether the definition of a ‘sitting day’ can be updated and improved to account for work outside of the hearing room that directly helps to progress cases towards disposal.
As the Lord Chancellor has previously set out, she is determined that the Concordat process under her will be different and improved.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many County Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of County Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for other jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | County Courts closed |
London | 5 |
Midlands | 20 |
North East | 12 |
North West | 15 |
South East | 16 |
South West | 4 |
Wales | 4 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
In order to help reduce the risk of building failures, we have announced a boost in court maintenance and capital project funding from £120 million last year, to up to £148.5m for 2025/26.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Catherine Fookes (Labour - Monmouthshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessments her Department has made of the adequacy of Personal Independence Payment tribunal wait times; and what steps she is taking to reduce them.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are working to reduce the outstanding caseload in the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. Reducing the outstanding caseload is the key measure to bringing down the waiting times for tribunal hearings.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology as appropriate. If an expedited hearing is requested, a Judge or Legal Officer will make a decision on that issue, taking all the circumstances into account.
Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.