Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of heritage assets and community spaces at risk of coastal erosion in the Northumberland region and what steps will they take to protect those at risk.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The coastal erosion risk, and long term policy for management of the Northumberland Coast is outlined in the Scottish Border to River Tyne Shoreline Management Plan 2009 (SMP): North East Coastal Observatory (see attached). The SMP considers risks associated with coastal processes and outlines management policies to reduce risks to people and the developed, historic, and natural environment.
As part of the Scottish Border to River Tyne SMP (2009), a comprehensive assessment was undertaken to understand the characteristics of the natural and built environment of the Northumberland Coast. This assessment included evaluating the effects of coastal erosion on heritage, cultural heritage, and the historic environment (including churches and graveyards) to help ensure all relevant considerations were made when developing policies to manage coastal erosion.
As the relevant Coastal Protection Authority (CPA) in this location, Northumberland County Council (NCC) is eligible to bid for capital FCRM Grant in Aid for projects that mitigate the effects of coastal erosion. There are around 18 coastal projects with funding on the current 6-year capital programme within the Newcastle Diocese. These schemes have been allocated over £3.7million of FCRM Grant in Aid funding. Schemes can only progress after business cases for each scheme are produced and approved.
As part of the recent Natural Flood Management Announcements (40 projects to benefit from £25 million funding for natural flood management - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) (see attached) a scheme was approved within the Northumberland Coast, at Alnmouth. NCC's project will maintain and enhance existing saltmarsh and dune systems in the Aln Estuary.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that county court judgments (CCJs) against rogue traders are enforced; and what enforcement steps can be taken if such a CCJ cannot be delivered.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This government recognises the importance of having effective routes available to enforce judgment debts. The civil courts offer different enforcement methods that a judgment creditor may apply for to recover money that a court has ordered is owed. These include warrants or writs of control, attachment of earnings, third party debt orders, and charging orders. These processes are individually designed to address different financial circumstances, and collectively aim to make it as difficult as possible for judgment debtors to avoid their responsibility.
Despite the many methods of enforcement available, the courts cannot guarantee to obtain the payment of civil debt, particularly where a debtor goes to great lengths to evade payment or simply does not have the means to pay.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve flood defences in North West Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, a £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme, £170 million for economic recovery from flooding and over £30 million of funding for flood incident management.
In the £5.2 billion capital investment programme, funding is consistently distributed across the country wherever the risk is greatest and the benefits are highest. The Environment Agency administer this funding to maintain flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) assets across NW Leicestershire and is responsible the management of flood risk from watercourses designated Main River. They complete routine maintenance on assets with support from partners/contractors and this programme includes regular vegetation management, blockage removal and conveyance work to keep watercourses clear.
Packington was impacted by flooding in September 2023 and the Environment Agency are working with Leicestershire County Council (LCC) to assess what improvements can be made locally, such as improved flood warnings, property flood resilience (PFR) and natural flood management (NFM) mitigation measures.
A further 63 properties in the constituency were affected by flooding during Storm Babet in October 2023, and 43 impacted by Storm Henk in January 2024. In the current national 6-year programme, more than £0.5 million of government investment is planned by the Environment Agency to support schemes led by LCC at Breedon on the Hill, Diseworth & Long Whatton. Again, a variety of PFR, NFM and other flood alleviation measures will be utilised, aiming to better protect more than 60 properties.
The Environment Agency has also improved local flood modelling information and used this to work with developers to reduce flood risk in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many young people have been referred by Kent County Council to the National Transfer Scheme in each of the last three months.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The most recently available information is regularly published on the government website.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in judicial processes.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We remain committed to tackling the outstanding caseloads across our courts and tribunals and have introduced a range of measures to achieve this aim.
While the listing of cases is an independent judicial function, we have consistently invested in judicial recruitment to ensure we have the capacity to deliver effective judicial processes. Since 2018, we have recruited around 1,000 judges and tribunal members annually, across all jurisdictions.
Criminal courts
Over 90% of all criminal cases are heard at the magistrates’ courts, where we heard 100,000 cases a month on average across 2023. While the outstanding caseload in the magistrates’ courts has slightly increased in recent months due to an increase in the number of cases coming to court, the caseload remains well below its pandemic peak and stood at 370,700 at the end of December 2023, and cases continue to be progressed quickly.
To aid our efforts in the magistrates’ courts, we invested £1 million in a programme of work to support the recruitment of more magistrates. We aim to recruit 2,000 new and diverse magistrates this year, and similar numbers for each of the next couple of years.
At the Crown Court, we remain committed to reducing the outstanding caseload. We delivered 107,700 sitting days in the most recent financial year (FY23/24) and judges have worked tirelessly to complete more cases. The latest data shows cases progressed through the Crown Court more quickly throughout 2023, with the median time from receipt to completion reducing from 167 days in the first quarter of 2023, to 125 days in the last quarter.
We are also investing more in our criminal courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings, up to March 2025.
Family Court
In March 2024 the Family Justice Board agreed a new set of priorities for the family justice system, with a clear focus on closing the longest running cases and increasing the proportion of public law cases concluding within the 26-week statutory timeline.
We announced in the Spring Budget an additional £55 million to improve productivity, support earlier resolution of family disputes and reduce the number of cases coming to court. This includes creating a digital advice tool for separating couples, piloting early legal advice and supporting the expansion of the private law Pathfinder model. The Department for Education are investing an extra £10 million to deliver new initiatives to address the longest delays in public law.
We have provided the flexibility for judges to sit virtually across regional boundaries, so that judges can be deployed where they are needed most, to reduce the caseload and waiting times.
We are also investing up to £23.6 million in the family mediation voucher scheme, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025. As of May 2024, over 28,600 families have successfully used the scheme to attempt to resolve their private law disputes outside of court.
Civil courts
With regards to civil cases, we are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have a significant volume of judicial recruitment underway for District and Deputy District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation.
The requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service will start this spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing.
The HMCTS Reform Program has introduced technology that delivers simplified and transformed digital ways of working for civil court users and judges such as the online money claims process and the damages claims service, offering accessible and responsive services.
Tribunals
With regards to the tribunals, we continue to work with the Department for Business and Trade on further measures to address caseloads in the Employment Tribunal, where the deployment of legal officers, recruitment of additional judges and a new electronic case management system have helped the Tribunal to manage its caseload which remains below its pandemic peak.
We have rolled out the HMCTS digital reform programme in the Immigration and Asylum and Social Entitlement chambers so that anyone challenging an immigration or welfare benefits decision can lodge their appeal, track progress and receive the results all online.
HMCTS 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.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) Natural England, and (2) Norfolk County Council, about the proposed construction of the Norwich West Link.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In October 2023, the Government approved funding at Outline Business Case stage for the Norwich Western Link. This was subject to the scheme gaining the necessary planning and environmental consents. It is for the scheme promoter, Norfolk County Council, to seek those consents and to work with Natural England. The Council is still engaged in that process and has submitted a planning application for the scheme. The Council has also written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to seek clarity on the implications of the recent Natural England report for the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Natural England report Definition of Favourable Conservation Status for barbastelle bat, published on 8 March, which placed "favourable conservation status" on barbastelle bats present in the area of the Norwich Western Link, what assessment they have made of the viability of the construction of the Norwich West Link.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In October 2023, the Government approved funding at Outline Business Case stage for the Norwich Western Link. This was subject to the scheme gaining the necessary planning and environmental consents. It is for the scheme promoter, Norfolk County Council, to seek those consents and to work with Natural England. The Council is still engaged in that process and has submitted a planning application for the scheme. The Council has also written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to seek clarity on the implications of the recent Natural England report for the scheme.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to publish claimant data for County Court Judgments.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice recently held a consultation about including claimant names on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines (the Register). We intend to publish a response to that consultation in due course. That response will set out whether the Government intends to bring forward legislation to allow for the publication of claimant names on the Register.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle drug-related offences in (a) Cumbria and (b) England.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Reducing drug-related crime is a key priority of the Government’s 10-year Drugs Strategy. We are making good progress. Since April 2022, we have closed over 2,500 county lines nationally.
Through the County Lines Programme, our exporter force taskforces (Metropolitan Police Service, Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester Police) work in collaboration with importer forces, including Cumbria Police, to tackle the drug supply and exploitation associated with County Lines.
Through our County Lines Programme, we also fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. We have also established a dedicated Surge Fund to help forces tackle county lines, from which Cumbria have received investment.
Through the Drugs Strategy, we are also investing £532m into high quality drug treatment which reduces crime and reoffending. There are now 24,500 more people in treatment across England, including Cumbria.
The Government has asked every area in England to form a Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP) to work together to reduce drug-related harm and crime. Cumbria is covered by the Cumbria CDP, which has a Police Force Area wide footprint. The Senior Responsible Owner is the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Cumbria.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2024 to Question 23168 on Asylum: Rwanda, how many immigration removal centres make up the detention capacity of around 2200 people; and if he will list those centres.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office currently operates seven immigration removal centres (IRCs) throughout the UK (six in England and one in Scotland); Harmondsworth and Colnbrook IRCs at Heathrow; Brook House and Tinsley House IRCs at Gatwick; Derwentside IRC in County Durham; Yarl’s Wood IRC in Bedfordshire and Dungavel House IRC in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
As of 24 April, the Home Office has the capacity to detain around 2,200 people in IRCs, including those liable for removal to Rwanda.