Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the document entitled Qualified legal representative appointed by the Court: Statutory guidance, published in July 2022, how many qualified legal representatives have been registered in (a) family and (b) other civil cases since the publication of that guidance.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme was introduced in July 2022, following the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
As of 20 March 2024, there are currently 366 QLRs registered to undertake work in the family courts and 78 QLRs registered to undertake work in the civil courts. We do not hold central data on total registrations since the publication of the statutory guidance.
Circumstances under which a QLR is required vary, for example, depending on whether parties have their own representation, and decisions on which cases require QLRs are taken by the courts. We do not collect data centrally on how many cases have required a QLR, or the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
We do not hold central data on how many QLRs have completed training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The Government encourages legal professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts, and to complete the required training as early as practicable.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases a qualified legal representative was (a) required and (b) available.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme was introduced in July 2022, following the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
As of 20 March 2024, there are currently 366 QLRs registered to undertake work in the family courts and 78 QLRs registered to undertake work in the civil courts. We do not hold central data on total registrations since the publication of the statutory guidance.
Circumstances under which a QLR is required vary, for example, depending on whether parties have their own representation, and decisions on which cases require QLRs are taken by the courts. We do not collect data centrally on how many cases have required a QLR, or the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
We do not hold central data on how many QLRs have completed training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The Government encourages legal professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts, and to complete the required training as early as practicable.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was of the Ask for ANI domestic abuse scheme in 2023.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office allocated £243,662 in the financial year 2022/23 and £168,449 in the financial year 2023/24 to Hestia Housing for the delivery of the Ask for ANI scheme.
In the financial year 2022/23, we also allocated £45,323 to develop an e-learning module and accompanying communications assets to complement the launch of the Ask for ANI in Jobcentre and Jobs and Benefits Offices pilot sites.
The Home Office has also commissioned an independent evaluation to understand how the scheme has been implemented across the Jobcentre and Jobs and Benefits Offices pilot sites. This evaluation is yet to be concluded but has so far cost £116,087.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to monitor the requirement for qualified legal representatives to undergo vulnerable witness training within six months of registering.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme was introduced in July 2022, following the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
As of 20 March 2024, there are currently 366 QLRs registered to undertake work in the family courts and 78 QLRs registered to undertake work in the civil courts. We do not hold central data on total registrations since the publication of the statutory guidance.
Circumstances under which a QLR is required vary, for example, depending on whether parties have their own representation, and decisions on which cases require QLRs are taken by the courts. We do not collect data centrally on how many cases have required a QLR, or the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
We do not hold central data on how many QLRs have completed training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The Government encourages legal professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts, and to complete the required training as early as practicable.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many qualified legal representatives had completed vulnerable witness training when they registered for the scheme.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme was introduced in July 2022, following the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
As of 20 March 2024, there are currently 366 QLRs registered to undertake work in the family courts and 78 QLRs registered to undertake work in the civil courts. We do not hold central data on total registrations since the publication of the statutory guidance.
Circumstances under which a QLR is required vary, for example, depending on whether parties have their own representation, and decisions on which cases require QLRs are taken by the courts. We do not collect data centrally on how many cases have required a QLR, or the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
We do not hold central data on how many QLRs have completed training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The Government encourages legal professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts, and to complete the required training as early as practicable.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases a qualified legal representative was (a) required and (b) not available.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme was introduced in July 2022, following the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.
As of 20 March 2024, there are currently 366 QLRs registered to undertake work in the family courts and 78 QLRs registered to undertake work in the civil courts. We do not hold central data on total registrations since the publication of the statutory guidance.
Circumstances under which a QLR is required vary, for example, depending on whether parties have their own representation, and decisions on which cases require QLRs are taken by the courts. We do not collect data centrally on how many cases have required a QLR, or the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.
We do not hold central data on how many QLRs have completed training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The Government encourages legal professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts, and to complete the required training as early as practicable.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) domestic abusers and (b) stalkers are ineligible for release under the end of custody supervised licence scheme.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Nobody convicted of serious violence will be released early and anyone convicted of any sexual or terror offence is automatically excluded. Unlike Labour’s End of Custody Licence scheme, which ran from 2007 to 2010, all offenders who may be eligible for release will be subject to the same set of licence conditions that would apply had they been released automatically.
Those licence conditions will reflect the risk management release plan prepared by probation staff and what is necessary to safely manage the offender in the community. The offender can be immediately recalled to prison if they do not comply or otherwise behave in a way that is assessed to be putting the public at risk.
In contrast to Labour’s approach, we have introduced an additional safeguard, whereby it remains at the discretion of the prison service to block the ECSL release of any prisoners where releasing an offender earlier presents a heightened risk than if they were released at their automatic release date.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to provide additional funding to help facilitate the hearing of the longest-delayed rape cases; and what steps he is taking to help reduce waiting times for criminal trials.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We remain committed to addressing the outstanding caseload at the Crown Court and have introduced a raft of measures to speed up justice for victims, such as recruiting up to 1,000 Crown Court judges and tribunal members this financial year, continuing the use of 20 Nightingale courtrooms to increase the capacity of our courts system, and increasing the fees paid to defence and prosecution lawyers by 15% in recognition of the essential work they do in facilitating the administration of justice.
As a result of the growth in the outstanding caseload during Covid and the subsequent Criminal Bar Association action, we recognise that there are some cases in the outstanding caseload which are taking longer to progress through the system. While the judiciary already look to prioritise cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses, the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales announced on 6 March 2024 that around 181 rape cases which have been outstanding for more than two years will be listed by the end of July 2024, demonstrating a renewed commitment to tackling the toughest cases still awaiting trial.
Alongside this, we are doing more than ever to support victims throughout their criminal justice journey, introducing our 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, quadrupling victim support funding by 2024/25 compared to 2010, and increasing the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors (ISVAs and IDVAs) to around 1,000 by 2024/25.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of its data collection systems in regard to victims.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
There are two main services for victims, the Domestic Abuse Safety Officer Service and the Victim Contact Scheme.
The Probation Service runs the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) for victims of offenders convicted of serious violent or sexual offences, who are sentenced to twelve months or more imprisonment. It has carried out changes in 2021 to ensure efficacy of its systems in relation to data collection to support the Victims’ Code of Practice.
There is also ongoing work to develop a set of national performance measures which can be used to measure the impact of the scheme and inform future development and decision making.
A change to the referral process in 2021, outlined in the Victims’ Code of Practice, now directs that victim’s contact details are automatically sent to Probation Service Victim Contact Units. These details are then recorded on the Probation Service Victim Contact Management System. This ensures timely offers of the VCS to victims, allowing them the choice of whether or not to engage in the scheme. To ensure the receipt of referrals, Probation staff also run reports from court and probation systems to ensure the receipt of qualifying cases. Figures from the Victim Satisfaction Survey linked to the scheme continues to show positive satisfaction of above 80% from victims who engage in the scheme.
To date, there has been no evaluation of the effectiveness of the Domestic Abuse Safety Officer service. This is a service that is offered to all victims and new partners of people attending Probation Service-run domestic abuse rehabilitation programmes. In July 2023, a national case management database was launched. This is a robust system, which enabled efficient collation, monitoring, and analysis of victim data. There is ongoing work to develop a set of national performance measures which can be used to measure the impact of the scheme and inform future development and decision making.
Furthermore, in September 2023, the new digital service to apply for criminal injuries compensation was made available to 100% of applicants. The number of questions asked as part of applying for compensation was reduced where possible - by 20-30% on some application journeys - compared to the older service we replaced.
This approach was supported by user research and trauma-informed practice, to ensure the data we are collecting is proportionate and required to enable the decision-making process - for example, we removed the mandatory need for victims to describe the nature of the incident as part of the application process, to reduce the risk of re-traumatisation.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of changes in the level of funding for domestic abuse services in each year since 2018.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Support for domestic abuse services is a devolved matter, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) holds data relating to England.
On 1st May 2023, according to Women’s Aid, throughout England, there were 236 domestic abuse service providers delivering a range of local services. Some providers deliver multiple services. The table below shows total number of domestic providers since 2018:
Total number of domestic abuse service providers in England | |||||
2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
219 | 220 | 222 | 229 | 226 | 236 |
Since 2021 £507 million has been allocated to support local authorities across England to delivery their statutory duty under Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to ensure that all victims, including children, have access to support within safe accommodation when they need it.
DLUHC has allocated over £4.2 million of funding to Warwickshire County Council to support domestic abuse victims in safe accommodation since 2021.
Further funding has been provided by the Ministry of Justice to Police and Crime Commissioners with £38 million of funding ring-fenced for Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors across England.