Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of pre-sentence reports requested by the judiciary in each year since 2015.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Data for this is available using the figures published in table 4.24 of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly bulletin, which can be found in the document linked below:
While the decision of whether to order a pre-sentence report (PSR) is up to the discretion of the judiciary, we recognise their importance and are working to improve their quality, targeting and timeliness.
The Department is leading on a pilot that is currently running in 15 magistrates’ courts across England and Wales. The pilot is encouraging the earlier identification of cases that would benefit from a PSR, and providing additional training and support to build the capacity of PSR writers to further improve the quality of their reports. The pilot also requires that short format written reports are produced for three priority cohorts generally understood to have more complex needs, namely female offenders, young adult offenders and offenders at risk of custody. Whilst the majority of these cases may need a more comprehensive report, that may result in probation requesting an adjournment, a screening tool has been introduced to ensure that the reports on these cohorts are proportionate to the complexity of the individual case, rather than a fuller report when it is not necessary.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of pre-sentence reports are completed on the day at court.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It would be misleading to give the proportion of cases sentenced without a pre-sentence report before the Crown and magistrates’ court due to the high numbers of cases for which a pre-sentence report would be unnecessary, particularly in the magistrates’ courts, for disposals of fines and discharges. This would also involve a process of matching court record data with probation data and the cost of doing so would be disproportionate.
While the decision of whether to order a PSR is up to the discretion of the judiciary, we recognise the value and importance of pre-sentence reports and are working to improve this number, and importantly also their quality, targeting and timeliness.
One example of this is through the PSR pilot that is currently running in 15 magistrates’ courts across England and Wales. As part of the pilot, we are encouraging the earlier identification of in-scope cases that would benefit from a PSR, and providing additional training and support to build the capacity of PSR writers to write higher quality reports. The pilot also requires that short format written reports are produced for three priority cohorts generally understood to have more complex needs, namely female offenders, young adult offenders and offenders at risk of custody. These more comprehensive reports may necessarily require a short adjournment.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of cases before the Crown Court are sentenced without a pre-sentence report.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It would be misleading to give the proportion of cases sentenced without a pre-sentence report before the Crown and magistrates’ court due to the high numbers of cases for which a pre-sentence report would be unnecessary, particularly in the magistrates’ courts, for disposals of fines and discharges. This would also involve a process of matching court record data with probation data and the cost of doing so would be disproportionate.
While the decision of whether to order a PSR is up to the discretion of the judiciary, we recognise the value and importance of pre-sentence reports and are working to improve this number, and importantly also their quality, targeting and timeliness.
One example of this is through the PSR pilot that is currently running in 15 magistrates’ courts across England and Wales. As part of the pilot, we are encouraging the earlier identification of in-scope cases that would benefit from a PSR, and providing additional training and support to build the capacity of PSR writers to write higher quality reports. The pilot also requires that short format written reports are produced for three priority cohorts generally understood to have more complex needs, namely female offenders, young adult offenders and offenders at risk of custody. These more comprehensive reports may necessarily require a short adjournment.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of cases before magistrates’ courts are sentenced without a pre-sentence report.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
It would be misleading to give the proportion of cases sentenced without a pre-sentence report before the Crown and magistrates’ court due to the high numbers of cases for which a pre-sentence report would be unnecessary, particularly in the magistrates’ courts, for disposals of fines and discharges. This would also involve a process of matching court record data with probation data and the cost of doing so would be disproportionate.
While the decision of whether to order a PSR is up to the discretion of the judiciary, we recognise the value and importance of pre-sentence reports and are working to improve this number, and importantly also their quality, targeting and timeliness.
One example of this is through the PSR pilot that is currently running in 15 magistrates’ courts across England and Wales. As part of the pilot, we are encouraging the earlier identification of in-scope cases that would benefit from a PSR, and providing additional training and support to build the capacity of PSR writers to write higher quality reports. The pilot also requires that short format written reports are produced for three priority cohorts generally understood to have more complex needs, namely female offenders, young adult offenders and offenders at risk of custody. These more comprehensive reports may necessarily require a short adjournment.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of an international copyright exhaustion regime on author incomes; and what plans they have, if any, to publish this assessment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. The potential impact of an international exhaustion regime on author incomes is likely to form part of the overall assessment, alongside the potential effect on other sectors of the economy. The Government will provide an update on this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of an international exhaustion regime on UK author incomes.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. The potential impact of an international exhaustion regime on UK authors is likely to form part of the overall assessment, alongside the potential effect on other sectors of the economy. The Government will provide an update on this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of an international exhaustion regime on UK authors.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. The Government is currently assessing consultation responses. and will provide an update on this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to help ensure the financial viability of authors as the Intellectual Property Office consults on the copyright regime.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government holds regular discussions with stakeholders about the UK’s copyright framework to ensure it remains fit for purpose. This includes engagement with organisations representing authors and the wider publishing industry.
The Government is currently analysing responses to the consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of IP rights regime, and will provide an update on this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2021 to Question 34612 on Powers of Attorney: Repayments, what estimate he has made of the number of applicants eligible for a refund of power of attorney fees overcharged by the Office of the Public Guardian who have not yet received such a refund.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Department estimates that around 675,000 applicants out of our original estimate of one million, have not applied for a refund.
At its launch in 2018 the scheme was announced on GOV.UK and promoted through media and stakeholder channels. Solicitors, Will writers, financial organisations and third sector organisations were encouraged to use their channels to promote the refund scheme and were provided with information in advance of the launch to ensure that they were well prepared to signpost the relevant sources on GOV.UK, or more actively support their clients if they wished to.
Although the online application form previously hosted on Gov.UK is no longer in use, information regarding where to apply remains on GOV.UK. OPG are still accepting written requests for a refund from customers. Further reminders about the scheme were sent out last year.
As of June 2021, £16,463,993 worth of refunds have been made and 324,937 claims have been received.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent representations his Department has received from (a) members of the public and (b) the publishing sector on the save our books campaign; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of those representations.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is currently consulting on the UK’s future exhaustion of IP rights regime and has received responses from a variety of respondents.
The consultation on this matter is still ongoing and once the consultation has closed, the Department will assess information arising from that consultation so that a decision may be made.