Blog

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the total value of contracts her Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    My Department receives procurement services from the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and the Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. All contracts agreed with either Crown Commercial Services or the Central Procurement Directorate are available on their respective websites:

    CCS – https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/crown-commercial-service

    CPD – http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/cpd

    “

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release Damian Green: new rehabilitation powers for magistrates, published on 25 March 2014, when he plans to publish a White Paper on magistrates’ reform.

    Mike Penning

    The Government has no plans to publish a White Paper on magistrates’ reform before the General Election. The role of magistrates will be reviewed again once our rehabilitation and summary justice reforms have bedded down.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of local magistrate advisory boards are (a) sitting magistrates and (b) non-magistrates.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I have interpreted ‘Local magistrate advisory boards’ to mean Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, the bodies responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in England and Wales.

    To enable their work to be informed by a range of knowledge and experience, Advisory Committees are composed of both magistrates and non-magistrates. At least one third of each Committee’s members should be non-magistrates.

    The attached table contains the names of each Committee’s members and indicates which of those members are magistrates.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who the members are of each local magistrate advisory board.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I have interpreted ‘Local magistrate advisory boards’ to mean Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, the bodies responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in England and Wales.

    To enable their work to be informed by a range of knowledge and experience, Advisory Committees are composed of both magistrates and non-magistrates. At least one third of each Committee’s members should be non-magistrates.

    The attached table contains the names of each Committee’s members and indicates which of those members are magistrates.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of local magistrate advisory boards were (a) women, (b) men, (c) of BAME origin and (d) aged over 65 on 1 April (i) 1989, (ii) 1994, (iii) 2000, (iv) 2005, (v) 2010 and (vi) 2014.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I have interpreted ‘Local magistrate advisory boards’ to mean Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, the bodies responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in England and Wales.

    We encourage applications from people from all walks of life who have the necessary skills, and we will continue to work to ensure that our magistrates reflect the make-up of modern Britain.

    Diversity data for the Advisory Committees’ members is not recorded for the requested years prior to 2005. The available data is shown below.

    Year (1 April)

    Female

    Male

    BAME

    Age over 65

    2005

    46%

    54%

    7%

    36%

    2010

    47%

    53%

    9%

    60%

    2014

    48%

    52%

    10%

    53%
  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value of contracts his Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Noted below are the values for contracts with private sector providers awarded in each of the financial years, the values show the average annual spend for the financial year.

    2010 – 11

    2011 – 12

    2012 – 13

    2013 -14

    2014 – 15

    £256,880,714

    £568,924,146

    £438,322,765

    £276,327,267

    £1,086,494,704

    The private sector has an important role to play in helping deliver much needed reforms. We remain committed to promoting a diverse market including public, private and voluntary sectors, as well as ensuring rigorous contract management and high standards of behavior.

    We have undertaken a major review of contract management to ensure that we have in place robust and accountable systems. We will continue to improve our commercial capability and share this crucial learning across Government.

    When buying products and services we always seek best value for taxpayers’ money and find savings were possible.

  • Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people convicted of causing death by dangerous driving have not been subject to automatic release in the last three years.

    Mike Penning

    The majority of people sentenced to immediate custody for the offence of causing death by dangerous driving are subject to the standard determinate sentence release provisions, with automatic release at the half-way point in accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Some offenders serving this type of sentence may be eligible to be considered for release on home detention curfew (HDC) before their automatic release date, but those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving are presumed unsuitable for HDC and can only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have been dismissed (a) in total and (b) through lack of capacity following an employment tribunal hearing in the last three years for which data is available.

    Andrew Selous

    The total number of officers, bands 3-5, dismissed from the public sector prison service in England and Wales, can be found in the table below, broken down into the categories of dismissal used within the National Offender Management Service. Lack of capacity is not one of these categories.

    Table: Headcount of Band 3 to 5 Officers Dismissed from the Public Sector Prison Service in England & Wales, 2011/12 to 2013/14

    Reason

    2011/12

    2012/12

    2013/14

    Breach of Contract

    ~

    ~

    ~

    Conduct

    80

    80

    70

    Medical Inefficiency

    170

    160

    170

    Poor Performance

    ~

    ~

    ~

    Unsatisfactory Attendance

    10

    10

    ~

    Grand Total

    260

    260

    250

    Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 in line with the department’s policy for presenting staffing data.

    ~ denotes suppressed values of 5 or fewer. Low numbers are suppressed in conjunction with the rounding policy to prevent disclosure in accordance with Data Protection Act, 1998.

  • John Hemming – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John Hemming – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Hemming on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent on 2 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley by HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s Performance, Analysis and Reporting Team, what the (a) name of the judge, (b) date and (c) period of committal was of each court order issued by (i) Birmingham County Court, (ii) Birmingham High Court and (iii) Birmingham Family Court for contempt of court since November 2014.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    In order to answer 223311 Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) would have to manually check every court log from 1 May 2013 to the present at Birmingham County Court, Birmingham Family Court and the High Court at Birmingham. Birmingham County Court and Birmingham Family Court between them heard in excess of 24,000 cases, each of which would have to be manually checked for any hearings for contempt of court.

    HMCTS have been able to check records of cases heard since November 2014, and identified those where committal orders were made for imprisonment for contempt of court. The contemnors weren’t all present at court and did not necessarily begin their term of imprisonment straight away. There were none at Birmingham Family Court. Details of committal orders made for imprisonment for contempt of court at Birmingham County Court and High Court since 1 November 2014 can be found in the table below. This data has been collated specifically to answer this question and has not been checked to the standard of Official Statistics.

    Court

    Judge

    Date

    Period

    Birmingham High Court

    HHJ Purle QC

    13-2-15

    6 weeks

    Birmingham County Court

    DJ Rich TD

    7-11-14

    8 weeks

    Birmingham County Court

    HHJ McKenna

    19-11-14

    16 weeks

    Birmingham County Court

    HHJ McKenna

    15-1-15

    18 weeks

    Birmingham County Court

    HHJ McKenna

    15-1-15

    25 weeks

    Birmingham County Court

    DJ Ingram

    30-1-15

    24 weeks

    Birmingham County Court

    DJ Shorthose

    13-2-15

    26 weeks

  • John Hemming – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John Hemming – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Hemming on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the contribution by the hon. Member for North West Cambridgeshire of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 625 and pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2015 to Question 217723, how many (a) ex-parte non-molestation orders were given to (i) women and (ii) men, (b) with notice non-molestation orders were given to (i) women and (ii) men, (c) non-molestation orders were applied for by each firm of solicitors, (d) non-molestation orders were given to (i) women and (ii) men by each judge, (e) ex-parte occupancy orders were given to (i) women and (ii) men, (f) with notice occupancy orders were given to (i) women and (ii) men, (g) occupancy orders were applied for by each firm of solicitors, (h) occupancy orders were given to (i) women and (ii) men by each judge in each quarter from the first quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2014 in courts in (A) Sussex and (B) the West Midlands.

    Simon Hughes

    Details of the gender of those receiving non molestation orders (ex-parte and with notice), and occupancy orders (ex-parte and with notice) since 2011 can only be obtained by manually checking every case file at disproportionate costs.

    Figures requested for non molestation and occupancy orders applied for by each firm of solicitors in courts in a) Sussex and b) West Midlands are available and provided as extracted from the central MoJ database on family cases, in the accompanying tables.

    Domestic violence and abuse is unacceptable and no one should have to experience it. It is right that the family court has the power to take swift action to protect families and children from domestic abuse. We are confident that the court procedures for making non-molestation orders are sufficiently robust and in each case the court will make a decision whether to make an order based on the circumstances of the case including the need to secure the health, safety and well-being of the applicant and of any relevant child.