It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June.

On 14 May, the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement on the latest findings from the review.

In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office is publishing the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.

Further guidance on diversity staff networks is being developed, and we will seek to publish additional data on historic spending to assist transparency in this area.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Sitting days in courts and tribunals are subject to formal agreement between the Lord Chancellor, Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals via an annual process. This process has not yet concluded for the financial year 2024/25 and therefore sitting day allocations, and the associated budget information, is not yet available.

Sitting days in courts and tribunals are subject to formal agreement between the Lord Chancellor, Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals via an annual process. This process has not yet concluded for the financial year 2024/25 and therefore sitting day allocations, and the associated budget information, is not yet available.

The enablement of the Disability Confident scheme is embedded throughout the employee lifecycle, and the teams that support the employee lifecycle.  This is in line with the Ministry of Justice’s new HR operating model whereby strategic Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) activity is mainstreamed into the department’s HQ People Function.  This approach assures that any related Ministry of Justice workforce activity is aligned to Civil Service reform priorities and the strategic objectives of the Civil Service People Plan and Civil Service D&I Strategy, including recent, updated Ministerial guidance on EDI activity in the Civil Service.

The Ministry of Justice’s approach to the delivery of the Civil Service People Plan and Civil Service D&I Strategy includes the ongoing assessment of work to support recruitment and retention of disabled staff. The Ministry of Justice has been taken part in the Disability Confident scheme since 2017.

Further steps to recruit and retain disabled staff that are aligned to the Disability Confident scheme include:

• Information in job adverts about the Disability Confident scheme, how to request a reasonable adjustment to the application process and the Disability Confident interview scheme, which provides candidates with an option to “opt-in” to be considered for an interview as a disabled candidate if they meet the minimum criteria for the role.

• The Ministry of Justice provides individual focused support to ensure our disabled staff have workplace adjustments they require, including an in-house workplace adjustment service. The department seeks to continually review the effectiveness of this offer.

• The Ministry of Justice values the talent of all staff, including those with a disability. The department participates in the Civil Service ‘Future Leaders Scheme’ Disability Empowers Leadership Talent (DELTA) scheme and is piloting a new in-house talent offer for disabled staff in 2024.

It is important that the inquest process is as swift and efficient as possible to avoid additional distress for bereaved families at such a difficult time in their lives.

Whilst the Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy, this Department does not have operational responsibility for coroner services as they are a local service, funded and administered by individual local authorities. However, we are keen to understand the factors underlying the length of time for the completion of inquests, and to provide support where possible and appropriate.

To that end, we have introduced a raft of statutory measures to help streamline coroner processes, and intend to take forward further measures when Parliamentary time allows.

In addition, on 9 September 2024, the Government is implementing the statutory Medical Examiner scheme which, by providing a more robust framework for the scrutiny of cause of death, is expected to decrease the number of deaths which are unnecessarily referred to the coroner, thereby reducing pressure on coroner services.

I am also engaging with Ministerial colleagues to identify and implement an action plan to address the complex issues underlying the shortage of coronial pathology provision, which contributes significantly to inquest delays. As a first step, the Ministry of Justice is undertaking a review of the statutory fees for coronial pathology work.

I have recently discussed this and wider issues around inquest delay with the Justice Committee in the context of its follow up Inquiry into the Coroner Service and look forward to receiving its recommendations in due course.

In responding to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR), we boosted the system with upfront investment to address the most urgent concerns.

On 29 January, we published a consultation on proposed reforms to the Police Station Fee Scheme and the Youth Court, for which we propose an additional £16 million for police station work and £5.1 million for the Youth Court of funding per year. The consultation has now closed, and we are in the process of analysing the responses and considering the next steps. The government response will be published in due course.

We expect our reforms to criminal legal aid will increase investment in the solicitor profession by up to £85 million every year, including a 30% increase in funding for solicitors’ work in police stations and a 20% increase for their work in magistrates’ courts, once we introduce the additional £21 million per year allocated to these areas (subject to the consultation).

The Government is grateful for the important and valuable work that the Coroners Courts Support Service (CCSS) does in providing practical and emotional support for bereaved families in many coroner areas across England and Wales. This work is key to the Government’s objective of ensuring that the bereaved are placed at the heart of the inquest process.

We are keen to see support services in every coroner’s court in England and Wales, subject to affordability. Following the Justice Committee’s recommendation in the 2021 report on its Inquiry into the Coroner Service, the Ministry of Justice is taking forward an engagement plan, including with the CCSS, to better understand the support services currently available in coroners’ courts in England and Wales, and what is needed going forward. We aim to complete this assessment in as soon as practicable.

We are also undertaking a factual update of our Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People, which will be followed by a more fundamental review to take account of forthcoming changes which will impact on coroner services, including implementation of the statutory Medical Examiner scheme and the Independent Public Advocate. The review will also look at ways of improving the accessibility of the Guide, so that bereaved people are better able to engage with it at what is inevitably a very difficult time in their lives.

The Government is grateful for the important and valuable work that the Coroners Courts Support Service (CCSS) does in providing practical and emotional support for bereaved families in many coroner areas across England and Wales. This work is key to the Government’s objective of ensuring that the bereaved are placed at the heart of the inquest process.

We are keen to see support services in every coroner’s court in England and Wales, subject to affordability. Following the Justice Committee’s recommendation in the 2021 report on its Inquiry into the Coroner Service, the Ministry of Justice is taking forward an engagement plan, including with the CCSS, to better understand the support services currently available in coroners’ courts in England and Wales, and what is needed going forward. We aim to complete this assessment in as soon as practicable.

We are also undertaking a factual update of our Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People, which will be followed by a more fundamental review to take account of forthcoming changes which will impact on coroner services, including implementation of the statutory Medical Examiner scheme and the Independent Public Advocate. The review will also look at ways of improving the accessibility of the Guide, so that bereaved people are better able to engage with it at what is inevitably a very difficult time in their lives.

The Government is grateful for the important and valuable work that the Coroners Courts Support Service (CCSS) does in providing practical and emotional support for bereaved families in many coroner areas across England and Wales. This work is key to the Government’s objective of ensuring that the bereaved are placed at the heart of the inquest process.

We are keen to see support services in every coroner’s court in England and Wales, subject to affordability. Following the Justice Committee’s recommendation in the 2021 report on its Inquiry into the Coroner Service, the Ministry of Justice is taking forward an engagement plan, including with the CCSS, to better understand the support services currently available in coroners’ courts in England and Wales, and what is needed going forward. We aim to complete this assessment in as soon as practicable.

We are also undertaking a factual update of our Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People, which will be followed by a more fundamental review to take account of forthcoming changes which will impact on coroner services, including implementation of the statutory Medical Examiner scheme and the Independent Public Advocate. The review will also look at ways of improving the accessibility of the Guide, so that bereaved people are better able to engage with it at what is inevitably a very difficult time in their lives.

Operation Early Dawn is a contingency designed to mitigate impacts across the criminal justice system. We monitor system impacts but we cannot estimate how many court appearances are delayed because of Operation Early Dawn. This data is not collected in our management information systems (because Operation Early Dawn is a contingency).

We can confirm that no court sessions were cancelled as a result of Operation Early Dawn.

The Ministry of Justice and its agencies are working to minimise any associated delays across the criminal justice system, which includes prioritising the most urgent cases, and to minimise the inevitable impact on court administration.

Legal aid is available for asylum cases, for immigration matters for victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery, for separated migrant children and for immigration detention cases.

Once commenced, individuals who receive a removal notice under the Illegal Migration Act (IMA) will have access to merits and means free legal advice in relation to the removal notice.

We have taken action to increase access to legal aid for immigration and asylum cases, by:

• Setting fees for IMA work at 15% above the usual hourly rate;

• Providing up to £1.4 million of funding in 2024 for accreditation and re-accreditation of senior caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work;

• Allowing Detained Duty Advice Scheme (DDAS) providers to give guidance remotely, at the discretion of providers and subject to their professional judgement and their obligations towards vulnerable persons; and

• Introducing payment for travel time between Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) and DDAS surgeries.

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) monitors supply across its legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis and, where demand is greater than the available supply, takes action within its operational powers to secure additional provision to ensure the continuity of legal aid-funded services.

The LAA regularly engages with provider representative groups, including on the provision of immigration and asylum services, via forums such as the Civil Contract Consultative Group.

The ongoing Review of Civil Legal Aid is considering the broader economic context of the civil legal aid market as a whole, including for immigration cases, so that it can operate sustainably in the long-term; the Green Paper consultation is expected in July 2024.

HMCTS is focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness and the outstanding caseload on all types of applications. HMCTS has increased staffing levels, streamlined internal processes and continued to invest in further improving the digital service.

More recent Management Information published by HMCTS shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate (following receipt of the documents required) reduced by 3 weeks in March 2024 compared to February 2024. The average timeliness for cases completing in March was 9 weeks.

Official statistics show that the average time (median) from application submission to grant issue for all grant types was 11.0 weeks in 2023 (mean average time was 13.9 weeks). From the document receipt to grant issue the median average time was 8.7 weeks (mean average time 12.0).

Despite the probate service receiving record levels of applications during 2023 the open workable caseload (cases not waiting for more information from the applicant) has reduced by 30,500 cases since August 2023 and currently stands at 37, 406 in March 2024.

HMCTS is focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness and the outstanding caseload on all types of applications. HMCTS has increased staffing levels, streamlined internal processes and continued to invest in further improving the digital service.

More recent Management Information published by HMCTS shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate (following receipt of the documents required) reduced by 3 weeks in March 2024 compared to February 2024. The average timeliness for cases completing in March was 9 weeks.

Official statistics show that the average time (median) from application submission to grant issue for all grant types was 11.0 weeks in 2023 (mean average time was 13.9 weeks). From the document receipt to grant issue the median average time was 8.7 weeks (mean average time 12.0).

Despite the probate service receiving record levels of applications during 2023 the open workable caseload (cases not waiting for more information from the applicant) has reduced by 30,500 cases since August 2023 and currently stands at 37, 406 in March 2024.

On 17 July 2023, following a review of the fees that enforcement agents and High Court Enforcement Officers can recover when using the taking control of goods procedure, we announced that we intended to amend the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 to uplift such fees by 5%. We also announced that we would consult on reforms that aimed to encourage earlier and cheaper settlement of debt. We said that we would implement any reforms and the fee uplifts at the same time, in order to balance the need to ensure that there is a sustainable enforcement industry with making sure that those facing enforcement action are treated fairly. That consultation closed on 6 December 2023.

We received detailed feedback from a wide range of stakeholders and the Enforcement Conduct Board have been consulted. A response to the consultation will be published and a timetable for implementation will be announced in due course.

On 17 July 2023, following a review of the fees that enforcement agents and High Court Enforcement Officers can recover when using the taking control of goods procedure, we announced that we intended to amend the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 to uplift such fees by 5%. We also announced that we would consult on reforms that aimed to encourage earlier and cheaper settlement of debt. We said that we would implement any reforms and the fee uplifts at the same time, in order to balance the need to ensure that there is a sustainable enforcement industry with making sure that those facing enforcement action are treated fairly. That consultation closed on 6 December 2023.

We received detailed feedback from a wide range of stakeholders and the Enforcement Conduct Board have been consulted. A response to the consultation will be published and a timetable for implementation will be announced in due course.

On 17 July 2023, following a review of the fees that enforcement agents and High Court Enforcement Officers can recover when using the taking control of goods procedure, we announced that we intended to amend the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 to uplift such fees by 5%. We also announced that we would consult on reforms that aimed to encourage earlier and cheaper settlement of debt. We said that we would implement any reforms and the fee uplifts at the same time, in order to balance the need to ensure that there is a sustainable enforcement industry with making sure that those facing enforcement action are treated fairly. That consultation closed on 6 December 2023.

We received detailed feedback from a wide range of stakeholders and the Enforcement Conduct Board have been consulted. A response to the consultation will be published and a timetable for implementation will be announced in due course.