Contributions
1,118 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDWhiplash Injury Regulations 2021: Lord Chancellor’s ReviewI would like to announce today that I have completed my review of the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 following careful consideration of the available data and evidence,…22 May 2024HANSARDReoffending RatesThe hon. Gentleman raises an excellent point, and he is right. The reoffending rate is worth focusing on: in 2010 it was around 31%, and now it is 25%. The reason for that is a…14 May 2024HANSARDImmigration: Legal AidAccess to legal aid matters. We have taken action to broaden access in immigration and asylum cases by: uplifting fees for work done under the Illegal Migration Act 2023, when it…14 May 2024HANSARDImmigration: Legal AidI thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that important question. We are broadening access to legal aid. The means test review, when fully implemented, will put an additional £25…14 May 2024HANSARDCourt Case BacklogsWe remain committed to reducing the outstanding case loads across our courts in England and Wales. To enable the courts to get through more cases, we have extended the use of 20…14 May 2024HANSARDCourt Case BacklogsThe right hon. Gentleman raises an important point about magistrates courts. It is true that case loads in magistrates courts, which of course deal with over 90% of crimes—common…14 May 2024HANSARDCourt Case BacklogsI am delighted to hear from my right hon. Friend, who was such a distinguished Minister in this Department. He did indeed introduce virtual hearings in our courts, and time has…14 May 2024HANSARDLegal AidThe National Audit Office report on the management of legal aid was a valuable piece of work, and we are considering its conclusions carefully. The Government hugely value the…14 May 2024HANSARDLegal AidI hope that the hon. Gentleman will welcome the £10 million that is going to the Housing Loss Prevention Advisory Service, which is a revolutionary step to ensure that those who…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsSince the last session of Justice questions, I have met my G7 ministerial counterparts in Italy to discuss topics ranging from preventing illegal migration to tackling organised…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the hon. Gentleman for raising private family law, because all too often people raise the issue of crime, but family matters too. I am really delighted that we have…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsIf someone is the victim of a “crash for cash” scam, they are likely to be the victim of an offence under the Fraud Act 2006 or, potentially, under the Road Traffic Act 1988. We…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI read that report with care and will be looking very carefully at that specific case. It is important to read precisely what the chief inspector said. He said that that was an…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Lady is right to say there are prisons where the standards are not where we want them to be. There are something like 120 prisons in the estate, and we are the party that…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my right hon. Friend for that important point. Fewer than 1% of tenancies required court action in 2019, but for difficult cases that do escalate to the courts, the…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the hon. Lady for raising that important point on behalf of her constituents, and I will write to her.14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend for being so assiduous in raising this important matter on behalf of her constituents. We are investing heavily in the family system to deal with precisely…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe total number of IPPs is slightly higher than that but, looking into the data, the really significant factor is that, whereas there were some 6,000 IPP prisoners in 2012, the…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for raising this. Court orders must be obeyed, and a person can apply to the court for them to be removed. That will need to take place in…14 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsWe have increased capacity in the system. We have opened 20 Nightingale courts, including Cirencester Crown court in my county of Gloucestershire. We have increased the number of…14 May 2024