Written questions by Mierlo.

What discussions he has had with Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Judges on the introduction of independent adjudicators to hear asylum appeals.

It is standard practice not to comment on the specifics of discussions between ministers and the judiciary.As would be expected, the Lord Chancellor has regular meetings with the Lady Chief Justice and other senior judges.In line with constitutional conventions, discussions with the judiciary do not cover the merits of policy proposals and are limited to technical matters relating to the operation of the courts and the wider administration of justice.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the service provided by the (a) probate service and (b) probate service contractors.

Official statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that despite continued high levels of receipts, the effectiveness of the service being provided continues to improve. Average waiting times are reducing and was 6 weeks, from receipt of the documentation needed across all types of grants, for grants issued during October to December 2024, down from 13 weeks for the same period in 2023 and the open caseload has reduced to 39,142 as at the end of December 2024, down from 77,904 at the end of 2023.HMCTS administers the probate service with civil servants. When a third party provides a service, such as document scanning, HMCTS regularly meets with them to review performance against Service Level Agreements and has no concerns.Average waiting times and open caseload for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via the Family Court Statistics: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Court of Protection in (a) issuing granted orders and (b) training for staff.

Court orders in the Court of Protection are prepared and approved by the Judiciary before being sealed and sent to the parties by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. Regular management checks are conducted to review court processes, with additional training provided as necessary. Furthermore, the implementation of a new case management system in July 2024 provided extra training for all administrative teams concerning order production.

What steps she is taking to ensure the adequacy of services provided by interpreters to her Department.

The Ministry of Justice operates a robust performance and quality regime for these services. Interpreter fulfilment of bookings is the service provided by suppliers under contract, and their performance is managed through contract management. The quality regime includes ensuring that interpreters on the Ministry of Justice register are qualified and security vetted, a rolling programme of spot checks on interpreters to ensure that they are meeting the quality requirements, and a complaints process that will direct quality assessment checks to interpreters that are subject to a complaint.The suppliers forecast demand, and work to ensure that there is a pool of qualified interpreters available to the Ministry of Justice to fulfil our bookings.

When she plans to publish the independent review of her Department’s language services.

We have been considering the findings of the independent review to help inform the development of new tender specifications. This is a complex process and covers a wide range of agencies within the Ministry of Justice. Once all internal governance has been completed the review will be released, we expect to publish the outcome by 31 December 2024.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of replacing external (a) translation and (b) interpretation services provided to her Department with services provided by departmental staff.

The Ministry of Justice considered the potential for bringing the service fully or partially in-house when assessing its options. The outcome of the assessment indicated an outsourced model continued to be the best value for taxpayers’ money, taking account of quality, deliverability, and cost.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the implementation of restorative justice in the criminal justice system.

This Government supports the use of restorative justice, which is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all adult victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it. We also provide Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding for victim support services, including restorative justice services. They are best placed to assess local need and commission services based on the needs of the population in the local area. Restorative justice can also be used as part of out of court resolutions, depending on the circumstances of the case.We know that restorative justice can improve victim satisfaction and reduce reoffending when delivered in the right circumstances. This not only benefits the victims and the offender but also their community.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling (a) non-religious belief organisations and (b) Humanists to conduct legally binding weddings as religious organisations.

We are aware that non-religious belief organisations, such as humanists, have long been campaigning to conduct legally binding weddings. Given marriage is such a valued part of our society, I hope you will understand that as a new Government we will need time to properly consider our marriage law, including the Law Commission’s 2022 wedding report, before publicly setting out our position.

If she will meet the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame to discuss an urgent constituency matter.

The Ministry of Justice Ministerial team conducts engagement with Members on their constituency matters on a routine basis and I would encourage the Member to contact the relevant Minister through the usual channels.