Written questions by Cleverly.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the Aarhus Convention provisions on costs in planning cases.

The Government remains committed to upholding its obligations under the Aarhus Convention, including maintaining access to environmental justice that is not prohibitively expensive. We set up the Environmental Costs Protection Regime (ECPR) in 2013 to enable this, and in May 2025 we committed to a series of measures to strengthen the regime. We keep all policies under review and, importantly, judges already have the power to vary the costs caps upwards or downwards, taking into account the particular circumstances of a case.Between September and December 2024, the Government ran a Call for Evidence on access to justice in relation to the Aarhus Convention. This Call for Evidence considered the recommendations of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee regarding whether changes are required to the ECPR. The Government intends to publish a response to this Call for Evidence in due course.Further, the Government published its response to the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce’s Review on Friday 13 March 2026. The Government recognises the concerns raised by the Taskforce regarding delays caused by a small number of unmeritorious legal challenges against nuclear developments and other major infrastructure projects, which could jeopardise our goal of reaching net zero by 2050. That is why we have accepted the Taskforce’s proposals in recommendation 20 to adjust the costs caps.These adjustments will be undertaken with a view to prioritising genuine legal challenges, whilst supporting the Government’s growth mission by supporting us to build the necessary infrastructure essential for energy security, economic growth, and net zero. We will therefore invite the Civil Procedure Rule Committee to adjust the ECPR with this aim in mind.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of aligning the legal age to become a magistrate with the lower voting age.

The Government has no current plans to review the minimum age to become a magistrate.

What the average time is for an application to enforce a Temporary Stop Notice to be heard in the Planning Court.

The information requested is not held centrally, we do not hold data on the average time for an application to enforce a Temporary Stop Notice to be heard in the Planning Court.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 75606 on Community Development: English Language, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of providing English language support in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.The services provided under the Ministry of Justice’s contracts include face-to-face, video, and telephone interpretation for spoken foreign languages, as well as written translation and transcription.In financial year 2024/25, the Ministry of Justice spent £36,920,721 providing these services via contract.To date, in financial year 2025/26, the Ministry of Justice spent £20,478,950 providing these services via contract. Expenditure to date is comparable with the same point as last financial year, so we anticipate that overall spend for 2025–26 will be broadly consistent with expenditure in the previous financial year.

What assessment he has made of (a) trends in the level of (i) delays and (ii) backlogs in the Planning Court and (b) the implications for his policies of the time taken to enforce a temporary stop notice.

Temporary Stop Notice (TSN) is a planning enforcement tool available to local planning authorities to halt breaches of planning control on a temporary basis while they consider whether more substantive enforcement action is required.While the initial stages of Planning Court proceedings are generally within expected timeframes, delays persist at later stages, and substantive hearings continue to experience backlogs. The number of live cases has gradually increased over the past year.The time taken to enforce a temporary stop notice has implications for the effectiveness of planning enforcement policy. These notices are intended to provide swift intervention to prevent unauthorised development, but delays in judicial processes can weaken their deterrent effect and undermine confidence in the planning system. Prolonged enforcement proceedings may increase costs for local authorities and frustrate wider policy objectives on development control.The Government is working with HM Courts & Tribunals Service and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure enforcement tools remain robust and planning policy continues to operate effectively.

Whether the provisions in chapter 2 of part 2 of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill will (a) apply to councillors and (b) be in addition to section 28 of the Localism Act 2011.

The Code of Ethics requirement will apply to those working for public authorities, and therefore will not apply to elected officials, including councillors. Elected officials have a different relationship with institutions and are accountable to the public, not employers.There are different arrangements for governing behaviour of elected officials. The Government recently consulted on a range of proposals to strengthen the current local government standards regime.The response to the consultation will be published shortly.

Whether the provisions in the Public Office (Accountability) Bill will apply to (a) town and (b) parish councillors.

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill reforms abolish the common law offence of misconduct in public office and introduce two new offences: seriously improper acts and breach of duty to prevent death or serious injury. These new offences apply to elected officials, including town and parish councillors.