Every parliamentary written question tabled by Rachel Gilmour this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–5 of 5 · Ministry of Justice
If he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of the right of appeal escalatory route from the Family Court judges to the High Court on judicial oversight accountability.
The Government has no plans to remove any rights of appeal route from family court judges to the High Court, nor has it made an assessment of the potential impact of such a change on judicial oversight and accountability.
If she will make an assessment of the appropriateness of the duties of care homes in relation to Lasting Powers of Attorney for residents.
Evidence indicates the overall scale of abuse using lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) is low. There were just over 8 million powers of attorney on the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) register in 2023/24. It completed investigations into around 2,800. 597 cases resulted in either court action or a requirement for the attorney to complete remedial action. In that context, a specific assessment at this time of the duties on care homes in relation to LPAs would not be a proportionate response.Anyone, including care home management or staff, who has a concern about how an LPA has been made or used should raise this with the OPG. The OPG has processes to investigate such issues and take appropriate action where necessary.Under the Care Act, where a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult in the local authority’s area has needs for care and support and appears to be at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, and is unable to protect themselves as a result of those needs, the local authority must carry out a safeguarding enquiry. Where necessary, this would include raising concerns with OPG for investigation where a property and affairs LPA is in place, and they believe it has been used to perpetrate abuse.
If she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Office of the Public Guardian in investigating a person with lasting power of attorney.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has processes in place to review the performance of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and hold it to account. The MoJ reviews OPG performance through a system based on the Cabinet Office requirements for sponsorship of public bodies.We have no evidence OPG is failing to appropriately investigate allegations of abuse. The demand on OPG investigations has increased, so OPG is training additional investigators to meet demand, as well as process improvements to improve processing times. OPG continues to prioritise safeguarding concerns and reviews over 95% of all concerns received within 2 days. Whilst the time taken to conduct the investigation is longer than OPG’s target of 70 days, the investigations undertaken continue to be thorough and detailed, ensuring the right outcome is achieved.
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of sentencing guidelines for banned drivers causing harm to (a) children, (b) animals and (c) other vulnerable road users; and whether she plans to review those guidelines.
Driving offences have widespread impact on our communities and can have devastating consequences for victims, their families and their friends. The Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority.Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. The guidelines produced provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is. The Sentencing Council also recently published revised guidelines which consolidate existing legislation around banned drivers. These will come into effect next month, on 1 April 2025.The Department for Transport is committed to delivering a new Road Safety Strategy – the first in over a decade. They will set out next steps on this in due course.
If she will (a) hold discussions with the Sentencing Council on the adequacy of sentencing guidelines for people who have been convicted of wildlife crimes and (b) make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the conviction rate for reported wildlife crime incidents.
Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so, and the Council regularly assesses their effectiveness. It would not be appropriate for the Government to require the Council to develop or review particular guidelines.The Government assesses and publishes the impact of its policies, including the impact on the Criminal Justice System, in a variety of ways including Impact Assessments.