Westminster update: lord chancellor announces record courts investment

Government spending review consultation

We have called for the UK government to take a 'spend to save, spend to invest' approach to our justice system and legal services sector (PDF 409 KB).

Lord chancellor announces record courts investment

The lord chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, announced record investment in the courts on Wednesday 5 March:

• court sitting days will rise to 110,000 from 106,000 for the next financial year
• funding for court repairs will be boosted from £128 million to £148 million
• family and civil courts will sit at or near their maximum capacity

Mahmood said this represented the highest allocation on record for the courts and the investment would contribute towards swift justice.

However, she said she needed to be honest that without other, “bolder” measures, the backlog will continue to grow.

The lord chancellor pointed to the Leveson review of the criminal courts and said this would consider what bold action may be needed to get on top of the courts backlog.

She highlighted that currently 10% of criminal cases are heard in the Crown Court and there may be potential for this to be lowered.

We welcome this funding. We believe that the best way to deliver justice is by:

• funding our courts fully
• ensuring there are enough judges, lawyers and court staff
• making sure buildings are useable, for cases to be heard

MoJ permanent secretary: “challenge” to maintain current spending

On Tuesday 4 March, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Dame Antonia Romeo, gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee on budgets, capacity and digital reform.

Dame Antonia used the session to stress that the MoJ's budget is tight and that she is currently negotiating with the Treasury over where required savings of 5% will be made.

She acknowledged it will be a “challenge” to maintain current levels of spending given the request to make savings.

Asked what she would do if the department was given an increase in funding, the permanent secretary said she would focus on building prison capacity and investing to address the Crown Court backlog.

During a wider discussion about capacity in the justice system, Dame Antonia said the system needs to operate at a sustainable level but could not say how much money would be needed to achieve this.

Amy Rees, chief executive of the Prisons Service, said the system should be run closer to 95% capacity, compared to the current level of 99%.

Turning to the digital reform programme, committee chair Andy Slaughter (Labour) asked whether it had been a success overall.

Nick Goodwin, chief executive of HM Courts and Tribunals Service, said the programme had been ambitious and achieved a lot, with annual savings over £100 million in the years to come.

He did, however, note more needs to be done on digitisation in the county court.

Border Security Bill: MPs highlight Law Society concerns

On Tuesday 4 March and Thursday 6 March, MPs echoed our concerns and challenged the government on provisions that would potentially criminalise genuine asylum seekers for handling articles used in illegal crossings during committee stage of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party) spoke in support of his amendment 3 specifying that the offence created by clause 13 (“supplying articles for use in immigration crime”) cannot apply to asylum seekers.

Sarah Bool (Conservative) highlighted our concerns that asylum seekers may be victims if they are forced to handle goods.

She asked the minister how the government would address this possibility.

The minister for border security and asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, responded that “the intention of these powers is to be completely intelligence-led and focused on perpetrators, whether they are on the periphery or directly involved."

Dame Angela highlighted that the clauses include important safeguards.

She noted several circumstances that would exempt an individual from this criminal offence, including:

• a person’s actions being for the purpose of carrying out the rescue of a person from danger or serious harm, or
• that they were acting on behalf of an organisation that aims to assist asylum seekers and does not charge for its services

Wishart subsequently withdrew his amendment.

Sarah Bool again highlighted our concerns that parents or guardians could be prosecuted for taking their children on these journeys.

We noted the human rights assessment produced by the government for this bill states that parents who bring their children on these types of journeys will be excluded from prosecution under this offence in “almost all circumstances”, but not all.

Bool highlighted our recommendation to “clarify if this provision is intended to apply to asylum seekers in some circumstances, or amend it to ensure it does not in practice”.

In response, the minister replied that “in general, it is not expected that parents will be criminalised, but there is not a total ban on that. It will depend on what has happened and what the circumstances were. That will be looked at on a case-by-case basis.”

Coming up

We are working closely with MPs and peers to influence a number of bills before parliament:

• Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will continue committee stage in the Commons, which began on 4 March
• Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill report stage in the Commons on 17 March
• Data (Access and Use) Bill will continue its committee stage in the Commons, which began on 4 March
• Employment Rights Bill report stage in the Commons on 11 March
• Mental Health Bill began its committee stage in the Lords on 14 January
• Renters' Rights Bill committee stage in the Lords, date to be confirmed
• Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill began its committee stage in the Commons on 21 January