Tuesday, 23 February 2016

[wanabidii] United Kingdom Parliament Daily Digest Bulletin

United Kingdom Parliament Treasury Committee Homepage Update

You are subscribed to the Treasury Committee Homepage email alerts for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

22-02-2016 12:01 AM GMT

Treasury Committee publishes its report reviewing the e-mail exchange between the Treasury and OBR

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

Questions for Oral or Written Answer - House of Commons

You are subscribed to Questions for Oral or Written Answer (The "Question Book" - House of Commons)

22-02-2016 12:00 AM GMT

Browse part 1 of the Question Book for details of written questions

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

Summary Agendas and Orders of Business Update (UK Parliament)

You are subscribed to Summary Agendas and Orders of Business (House of Commons) for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

 

Monday 22 February 2016

Summary Agenda | PDF version PDFOpens in a new window

Get an overview of what is going on in the House of Commons Chamber and in Westminster Hall

Business Today | PDF version PDFOpens in a new window

Read the agenda for business in the House of Commons, Westminster Hall and Commons Committees

Future Business | PDF version PDFOpens in a new window

Find out what business is scheduled for the Commons Chamber and Westminster Hall

Order Paper - linked version PDFOpens in a new window

Read the agenda for business in the House of Commons, Westminster Hall and Commons Committees

 

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

United Kingdom Parliament Welsh Affairs Committee Homepage Update

You are subscribed to the Welsh Affairs Committee Homepage email alerts for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

22-02-2016 09:37 AM GMT

Welsh Affairs Committee questions BBC representatives on corporation's plans for future funding

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

Latest news from Parliament

You are subscribed to the latest news from the United Kingdom Parliament

22-02-2016 09:00 AM GMT

Second reading debate today in the Commons
22-02-2016 12:01 AM GMT

Treasury Committee publishes its report reviewing the e-mail exchange between the Treasury and OBR
 

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the latest news items.

Today's Written Statements Update

You are subscribed to Today's Written Statements for The United Kingdom Parliament.

Written statements are published on the internet as soon as possible after Parliament receives them and are also published in the next day’s edition of Hansard.

Links to the PDFs work until the written statements are published in Hansard at www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/commons/, or you may wish to save the links as favourites.


Mr Shailesh Vara - Ministry of Justice

On 18 February, the Government published a consultation paper proposing new fees for applications for grants of probate.

In the Spending Review the Ministry of Justice was allocated £700 million investment in Her Majesty's Court and Tribunal Service ('HMCTS'). This will transform our courts and tribunals, reducing complexity in language, processes and systems; helping people reach the best resolution for them; minimising the steps that people need to go through to obtain justice; and improving access to justice. We will invest in better facilities and use technology to reduce paperwork, so that we create a courts and tribunals service fit for the modern age.

At the same time, we must reduce the burden on the taxpayer of running our courts and tribunals. In meeting our Spending Review settlement, all parts of the Ministry of Justice must contribute to the national effort to reduce the deficit and restore the government's finances to surplus. The courts and tribunals service cost £1.8 billion in 2014/15, but only £700 million was received in income. This leaves a net cost to the taxpayer of around £1.1bn in one year alone.

Our consultation on probate applications sets out reforms designed to increase income for a more sustainable courts and tribunals service and to introduce a more progressive fees regime. Probate applications are currently charged a fee of £155 if made by a solicitor and £215 if paid by an individual ("personal applications"). These fees apply to estates worth £5,000 or more. We propose raising this threshold from £5,000 to £50,000, lifting 30,000 estates out of the need to pay a probate fee altogether. The proportion of estates paying no fee would rise to 57%.

Above that threshold, we propose that the probate fee increases in line with the value of the estate. Estates worth over £50,000 but below £300,000 would see their fee rise to £300, a modest increase of £85 on the current maximum fee of £215. 84% of estates would pay £300 or nothing and 94% of estates would pay £1000 or less. The maximum fee of £20,000 would only be paid by the very wealthiest estates, worth more than £2 million. The fee would never exceed 1% of the value of the estate and in many cases it would be considerably less.

We also want to see a simpler, more streamlined process for probate applications, moving from a paper-based to an online system. This will make the Probate Service much easier to navigate so the experience of the bereaved is as simple and hassle-free as possible, reducing worry for executors at what is often a very difficult and distressing time, and enabling most applications to be completed online and, we hope, without expensive professional advice.

These proposals are progressive, with lower value estates lifted out of paying any fee at all and other estates only paying more as the value of the estate increases. They are also necessary, making a significant contribution to reducing the deficit and enabling investment which will transform the courts and tribunals service.

Court fees are never popular but they are necessary if we are, as a nation, to live within our means. These proposals would raise around an additional £250 million a year, which is a critical contribution to cutting the deficit and reducing the burden on the taxpayer of running the courts and tribunals.

Full details of the Government's proposals are set out in the consultation document which has been published on the gov.uk website.


Mr Shailesh Vara - Ministry of Justice

On 19 February the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor wrote to the Chair of the Justice Select Committee to inform him of two issues concerning Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service ('HMCTS'): one relating to Form E1 and the other relating to community penalty breach warrant processing errors.

As a result of further extensive investigations to establish the cause of the Form E error, my officials have alerted me to a further calculator problem in a past version of another form, Form E1.

Form E1 is the form that parties must use to disclose financial information in certain kinds of financial proceedings, including proceedings for financial provision for children that fall outside the statutory maintenance scheme. Form E1 is used in a much smaller number of proceedings than Form E.

This fault meant that the automatic calculator in the form calculated the wrong total for an individual's net assets by failing to deduct certain liabilities.

The investigation found the faulty formula was present in the version of Form E1 that was available on the HMCTS Form Finder website between April 2011 and March 2012.

HMCTS has conducted a search on a set of 459 cases that have a record of a financial application or a reference to Form E1 having been filed during this period. Where Form E1s were found, they were checked to see if they were the HMCTS version containing the calculator error, and if so whether the error was present. 3 Form E1s have been identified as containing the calculation error.

Whilst we are confident that the trawl has captured the vast majority of cases that could have been affected by the error, anyone concerned about their case can write to us and their case will be checked. Following the Form E error coming to light, HMCTS established a dedicated email address which people could use if they were concerned about their own case: formE@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk. Those who wish to contact us about Form E1 should use this same email address.

Although the faulty form was used in these cases, it will not necessarily have had any effect on the ultimate outcome. Form E1 is only a part of the material used by the parties and the court and is used at an early stage, so the information is often disputed or superseded by further information introduced during proceedings.

We have instructed HMCTS to write to all parties in the 3 cases identified. The letter will express our sincere regret, set out what happened and explain that, although Form E1 is just one part of the evidence used in their case, there remains a possibility that the error affected the final outcome.

The letter will set out options available to people involved in these cases. They may wish to do nothing, if, for example, they know that the error was corrected during the proceedings or they do not wish to re-open their cases. If they think they have been affected by this error then they can apply to the court to vary or set aside their order. My officials consulted the President of the Family Division about the court rules and procedures that would apply to such applications or for any other proceedings that might be open to the parties. My officials are also consulting the President on the development of a specific form for such applications. We will provide a link to the new form in our letter to the parties, as well as guidance on how to complete the form.

We have instructed that no court fee will be charged for making this application, and this will also be made clear in the letter from HMCTS.

The current version of Form E1 has the correct calculator functionality and we will also consider the future of Form E1 as part of our broader court reforms.

With regard to community penalty breach warrants, on Tuesday 26th January, I was alerted to an error in the processing of an individual breach warrant by HMCTS.

A community penalty breach warrant is issued when an individual has failed to attend court to answer why they have not complied with the conditions of, for example, a community or suspended sentence. In some circumstances, individuals may be remanded in custody following a breach of their order.

The effect of a breach warrant not being processed properly can be that notification that a warrant has been issued to arrest an individual is either sent late to the arresting authority or not sent at all.

Following this individual case, HMCTS immediately began an urgent investigation into whether this was an isolated incident or more widespread. Initial local checks into all 725 'live' breach warrants in the Greater Manchester area discovered that a further 51 breach warrants had been processed incorrectly. Those errors were due to processes being disapplied or ignored by specific members of HMCTS staff in the Greater Manchester area. Immediate steps have been taken to ensure that proper procedures are now being followed in Greater Manchester and action has been taken against all members of staff identified as responsible for these errors. All of the 52 warrants have since been processed correctly and have either been actioned or are in the process of being actioned by the enforcing authority.

Given the potentially serious repercussions of breach warrants not being properly processed, HMCTS then instigated detailed and thorough investigations across the whole of England and Wales to see if the problems in Greater Manchester had also occurred elsewhere. A total of 4,054 live warrants (including those in Greater Manchester) have been checked in 200 issuing courts across the country – including every warrant issued over the last month. Those checks have identified a further 69 errors nationally, including 47 in the London region.

Investigations are now examining the reasons for error in all 69 cases outside of Greater Manchester, and are particularly focused on why a disproportionate number appear to have occurred in London.

Early findings have already made clear that the majority of the errors in London were due to a change in process and personnel that had been addressed by the end of January 2016.

Immediate detailed assurance is being carried out of local processes to ensure that all community penalty breach warrants are sent to the appropriate enforcement authority, and an in-depth audit is being carried out in London and Greater Manchester to assure their processes independently. The relevant standard operating procedures are being strengthened as a matter of urgency, and best practice that has been identified through the investigations undertaken will be shared and implemented across the country. Appropriate action will be taken in respect of all staff members who have made errors, consistent with the approach taken in Greater Manchester.

HMCTS will report to me as soon as possible on the reasons for each individual error across the country and will also recommend whether more action should be taken to the steps outlined above in order to eliminate the possibility of further errors occurring in future. These mistakes are deeply regrettably and I sincerely apologise to anyone who may have been affected.

 

Recent Select Committee publications (UK Parliament)

You are subscribed to Recent Select Committee publications for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

22-02-2016 12:00 AM GMT

House of Commons. Treasury. HC 514

View recent committee publications.

If you have difficulties accessing the page through the above link, copy and paste the following URL for into your browser
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/committees/recent-reports/

 

Commons Library Debate Packs: latest update

You are subscribed to Commons Library Debate Packs for the United Kingdom Parliament


Monday, February 22, 2016
This Commons Library debate pack has been prepared for the Westminster Hall debate on the treatment of Crohn's and colitis sufferers in England on Wednesday 24 February 2016. The debate has been tabled by Anne Main MP

Friday, February 19, 2016
This Commons Library debate pack has been prepared for the Westminster Hall debate on community pharmacies on Tuesday 23 February 2016. The debate has been tabled by Derek Thomas MP.

Commons Library Briefing Papers: latest update

You are subscribed to Commons Library Briefing Papers for the United Kingdom Parliament


Friday, February 19, 2016
This note discusses proposals to restrict the ability of local authorities to carry out boycotts.

Friday, February 19, 2016
This note provides details about CETA, the Comprehensive Trade and Economic Partnership. This is a free trade agreement between the EU and Canada.

Friday, February 19, 2016
This House of Commons Briefing Paper summarises some key findings arising from research into the impact of the under-occupation deduction from Housing Benefit (also referred to as the 'Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy' or 'bedroom tax').

Friday, February 19, 2016
This note provides a bibliography of recent research on gangs and youth crime.

Latest Parliamentary Digital Service jobs
digital service jobshr bar

Apply for the latest  Jobs vacancies at Parliament

iStock_typing_on_keyboard
hr bar

Communications Officer

We are building a new Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) to make sure we are structured in the right way to be able to deliver an exciting and challenging work programme for our colleagues in Parliament, Members and the wider public. This includes setting up a small two-person communications team to make sure.......Read more

Salary: £36,500 - £42,825
Closing Date: 6 March 2016

interested? Apply
divider_line


Senior Project Manager

The Senior Project Manager is a specialist role within the Digital Service, establishing, managing and continuously improving projects and project delivery within the Digital Portfolio.
They report to the relevant Programme or Portfolio Manager(s).......Read more

Salary: £49,500 - £61,868
Closing Date: 10 March 2016

apply _button_2
hr


Software Developer

We want to expand our team of outstanding Software Developers to help the Digital Service build, run and maintain great Digital Services for both Houses and the public. You will help specify, design and develop a range of systems taking responsibility for the design, coding and documentation......Read more

Salary: £30,150- £36,080
Closing Date: On-going Recruitment

Apply_button

View all Digital Service jobs

Other Jobs

Interested in other jobs across Parliament?
Click on the links below to view the latest posts.

House of Commons Jobs

House of Lords Jobs

network-image

CV Submission

Your application will not considered if you do not adhere to the relevant application process. Please send your job application form or CV and Covering Letter to

pdsrecruitment@parliament.uk

Digital Service

Find out more about the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS), a joint department of both House of Parliament

hr line
Read the latest Committee news

You are subscribed to Committee news for the United Kingdom Parliament

22-02-2016 02:10 PM GMT

Transport Committee questions Government officials on skills and workforce planning in road haulage sector
22-02-2016 01:30 PM GMT

Welsh Affairs Committee questions BBC representatives on corporation's plans for future funding
22-02-2016 01:20 PM GMT

Communities and Local Government Committee examines Government proposals on retaining business rates
22-02-2016 12:01 AM GMT

Treasury Committee publishes its report reviewing the e-mail exchange between the Treasury and OBR

Latest news from the House of Commons

You are subscribed to the latest news from the House of Commons

22-02-2016 02:10 PM GMT

Transport Committee questions Government officials on skills and workforce planning in road haulage sector
22-02-2016 02:09 PM GMT

Briefing paper on the Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill 2015-16
22-02-2016 01:30 PM GMT

Welsh Affairs Committee questions BBC representatives on corporation's plans for future funding
22-02-2016 01:20 PM GMT

Communities and Local Government Committee examines Government proposals on retaining business rates
22-02-2016 09:13 AM GMT

Statement in the Commons expected at 3.30pm
22-02-2016 09:00 AM GMT

Second reading debate today in the Commons
22-02-2016 12:01 AM GMT

Treasury Committee publishes its report reviewing the e-mail exchange between the Treasury and OBR
 

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the latest news items.

United Kingdom Parliament House of Lords on Twitter Update

You are subscribed to the email alert for the House of Lords on Twitter for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

The following links will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.










United Kingdom Parliament Work and Pensions Committee Homepage Update

You are subscribed to the Work and Pensions Committee Homepage email alerts for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

22-02-2016 01:31 PM GMT

The Committee will hear evidence from two panels with representatives from small businesses as well as industry experts and advisors

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

United Kingdom Parliament Welsh Affairs Committee Homepage Update

You are subscribed to the Welsh Affairs Committee Homepage email alerts for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

22-02-2016 01:53 PM GMT

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

Constitution Committee: latest update

You are subscribed to Constitution Committee (House of Lords) for The United Kingdom Parliament.

22-02-2016 12:00 AM GMT

Correspondence regarding the Scotland Bill

The following links will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

United Kingdom Parliament Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (Commons) Update

You are subscribed to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee email alerts for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

22-02-2016 02:35 PM GMT

Northern Ireland Affairs Committee hears from Federation of Small Business on Brexit

Parliament on Twitter

You are subscribed to Parliament on Twitter for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.
















United Kingdom Parliament Scottish Affairs Committee Homepage Update

You are subscribed to the Scottish Affairs Committee Homepage email alerts for The United Kingdom Parliament. This information has recently been updated.

22-02-2016 12:13 PM GMT

Scottish Affairs Committee examines Government's strategy for supporting growing Scottish renewables sector

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

Economic Affairs Committee: latest update

You are subscribed to Economic Affairs Committee Homepage (House of Lords) for The United Kingdom Parliament.

 

22-02-2016 02:10 PM GMT

Economic Affairs Committee takes evidence on Tuesday 23 February at 3.30pm

The following links will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

Latest news from Parliament

You are subscribed to the latest news from the United Kingdom Parliament

22-02-2016 02:10 PM GMT

Transport Committee questions Government officials on skills and workforce planning in road haulage sector
22-02-2016 02:09 PM GMT

Briefing paper on the Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill 2015-16
22-02-2016 01:30 PM GMT

Welsh Affairs Committee questions BBC representatives on corporation's plans for future funding
22-02-2016 01:20 PM GMT

Communities and Local Government Committee examines Government proposals on retaining business rates
22-02-2016 09:13 AM GMT

Statement in the Commons expected at 3.30pm
 

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the latest news items.

House of Lords Committee Bulletin

You are subscribed to House of Lords Committee Bulletin for the United Kingdom Parliament

 

The latest issue of the House of Lords Committee Bulletin is now online at http://www.parliament.uk/lordscommitteebulletin.

While the House is sitting this document is updated online daily, and email alerts are sent on Mondays and Thursdays.

If today's version of the Committee Bulletin is not displayed, please ensure to refresh the page in your web browser before opening the PDF.

Votes and Proceedings

You are subscribed to Votes and Proceedings for the House of Commons

22-02-2016 12:00 AM GMT

View the formal record of the proceedings of the House of Commons

The following link will allow you to view a copy of the updated information.

High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill Select Committee (Commons): latest update

You are subscribed to High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill Select Committee (Commons) for the United Kingdom Parliament

22-02-2016 04:50 PM GMT

High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill Select Committee publishes its final report

0 comments:

Post a Comment