Speeches by Munt.

“Many of us will remember the devastation that the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001 caused in rural England. I am pleased that the Government have restricted commercial imports of susceptible animals and personal imports of animal products. However, I was reminded yesterday by James, a farmer in my area, that …”

“We did a visit to the central London county court, which seemed to be a place of vast quantities of paper, yet the Ministry of Justice’s digital strategy 2025 says that its objective is to “strip out paper, unnecessary hearings, forms and duplication”. I wondered how that was going, and whether you would like to update…”

“Three years?”

“I am just making the point that victims and witnesses are looking at 2027-28. That is a very long way ahead. They will want certainty that there is some end to all of this.”

“I want to mention the shocking damage to tourism, given the number of people who leave Paddington and try to go west. My constituents are stunned to find that all this has only just come to light—my hon. Friend referred to six years of closure; I have heard seven, and we all know that projects overrun. I also want to r…”

“We understand that the headquarters has had an increase of 66% in its staff, an extra 3,000 full-time staff in the last five years. That is all about programme delivery data and digital. We have heard already about the digital stuff and data. The frontline, which you have described, of prisons and probation is under se…”

“When you are writing to the Committee about that, maybe you could let us know exactly what new data is available as a result that has already been worked. That would be helpful. Thank you.”

“To pick up on the data point, in July, the Judicial Office published a report on data in the family justice system and said that the core case data, the new case management system under the reform programme, “is not designed to monitor and evaluate the family courts”. Are there plans in place to do something about that…”

“Is there an envisaged end date for paper bundles to be not a thing any more?”

“Is it not the Department’s programme?”

“If you do not know what the non-priorities are, what are your priorities for the fixed spending envelope that you have?”

“I am a vice-chair of the APPG on whistleblowing, and a director of Whistleblowers UK.”

“What consideration have you given to multi-year agreements, to give certainty, so that this kind of shambles does not happen again?”

“But is it not the case, Lord Chancellor, that the judiciary had actually listed trials for significantly more than that? Wouldn’t it have been better just to give extra money and let it roll?”

“But setting your cap means you just decide—”

“Yes, but you are now the Lord Chancellor.”

“So you are in negotiation now, already, for next year’s allocation.”

“And you anticipate concluding those negotiations when?”

“What does “medium to long-term” mean?”

“Urgent.”