Edward Garnier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Garnier on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of times that lawyers have not been able to meet their clients in custody in England and Wales at less than 12 hours’ notice due to staff shortages, staff disputes or other administrative reasons in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many Crown or magistrates’ court hearings have been adjourned or delayed as a result in each of those years.

Mike Penning

The specific information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We are committed to ensuring that prisoners have appropriate and early access to their legal representatives. Guidance to both prisons and legal practitioners on facilitating legal visits is published in Prison Service Instruction 16/2011.