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  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department has taken to prepare for the UK to leave the EU since 23 June 2016; and what further such steps her Department plans to take in the remainder of 2016.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister. In doing this it is working very closely with other government departments, including the Ministry of Justice, and a wide range of other interested parties.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving a mandatory life sentence have been released early from prison in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    A life sentence is mandatory for murder. A life sentence must also be imposed for a second, very serious, specified violent or sexual offence – for example, manslaughter, GBH with intent, rape, and sexual assault on a child under 13 – unless the court finds that there are particular circumstances relating to the offence or the offender which would make it unjust to do so.

    Under a life sentence, the offender must serve the full minimum term imposed by the court before being considered for release on life licence by the Parole Board, which will only release an offender if and when it considers it safe to do so. Where a whole life order is imposed the offender is not eligible for parole.

    The number of life sentences imposed in each of the last ten years can be found on gov.uk.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been handed a life sentence in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    A life sentence is mandatory for murder. A life sentence must also be imposed for a second, very serious, specified violent or sexual offence – for example, manslaughter, GBH with intent, rape, and sexual assault on a child under 13 – unless the court finds that there are particular circumstances relating to the offence or the offender which would make it unjust to do so.

    Under a life sentence, the offender must serve the full minimum term imposed by the court before being considered for release on life licence by the Parole Board, which will only release an offender if and when it considers it safe to do so. Where a whole life order is imposed the offender is not eligible for parole.

    The number of life sentences imposed in each of the last ten years can be found on gov.uk.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on the sale of the contract for Oakhill secure training centre.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    The Ministry continues to be in regular contact with G4S and other relevant bodies. This engagement includes monitoring the progress of the potential sale to ensure it does not jeopardise the delivery of services at the Secure Training Centres.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what additional resources were made available to prisons to accommodate the increased number of people recalled to custody following the introduction of the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Offender Rehabilitation Act was a key piece of legislation under the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme that extended statutory rehabilitation to offenders who served short sentences. Time spent on licence is an integral part of a custodial sentence. It is right that all offenders under probation supervision are subject to strict monitoring. In some cases offenders are recalled if their behaviour is causing concern to prevent a further offence from being committed.

    In order to enable prisons to deliver the requirements of the act the National Offender Management Service reviewed resources within each prison establishment Offender Management Units that received remand prisoners. Following this review additional roles were introduced across prison establishments to support the increased casework processes.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost of recalling 22,412 people to custody over the last 12 months.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    There are several agencies involved in recalling and returning offenders to custody. The information requested is not held centrally.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when she plans to respond to the concluding observations and recommendations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK’s sixth periodic report in relation to legal aid and access to justice; and if she will make a statement.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    The UN requested that the UK submits its next periodic report under the Covenant (inclusive of a response to all the recommendations from this year’s examination) by 30 June 2021; it would therefore not be appropriate for me to pre-empt this report by anticipating what we, or indeed a future UK Government in 2021, might say.

    We regularly monitor the operation of the legal aid scheme on an ongoing basis. The Legal Aid Agency routinely collects data on the age, sex, disability status and ethnicity of recipients of legal aid and publishes statistics on this topic annually. We have committed to carrying out a Post Implementation Review, which will consider the impact of the legal aid provisions in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on access to justice. The UK Government is also currently undertaking a review of the introduction of fees into the Employment Tribunals and will publish its findings in due course.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of drugs in prisons.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Justice Secretary is clear that safety is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans. There are a number of factors, including the availability of drugs in prisons, which must be tackled in order to make our prisons safe and places of rehabilitation.

    We have introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they could face prosecution and extra time behind bars. We have a range of security measures and searching techniques in place to detect drugs, and to prevent smuggling into prisons.

    I am looking closely at this important issue, and will be setting our further plans in due course.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many special educational needs and disability tribunals there have been in each year since 2010; and what the total cost to the public purse of defending the refusal to issue special educational statements was in each year since 2010.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    Information about the numbers of special educational needs and disability tribunals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Statistics Quarterly on gov.uk

    Information about the total cost to the public purse of defending the refusal to issue special educational statements each year since 2010 is not held centrally.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will publish a list of all secondees to her Department from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what the role was of each of those secondees.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    Ministry of Justice records show that there were no secondments to the Department from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years.