The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.
Karen Bradley
The Home Office has already undertaken a review of its check-off union
subscription provision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussion she has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on transitional arrangements to cover the potential gap between the UK Government opting out of EU justice measures and negotiating its re-entry into specific measures.
Karen Bradley
The Government is clear that there is no need for there to be an operational gap after 1 December, and is negotiating on that basis. Other Member States support the UK position and are keen for this process to be concluded as swiftly as possible to provide certainty for all involved.
The Government has engaged with the Devolved Administrations throughout this process at Ministerial and official level. The Immigration and Security Minister (James Brokenshire) visited Edinburgh last year, where he met the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill, representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland and the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC. I plan to visit Edinburgh to discuss this matter further later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on Scotland’s justice system of the UK Government opting out of EU justice measures and then negotiating its re-entry into specific measures.
Karen Bradley
The Government is clear that there is no need for there to be an operational gap after 1 December, and is negotiating on that basis. Other Member States support the UK position and are keen for this process to be concluded as swiftly as possible to provide certainty for all involved.
The Government has engaged with the Devolved Administrations throughout this process at Ministerial and official level. The Immigration and Security Minister (James Brokenshire) visited Edinburgh last year, where he met the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill, representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland and the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC. I plan to visit Edinburgh to discuss this matter further later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Arrangements of this sort are kept under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will place in the Library a list of the members of the IRA who have been beneficiaries of the use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
Based on an assessment of the records held by my department, the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM) was granted in Northern Ireland365 times between 1979 and 2002, but this total does not include the period between 1987 and 1997 for which records cannot currently be found. The department does not hold information which specifically confirms whether individuals who received the RPM were members of prescribed groups. There are no cases where the RPM has been granted since the current Government came to office in May 2010, and the records indicate that there are no instances where the RPM was granted after 2002.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence under section 128 of the Mental Health Act 1959 where the offence was committed against a child in each of the last four years.
Damian Green
Section 128 of the Mental Health Act 1959 was repealed in 2004. There have been no convictions in any of the last four years. Prosecutions are now brought under modernised legislation contained in the Sex Offenders Act 2003.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, where the offence committed corresponds to an offence which would lead to automatic inclusion in the adults’ barred list, with the right to make representations, under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, in each of the last four years.
Damian Green
Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to separately identify findings of guilt for sexual offences committed outside England and Wales from those committed within England and Wales. This information could only be obtained from the individual courts at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who took the decision not to announce the use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in respect of members of the IRA in the London Gazette or the Belfast Gazette.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
There have been no instances in which the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM) has been issued in respect of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland since the current Government came to power in May 2010.
I am not aware of any legal requirement to publish in the media information relating to the use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM). In England and Wales, RPMs signed by HM the Queen, on the advice of the Secretary of State, are then passed to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery for sealing, who by convention subsequently places the notice in the London Gazette. By convention in Northern Ireland, RPMs signed by HM the Queen are not subsequently placed in the Belfast Gazette.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence under sections 1, 2 or 3 of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 where the offence was committed against a child in each of the last four years.
Damian Green
No-one has been convicted of an offence under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 in England and Wales since the Act came into force. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions announced the first prosecutions for female genital mutilation on 21 March.
The Government is committed to tackling and preventing the harmful and unacceptable practice of female genital mutilation. As part of this cross-government work, the Ministry of Justice is already considering suggestions made by the Director for strengthening the criminal law on female genital mutilation to make successful prosecutions more likely.
We welcome the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into this area and will give careful consideration to any additional recommendations for legislative change that may be made by the Committee when it reports in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 which (a) corresponds to an offence contrary to any provision specified in part 1 of the table in paragraph 1 of the Schedule to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2009 and was committed in circumstances specified in the entry in the second column of that part of that table which corresponds to the relevant entry in the first column of that part of that table or (b) corresponds to an offence contrary to a provision specified in part 2 of that table in each of the last four years.
Anna Soubry
The information will take time to collate, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.