The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether people who live outside the Rural Support Zone whose properties are affected by HS2 will be considered for a property bond scheme.
Baroness Kramer
The Government is not yet able to confirm the outcome of the recent consultation on property compensation for Phase One of HS2, but expects to make an announcement soon.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been paid in legal aid fees over the last five years to law firms Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day to conduct cases alleging abuse by British soldiers.
Lord Faulks
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases for those Iraqis alleging abuse by British Soldiers without disproportionate costs. Legal aid cases are not systematically recorded against nationality or cause of action.
Leigh Day have not acted under legal aid in these types of cases. Public Interest Lawyers have acted for Iraqi clients under legal aid in cases seeking investigations into deaths and mistreatment.
The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past five years were:
|
Year |
Amount |
|
2008/09 |
£628,527.75 |
|
2009/10 |
£267,433.88 |
|
2010/11 |
£439,268.02 |
|
2011/12 |
£331,238.85 |
|
2012/13 |
£54,387.48 |
These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take steps to recover legal aid payments to the firm Public Interest Lawyers following their statement on 20 March that there was no evidence that British soldiers had murdered 20 Iraqis.
Lord Faulks
Legal aid is not funding the Al-Sweady Inquiry. There are therefore no plans to recover payments made from legal aid to Public Interest Lawyers following their statement on 20 March.
On 20 March, at the Al-Sweady Inquiry into the most serious allegations against British soldiers in the Iraq War, lawyers representing Iraqi families withdrew their claim that the troops had killed unarmed civilians they had captured and brought back to an army base.
The inquiry continues and the statement on 20 March does not mean that the inquiry has been abandoned.
Legal aid was provided for an action prior to the Inquiry. Legal aid was provided to Iraqi applicants to seek an independent and effective investigation into deaths and torture or inhumane and degrading treatment in relation to the incident at checkpoint Danny Boy in Iraq in May 2004. As a result of these proceedings, the Secretary of State for Defence decided to hold the Al-Sweady Inquiry. This action was therefore successful in its aim.
The Inquiry is not yet complete and the Chairman’s report is not due to be published until later in the year. Public Interest Lawyers’s statement refers to part only of the allegations made and the Ministry of Justice awaits the Inquiry Report before commenting further.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to investigate United Kingdom law firms pursuing claims of unfounded abuse by British soldiers.
Lord Faulks
There are no plans to investigate the firms as they are not funded under the legal aid regulations or their contract with the Lord Chancellor in the Al-Sweady inquiry. It would not be reasonable to investigate the firms under their contract in relation to a matter arising outside their contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will instruct the Crown Prosecution Service to bring prosecutions relating to all cases of female genital mutilation reported in London since 2009.
Lord Wallace of Tankerness
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is committed to tackling cases of female genital mutilation (FGM), however it can only prosecute cases referred to it by the police which meet both of the tests outlined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
The Code sets out a two stage test which must be applied when deciding whether a case should be prosecuted. The first stage is the evidential test which requires prosecutors to be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. If the evidential stage of the test is met prosecutors must then go on to identify the relevant public interest factors tending for and against the prosecution in order to form an overall assessment of whether a prosecution is in the public interest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether migrants detained in HM Prison The Verne from 24 March will have access to (1) Rule 35 procedures to determine whether their health would be damaged by detention, for example, due to a history of torture, (2) mobile telephones and the internet, (3) the ability to receive telephone calls from solicitors, family and friends, and (4) on-site legal advice surgeries; and if not, why not.
Lord Faulks
HM Prison The Verne started taking immigration detainees as scheduled from 24 March 2014. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) will retain The Verne as a prison in the short term. Its designation as a prison will be reviewed later this year, with the intention of completing the re-designation to an immigration removal centre by the end of September 2014.
While The Verne retains its designation as a prison it will be governed by Prison Rules rather than Detention Centre Rules. As The Verne is not governed by Detention Centre Rules, Rule 35 of those rules is not applicable.
Detainees held at The Verne will be treated in the same way as other detainees held within the prison estate. As such they will not have access to mobile telephones or the internet, nor will they be able to receive telephone calls. They will, however, be able to make telephone calls and will have access to both social and legal visits.
There is a dedicated Home Office Immigration Enforcement Team on site who will see detainees routinely on induction and upon request. In addition, independent immigration advice will be provided by Migrant Help.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to ensure that petrol filling stations are not too far apart.
Baroness Verma
DECC published a report from Deloitte LLP in December 2012, which considered long term changes to the retail market for road fuels in the UK, and the implications of these changes to our energy resilience. This market has changed significantly over the last decade. However, the findings of this report do not suggest that the changes to the size and shape of the retail market for road fuels have had significant impacts on the UK’s ability to be able to respond to supply disruptions or that these have significantly reduced the access of UK motorists to a local supply of fuel. The report found that in 2011, 98% of postcode sectors had a petrol filling station within 10 minutes drive, and 92% had more than two within the same travel time.
Decisions on the location of individual petrol filling stations are for local planning authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK Border Agency staff are permanently deployed in Jersey, Guernsey and Sark.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
There are no Border Force Officers deployed to Jersey, Guernsey or Sark.
Jersey has its own Customs and Immigration Service. Guernsey has an Immigration, Nationality and Passport Department. Both islands have their own immigration rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what UK Border Agency controls are in place for entry into the UK from Jersey, Guernsey and Sark.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
There are no physical border controls in place for those entering the UK from Jersey, Guernsey or Sark. Jersey, Guernsey and Sark are part of the Channel Islands. The UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland collectively form a common travel area (CTA). Under Paragraph 15 of the UK Immigration Rules a person who has been examined for the purpose of immigration control in one part of the CTA does not normally require to be examined on arrival into any other part of the CTA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-03-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the recovery of benefits through the Mesothelioma Support Scheme will yield; and what assurances they can give that some of this money will be spent on research for a cure for mesothelioma.
Lord Freud
Benefit and lump sum payments that were made in respect of mesothelioma will be recovered from the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (DMPS) payment in the same way as they would be recovered from other compensation payments. The latest Impact Assessment for the DMPS dated 10 March 2014 estimates that the recovery of benefits in the first 10 years of the Scheme, to 31 March 2024, will be £72m.
The issue of research is not directly a matter for the Department for Work and Pensions; however we have worked closely with the Department of Health to make progress in this area. This work has included setting up a partnership to identify mesothelioma research priorities which will lead to the National Institute for Health Research turning priorities into fundable research questions and to encourage applications from the research community. In addition the National Cancer Research Institute has a workshop planned on 02 May 2014 to discuss and develop new proposals for mesothelioma studies. The Government has established robust systems to ensure that funding is provided to the highest quality research bids. The work that the Department of Health is taking forward will support researchers in producing these bids and ensure that funding is allocated in a way that best supports sufferers of this terrible condition.