Author: admin

  • Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Elfyn Llwyd on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what effect the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda in magistrates’ courts in England and Wales will have on report writing slots.

    Jeremy Wright

    We are engaging with the magistracy and sentencers to ensure they are fully informed of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and associated implications. The new National Probation Service (NPS) will be responsible for advice to courts and, prior to sentence, the NPS will advise courts on sentencing options for cases as part of a pre-sentence report (in accordance with the reserved function of giving assistance to any court in determining the appropriate sentence to pass, under Section 4 of the Offender Management Act 2007).

    As now, the three categories of pre-sentence report, Standard Delivery (SDR), Fast Delivery (FDR), and Same Day (or Oral) reports will allow Courts the flexibility to deliver sentencing decisions in the appropriate timeframe, depending on each individual case, reducing the number of adjournments and expediting the criminal justice process. The new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the NPS and complements the pre-sentence report process. The RSR will be straightforward to use and aims to reduce bureaucracy in the report writing process. We will ensure through the contracting process that CRCs work closely with the NPS so that cases where the offender is under CRC supervision are brought before the courts speedily and effectively.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people residing in Preston constituency are (a) being monitored by an electronic tag (b) subject to a suspended sentence order and (c) subject to a community order.

    Jeremy Wright

    On 30 September 2013, 492 people in Lancashire were monitored by an electronic tag. A more detailed breakdown below Probation Trust area is not collected centrally.

    Data on the number of people subject to a suspended sentence or community order is published in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report covers the period to 30 September 2013 and shows that 1,368 offenders subject to a suspended sentence order and 2,288 offenders subject to a community order were supervised by Lancashire Probation Trust. This includes people who are both monitored by an electronic tag and supervised by Probation. A more detailed breakdown below Probation Trust area is not collected centrally. The most recent Offender Management Statistics report may be found on the gov.uk website.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason each foreign national in prison awaiting deportation who is beyond the end of their sentence is yet to be deported.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the UK Government has agreed to provide the government of Nigeria in financial support as part of the prisoner transfer agreement with the country signed on 9 January 2014; and what the benefits for the UK are of that agreement.

    Jeremy Wright

    We are currently in discussion about supporting further projects that will assist Nigeria to improve their prisons and build the capacity they need to receive prisoners from the UK under the compulsory prisoner transfer agreement we signed in January this year. To date the cross-Government Migration Fund has funded refurbishment works at Kiri Kiri women’s prison in Lagos, and supported a project aimed at increasing access to justice for remand prisoners to tackle the issue of congestion within the Nigerian prison estate.

    The prisoner transfer process is just one mechanism for removing foreign national offenders (FNOs). All FNOs sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office to be considered for deportation at the earliest possible opportunity. The number of FNOs deported under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) has increased under this Government with nearly 2,000 FNOs removed in 2013. Under the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 243 FNOs (at April 23rd 2014).

    Whereas this Government has begun to reduce the foreign national population in prison since 2010, between 1997 and 2010, the number of foreign nationals in our prisons more than doubled.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many 17 year olds have been held in police custody in the UK in each year since 2010.

    Damian Green

    This information is not held centrally.

  • David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Leader of the House, if he will introduce and consult upon proposals for the Standards Committee to be replaced by a body consisting of a majority of lay members with representation of more than three hon. Members without voting rights.

    Mr Andrew Lansley

    The House strengthened its own procedures in January 2013 by reconstituting the Committee on Standards to include lay member representation, with a specific right to submit an opinion on any report of that Committee and to have it published.

    I have had recent discussions with the Chair of the Committee on Standards, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and other interested parties on ensuring that the standards regime for Members is as robust as it can be.

    I expect the Committee on Standards to announce shortly terms of reference for an inquiry examining the current system, which draws on the recent report by the lay members of that Committee. I expect to follow up my discussions with the Committee on Standards in order further to strengthen lay members’ scrutiny of standards matters. If any Member wishes to bring forward specific proposals for improvements to the system, this is of course something that both the Committee and the House will wish to consider.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 367W, on the River Thames: bridges, in what year or years the £30 million allocated to the Garden Bridge in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 is projected to be spent.

    Stephen Hammond

    Should the business case demonstrate that the project represents good value for money, Government will agree the detailed terms of funding with the Garden Bridge Trust.

    Whilst the payment schedule has not yet been determined. It is likely that the funding will be released in tranches throughout the project, as it reaches agreed milestones.

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which parliamentary constituency each onshore wind planning application which he has received for determination during this Parliament is located.

    Kris Hopkins

    I can confirm that during this Parliament (since May 2010) 50 on shore wind farm planning appeals have been recovered by Ministers.

    The information is held by local planning authority, rather than Parliamentary constituency and a table has been placed in the Library of the House.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to emphasise the importance of education provisions and support for disabled children, their teachers and families in order to ensure that Millennium Development Goal 2 is attained.

    Justine Greening

    The UK Government’s programmes and partnerships are focused on ensuring better inclusion of children with disabilities. For example, the Girls’ Education Challenge is supporting over £9 million of disability-focused programmes.

    In September 2013 we announced two additional commitments to step up our support; ensuring all DFID funded education construction is fully accessible and improving data on children with disabilities.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that people (a) with disabilities and (b) affected by disabilities are given full consideration in the Sustainable Development Goals and their attendant targets and indicators.

    Justine Greening

    The UK is pushing for the principle of ‘Leave no one behind’ to be included in the MDGs successor development framework, which was a central element of the report prepared for the UN Secretary general by the High Level Panel, co-chaired by the Prime Minister. We should ensure that no person, regardless of disability is denied universal human rights and basic opportunities.