The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Swales on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of redundancy payments for special advisers in her Department has been since May 2010.
Karen Bradley
No redundancy payments have been made to special advisers in the Home Office since May 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have been (a) commenced, (b) resulted in a non-custodial sentence and (c) resulted in a custodial sentence for (i) witness intimidation, (ii) perverting the cause of justice and (iii) conspiracy to pervert the course of justice as a result of incidents arising from cases involving domestic violence in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Oliver Heald
The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates’ courts which were flagged as involving domestic violence, rather than the number of defendants or cases prosecuted.
The data is accurate only to the extent that the flag has been correctly applied.
Offences of perverting the course of justice are charged under Common Law, conspiracy to pervert justice, by way of Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 and intimidation of a witness or juror by way of Section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
The table below shows, for each of the last five years, the number of these offences charged and reaching a first hearing at magistrates’ courts, which were identified as involving domestic violence.
|
2009-2010 |
2010-2011 |
2011-2012 |
2012-2013 |
2013-2014 |
|
|
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 { 51 }: Intimidating/threatening or harming a witness or juror |
846 |
859 |
763 |
611 |
686 |
|
Common Law: Perverting the course of justice (including attempts) |
140 |
136 |
103 |
121 |
150 |
|
Criminal Law Act 1977 { 1 }: Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice |
4 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
8 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System
There is no indication of the final prosecution outcome, or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is also often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same victim.
It is not possible to centrally disaggregate offences charged by way of Section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, to separately identify those offences relating to witnesses from those concerning jurors. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.
The CPS does not hold records of sentences imposed following a conviction. Statistics relating to sentences are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-12.
To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, who was responsible for the appointment of Saxton Bampfylde for the search for a successor to the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; and who will monitor its progress.
John Thurso
Following a competitive tendering process, Saxton Bampfylde was appointed on 29 May 2014 to support the recruitment of the next Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, in particular by providing executive search services. Three bids were received and evaluated by Mr Speaker and the Director General of HR and Change. The fee for these services is fixed at £18,000. The contract will be monitored by the Department of HR and Change. The recruitment brief to which Saxton Bampfylde are working will be placed in the Library.
The Clerk of the House is appointed by the Crown by Letters Patent, on the recommendation of the Speaker to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister to the Crown. Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by a panel chaired by Mr Speaker, three other members of the House of Commons Commission, a senior backbencher and an external member.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to lift people over 75 years of age out of council tax.
Brandon Lewis
Low-income pensioners are already protected under the nationally set council tax support scheme for pensioners, and do not have to pay any council tax. They have saved and worked hard all their lives, and deserve security in retirement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what visits each of the Ministers in her Department have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
Details of Ministers’ visits overseas are published quarterly and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=northern-ireland-office.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) beam and (b) draft is of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier when it is loaded to its maximum configuration.
Mr Philip Dunne
When loaded to its maximum configuration a Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier will have a beam of 39 metres and a draught of 10 metres.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy of the report commissioned by the UK Chamber of Shipping on Impact on Jobs and the Economy of Meeting the Requirements of MARPOL annex VI, published in March 2013.
Stephen Hammond
In October 2012, and again in March 2013, I chaired ‘round table’ meetings of industry stakeholders (from the shipping, ports, exhaust gas cleaning system technology, oil refining and logistics sectors) to consider the best way forward for compliance with the new international and EU sulphur requirements. The potential for reverse modal shift, the maturity and efficacy of scrubber technology and the scope for financial assistance to industry were all key to those discussions. The report commissioned by the UK Chamber of Shipping was produced as a result of those meetings, and officials have taken it into account in producing the Government’s Impact Assessment on the draft UK Regulations to implement the sulphur limits in national law.
The Government went out to an eight-week public consultation on 29 April 2014 on those draft UK Regulations. Meanwhile, Government officials continue to work closely with the industry and to explore the scope for securing EU finance, possibly under the Trans-European Network (commonly known as TEN-T) programme and affordable capital from the European Investment Bank, for shipowners and ports who wish to invest in scrubber technology or in technology associated with the use of an alternative fuel, such as liquefied natural gas, to comply with the new limits.
The UK Regulations will be reviewed in accordance with normal Government practice and consistent with the principles of better regulation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases were (a) investigated for enforcement action, (b) issued and proceeded in the courts, (c) discontinued completely, (d) enforced using a lower level of action than originally envisaged and (e) ceased to be investigated in each Environment Agency area since 2010.
Dan Rogerson
The Environment Agency is unable to provide a breakdown of legal and enforcement cases in each of its geographical areas since 2010 which were (a) investigated for enforcement action, (b) issued and proceeded in the courts, (c) discontinued completely and (e) ceased to be investigated altogether, due to disproportionate cost.
The Environment Agency can confirm that there were no cases enforced using a lower level of action than originally envisaged. At the commencement of any investigation, the Environment Agency does not know whether any enforcement action is required and, if so, what level of action is appropriate. Decisions on the level of action required are only ever made when an investigation is concluded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of housing benefit claims processed within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30, (d) 40, (e) 60 and (f) more than 60 working days.
Steve Webb
None. The average speed of processing statistics for Housing Benefit are not broken down in this way. Published statistics are at the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-statistics-on-speed-of-processing–2
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funds his Department has spent on preparing HM Prison the Verne for re-role as an immigration detention centre to date.
Jeremy Wright
The Ministry Justice has not spent any additional money to date in preparing HM Prison The Verne to hold immigration detainees. However, the Home Office has funded infrastructure changes to make the site suitable for holding immigration detainees. These changes have allowed for early and cost-efficient preparation for its change of use while continuing to allow The Verne to operate as a prison.