Category: Speeches

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what newspapers are provided in prison libraries.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prison library providers ensure that the range of reading and reference material available in each library reflects the needs and diverse nature of the prisoners held.

    Prisons holding a high proportion of foreign national prisoners who are speakers of other languages offer a range of relevant texts within their libraries.

    Alternatively, Prisoners can order newspapers for personal use. Prisoners cover the cost of any newspaper they personally order, Newspapers based on the needs of the population, will be available for general use in the library.

    Prison libraries will facilitate a range of cultural activities such as reading and creative writing groups, special interest clubs, outreach work to families as well as exhibiting art, hosting writers, artists and speakers on subjects of interest. Additional support may be brought in from local community groups and charities.

    Information about what particular foreign language and Welsh books are held within each prison library, which newspapers are stocked, and what cultural events have been organised, is not collected centrally and could only be obtained through local enquiries at each prison. This would incur disproportionate cost.

  • David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were arrested and charged with possession of class (a) A, (b) B and (c) C drugs in (i) Bury St Edmunds, (ii) Suffolk and (iii) England and Wales in each of the last five years.

    Norman Baker

    The information requested is not available centrally. Data on arrests for drug
    offences reported to the Home Office cannot be separated to identify arrests
    for possession of specific drugs.

    Data on resultant charges are not collected centrally.

  • 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 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults there were against prison officers in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    NOMS takes the issue of assaults on prison staff very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who assault staff are charged and punished appropriately.

    NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is tackled in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence.

    The number of prisoner on prison officers assault incidents in each year are provided in table 3.8 of the supplementary tables on assaults that accompany each Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody.

    Figures for the number of these incidents that are reported on the centralised administrative system as being referred to the police in each year are provided in table 1. These figures do not represent individuals as there may be multiple assailants in some incidents. How many of these resulted in charges or conviction can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    Table 1: Number of prisoner on officer assault incidents referred to the police

    2010

    2011

    2012

    Prisoner on officer assaults referred to police

    374

    393

    543

    “

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where his Department plans to base the Watchkeeper remotely piloted air systems following completion of training at Salisbury Plain and West Wales Airport.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Under current plans Watchkeeper remotely piloted air systems will be located at Larkhill with 32nd and 47th Regiments Royal Artillery.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which local authorities have failed performance standard 3 on house-to-house enquiries; how many times they have failed; and how many times a Cabinet Office regional delivery manager has intervened.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that in 2013 five Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) reported that they did not meet performance standard 3: Mid Devon; Taunton Deane; Torridge; West Devon; and West Somerset. The table below shows the number of times these EROs have not met this standard.

    Table: Number of times those EROS not meeting standard 3 in 2013 have not met this standard.

    ERO

    Number of times not met

    Years in which not met

    Mid Devon

    4

    2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

    Taunton Deane

    3

    2011, 2012, 2013

    Torridge

    2

    2012, 2013

    West Devon

    4

    2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

    West Somerset

    4

    2009, 2011, 2012, 2013

    The Commission is in the process of conducting a detailed analysis of EROs’ electoral registration data from the 2013 canvass, following which it will publish its final assessment of EROs’ performance in 2013.

    The Cabinet Office has established a network of Regional Delivery Managers to monitor EROs’ readiness for the transition to individual electoral registration in 2014. However, the Commission does not have specific details of the activities undertaken by these all of these officials.

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department uses to assess the saleability of new houses when determining the potential for five-year housing supply.

    Nick Boles

    The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to identify and update annually a supply of specific, deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements with an additional buffer of 5% (moved forward from later in the plan period) to ensure choice and competition in the market for land.

    Footnote 11 of the Framework sets out that, to be considered deliverable, sites should be available now, offer a suitable location for development now, and be achievable with a realistic prospect that housing will be delivered on the site within five years and in particular that development of the site is viable. Further guidance on viability is available at: http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/viability-guidance/

    “

  • Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to prevent private sector companies providing incentives for their employees to switch from defined benefit to defined contribution pension arrangements.

    Steve Webb

    We already have powers in place to legislate to ban cash incentive transfers. The incentive exercises code of good practice was created in 2012, and set out seven key principles that pension providers and their advisers must adhere to if they wish to offer their members incentives, including ensuring that members are given sufficient information to enable them to make an informed decision.

    A large number of providers and independent financial advisers have signed up to the code, delivering a prompt solution to address this issue. The Government would encourage all providers to comply with the code.

    Following the Budget announcement HM Treasury are currently running a consultation, “Freedom of Choice in Pensions” where it is considering whether people with a defined benefit pension should be allowed to transfer their accrued benefits into a defined contribution scheme. The outcome of this consultation will inform our thinking on what additional action, if any, the Government should take to restrict or ban pension providers from offering incentives

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what benefits he expects to accrue to the UK economy from the agreement signed in China on 26 May 2014 between the Building Research Establishment and the Shenzhen Municipal Government to set up a training and research and development centre on sustainable building construction in China.

    Michael Fallon

    On 26 May 2014, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to set up a training and R&D centre in China’s fastest growing city.

    The centre in Shenzhen will deliver training on a national scale to other cities and promote its services including certifying buildings to green construction standards.

    BRE aims to certify over 1,000 buildings across China to its standards which will generate £10 million income and could create up to £200 million of work for UK supply chain companies.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-04-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to place the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit during its operation in a publicly available archive.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    No. Evidence gathered in investigations by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit concerning war crimes is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and, where files were submitted for prosecution, the Crown Prosecution Service.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 20 May 2013, Official Report, column 443W, on electoral register, what the results were of his Department’s cooperation with data holding organisations on datasets that can be used to ensure completeness and accuracy of the electoral register.

    Greg Clark

    The Government published the results of its pilots in March 2012 and July 2013 and are publically available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60723/FINAL-Data-Matching-Evaluation-Report-new.pdf

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223850/Data_Mining_Evaluation_FULL_Report_FINAL.pdf

    “