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  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national prisoners from each country were convicted of each offence type from September 2013 to September 2014.

    Andrew Selous

    International prisoner transfer arrangements may enable non-nationals to apply to transfer to their state of normal residence or to the state to which they have close ties. There is no requirement on a state to accept the transfer of a non-national resident. Since 2010, no such transfers have taken place to England and Wales. Prisoner transfer is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

    The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014 are in the attached table 1.

    The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country, convicted of each offence type from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 are at the attached table 2. Prison receptions data for April to June 2014 is not available by offence group due to problems with data quality. Figures for this period will be published in due course subject to the result of ongoing investigations. Prison receptions data for July to September 2014 is currently not available and is due to be published on 29 January 2015.

    The number of foreign national offenders in our prisons has reduced since 2010, compared to that number doubling between 1997 – 2010.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) offence and (b) sentencing outcome of each terrorist-related offence dealt with in court was in the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    This Government takes terrorism offences extremely seriously, which is why there are tough sentences available to the courts. We are further strengthening the law in this area through the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, currently going through Parliament.

    We are increasing the maximum sentence from 10 or 14 years to a life sentence for three specific terror offences – weapons training for terrorist purposes, other training for terrorism, and making or possession of explosives. We are also ending automatic early release for those convicted of a range of serious terror offences – including weapons training for terrorist purposes and directing a terrorist organisation – so that they will only be released before the end of their custodial term at the discretion of the independent Parole Board, who must be satisfied that they no longer pose a threat to society. We are also ensuring that terrorists convicted of a second very serious offence will face the ‘two-strikes’ automatic life’ sentence.

    Data for terrorist related offences and sentence outcomes can be viewed in Tables C.01-C.04 at the below link:-

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-quarterly-update-to-june-2014-data-tables

    Findings of guilt includes crimes which have a terrorist link.

  • Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what arrangements she is planning for the publication of indicators relating to her Department’s strategic framework for economic development; and when she plans to publish such indicators.

    Justine Greening

    Building on initial work, DFID is continuing to develop further results indicators to reflect economic development priorities and an update on progress is due by July 2015.

  • Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what aggregate outcomes she has set for her Department’s strategic framework for economic development.

    Justine Greening

    The current DFID results framework includes a number of aggregated economic development related results that can be directly linked to DFID programmes and projects. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-s-results-framework .

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what instructions or guidance officials of her Department have given to members of the Independent Inquiry Panel into child sexual abuse about speaking in public about the work of that Panel.

    Lynne Featherstone

    Before the panel began its substantive work, and the secretariat was fully established, limited guidance was offered to those panel members who needed it.

    Panel members are now supported by their own independent secretariat and Counsel. The secretariat will have its own procedures on speaking in publicabout the work of the Inquiry, although we would expect any procedures to respect the
    confidentiality of meetings held with survivors.

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of new cases of historic child abuse which have come forward in the last 12 months; and what recent assessment she has made of the capabilities of police forces to deal with such cases.

    Lynne Featherstone

    Child sexual abuse is a reprehensible crime which this government is determined to stamp out. We have been clear that if anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, or knows of someone who has been a victim, then they should
    report it to the police so that it can be thoroughly investigated. The Home Office does not collate statistics on the number of historic cases of child abuse being reported. The resourcing for individual operations investigating child sexual abuse is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Officer.

    Operation Hydrant is the national policing response to the oversight and co-ordination of all child abuse investigations concerning persons of public prominence or those offences which took place historically in institutional
    settings. Overseen by the National Policing Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations, Operation Hydrant is responsible for the production of best practice guidance for Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) investigating
    relevant allegations.

    The College of Policing has also produced Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for forces on Managing complex child abuse investigations.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the sex was of the complainant and the accused in each case of stalking reported after the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012; and what proportion of such cases which were investigated resulted in the accused being (i) charged with the offence and (ii) cautioned.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. The Home Office has received data on the number of stalking offences recorded in England and Wales since April 2014 as a separate offence category but these data do not contain
    information on the sex of the victim or the perpetrator. Prior to April 2014, stalking offences under Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 were included within the harassment offence classification.

    The latest available statistics show that between April and June 2014 there were 695 stalking offences recorded by the police in England and Wales.

    The Ministry of Justice hold separate data for the number of cautions that have been issued for stalking. Between the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act in January 2013 and 30 June 2014 there were 57 cautions given for
    stalking. This comprised of 49 given to males, 7 given to females and 1 where the gender was not stated.

    Neither the Home Office nor the Ministry of Justice hold information on the number of individuals charged.

  • 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 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many firearms were confiscated in each police force area in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk during the most recent firearms amnesty in November 2014.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The data from November’s firearms surrender is being collated and analysed by the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS). In the listed police force areas, the following numbers of firearms were surrendered: (a) Suffolk:
    381, (b) Bedfordshire: 61, (c) Cambridgeshire: 123, (d) Essex: 126, (e) Hertfordshire: 223, (f) Norfolk: 577.

  • 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 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions her Department has used police cells to hold immigrants in each police force area in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each year since 2004.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many registered sex offenders there are in the UK; how many people on the Violent and Sex Offenders Register have committed sexual offences against children; and what the reoffending rate is for people on that register who have committed such offences in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Lynne Featherstone

    Figures for the number of registered sex offenders in the UK are contained in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. This includes MAPPA-eligible offenders who have been
    charged with a serious further offence. The report covering the period from April 2013 to March 2014 is available on the GOV.uk website. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of registered sex offenders who have committed
    sexual offences against children.