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  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many British heavy good vehicles (HGV) are not expected to be fully compensated by the reduction in vehicle excise duty introduced as part of the HGV User Levy; and whether this has changed since estimates were made in 2012.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We estimate that 94% of UK HGVs paying the levy will pay no more than they did before its introduction, taking into account the reductions in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) that happened at the same time. This figure is the same as was published in the consultation document in January 2012, and discussed during the HGV Road User Levy Act’s passage through Parliament.

  • Jessica Morden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jessica Morden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of uncollected vehicle excise duty was in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The value of uncollected license duty in Great Britain was estimated to be £40m in 2011/12 and £35m in 2013/14, representing 0.7% and 0.6% respectively of the total road tax payable in each year. These estimates were derived from a DfT survey of unlicensed vehicles on the road carried out in alternate years, therefore no equivalent estimate is available for 2012/13.

    Source:Vehicle excise duty evasion estimates: 2013

    “

  • 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, how many and what proportion of households which had a door step contact under performance standard 3 were called on (a) once, (b) twice and (c) three times in each local authority in the UK which passed that performance standard in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not collect information about the number of visits that Electoral Registration Officers’ staff make to individual households as part of their activities to maintain the electoral registers.

  • 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.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will make it his policy to suspend collective responsibility on any vote in the House on assisted suicide legislation.

    Mr David Cameron

    Issues on matters of conscience have, by tradition, been the subject of a free vote in the House of Commons.

  • Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she held with ministerial colleagues on the relocation of central Civil Service posts to Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I have had no such discussions with ministerial colleagues.

  • Naomi Long – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Naomi Long – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naomi Long on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she considers the failure of the Northern Ireland Executive to allow the National Crime Agency to operate fully in Northern Ireland is beginning to have a significantly detrimental impact on the fight against organised crime in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    There is an increasing risk of such an impact. The National Crime Agency is committed to assisting the Police Service of Northern Ireland to tackle serious and organised crime in Northern Ireland, as far as the restrictions on its powers permit. However, its activities in devolved areas have been curtailed and the capability that the Agency has available in Northern Ireland is therefore less than that available in the rest of the UK. This is of particular concern in areas where the Police Service of Northern Ireland or other Northern Ireland agencies do not have the powers or expertise to replace NCA capabilities, such as civil asset recovery.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of dissident republican links with Al-Qaeda involving the supply of weaponry and expertise in warfare.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I am aware of media speculation on this issue. Terrorists around the world have attempted to use online information to seek to build their capabilities in order to carry out violent attacks. Measures are in place to seek to limit access to information online which might assist in the commission of an act of terrorism, and the Government and law enforcement agencies are committed to apprehending and prosecuting those who contravene the law in this regard.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will request that the Law Commission undertake a law reform project on the question of fraud victims of personal injury as part of its 12 programme of law reform.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Government is committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, it is considering what specific reforms might be appropriate, including whether the Law Commission should be asked to consider this issue. We will make our conclusions known in due course.

    No figures are available on the number of exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims struck out by the courts. Figures for 2011 published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) indicate that whiplash claims cost customers more than £2 billion a year and add £90 to the average motor insurance premium.

    The ABI describe 7% of all motor claims in 2011 – worth £441m – as fraudulent. In addition, they estimate that a further £1 billion of motor insurance fraud went undetected in 2011.

    As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

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

    Philip Hollobone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national prisoners were transferred to secure detention in their home country under (a) compulsory and (b) voluntary prisoner transfer agreements in each of the last five years.

    Jeremy Wright

    The table below sets out the number of prisoners who have transferred from a prison in England and Wales to a prison in their state of nationality in the last five years on both a compulsory and voluntary basis.

    Year of Transfer

    Voluntary Transfer

    Compulsory

    2009

    40

    2010

    46

    2011

    33

    2012

    40

    2013

    38

    5

    With the implementation of the Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA (The EU PTA) by the United Kingdom in December 2011 prisoners can be transferred on a voluntary or compulsory basis. Since the implementation of the EU PTA in December 2011 a total 18 EU Member States, including the United Kingdom, have brought the EU PTA in to force.

    Compulsory Prisoner Transfer Agreements can be difficult to negotiate, but we remain determined to secure them wherever possible. In January this year we signed a compulsory transfer agreement with Nigeria and last year we signed an agreement with Albania. We expect to see prisoner transfers to both these countries before the end of this year.

    We are also working hard to increase the number of Foreign National Offenders removed from prison under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS). In 2013, we removed nearly 2,000 FNOs under ERS and under TERS, which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 237 prisoners to date.

    The numbers reported here are drawn from a Prison Service Case Tracking System. Care is taken when processing these cases but the figures may be subject to inaccuracies associated with any recording system.