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Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions for food fraud in the form of meat substitution there were in each of the last three years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities are responsible for prosecuting meat species substitution offences. Generally, these prosecutions are taken forward under regulations relating to the labelling and mis-description of food, rather than under fraud legislation. The Food Standards Agency has taken on the task of compiling a register of successful food law prosecutions and is just completing the first year of data collection on local authority food prosecutions. However, it does not hold definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature in the last three years.

01/01/2023
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to control the live exports of horses from the UK that are falsely declared to be exported for leisure purposes but where the true intention is for slaughter and human consumption.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government is aware of concerns about horse exports and has been working closely with welfare charities on this issue and in particular on improving intelligence gathering. When reports are received by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) that horses are being exported other than for the declared purpose, or are being inappropriately transported, APHA will investigate and will take appropriate enforcement action. This may include suspending transporters.

01/01/2023
Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to the recent news that one in eight cases at Crown Court are not proceeded with by the Crown Prosecution Service, even though the defendants have been formally charged.

Lord Keen of Elie

All cases are kept under constant review as they progress through the criminal justice system. If new evidence comes to light, a witness decides to no longer support a prosecution or a co-defendant pleads guilty to the offence, the CPS will then review the case. If there is no longer sufficient evidence or if it is no longer in the public interest, the CPS will stop a prosecution.

The Transforming Summary Justice (TSJ) and Better Case Management (BCM) initiatives, introduced nationally, are recent programmes which will have a material and positive impact on both levels and timing of discontinuance. These include earlier, pre-first magistrates’ hearing case review by prosecutors; an emphasis on early defence engagement; listing periods that support the time required to prepare the case; and improved processes to gather and serve evidential material and disclosure prior to court hearings.

01/01/2023
Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the current Police and Crime Commissioners are standing for re-election in May.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Twenty seven of forty current police and crime commissioners (PCCs) for police force areas where ordinary PCC elections are taking place this May are standing for re-election.

This excludes Greater London, where the elected mayor exercises PCC functions in respect of the Metropolitan Police, and Greater Manchester, where the ordinary PCC election has been cancelled to pave the way for the transfer of PCC functions to an elected mayor in May 2017, with the term of the current PCC extended to that point.

01/01/2023
Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to consult family members and children in the London Borough of Lambeth about their experience of children’s services in the Borough.

Lord Nash

As part of Ofsted’s inspection of children’s social care services in Lambeth (reported on 12 May 2015), Ofsted met with children, young people, parents, carers, care leavers and Lambeth’s Children in Care Council, who provided direct evidence about their experiences of Lambeth’s children’s services.

Ofsted inspectors also talk to young people as part of bi-annual visits to children’s homes; and take children’s and parents’ views as part of an annual survey of all children’s homes and fostering agencies. These surveys inform Ofsted’s lines of enquiry for subsequent inspections and decisions about the timing of inspections.

The independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by the Hon. Dame Lowell Goddard DNZM, is taking evidence from those affected by child sexual abuse in Lambeth.

01/01/2023
Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Commissioners have been appointed to run local authority children’s services since January 2015.

Lord Nash

Commissioners are appointed where Ofsted find persistent or systemic failure by a council to deliver children’s services to an acceptable quality.

Persistent failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate more than once within a five year period. Systemic failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate across the board on all key Ofsted judgements.

Commissioners are appointed to direct the improvement of children’s social care services; the Council’s leadership and management of them; and, increasingly, to review whether these services should be removed from council control in order to secure more rapid and sustainable improvement.

Since January 2015 the Secretary of State has appointed five Children’s Services Commissioners.

01/01/2023
Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they apply, and what circumstances they take into account, in deciding whether to appoint a Commissioner to take over the running of a local authority’s children’s service.

Lord Nash

Commissioners are appointed where Ofsted find persistent or systemic failure by a council to deliver children’s services to an acceptable quality.

Persistent failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate more than once within a five year period. Systemic failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate across the board on all key Ofsted judgements.

Commissioners are appointed to direct the improvement of children’s social care services; the Council’s leadership and management of them; and, increasingly, to review whether these services should be removed from council control in order to secure more rapid and sustainable improvement.

Since January 2015 the Secretary of State has appointed five Children’s Services Commissioners.

01/01/2023
Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is responsible for developing and updating clinical guidance on the treatment of men with erectile dysfunction in England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has included guidance on erectile dysfunction in the following guidelines:

– Chronic heart failure in adults: management (CG108) published in August 2010;
– Type 1 diabetes in adults: diagnosis and management (NG17) published in August 2015; and
– Type 2 diabetes in adults: management (NG28) published in December 2015.

Copies of these documents are attached.

It is for NHS England to commission NICE to develop a specific clinical guideline on the management and treatment of erectile dysfunction.

01/01/2023
Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the successful tender for the procurement of the human papilloma virus vaccine will be announced.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Following the conclusion of the contract for the human papilloma virus vaccine, information on the award will be placed in the public domain by way of a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, and a copy of the contract published on the Contracts Finder website at: www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. We expect to publish both of these by the end of April 2016.

01/01/2023

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Wolf of Dulwich on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many training providers were investigated for fraud or misappropriation of Skills Funding Agency funding during (1) 2011–12, (2) 2012–13, and (3) 2013–14; in how many cases there was a case to answer; and in those cases where findings of fraud or misappropriation were confirmed, which training providers were concerned.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Investigations will result either in no funding issues being identified or the identification of funds for recovery. Funds identified for recovery may have been mis-claimed in error or may be the result of potential fraudulent actions. The Skills Funding Agency is not a prosecuting authority so where an investigation indicates potential fraud the case is referred to the police. Fraud is not confirmed unless there is a successful criminal prosecution.

The table below shows the number of cases investigated, the number of cases where funds were identified for recovery (whether as a result of error or potential fraud), the number of cases referred to the police, the number of cases resulting in charges being brought and the outcome of prosecutions in each of the financial years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Note that where a case is referred to the police it may take a significant period (up to several years) for charges to be brought.

Financial Year	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14
No. of live investigations during the year	43	34	37
No. of cases where funds were identified for recovery	20	6	9
No. of cases referred to the police	6	0	1
No. of cases where charges brought	4	–	0
Outcome of prosecutions	1 successful 2 unsuccessful 1 ongoing	–	–

The successful prosecution as a result of an investigation in 2011-12 was of David Peters who worked as an assessor for Safetycor Ltd, a subcontractor to Exeter College and Wolverhampton College.

01/01/2023