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  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will conduct research on the potential effect on the cost of legal aid of encouraging early guilty pleas by defendants in serious criminal trial cases.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    We currently have no plans to do so. It has long been the practice to encourage early guilty pleas by offering reductions in sentence, and this is governed by the guideline Reduction in Sentence for a Guilty Plea, first issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council in 2005. The Sentencing Council (as it now is) last month published for consultation a revised guideline, the purpose of which is stated to be ‘to encourage those defendants who are aware of their guilt to enter a plea as early in the court process as possible’. Increasing the incidence of early guilty pleas would be expected to result in savings in legal aid, as well as in other benefits.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff of the National Probation Service have completed Prevent awareness training.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Working to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) was developed by the Home Office in 2009. From 2009 to 2014 all probation staff in the former Probation Trusts were to be trained in WRAP.

    As part of the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme, the National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) were formed on 1 June 2014, and 9,140 staff transferred from Probation Trusts to the National Probation Service.

    Since then, all new NPS staff have been receiving Prevent awareness training, and all existing NPS staff have been receiving refresher training.

    We are fully committed to ensuring that we have a properly trained workforce within the NPS. Prevent Awareness (WRAP) is one of a number of training programmes delivered to staff in the NPS to provide staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively manage offenders and protect the public.

  • Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between his Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

    Mike Penning

    The attached link (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/procurement#our-payment-performance) provides information on the Department’s published data on payment of invoices from 2012-13 to quarter 3 of 2015-16. It is not possible to break the payment data down by category of provider.

    The proportion and value of contracts held by MoJ with SME providers is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482524/Central_Government_Direct_and_Indirect_Spend_with_SMEs.csv/preview

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  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department provides to academic research on new prisoner rehabilitation methods.

    Andrew Selous

    The Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) are committed to developing the evidence base to support prisoner rehabilitation and prison reform. NOMS allocates an annual budget for research undertaken by external organisations. NOMS research reports, including those undertaken by external contractors, are published on the gov.uk website here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=research-and-analysis&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=ministry-of-justice&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all

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  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government has taken to ensure independent verification for the evidence on which it has proposed changes to personal injury law and procedure.

    Dominic Raab

    The government received and analysed data from numerous sources prior to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. It will consult on the detail of the new reforms in due course and the consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government plans to take to review the provision of legal aid to domestic abuse victims as a result of the Court of Appeal judgement of 18 February 2016 quashing restrictions on obtaining such aid in family court cases.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    We are pleased the court confirmed that the Lord Chancellor did have the power to set domestic violence evidence requirements. We are now carefully considering the judgment as we decide how best to respond to the court’s concerns.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which of the (a) 108 structures funded by the EU or its member states in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and demolished by the Israeli authorities in 2015 and (b) 104 such structures demolished in the first six weeks of 2016 have been funded by her Department (i) directly and (ii) indirectly.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole, not individual instruments within it. The UK’s share on EU expenditure in EU instruments is approximately 14.5%.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 22766, on the sustainable development goals, what role she plans officials of the Cabinet Office will have in overseeing the implementation strategy of those goals.

    Justine Greening

    The UK Government as a whole is committed to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Government’s manifesto sets out the plan of action for which it will be held accountable by the British people. This includes commitments relevant to each of the Goals, and it will guide our efforts to achieve them.

    The Global Goals are the starting point for, and will be embedded across, DFID’s work. Other Government Departments will lead on their respective policy areas.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28912, on developing countries: female genital mutilation, what funding was provided to each such country in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    We do not hold information prior to 2013, because we did not have significant programmes focussed on FGM until our ground-breaking regional programme, which started then. Since 2013, this programme has been working in a flexible manner across borders. We account for spending across the programme by component [as a whole] rather than breaking it down by country. We spent a total of £2.3m in 2013/14 and £4.2m in 2014/15.

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department plans to spend on emergency aid relief in Fiji in response to the recent cyclone in that country.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is assisting Fiji in response to Tropical Cyclone Winston. We are contributing technical support to strengthen United Nations Children’s Fund capacity with water, sanitation and hygiene coordination and are ready to consider further requests for humanitarian experts should it be required. DFID has also offered to provide support to the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Co-ordinations team and will remain in contact with Agencies in the region.

    The UK is also funding MapAction, a UK-based NGO. Two of their volunteers have now deployed to Fiji to provide GIS and Mapping capability. The UK also makes core contributions to the UN Agencies, the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department and the Red Cross, all of whom are contributing to the response. Stephen O’Brien, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recently announced US $8 million for Fiji from the Central Emergency Response Fund, to which the UK is biggest contributor, having donated in excess of $855m in the last 10 years.