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  • Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on (a) the nature of the Government’s consultation on the proposed Bill of Rights and associated measures and (b) ensuring that that timing does not overlap with the period of the purdah of the Scottish Government or the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament.

    David Mundell

    I meet with Cabinet colleagues and other ministers regularly to discuss a wide range of matters. We are committed to consulting fully on our proposals prior to the introduction of any legislation and we will announce further details in due course.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the £50 million fund established for First World War commemorations has been allocated to or spent in Northern Ireland.

    David Evennett

    The Heritage Lottery Fund has committed £13.9m of Lottery funding to 58 projects across Northern Ireland and continues to welcome applications for First World War projects of any size. One of these projects is the restoration and display of HMS Caroline – the only surviving ship from the 1916 Battle of Jutland – in Belfast’s historic maritime quarter.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward proposals to require the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to compensate families of victims of criminal offences.

    Mike Penning

    The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme compensates victims of violent crime who have sustained physical or mental injuries.

    In cases where the victim of a violent crime has died, close family members of the deceased may be eligible to receive awards such as bereavement and dependency payments for the loss of a loved one. The rules governing such payments are set out in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

  • 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 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times police cells were used to hold prisoners overnight in each month in 2014 and 2015.

    Andrew Selous

    There are occasions, for logistical reasons, where prisoners may be temporarily held overnight in police cells. Police cells are used not due to a lack of space across the prison estate but because it is not always possible to transfer prisoners from courts to prisons in the time available at the end of court sittings.

    The number of prisoners held overnight in a police cell has been cut from a peak of over 50,000 in financial year 2007-08.

    We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and will aim to deal with the prison population in a way that gives taxpayers the best possible value for money. Operation Safeguard, have not been used since 22 September 2008 and no police cells under Operation Safeguard have been on stand-by since the end of October 2008.

    The following table shows the total number of prisoners who were temporarily held overnight in police cells in England and Wales in each month in 2014-15. The totals include adults, young adults (18 to 20-year-olds) and young people (15 to 17-year-olds).

    Number of uses of police cells

    2014

    2015

    January

    168

    89

    February

    372

    112

    March

    175

    74

    April

    64

    107

    May

    46

    47

    June

    112

    113

    July

    274

    180

    August

    116

    63

    September

    62

    137

    October

    96

    174

    November

    149

    195

    December

    111

    151

    Total

    1745

    1442

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Attorney General, what his policy is on use of the charge of treason; and what is his Department’s guidance on sentencing those charged and convicted of that offence.

    Robert Buckland

    In all cases referred for a charging decision, the Crown Prosecution Service uses whichever offence is appropriate to the facts of the case. Modern criminal offences, including terrorism offences, usually offer a better chance of a successful conviction than a prosecution for treason would. Prosecutions for treason are therefore extremely rare and there is no applicable guidance from the Sentencing Council. The maximum sentence for treason is life imprisonment and it would be for the Courts to determine the appropriate sentence in an individual case, having regard to any analogous case law.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) white and (b) non-white people convicted of a crime were sentenced to immediate custody for each category of offence in each of the last five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The proportion of persons sentenced to immediate custody for indictable offences, can be calculated through table 5.20, part of chapter 5: defendants tables of the Race and the Criminal Justice System: 2014 which can be located at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/race-and-the-criminal-justice-system-2014

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the trends in the prison population for (a) white and (b) non-white prisoners over the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is published and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received from charities and families on the effectiveness of the operation of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

    Caroline Dinenage

    One piece of Ministerial correspondence has been received in the last six months concerning the family of a deceased person affected by the 1976 Act.

  • 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 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff have been dismissed in each year since 2010; what the reasons were for each such dismissal; and how many prison staff have received custodial sentences for crimes committed while working in prisons since 2010.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Information on the number of staff dismissed from public sector Prison Service Establishments, broken down by reason for dismissal, in each year since 2009/10 is contained in the table below. Information on dismissals is published in the NOMS Workforce Bulletin by financial year and to maintain consistency with that information the figures provided in the table are a further breakdown of the published numbers.

    Data on the number of custodial sentences for crimes committed while working in prisons is not available because information held centrally relates to the internal disciplinary process which may include those staff that have been dismissed for being in receipt of a criminal conviction, but the centrally held data would not show those staff who had also received a custodial sentence.

    Staff Dismissed From Public Sector Prison Service Establishments 2009/10 to September 2015

    Conduct

    Medical Inefficiency

    Poor Performance

    Unsatisfactory Attendance

    Breach of Contract and Others

    Total

    2009/10

    120

    210

    20

    20

    ~

    380

    2010/11

    140

    210

    20

    30

    ~

    400

    2011/12

    110

    290

    10

    20

    ~

    430

    2012/13

    120

    270

    10

    20

    ~

    420

    2013/14

    110

    310

    ~

    10

    ~

    440

    2014/15

    80

    430

    10

    20

    ~

    550

    Apr-Sep 2015

    40

    220

    10

    10

    ~

    280

  • 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 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers who have received severance or redundancy packages since May 2010 have subsequently been re-employed (a) as a prison officer or (b) in another capacity by his Department.

    Andrew Selous

    It has not been possible to answer this question within the time available. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.