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  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that all residual legacy benefit caseloads will move onto universal credit by 2021 as forecast in the policy costings of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Priti Patel

    Testing of the migration of legacy claimants onto Universal Credit will take place during 2017. Following this national migration will commence in 2018 and by 2020/21 the move to Universal Credit will be complete.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications for his policies are of the finding of the National Audit Office in its recent report, Contracted-out health and disability assessments, HC 609, of 5 January 2016, that his Department is spending more on fit-for-work assessments than it is saving since reforming health and disability assessments.

    Priti Patel

    The purpose of the Work Capability Assessment is to assess fairly and accurately entitlement to benefit, not to generate savings.

    We have commissioned independent reviews which have all concluded that the assessment regimes for health related benefits remain fit for purpose.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been provided to local highways authorities for local road maintenance in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the current financial year.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department is providing councils in England, outside London, with just under £6 billion between now and 2021 for highways maintenance. Details of the funding per financial year per authority in England can be seen at the following weblink:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations-201516-to-202021

    For West Sussex we are providing £13.7 million this financial year.

    “

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are in place to provide more step-free access at London Underground stations.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Transport is a devolved matter in London and therefore the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL).

    In October 2014 the Mayor announced an extra £76 million partnership fund for step-free access schemes where contributions can be found from developers and other third parties, including the boroughs. TfL is carrying out a review of all accessible information, and will be working with disabled people, and the organisations that represent them, to ensure their feedback is incorporated into any improvements.

  • 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 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions a child has made a complaints appeal to a monitor in (a) Hassockfield, (b) Medway, (c) Oakhill and (d) Rainsbrook secure training centre since each centre opened; and how many such appeals were upheld by the monitor.

    Andrew Selous

    We treat the allegations of abuse directed towards young people at the Medway Secure Training Centre (STC), run by G4S, with utmost seriousness. An independent improvement board has been put in place, to provide increased oversight, scrutiny and challenge of managerial arrangements, in particular in relation to the safeguarding of young people.

    The following table provided by the YJB shows the total number of complaints made by young people in Secure Training Centres, for each year between 2010 and 2015.

    Secure Training Centre

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Medway

    195

    177

    224

    81

    185

    107

    Oakhill

    266

    122

    175

    141

    196

    199

    Rainsbrook

    239

    229

    287

    130

    173

    139

    Hassockfield*

    150

    202

    66

    123

    132

    0

    Total

    850

    730

    752

    475

    686

    445

    *Hassokfield STC shows zero complaints in 2015, this is due to its closure on 9 January 2015.

    * The figures for complaints are the number of grievances or criticisms made by young people placed to the establishment by the YJB on criminal matters that are formally reported to the provider using their recorded documentation (i.e. complaint forms) in the calendar month. The figures shown are not the same as the number of young people making complaints as one young person could make more than one complaint.

    The monitor reviews all complaints and their outcomes, and will intervene if a complaint is not being dealt with as it should be. If a child is not happy with the outcome of a complaint, they can appeal to the Monitor. Information on the number of appeals is not held centrally.

  • 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 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions monitors have investigated and reported to him on allegations made against custody officers performing custodial duties at (a) Hassockfield, (b) Medway, (c) Oakhill and (d) Rainsbrook secure training centre since each centre opened.

    Andrew Selous

    If an allegation is made against a staff member in a Secure Training Centre (STC), a child protection referral will be made to the independent Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for investigation.

    Where disciplinary action is recommended, the YJB which is statutorily responsible for the youth estate will oversee the disciplinary process which will be conducted by the STC provider.

    The YJB will only refer an investigation to the Secretary of State if an STC provider conducts an insufficiently comprehensive or robust disciplinary process, and does not correct this when required to by the YJB. The YJB would then refer the case to the Secretary of State and recommend that the member of staff has their custody certification revoked.

    The YJB have the ability to suspend custody certificates, but cannot revoke them. The power to revoke a custody certificate lies with the Secretary of State. There have been no referrals to the Secretary of State to revoke a custody certificate as of yet, as the only circumstances where the YJB would be required to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, would be where the YJB have suspended a certificate but the contractor has refused to dismiss the employee.

    The member of staff would then no longer be certified to work in any secure setting for young people

    No monitor has reported to the Secretary of State for revocation of custody officer certification since each centre opened.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have had miscarriages in each prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many community rehabilitation companies have completed his Department’s risk audit; and what the results of those audits are.

    Andrew Selous

    We monitor the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) closely, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. All CRCs have been audited by the Ministry of Justice, as part of a rolling programme of operational assurance audits. These internal audits provide assurance to contract management teams on a range of measures.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases have been transferred from community rehabilitation companies to the National Probation Service for risk escalation.

    Andrew Selous

    Offenders managed under the statutory Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements and those who present a high risk of serious harm are managed by the National Probation Service (NPS), while medium- and lower-risk offenders are managed by the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).

    Risk is a dynamic factor, and in many cases the degree of risk presented by an offender will change during the course of his or her sentence. The new probation structure that was put in place by the previous Government is designed to respond to this by providing for management of offenders initially allocated to a CRC to transfer to the NPS if their risk increases to the higher level.

    In the first eight months following the handover of the CRCs to their new owners, 5281 offenders have been transferred from CRCs to NPS, out of a total of 234,229 offenders managed by the CRCs and NPS.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question HL324 from Baroness Masham of Ilton, when the additional four weeks of training for prison officers will be introduced; and whether training on suicide and self-injury prevention will be included in that training.

    Andrew Selous

    The new Prison Officer entry level training began on 25th January 2016. The training includes an additional 4 weeks of content relevant to the role. Reducing the risk of suicide and self-harm are included in the training.