Tag: 2014

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of incidents marked as domestic violence cases which related to (a) male perpetrators against female partners, (b) female perpetrators against male partners and (c) other cases of domestic violence.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. The Home Office receives domestic abuse incident data from the police in England and Wales but these data do not contain information on the sex of the victim or the
    perpetrator.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what types of offence resulted in confiscation orders being made in 2012-13; and how much was collected as a result of those orders.

    Mike Penning

    The table below shows the primary offence type for all confiscation orders made between 01/04/2012 and 31/03/2013 and the current amount paid against those impositions as of 16/01/2015. The ‘Amount Paid’ does not include any sums of interest that may have been collected on those orders.

    Primary Offence Type

    Amount Paid

    Arms Trafficking

    £ 2,274.00

    Bribery and Corruption

    £ 724.00

    Burglary / Theft

    £ 5,178,518.99

    Counterfeiting / Intellectual Property / Forgery

    £ 3,482,693.99

    Drug Trafficking

    £ 27,142,467.06

    Excise Duty Fraud

    £ 1,250,612.62

    Handling Stolen Goods

    £ 778,521.81

    Intellectual Property Crime

    £ 390,863.43

    Money Laundering – Drugs

    £ 8,183,885.75

    Money Laundering – Other

    £ 18,291,592.71

    Other Crime

    £ 8,045,149.97

    Other Fraud / Embezzlement / Deception / Crimes of dishonesty

    £ 22,650,449.84

    People Trafficking

    £ 281,589.31

    Pimps and Brothels / Prostitution / Pornography

    £ 965,260.92

    Robbery

    £ 167,503.53

    Tax and Benefit Fraud

    £ 9,078,615.86

    Terrorism

    £ 39,945.15

    Trading Standards Offences

    £ 435,591.73

    Unknown

    £ 125,986.91

    VAT Fraud

    £ 10,548,046.91

    Vehicle Offences

    £ 917,892.02

    Grand Total

    £ 117,958,186.51

    Confiscation orders are one of the key mechanisms available to the Government to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes. They are based on the notional benefit attributed to the crime and may, therefore, exceed the value of realisable assets that are known to the Court at the time of imposition. Crucially, an order that is outstanding stops the criminal benefitting from the proceeds of crime and ensures that, if assets are discovered in the future, they can be seized.

    HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and other agencies involved in confiscation order enforcement take the recovery of criminal assets very seriously and are working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority.

    The amount defendants repaid from their criminal activity across all agencies has increased for the last five consecutive years and we are currently on course to have another highly effective year. £137.2million was collected in 2013/14 (which represented a 4% increase on the total recovered during 2012/13); as at the end of December 2014, £113 million had been recovered, which is an increase of 10% on the same period last year.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department or local and district management set any numerical targets, expectations, aims or benchmarks set for Labour Market Decision Makers for the number of sanction referrals that should result in a sanction being applied.

    Esther McVey

    There are no benchmarks or targets for the number of referrals resulting in a sanction being applied.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kilclooney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-01-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any representations to the government of Ukraine about the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ukraine and the role of pro-Kiev volunteers in that region.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is regularly raised by British Ministers and officials. Our Ambassador to Ukraine wrote to Prime Minister Yatseniuk on 14 January 2015 to express the UK’s concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and the subsequent unrest in the eastern regions. He underlined UK support towards mitigating the humanitarian impacts of the situation in the Donbas. We are very concerned by reports from organisations such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International on the actions of certain pro-Kyiv battalions operating in the eastern regions, who have allegedly been involved in abuses including abductions, unlawful detention and ill-treatment. Embassy officials have raised our concerns with the Ukrainian President’s Office and we will continue to call on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that independent investigations take place into all serious allegations of violations, whether by the pro-Kyiv forces or the separatists.

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-01-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 17 December 2014 (HL3283), whether they will now state what consideration they have given to introducing or amending legislation to criminalise the purchase of sex in order to protect vulnerable women.

    Lord Bates

    With regard to prostitution, the Government focus is on harm minimisation and I refer to my answer of 17 December 2014 to question HL3283 on this matter.

  • Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, and if so how, recipients of the Winter Fuel Payment may return their payment to the Treasury.

    Lord Freud

    Eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments is based on female State Pension age. The latest estimates we have show that there are currently around 600,000 higher and additional rate taxpayers in Great Britain in 2014/15 who are above the female State Pension age and therefore qualify for Winter Fuel Payments1.

    We ask people who want to return their payment to do so by post so that it can be dealt with securely under existing Departmental financial processes and recorded against their Winter Fuel Payment account. We also ask for a covering letter indicating whether or not they wish us to continue to issue payments in future years.

    Returned payments should be sent to the address on the issuing letter or to the office that pays the claimant’s benefit.

    The latest estimates we have show that treating Winter Fuel Payments as taxable income would bring in around £250 million a year of additional revenue2.

    Notes:

    1. This estimate is based on the 2011/12 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s November 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

    The estimate uses ONS population projections at mid year 2012 adjusted for financial years.

    The estimate is rounded to the nearest 100,000.

    2. This estimate is based on DWP modelling using HMRC taxpayer data from November 2012 and Winter Fuel Payment caseload data from Winter 2013.

    This takes into account revenue from Basic, Higher and Additional rate taxpayers.

    Winter Fuel Payment rates are assumed to be £200 per year for recipients under 80 and £300 a year for recipients aged 80 and over.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to expand the role of the British Transport Police in providing supervision around transport interchanges.

    Baroness Kramer

    The BTP currently polices transport interchanges through hub policing teams. These teams work closely with various partners including the Home Office forces, Network Rail, Transport for London and the train operators to provide a seamless policing model spanning the underground and mainline stations. The aim is to provide a coordinated and focused policing service to keep the general public safe and reduce crime and disorder. There are no plans to expand the role of the British Transport Police (BTP) in providing supervision around transport interchanges.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to stop using VMFAT-501 squadron for pilot training on the F35B aircraft, and, if so, on what date; and where will training for that aircraft be conducted.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    Under current planning assumptions, the UK will stop assigning UK pilots to VMFAT-501 for pilot training on the F-35B from July 2019, when the UK Operational Conversion Unit will begin pilot training at RAF Marham.

  • Paul Burstow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Burstow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Burstow on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health of 13 January 2015, Official Report, HC Deb column 703, on mental health care (pregnant women), if he will publish his Department’s plans and the funding committed for ensuring that every maternity unit has staff specially trained in perinatal mental health skills by 2017; and if he will make a statement.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    Improving diagnosis and services for women with pregnancy-related mental health problems is one of the Department’s priorities for maternity care.

    ‘Closing the gap: priorities for essential change in mental health’, published in January 2014, sets out the Government’s plans to ensure new mothers receive better support so that the incidence and impact of perinatal mental health problems can be reduced.

    The Government’s Mandate to Health Education England (HEE) from April 2014 to March 2015 asks HEE to ensure post-registration training in perinatal mental health to ensure that trained specialist mental health staff are available to support mothers in every birthing unit by 2017.

    To meet this mandate commitment, HEE, in conjunction with the Institute of Health Visiting, has developed three e-learning modules specifically covering topics such as perinatal depression and other maternal mental health disorders. The modules have been designed specifically for nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff. HEE is continuing to work to ensure midwives in training have a core training module focusing on perinatal mental health and to develop a continuing professional education framework for the existing maternity and early years workforce in 2015.

    HEE’s 13 Local Education and Training Boards are taking forward the commitment locally to ensure that every maternity unit has staff specially trained in perinatal mental health skills. HEE has advised that information on the funding committed is not collected centrally.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to government officials in Bahrain on the stripping of Bahraini nationality from Bahrainis who are not dual nationals, for allegedly damaging state security.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have raised repeatedly with the Government of Bahrain its decision to withdraw citizenship from 31 individuals in 2012. We encourage the authorities to conduct full and transparent investigations into those accused of crimes and to ensure that individuals are given a right of appeal against citizenship deprivation decisions.