Tag: 2014

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults there were against prison officers in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

    Jeremy Wright

    NOMS takes the issue of assaults on prison staff very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who assault staff are charged and punished appropriately.

    NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is tackled in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence.

    The number of prisoner on prison officers assault incidents in each year are provided in table 3.8 of the supplementary tables on assaults that accompany each Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody.

    Figures for the number of these incidents that are reported on the centralised administrative system as being referred to the police in each year are provided in table 1. These figures do not represent individuals as there may be multiple assailants in some incidents. How many of these resulted in charges or conviction can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    Table 1: Number of prisoner on officer assault incidents referred to the police

    2010

    2011

    2012

    Prisoner on officer assaults referred to police

    374

    393

    543

    “

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Hugh Robertson

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which local authorities have failed performance standard 3 on house-to-house enquiries; how many times they have failed; and how many times a Cabinet Office regional delivery manager has intervened.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that in 2013 five Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) reported that they did not meet performance standard 3: Mid Devon; Taunton Deane; Torridge; West Devon; and West Somerset. The table below shows the number of times these EROs have not met this standard.

    Table: Number of times those EROS not meeting standard 3 in 2013 have not met this standard.

    ERO

    Number of times not met

    Years in which not met

    Mid Devon

    4

    2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

    Taunton Deane

    3

    2011, 2012, 2013

    Torridge

    2

    2012, 2013

    West Devon

    4

    2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

    West Somerset

    4

    2009, 2011, 2012, 2013

    The Commission is in the process of conducting a detailed analysis of EROs’ electoral registration data from the 2013 canvass, following which it will publish its final assessment of EROs’ performance in 2013.

    The Cabinet Office has established a network of Regional Delivery Managers to monitor EROs’ readiness for the transition to individual electoral registration in 2014. However, the Commission does not have specific details of the activities undertaken by these all of these officials.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Mr Alan Duncan

    Declaration of ethnicity for staff at DFID is voluntary and it is therefore not possible to confirm the ethnicity of any staff who have been subject to disciplinary proceedings.

  • Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to prevent private sector companies providing incentives for their employees to switch from defined benefit to defined contribution pension arrangements.

    Steve Webb

    We already have powers in place to legislate to ban cash incentive transfers. The incentive exercises code of good practice was created in 2012, and set out seven key principles that pension providers and their advisers must adhere to if they wish to offer their members incentives, including ensuring that members are given sufficient information to enable them to make an informed decision.

    A large number of providers and independent financial advisers have signed up to the code, delivering a prompt solution to address this issue. The Government would encourage all providers to comply with the code.

    Following the Budget announcement HM Treasury are currently running a consultation, “Freedom of Choice in Pensions” where it is considering whether people with a defined benefit pension should be allowed to transfer their accrued benefits into a defined contribution scheme. The outcome of this consultation will inform our thinking on what additional action, if any, the Government should take to restrict or ban pension providers from offering incentives

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials have acted as Senior Responsible Officer for the Universal Credit project since 2010.

    Esther McVey

    Five officials have acted as Senior Responsible Officer for the Universal Credit project since 2010.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-04-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to place the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit during its operation in a publicly available archive.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    No. Evidence gathered in investigations by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit concerning war crimes is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and, where files were submitted for prosecution, the Crown Prosecution Service.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support autistic adults receive to protect them from abuse and neglect; and whether they have any plans to increase that support.

    Earl Howe

    The Care Act 2014 sets out the local authority’s responsibility for adult safeguarding for the first time in primary legislation. This is vital to ensure clear accountability, roles and responsibilities for helping and protecting adults with care and support needs, including autistic adults, who are experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect.

    The Act requires local authorities to carry out a safeguarding enquiry where they have reasonable cause to expect a person is at risk of abuse or neglect. Authorities must consider what if any actions are needed, and who should carry these out, to stop abuse and neglect taking place. The draft guidance clarifies that where a local authority has started a safeguarding enquiry it should continue the needs assessment for care and support in parallel, and determine whether the person has eligible needs which it must meet.

    The Act places the establishment of Safeguarding Adults Boards on a statutory footing, so as to ensure local authorities, National Health Service and police (as well as any other agency deemed appropriate) work together to develop and implement adult safeguarding strategies and conduct safeguarding adult reviews in serious cases to ensure lessons are learnt and applied. This will better equip local agencies with relevant care and support functions both to prevent abuse and to respond when it occurs.

    Transforming care, the Government’s programme to address issues identified by the abuse of people at Winterbourne View hospital aims to ensure that people with learning disabilities and autism are safe and get good quality care when they are in hospital, and where appropriate following an assessment of their care and needs, they are able to live with support in the community.

  • Lord Morrow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Morrow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morrow on 2014-04-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the trial use of victim support workers in accident and emergency settings in England to identify potential victims of domestic violence; and whether they plan to extend the scheme on a permanent and wider basis.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Home Office is working closely with Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse which is conducting an in-depth evaluation of the effectiveness of basing Independent Domestic Violence Advocates in both hospital accident and emergency and maternity units. The report is due in 2015-16. Six services are taking part in the evaluation:

    • Worth Services (based in West Sussex)
    • Bristol Royal Infirmary IDVA service
    • Domestic Violence: Health and Maternity Project (Imperial College, Standing Together and Advance Advocacy)
    • Cambridge Addenbrooke’s IDVA service
    • North Devon Women’s Aid
    • Newcastle Victim Support

    Emerging evidence from the evaluation can be found at:
    www.caada.org.uk/policy/CAADA_Themis_Research_Briefing_1.pdf.

    The Coalition Government will study the full findings from the evaluation before making a decision on whether the scheme is extended on a permanent and wider basis.

  • Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that cookery is included in the curriculum as part of design and technology lessons.

    Lord Nash

    All pupils should be taught to cook and to apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Design and Technology (D&T) is compulsory for all maintained schools from key stages 1 to 3 and the new D&T curriculum, which will be in force from September 2014, strengthens the requirements on schools to teach about food at primary and secondary. At primary, the curriculum will ensure pupils are taught about healthy eating, where food comes from and to prepare and cook a range of dishes. At secondary, for the first time, cooking will be compulsory at key stage 3: teachers will be also required to cover nutrition, diet and where food comes from.