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Tag: 2014

  • Gavin Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Gavin Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Williamson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make representations to the Sentencing Council requesting it to ensure that the strictest possible sentences are given to fly-tippers.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Government is concerned by the damage to the environment that fly-tipping and other unlawful deposits of waste can cause. That is why it we have provided law enforcement agencies and the courts with powers to deal with such offending.

    In regard to sentencing, the independent Sentencing Council conducted a consultation on environmental offences in 2013 and has issued a sentencing guideline for environmental offences which will take effect on 1 July 2014. Judges and magistrates are required to follow the guidelines unless it would not be in the interests of justice to do so.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current status is of the Border Systems Programme (BSP); what the timescale is for tendering and choosing suppliers; and when the BSP is expected to be developed and rolled out.

    James Brokenshire

    The e-Borders programme has been incorporated within the Border Systems’ scope
    of work. Border Systems now assumes responsibility for the Warnings Index and
    the wider Border Force portfolio of technology projects. Border Systems will
    build on the foundations of the e-Borders programme, strengthening even further
    our border security.

    The procurement approach to replacing the primary border security elements of
    the Border Systems Programme will reflect broader Government ICT and Commercial
    strategy, and there will be no single, large supplier. The Home Office will
    lead development, with services procured from a range of providers, potentially
    including small and medium enterprises.

    By March 2015 the Border Systems Programme aims to:

    • Complete resilience of all current business critical systems;
    • Develop replacement primary border security systems;
    • Provide additional capability to support commitments on exit checks;
    • Establish a programme for the next generation of Radiological and Nuclear
    detection (Cyclamen);
    • Continue the implementation of second generation e-Gates across the estate;
    • Develop and implement new freight targeting capability for Sea Containers;
    • Establish contracts to purchase new detection equipment;
    • Continue to assure live operations of existing systems.

  • Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Elfyn Llwyd on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many people have been charged under (a) section 2A and (b) section 4A of the Protection from Harrassment Act 1997 in each police force in England and Wales since those sections came into force.

    Oliver Heald

    The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 came into effect on 25 November 2012 and introduced two new offences of stalking into the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 under S2A and S4A. A table showing the number of offences charged and prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) under sections 2A and 4A that reached a first hearing in a magistrates’ court since these sections came into force has been deposited in the Library of the House. The data provided only shows the number of offences, not the number of people charged.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 316W, on children: maintenance, in how many cases within the Child Support Agency collection service, excluding those with a deduction from earnings order, the Agency was notified of a missed child maintenance payment in the quarter up to and including December 2013; and in what proportion of such cases the non-resident parent was contacted by the Agency within 72 hours.

    Steve Webb

    There are currently three statutory maintenance schemes. The 1993 and 2003 schemes are delivered by the Child Support Agency and the 2012 scheme is delivered by the Child Maintenance Service.

    In all schemes, our aim is to act within 72 hours of when we are notified of a missed payment where there is a current liability. The notification trigger comes after a five day tolerance period of a missed payment. This tolerance period is to allow for issues which may have caused the missed payment to be resolved (i.e. clearances through bank accounts) without the need for our intervention. While this trigger is built into the design for the 2012 system, there is no comparable automated process for the 1993 and 2003 systems.

    As such, information on (a) the number of notifications of a missed child maintenance payment in cases within the Child Support Agency collection service and (b) the proportion of such cases where the non-resident parent was contacted by the Agency within 72 hours is not available as it is not routinely recorded for management information purposes. To provide this information would require the creation of new information which could only be completed and appropriately assured at a disproportionate cost.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which company designed the 2009 plans for a Young Offender Institute at Glen Parva; and how much such plans cost.

    Jeremy Wright

    Interserve designed the 2009 plans for a Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva with their designers, HLM Architects.

    The previous Government spent £5.6 million on developing the plans for a new Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva up to 2010. Although the Secure College pathfinder will be fundamentally different from a Young Offender’s Institution, we are making use of the previous work where relevant.

  • 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 2014-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the (a) capacity and (b) population of each (a) secure training centre, (b) young offender institution and (c) secure children’s home on 1 March (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

    Jeremy Wright

    Overall crime and proven offending by young people has fallen in recent years. Fewer young people have entered the criminal justice system, and as a result fewer young people have ended up in custody. This has allowed excess capacity in the youth secure estate to be decommissioned.

    The Table below shows the (a) capacity and (b) population of each Secure Children’s Home, Secure Training Centre and under-18 Young Offender Institution at the end of February in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 and at the end of January in 2014 (this is the latest available published data for 2014). This relates to either the last Friday of the month in question, or the first Friday of the following month, depending on which is closest to final day of the month. Data for the end of February therefore offers the closest available published data to 1 March.

    The “capacity” figure relates to the number of beds available, allowing for any “out of commission” beds due to for example, damage to rooms or contractual changes.

    This information comes from the Youth Justice Board’s Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS) database and eAsset database. The January 2014 database is provisional. The final 2013/14 figures will be finalised in 2013/14 Youth Justice Statistics to be published in January 2015.

    These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.

  • 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 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many barristers have been employed by the Public Defence Service in each month since January 2014.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Since January 2014 the PDS has employed the following number of Barristers (Full Time Equivalent):

    January 2014

    0.5

    February 2014

    2

    March 2014

    2

    April 2014

    4.5

    May 2014

    6.5
  • Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the level of personal debt was in (a) the UK, (b) Stockport Metropolitan Borough, (c) Tameside Metropolitan Borough and (d) Denton and Reddish constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Walton of Detchant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Walton of Detchant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Walton of Detchant on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect the new proposals for value-based assessments published by the National Institute for Healthand Care Excellence on 22 March 2014 have had on the availability of treatments to patients with (1) those forms of cancer which are more frequent in older people, and (2) rare types of cancer.

    Earl Howe

    A consultation on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) proposals for value assessment is ongoing and no decisions have yet been made about any potential changes to NICE’s methods of technology appraisal.

    The consultation will close on 20 June and we would encourage all those with an interest, including patients, clinicians, the National Health Service, industry, researchers and academic experts, to make their views known as part of this process.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Statement of 13 March 2014 by the Minister for Schools, Official Report, columns 427-42, on school funding, whether any of the funding announced will generate a Barnett consequential.

    David Laws

    The Government has agreed to provide £350 million in 2015-16 to the least fairly-funded local authorities in England. We are able to achieve this without any local authority receiving a cut to its per-pupil schools budget.

    The Department for Education intends to find the majority of the £350 million from within its existing protected schools budget as determined at the Spending Round in June 2013, with additional money from the Treasury as required. Any funding provided by the Treasury will be agreed by the end of 2014 and will attract Barnett consequentials in the normal way.