Tag: 2014

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have been released from one life sentence before being given another life sentence in each of the last 30 years; and in each such case (a) how long the offender spent in prison for the earlier life sentence, (b) how long the offender had been ordered to serve as a minimum period for the latest life sentence, (c) on what dates each life sentence was given, (d) what the offences were for which the offender received each life sentence and (e) what all the offences committed by that offender prior to the latest life sentence were.

    Jeremy Wright

    A life sentence is mandatory for murder and discretionary life sentences are available for other very serious offences. This Government has introduced an automatic life sentence for a second very serious violent or sexual offence.

    Under a life sentence, the court determines the minimum period to be served in prison for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Once that period has been served it is for the Parole Board to determine if and when the offender may be released from prison on life licence and subject to recall for the rest of their life.

    Table 1 shows the number of offenders who have been sentenced to life in the 12 months ending September 2013 who previously had one or more previous life sentence on a separate sentencing occasion within the last 30 years, in England and Wales. The table also shows details of their latest and previous offences for which they received a life sentence.

    Reoffending rates for life sentenced prisoners are very low. A small number of life sentence prisoners commit offences in prison which result in a second life sentence. Some life sentence prisoners can also receive a second life sentence on conviction for offences committed prior to being imprisoned (e.g. a previous murder or rape).

    The figures provided have been drawn from an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Department. The PNC holds details of all convictions and cautions given for recordable offences committed in England and Wales. In addition, as with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

    Detailed information on the length of time served by individual life sentence prisoners, and offence information is not readily available, so I will write to the Honourable Member.

  • Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Environment Agency classifies as a watercourse; if he will ensure that insurance companies can differentiate between major watercourses and watercourses of no consequence; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency defines a “Watercourse” according to section 72(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1991. It includes all rivers and streams and all ditches, drains, cuts, culverts, dikes, sluices, sewers (other than public sewers within the meaning of the Water Industry Act 1991) and passages, through which water flows.

    Insurance companies take into account a range of factors in setting policy premiums and excesses, and different insurers take different approaches to assessing flood risk. Certain insurance companies would use proximity to a watercourse to assess the risk of flooding to a property, whilst other companies may use postcodes to assess flood risk or their own flood risk models.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to answer Question 196666, tabled on 25 April 2014 for answer on 30 April 2014.

    Brandon Lewis

    Question 196666 was answered on 6 May, Official Report, Column 29W.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to implement the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s recommendation that beneficiaries in Afghanistan should be directly consulted when new projects are being designed and that Afghan women should be consulted on development of the new strategic priority on violence against women.

    Justine Greening

    DFID already uses a variety of methods to ensure intended beneficiaries in Afghanistan are consulted in the design of new programmes and monitoring of existing programmes.

    DFID already consults Afghan women and civil society groups to inform our strategy and programmes for tackling violence against women and improving women’s rights.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to provide guidance to long-haul transport providers to ensure that the special travel needs of neurofibromatosis sufferers are taken into account.

    Earl Howe

    NHS England commissions neurofibromatosis type two (NF2) services and complex neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) services as part of its remit to deliver specialised services.

    NHS England has published service specifications for both types of neurofibromatosis. These estimate that in England there are 11,267 individuals with NF1 and 862 with NF2.

    The Department does not have specific guidance relating to the special travel needs of neurofibromatosis sufferers. Domestic equality legislation makes it unlawful for transport operators to discriminate against a disabled person simply because they are disabled, treat disabled people less favourably or fail to make reasonable adjustments in the way they provide their services, depending on the type of vehicles and the services they offer to the public.

    Furthermore, an extra level of protection is provided by recently implemented European regulations on passenger rights across all transport modes. These provide a set of rules for the treatment of disabled people and people with reduced mobility.

  • Lord Barnett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Barnett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Barnett on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 April (WA 302), what are the current terms of income contingent repayment loans.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations set out the terms and conditions of income contingent student loans. This is also set out in the booklet Student Loans – a Guide to Terms and Conditions, the latest copy of which can be accessed at http://www.sfengland.slc.co.uk/media/666045/sfe_t_c_guide_1415_d.pdf . Students are informed at the time of taking out their student loan that the regulations may change from time to time and this means that the terms of their loan may also change.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will assess the potential merits of allowing designated bodies to be given the power to make super-complaints against public service providers such as those that exist in private markets.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Government is considering recent reports of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) into how complaints about public services are handled. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is working to investigate further how public services can make best use of complaints and also to take a wider look at the role and powers of the Public Sector Ombudsmen. The Government will respond to the PASC in due course. I am happy to discuss this matter further with my Hon. Friend.

    The annual reports and accounts of the public service ombudsmen in the UK provide details of their performance over the past 12 months including information about complaints received.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the effect of export of refuse-derived fuel and solid recovered fuel for use in energy from waste plants overseas has on the ability of the UK to meet renewable energy targets; and if he will make a statement.

    Gregory Barker

    DECC has not made an assessment of the effect of export of refuse-derived fuel and solid recovered fuel may have on the ability to meet renewable energy targets.

    We are making good progress towards meeting our 2020 target. In 2012 4.2% of UK energy consumption was met by renewables, up from 3.8% in 2011. Our latest estimates suggest that the UK is currently on course to meet our next interim renewable target of 5.4% for 2013/2014.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Scottish airports will benefit from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government announced on 6 June that a Public Service Obligation will be established on the air route between Dundee Airport and London Stansted Airport from 1 July 2014 for a two-year period, with support from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund announced in last year’s Spending Round.

    The Scottish devolved administration or regional body may apply for access to this fund to maintain an air link from other Scottish airports to London, where there is a risk that an existing link may be lost, and where the case for a Public Service Obligation has been made.

    The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that the funding would be doubled to £20 million per year, and also extended to allow for the support for start-up aid for new air routes from UK regional airports. European Union aviation State aid guidelines allow for provision of start-up aid to facilitate start-up of new routes from airports which handle fewer than five million passengers per annum. This will therefore cover all Scotland’s airports apart from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

    The Department for Transport is working with the Treasury to develop guidance that will clarify how the Government will ordinarily expect to interpret the European Union guidelines, and explain how the funding process will work.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of passport applications have been dealt with within the target timescale in each of the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    Expected service standards for passport applications are given at
    www.gov.uk.

    Information in respect of the Member’s constituency is not available and the
    cost of collating it would be disproportionate.

    The table below shows the proportions of UK passport applications in each of
    the last 12 months which have been processed within the published service
    standards.

    2013

    % straightforward applications processed within the published timescales

    % non-straightforward applications processed within the published timescales

    June

    100%

    97.8%

    July

    100%

    96.9%

    August

    100%

    96.4%

    September

    100%

    96.0%

    October

    100%

    95.9%

    November

    99.99%

    96.5%

    December

    99.99%

    96.3%

    2014

    January

    99.99%

    96.8%

    February

    99.98%

    98.1%

    March

    99.95%

    96.8%

    April

    98.59%

    99.6%

    May

    92.26%

    93.9%