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Tag: 2014

  • Baroness Doocey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Baroness Doocey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the Crown Prosecution Service has made a charging decision not to proceed on the use of section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 in each of the last five years.

    Lord Wallace of Tankerness

    The Crown Prosecution Service does not hold figures centrally for the number of cases where a decision was made not to charge under section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, including those cases where the victim was under 18 at the time of commission of the offence. To obtain such information would require a manual examination of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.

  • The Earl of Courtown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The Earl of Courtown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Courtown on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the value of trade between the United Kingdom and (1) Brazil, (2) Russia, (3) India, and (4) China.

    Lord Livingston of Parkhead

    According to the latest UK Economic Accounts, UK trade of goods and services in 2013 with the BRIC countries were as follows:

    UK Exports

    UK Imports

    Total Trade

    £ million

    £ million

    £ million

    Brazil

    4,314

    3,024

    7,338

    Russia

    7,347

    8,002

    15,349

    India

    7,661

    8,778

    16,439

    China

    15,701

    34,755

    50,456

    Source: UK Economic Accounts Q1 2014

  • Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) investigations were carried out, (b) individuals were charged, (c) corporates were charged, (d) criminal prosecutions were launched and (e) criminal convictions were secured by the Serious Fraud Office in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) each of the five preceding years.

    Mr Robert Buckland

    11 convictions were secured in 2013/14 and 16 prosecutions were completed in 2013/14 (including those with convictions).

    The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates and, where appropriate, prosecutes cases of serious or complex fraud (including cases of domestic or overseas bribery and corruption) which, in the opinion of the Director of the SFO, call for the multi-disciplinary approach and legislative powers available to the SFO. Since April 2012, the SFO’s caseload has been recalibrated so that it is taking on fewer and more complex cases, as envisaged by the Roskill model.

    The SFO’s Intelligence Unit will assess all matters referred to the SFO whether by the public, the police or other agencies or organisations and refer those considered suitable for acceptance to a Case Evaluation Board before submission to the Director for his decision to open a criminal investigation under the Criminal Justice Act 1987.

    SFO investigations are complex, and this can sometimes lead to investigations merging or splitting into different parts. For instance, the Libor investigation is into numerous financial institutions, and there are other large investigations which have been subdivided.

    The information requested for earlier years is contained in the following table.

    2012/13

    2011/12

    2010/11

    2009/10

    2008/09

    2007/08

    Number of investigations opened

    8

    10

    13

    17

    20

    18

    Number of individuals charged

    18

    24

    25

    57

    31

    20

    Number of corporates charged

    0

    0

    1

    2

    0

    1

    Number of convictions secured

    14

    39

    23

    24

    33

    17

    Number of prosecutions completed by defendant (including those convicted)

    20

    54

    28

    26

    54

    25

    Note 1: Two cases have been opened, closed, and then re-opened. These have been counted only once in the data above.

    Note 2: Prior to April 2012 the SFO did not collate all of its casework data centrally and it is therefore possible that some records form this period may not have been identified. The SFO is currently carrying out a project to ensure that its reporting systems are more robust in the future.

  • Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish his Department’s risk assessment of the potential under-resourcing of fire and rescue services during strike action.

    Brandon Lewis

    The levels of crewing available for each authority, whether or not during periods of strike action, are dependent upon a number of factors. These include the duty system being worked locally, availability of on-call firefighters and, during strike periods, local contingency arrangements, which are the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority. The Department collects details of appliance availability from local fire and rescue authorities on a confidential basis. The arrangements for business continuity planning during strike action are kept under review by the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser.

    The principles of the recall to duty protocol, published as National Joint Council for Fire and Rescue Services Circular NJC/09/13, were agreed between the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, the Fire Brigades Union and the National Employers. Appendix 1 applies to fire and rescue authorities in England and makes clear that the Chief Fire Officers are responsible for arrangements locally, in accordance with their service’s major incident policies. I am confident that should there be a major disaster, striking firefighters would return to work.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Susan Elan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the effect of carbon reduction targets on jobs in the wood panelling sector.

    Gregory Barker

    The Government is committed to ensuring that industrial sectors maintain their competitiveness during the transition to a low-carbon economy, and continue to invest and provide employment in the UK. We have recognised the additional costs that climate and energy policies can place on energy-intensive industries, including the wood panelling sector, and announced a range of new measures in Budget 2014 to radically reduce these costs, in addition to the compensation measures already in place.

  • 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 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many DNA profiles of current prisoners have not been added to the DNA database.

    Karen Bradley

    The information requested is not held.

  • Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Gibb on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what current contracts (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies hold with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation’s subsidiaries.

    Jo Swinson

    The Department does not have any contracts with the Educational Testing Service or any of its subsidiaries.

    I have approached the Chief Executives of the Department’s Executive Agencies (Insolvency Service, Companies House, National Measurement Office, Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency) and they will respond to my Hon. Friend directly.

    Information for non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Stuart Andrew – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stuart Andrew – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart Andrew on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he gives local authorities on assessing the infrastructure required for sites which are included in their site allocations process; and what steps he takes if local authorities do not adhere to that guidance.

    Nick Boles

    The National Planning Policy Framework and our planning guidance make clear that Local Plans should be supported by evidence to establish what level of infrastructure is needed to enable the development proposed for the area and how it will be delivered.

    At examination, local authorities should justify their plan policies, including their deliverability over the plan period. Where an inspector concludes that there are fundamental issues regarding the soundness of the Plan, they will identify any conflicts between a draft local plan and national policy and regulatory process. They are able to recommend modifications to overcome these issues if they are asked to do so by the council itself.

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what background checks his Department undertook on Lord Lingfield’s charitable foundation before the transfer of the wreck of HMS Victory 1744.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Following the 2010 public consultation on options for the management of the wreck site of HMS Victory 1744 it was decided to place responsibility for the future management of the site on a charitable trust. The Maritime Heritage Foundation (MHF) was a newly formed charity and its objectives ‘to recover, preserve and display in public museums, to promote knowledge and understanding of our maritime heritage through educational projects’ were considered to be well suited for the management of the wreck site. No additional checks were made because the MHF is a registered charity under the auspices of the Charity Commission and subject to its rules and regulations.

  • Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Menzies Campbell on 2014-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost has been of transfer of all Typhoon Force mission-specific equipment and related removable fittings and fixtures from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth; and what estimate has been made of the total cost of the transfer.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The principal transfer of Typhoon Force mission-specific equipment has been accomplished as part of an agreed change to an existing contract, at an additional cost of some £2.5 million.