Tag: 2014

Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time between judgement and sentencing in criminal trials in England was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the trends in the time taken.

Shailesh Vara

HMCTS can only answer this question for trials in the Crown Court. The case management database for magistrates’ courts does not hold the date of conviction in a way we can calculate the time from conviction to sentence for all defendants so the only way we could answer the question would be to manually check each case file which would incur disproportionate costs.

The Crown Court database does and Table 1 below shows the average length between the latest conviction date in a trial and the date of sentence. The trend has seen the time between conviction and sentence falling from an average of 35.8 calendar days in 2007-08 to 24.6 calendar days in the first half of 2013-14. When a trial has more than one offence the jury may not reach verdicts against all on the same day, and the sentence cannot take place until all offences have a verdict.

Table 1 -Average length between conviction and sentence in Crown Court centres in England for defendants sentenced between April and September 2013
Period	Average
April to September 2013	24.6 calendar days
2012-13	28.2
2011-12	28.2
2010-11	30.2
2009-10	32.8
2008-09	34.4
2007-08	35.8

Notes:

The average number of calendar days between the latest jury conviction date and the earliest substantial sentence date.
Includes cases where the defendant changes their plea to guilty during the trial.
This is internal management information run specifically to answer this question.

The judiciary are able to sentence following conviction without the need for additional hearings as a result of initiatives currently in place. The judicially lead early guilty plea scheme aims to have guilty plea cases concluded at a single hearing. Similarly the probation service are able to provide reports on the day of conviction to facilitate the sentencing of the defendant.

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November 1, 2022

Mike Kane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time is for appeals for those who have had their benefits sanctioned.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits.

HMCTS does not record data specifically relating to appeals against sanctions imposed by DWP and does not therefore hold the information requested.

November 1, 2022
Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-03-17.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Francis Maude

The Government’s childcare offer will provide flexible support for all eligible working families while maintaining a free, universal early education support. Alongside this, the Government is also taking action to drive up the supply of high quality childcare provision and to open up more choice for parents.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West on 3 March 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 664W.

November 1, 2022
Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Attorney General, what discussions the Director of Public Prosecutions has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers about implementing the recommendations in HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspector report on the disclosure of medical records and counselling notes; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Heald

There have been no discussions between the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) about implementing the recommendations in HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate report on the disclosure of medical records and counselling notes. The recommendations of the report were that Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) legal guidance on Rape and Sexual Offences was updated and that CPS Headquarters may wish to liaise with ACPO about such disclosure to develop a national police form for use when the police consult complainants. The guidance was updated on 12 December 2013 and the capture of information in a national police form is being considered as part of the work on digitisation of cases files and has been discussed with ACPO.

November 1, 2022
Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of workplace nurseries available to staff in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Gregory Barker

Since its establishment in 2008, neither the Department for Energy and Climate Change nor its non-departmental public bodies have had workplace nurseries available to staff.

November 1, 2022
Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many persons convicted under sections (a) 2A and (b) 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 have been given a custodial sentence of (i) less than 12, (ii) 12 to 24, (iii) 24 to 36 and (iv) more than 36 months.

Jeremy Wright

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

The most recent figures showing the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody for offences under Sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2013 (the latest data available), can be viewed in the table.

November 1, 2022
Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the extent of (a) fraud, (b) duplication of job entries and (c) entries for non-existent jobs in the Universal Jobmatch website.

Esther McVey

Today, many jobs are only advertised on the internet. That’s why we are doing everything we can to give those looking for work the skills and the opportunities to access them. Universal Jobmatch is a powerful tool for successfully connecting people to jobs, and it is delivering.

The website launches a public service into the digital age, allowing people to search for work from their home, handheld devices, local libraries, as well as the traditional Jobcentre. It allows employers to match jobseekers to their vacancies and gives our customers access to a greater number of opportunities. It puts them on an equal footing with everyone else seeking a new job in the UK. With over 6 million job searches per a day, the service is clearly popular, successful, and value for money.

At 18 March 2014, there were 507,474 vacancies on the service.

All internet job sites face the issue of duplicate vacancies. We take this issue very seriously, and whenever we have a doubt about the validity of a job offer we will intervene, suspend the vacancy and investigate. If an employer breaches our terms and conditions we remove their right to advertise. Our continuing removal of such employers or jobs demonstrates that our system of checks works.

Since Universal Jobmatch was launched in November 2012, we have removed 1216 employer accounts that did not comply with our terms and conditions. That figure is equivalent to 0.2% of the total number of registered employer accounts.

Universal Jobmatch has revolutionised the way we deliver the public employment service. With over 6,000,000 job searches per day at a cost of far less than 1 pence each, it represents excellent value for money.

November 1, 2022
Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what date he plans to publish the consultation referred to by the Minister of State for Health in his Department’s announcement entitled Government Response to Tobacco Standardised Packaging Review, published in April 2014.

Jane Ellison

The consultation could not be published in the period leading up to the European and local elections. It is now being finalised and will be published shortly.

November 1, 2022
Mr Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Barry Sheerman on 2014-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contact his Department has had with the largest 10 academy chains to confirm whether they plan to make an application for a free school in the next (a) year, (b) two years and (c) three years.

Edward Timpson

The Department for Education has not asked academy chains to confirm whether they plan to make any applications for a free school in the next year, two years or three years.

November 1, 2022
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 life sentence prisoners were moved into open prisons in each month between January 2010 and December 2013.

Jeremy Wright

Data held centrally on prisoners transferred to open prisons does not distinguish between different types of indeterminate sentenced prisoner. Indeterminate sentences include those serving mandatory, discretionary and automatic life sentences and those serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.

Identifying which prisoners were serving life sentences would require a manual trawl of records, which would incur disproportionate cost.

November 1, 2022