Tag: Andy Slaughter

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he made of the potential effect on corporation tax receipts of changes to personal injury law and procedure prior to making his announcement of such changes in the 2015 Autumn Statement; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

The Ministry of Justice will launch a public consultation in due course on the details of the policy. This will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that members of HM Courts and Tribunals Service staff with protected characteristics will not be required to end their employment due to the closure of the court at which they work.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Following the closure announcement HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) began a period of staff consultation which includes discussions between all those affected and their management teams. Management teams will support staff in identifying suitable redeployment options taking into account their individual needs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31078, on immigration officers, what policy, guidance or code of practice is provided to immigration officers carrying out equipment interference.

James Brokenshire

The Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC) provides independent oversight of the use of property interference powers by law enforcement, including immigration officers. The Police Act 1997 was amended in 2013 to enable immigration officers to carry out property interference. The OSC regularly inspects law enforcement use of the power and scrutinises all individual property interference authorisations. A statutory code of practice for covert surveillance and property interference which can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/384975/Covert_Surveillance_Property_Interrefernce_web__2_.pdf

applies to all agencies with property interference powers.

The Investigatory Powers Bill will provide enhanced safeguards for the use of equipment interference, including the requirement that equipment interference warrants are subject to the double-lock authorisation safeguard. The Bill will also create a new and more powerful Investigatory Powers Commissioner who will keep the use of this important power under close and regular review. A new Equipment Interference Code of Practice was published in draft alongside the Investigatory Powers Bill. This Code will provide further guidance on the use of equipment interference powers to all relevant agencies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, who the Government’s representative was at the MaMa-COHAFA (Council Working Party on Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid) meeting in Brussels on 11 April 2016.

Mr David Lidington

The UK was represented by officials from the Department for International Development and the UK Representation to the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts on 3 May 2016, on confiscation orders: progress review, how many outages of the Semaphore computer system have occurred since 2010; and how long each such outage lasted.

James Brokenshire

For national security reasons, we do not comment on operational issues such as performance and functionality of border security systems.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average conviction rate has been in England and Wales in each of the last three years; and what that rate has been where the offender is someone brought back to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant.

James Brokenshire

The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on conviction ratios, and these were last published on the 19th May 2016 (Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update to December 2015 (annual edition) at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015).

The statistics on conviction ratios can be found at Table Q3.3 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/524269/overview-tables.xlsx) and percentages for all offences were 81.8% in 2013, 83.0% in 2014 and 83.7% in 2015.

In relation to the European Arrest Warrant, this information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant and these can be found here:

http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/european-arrest-warrant-statistics

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her Saudi Arabian counterpart on the use of the advanced cyber-crime courses provided by the College of Policing to target pro-democracy activists in that country.

Mike Penning

We are rightly proud of the British model of policing by consent and of the high level of skill and expertise across policing in this country. The College of Policing, which is independent of Government, ensures that respect for human rights and dignity is integral to each programme it delivers.

Course developers and trainers are required to include a bespoke human rights and ethical decision-making element in each course. Before undertaking any international work, the College refers to the International Policing Assistance Board (IPAB), which assesses all requests against British values and interests. IPAB comprises policing representatives and those from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development and devolved administrations.

The College always acts in accordance with HM Treasury’s guidelines on ‘Managing Public Money’, which includes guidance on commercial charging rates. The Home Office do not keep records on the travel of College of Policing officials.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of dogs in the UK (a) in 2010 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available.

George Eustice

The Government does not hold any official estimates of the numbers of dogs in the UK. However, according to the annual pet population survey carried out by the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association in 2010 there were an estimated 8 million dogs in the UK. The same survey for 2016 shows the estimated number of dogs in the UK to be 8.5 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the names of chair and members of the Specialised Ophthalmology Services Reference Group.

David Mowat

Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs) are currently undertaking a process of recruitment. Once all appointments have been made, a full list of members for each CRG will be published on NHS England’s website. However, for the Specialised Ear and Ophthalmology CRG, the Chair and Lead CRG Commissioner have been confirmed as Alison Davis and Nicola Symes respectively.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his oral Answer to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn of 3 November 2015, Official Report, column 866, how much revenue the criminal courts charge has generated since its introduction.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Data relating to the Criminal Courts Charge and information on the enforcement of financial impositions is contained within an annex to Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly statistical bulletin published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.

The cost of enforcing the criminal courts charge cannot be separated from the total cost of enforcing all types of court ordered financial impositions. Enforcement action is taken against the total amount an offender owes and offenders are often ordered to pay more than one type of financial imposition.

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