Tag: Andy Slaughter

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to investigate the findings of the report by HM Senior Coroner, Mary Hassell on the death of Mr Sivaraj Tharmalingham, that Serco fabricated the number of checks that its staff made on Mr Tharmalingham at Thames Magistrates’ Court.

Andrew Selous

Following the inquest into the tragic death of Mr Tharmalingham, a prevention of future deaths report has been sent to Serco by HM Senior Coroner for Inner North London under Regulation 28 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has received a copy of the report. Serco are currently considering the report and will respond in accordance with the Regulations. NOMS manages all contracts with third party providers robustly and will work closely with Serco to ensure that the matters of concern identified by the Coroner are examined and appropriately addressed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of employment tribunal claims were successful in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Information on the number of tribunal claims relating to sexual discrimination and other matters brought against employers and the proportion of successful claims in each of the last five years can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics#employment-tribunal-and-employment-appeal-tribunal-statistics-gb.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 years of age and (b) young people aged 18 to 24 were granted legal funding under the Exceptional Case Funding Scheme in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The purpose of the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme is to provide funding where it is legally needed. It does not provide a general power to fund cases which fall outside the scope of legal aid. Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, but we cannot escape the continuing need to reduce the deficit. We still have a very generous system – last year we spent £1.6bn on legal aid, around a quarter of the department’s expenditure. Every ECF application is carefully considered by the Legal Aid Agency on an individual basis.

Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

FY application received	Under 18	18-24	Unknown
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014	55	86	6982
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015	27	116	67
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151	31	82	78

¹ Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

² Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, which were granted³, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

FY application received	Under 18	18-24	Unknown
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014	1	4	132
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015	8	20	3
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151	12	40	23

¹ Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

² Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

³ Granted by 29 February 2016

Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

FY application received	Under 18	18-24	Unknown
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014	–	12	1332
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015	14	39	16
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151	11	33	25

¹ Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

² Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, which were granted³, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

FY application received	Under 18	18-24	Unknown
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014	–	–	12
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015	4	8	1
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151	10	22	12

¹ Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

² Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

³ Granted by 29 February 2016

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on the College of Policing’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.

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 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40498, on domestic violence: legal aid scheme, which domestic violence support groups, legal representative bodies and colleagues across Government the Department is working with; and on what basis the decision was made to work with those organisations and not others.

Mr Shailesh Vara

We are working with a range of organisations, including Rights of Women, the Law Society, Resolution, and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group.

With the guidance of these organisations, and through their associated networks, we have sought to target those with direct experience of how the regulations operate in practice – for victims and practitioners – as we think this is the best way to inform how those regulations may be improved. We have also begun work with the Home Office, as the lead department on domestic violence policy, to better understand the wider context of domestic violence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Bahraini government on the failure of the Bahrain Ombudsman to inform his Department that it had received a torture complaint regarding the case of Mohammad Ramadan; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The United Nations Convention Against Torture requires all states to conduct prompt and impartial investigations into allegations of torture within their jurisdiction. We therefore welcome the Ombudsman’s decision to conduct an investigation into the complaints regarding Mohammad Ramadan, and await the outcome of the investigation. Since the announcement of the Ombudsman’s investigation, we have received non-governmental organisation representations regarding these allegations, and are aware of similar representations made to the Ombudsman. We take all such allegations seriously. It is therefore important that investigations into allegations of torture are prompt and impartial, and we are encouraging the Ombudsman to carry out a swift investigation.

The Bahraini Ombudsman is an independent oversight institution, and we will continue to follow and support its work. I raised the case of Mohammad Ramadan with the Bahraini Ambassador on 8 March, and our Embassy Manama officials have raised the progress of the investigation several times directly with the Ombudsman’s office, the most recent being 4 August.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to take steps in response to recent allegations made by a former employee of the Legal Aid Agency about irregularities regarding the staffing and process in assessing duty tender bids.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The individual making these allegations was a member of temporary staff employed in a junior role. Tenders were awarded following a rigorous and fair process

Assessors received comprehensive training, which included a face-to-face instructor-led interactive workshop, undertaken by a permanent member of staff with specific experience of the tender process. This also included undertaking practical exercises in tender evaluation and bid-comparison processes, such as consideration of model answers to assure consistency in assessment. Furthermore, the entire process was subject to careful moderation and management.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners undergoing a transition from male to female gender have been placed in the female estate prior to receiving legal recognition of that change of gender.

Caroline Dinenage

This information is not held centrally and as my Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation, committed to the House on 20 November, my Department will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges on the UK’s ability to meet the requirement in the EU Public Participation Directive for claimants to have prior certainty in relation to costs protection.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Government’s proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges in England and Wales have been brought forward in light of recent developments in case law. Following those judgments the Government has made an assessment and considers there to be scope for introducing measured adjustments to the current regime within the framework of EU law, including the Public Participation Directive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Israeli government on the provision of services to communities of different ethnicities in the Negev region.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Officials at our Embassy in Tel Aviv are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to demonstrate our concern by regularly visiting the Bedouin communities. They have raised the issue of provision of services with the Arab Affairs Officer in the Prime Minister’s Office and will continue to do so.