Tag: Andy Slaughter

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of whether there has been a reduction in the number of claims brought to the courts as a result of the provisions of the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015.

Dominic Raab

The Act only came into force on 13 April 2015. As is normal practice, a formal assessment of its impact may be carried out after three to five years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) working at height and (b) concerted indiscipline incidents have been recorded in each prison since May 2010.

Andrew Selous

The vast majority of incidents at height are minor in nature and resolved quickly and professionally without injury, damage or disruption to the running of the prison. Many are short in duration, lasting less than 15 minutes and the majority occur when prisoners go onto netting on prison wings. Each incident is investigated fully to ensure lessons are learnt and best practice in managing incidents is shared across NOMS.

These figures show that the Prime Minister and Justice Secretary are right and our prisons badly need reform. We are making progress: we have made it illegal to smuggle new psychoactive substances (NPS) into prisons and have trained over 300 sniffer dogs to detect NPS and are trialling the use of body worn cameras with front-line staff. But the only way to reduce disorder and violence in our prisons is to give those who work in prisons the tools necessary to better reform and rehabilitate offenders.

The table below provides numbers of incidents at height reported between May 2010 and November 2015, broken down by establishment. The information requested on concerted indiscipline incidents can be found in my response to PQ 28151.

Number of Incident at Height by prisons, England and Wales, May 2010 to November 2015

Establishments	Incident at Height
Altcourse	242
Ashfield	21
Ashwell	0
Aylesbury	41
Bedford	39
Belmarsh	14
Birmingham	158
Blundeston	6
Brinsford	27
Bristol	37
Brixton	24
Bronzefield	21
Buckley Hall	18
Bullingdon	29
Cardiff	20
Channings Wood	79
Chelmsford	54
Coldingley	19
Cookham Wood	2
Dartmoor	37
Deerbolt	15
Doncaster	140
Dorchester	5
Dovegate	91
Dover	9
Downview	1
Drake Hall	1
Durham	74
Eastwood Park	14
Erlestoke	20
Everthorpe	18
Exeter	36
Featherstone	36
Feltham	106
Ford	0
Forest Bank	64
Foston Hall	4
Frankland	7
Full Sutton	11
Garth	11
Gartree	6
Glen Parva	52
Gloucester	7
Guys Marsh	54
Haslar	0
Hatfield	1
Haverigg	120
Hewell	71
High Down	85
Highpoint	42
Hindley	299
Holloway	1
Holme House	39
Hull	20
Humber	53
Huntercombe	8
IOW: Albany	1
IOW: Camp Hill	36
IOW: Parkhurst	2
Isis	59
Isle of Wight	19
Kennet	3
Kingston	1
Lancaster Castle	1
Lancaster Farms	117
Leeds	90
Leicester	77
Lewes	23
Leyhill	0
Lincoln	126
Lindholme	159
Littlehey	9
Liverpool	187
Long Lartin	7
Lowdham Grange	111
Maidstone	4
Manchester	108
Moorland	46
Morton Hall	11
Mount	38
New Hall	3
Northallerton	7
Northumberland	71
Northumberland: Acklington	5
Northumberland: Castington	1
Norwich	46
Nottingham	290
Oakwood	174
Onley	33
Parc	197
Pentonville	100
Peterborough	44
Portland	58
Preston	45
Ranby	162
Reading	14
Risley	53
Rochester	80
Rye Hill	97
Send	1
Sheppey: Elmley	56
Sheppey: Swaleside	33
Shrewsbury	4
Stafford	37
Stocken	72
Stoke Heath	33
Styal	10
Sudbury	1
Swansea	12
Swinfen Hall	46
Thameside	76
Thorn Cross	0
UskPrescoed	1
Verne	4
Wakefield	10
Wandsworth	84
Warren Hill	2
Wayland	41
Wealstun	16
Wellingborough	10
Werrington	194
Wetherby	158
Whatton	0
Whitemoor	13
Winchester	114
Wolds	12
Woodhill	138
Wormwood Scrubs	33
Wymott	52

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funds the Government has provided for (a) humanitarian efforts and (b) security at the refugee camp in Calais in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire

As part of the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK committed to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to facilitate the movement of migrants away from Calais by providing support and facilities elsewhere in France.

Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (or €750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

Security at the camps in Calais is the responsibility of the French Government, and the UK Government has not committed funds for this purpose.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the (a) title and (b) date is of each memorandum of understanding signed by a Government department with another country since 2010.

James Duddridge

I refer to the answer I gave on 11 January to Question 20196. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what trips to Saudi Arabia government ministers plan to make in 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

I have been clear that a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia matters. As such, Ministers will continue to engage with Saudi Arabia, and the wider region, throughout the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12035, what teaching agency G4S contacted; and what level of security clearance that member of staff was required to hold in order to enter the facility concerned.

Andrew Selous

The recruitment agency contacted by G4S was Randstad. The member of staff went through full G4S vetting and clearance before being employed on site. All STC staff, both temporary and permanent, must also undergo background checks and be reviewed and approved by the Youth Justice Board prior to appointment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of potential savings to the public purse arising from the proposed residence test for legal aid.

Mr Shailesh Vara

It is right that individuals should have a strong connection with the UK to benefit from taxpayer funded legal aid. The residence test proposed during the previous Parliament is a fair and appropriate way to demonstrate that connection.

The Government does not currently record the residence status of civil legal aid clients so cannot accurately estimate the annual savings that may be achieved by introducing a civil legal aid residence test. It is likely there will be a reduction in legal aid volumes and expenditure from imposing residence restrictions on civil legal aid, resulting in savings to the legal aid fund.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the National Offender Management Service decided not to impose financial penalties on private prisons on each occasion when such penalties were applicable in the last five years; and what the value of those fines so foregone was.

Andrew Selous

Performance points are accrued when a custodial service failure occurs. Charges are then applied when the total points exceeds the relevant performance baseline. A performance baseline is allowed in recognition of the complex operational nature of prisons where we know that there will be occasional incidents no matter how well the prison is run. This charge protocol is a longstanding practice in prison contracts.

The performance points, and subsequent calculated charges, are signed off by all parties at the Quarterly Contract Review Meeting. Following this meeting, charge payable will, without exception, be collected by NOMS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23060, what proportion of staff employed in each young offender institution are qualified social workers.

Andrew Selous

The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate costs.

The Youth Justice Board is responsible for commissioning and oversight of the secure youth estate. The Youth Justice Board funds dedicated social workers at each under-18 Young Offender Institution (YOI). All young people undergo a health and education assessment upon arrival into custody, whilst all staff undergo training in child and adolescent development and safeguarding.

Under-18 YOI providers should ensure that they meet the needs of all detained persons including those with Special Education and Needs (SEN) requirements, and that all staff are suitably qualified to support young people and make referrals to other specialist support where this is appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the most commonly recorded item in the Incident Report System was in each prison; and how many times each such item was recorded in the prison concerned in the 12 months for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous

Other than for a few specific items such as firearms, finds of illicit items within prisons are recorded under the miscellaneous category on the NOMS Incident Reporting System. To extract the information requested could only be achieved at disproportionate cost by examining some 10,000 individual records in this category.