Tag: Andy Slaughter

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33365, on interpreters, what the average length of delay was that his Department attributes to late or absent interpreters since Capita took over the contract.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The information requested is not collected centrally. The volume of trials requiring relisting due to the unavailability of an interpreter is at the lowest level it has been since 2011.

Further information on the volume of trials listed in the criminal courts, and those which were adjourned (ineffective) due to interpreter absence, is published in the Criminal Court Statistics, which can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department has received from the European Social Fund to fund the National Offender Management Service Co-Financing Organisation in each year since January 2010.

Andrew Selous

Money received from the European Social Fund (ESF) by the NOMS Co-financing Programme is published in the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts. No ESF funding has been used to finance employer roadshows at Sudbury, Drake Hall and Wayland prisons. Neither has any ESF money been awarded direct to HM Young Offender Institutions Werrington, Feltham or Cookham Wood.

It is a condition of any award of core ESF funding to the NOMS Co-financing programme that it has to be spent on front line services for offenders (excluding the administration budget. Because of this, a separate application was made under the Technical Assistance grant to fund, among other things, the setting up and running of the Employers’ Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFRR). The aim of the Technical Assistance grant is to fund services that will support the objectives of the main programme – employability of offenders. The amount spent from the ESF Technical Assistance fund on the EFRR from 2010 to 2015 was £280,403.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the report, The Blood of People Who Don’t Cooperate, published by Human Rights Watch in November 2015, if he will review his Department’s policy of providing funding for the training of prison and security officers in Bahrain.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We believe that UK support to Bahrain’s reform programme is the most constructive way to achieve long-lasting and sustainable reform in Bahrain. While it will take time to see the full results, UK support is having a direct, positive impact on areas of concern. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office programmes that support security reform are carefully considered in line with HMG’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance in order to assess and mitigate human rights risks. Our assistance is specially designed to improve human rights standards and strengthen the rule of law in partner countries. These programmes are routinely monitored and evaluated on a quarterly basis to ensure that they are on track for delivery.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the judiciary on the potential change in the number of litigants in person in personal injury claims as a result of the changes to personal injury law and procedures announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab

Discussions related to the new reforms have been held with the judiciary and with members of Claims Portal Limited’s board. The Government will continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders, including other Government Departments, in taking the work forward and will consult on the detail in due course. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is the Government’s policy that the airport that is awarded an extra runway must meet the costs of any surface access works required by that expansion.

Mr John Hayes

The government has been clear that we expect the promoter of any airport expansion scheme to meet the full cost of any surface access schemes that are required as a direct result of airport expansion and from which they will directly benefit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drafts of a proposed British Bill of Rights his Department has produced in each year since 2010.

Dominic Raab

The Ministry of Justice has not produced any drafts of a proposed Bill of Rights since 2010. This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will fully consult on our proposals before introducing legislation for a Bill of Rights and we will set out our proposals in due course.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the (a) core recommendations and (b) specific recommendations of his Department’s report entitled Children in Military Custody, published in June 2012, the Israeli government has implemented.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Since the publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded independent report on Children in Military Custody in June 2012, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention. This includes a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. There has also been a reduction in the use of solitary confinement and an increase in the use of Arabic to give notifications of arrest.

While we welcome the improvements to date, we continue to press the Israeli authorities to make further progress on this important issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of changes to his Department’s policy on the criminal courts charge.

Mr Shailesh Vara

From 24 December the Criminal Courts Charge will be suspended, pending a review of all financial impositions imposed in the criminal courts. There are no direct financial costs involved in making this change.

The updated Impact Assessment estimated that the Criminal Courts Charge would bring in approximately £95m per annum in steady state (from 2019/20 onwards). The Impact Assessment can be found here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/796/impacts.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question HL2604, what the cost to the public purse is of salary, expenses and bonuses of the 3.5 full-time staff who worked under the JSi brand.

Andrew Selous

As was stated in the Answer to HL 2604, the 3.5 full time equivalent staff who worked under the Just Solutions International (JSi) brand also worked on other core business within the National offender Management Service. Exact calculations were not made to apportion staff time, salaries, expenses or bonuses on JSi.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the case of Ali al-Nimr.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

During his visits to the UN General Assembly in September and Saudi Arabia in October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised Ali Mohammed al-Nimr’s case at a very senior level. This is in addition to the representations our Ambassador in Riyadh continues to make on this case.