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 estimate his Department has made of the number of people whom the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015 has encouraged and enabled to play a more active role in civil society.

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 times the Prison Service Gold Command opened in each month since May 2010; and what the nature was of each incident that caused it to be opened.

Andrew Selous

The safety of staff and prisoners is a priority. Gold Command is opened in order to deal with incidents as quickly and safely as possible. Not all incidents turn out to be serious, but all incidents are regarded as potentially serious at the point of Gold being opened up.

Prisons are dealing with an increasingly violent population, and the effects of novel psychoactive substances. We take a zero tolerance approach to drugs in prisons, and have recently introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including drugs, face up to two years in prison. There are already a range of robust measures in place to detect drugs, including the use of sniffer dogs, searches of cells, and mandatory drugs tests.

Table 1: Gold Command Openings by Month and Incident Type May 2010 – December 2015

Month	Total	Hostage	Concerted Indiscipline	Incident at Height	Industrial Action	Escape	Barricade	Fire		Civil Unrest
May-10	2			2
Jun-10	1		1
Jul-10	3	1	2
Aug-10	1		1
Sep-10	2	2
Oct-10	4	2	1	1
Nov-10	8	2	5				1
Dec-10	3	1	2
Jan-11	4		4
Feb-11	4	2		1			1
Mar-11	1	1
Apr-11	4	2	1				1
May-11	2	2
Jun-11	0
Jul-11	0
Aug-11	3	1	1							1
Month	Total	Hostage	Concerted Indiscipline	Incident at Height	Industrial Action	Escape	Barricade	Fire		Civil Unrest
Sep-11	1	1
Oct-11	2	1				1
Nov-11	7	4	1	1	1
Dec-11	2	2
Jan-12	5	5
Feb-12	3	2		1
Mar-12	5	2	1	1			1
Apr-12	2		2
May-12	6	5			1
Jun-12	3	1	1					1
Jul-12	6		4	2
Aug-12	3	2		1
Sep-12	3	1	2
Oct-12	2	2
Nov-12	6	4			2
Dec-12	2	2
Jan-13	2	1		1
Feb-13	1	1
Mar-13	7	4	1	1	1
Apr-13	6	4	1	1
May-13	6	3	1	1			1
Jun-13	13	9	3				1
Jul-13	4	4
Aug-13	4	3	1
Sep-13	12	7	1	4
Oct-13	4	2	1	1
Nov-13	6	3	2						1
Dec-13	6	5		1
Jan-14	10	8	2
Feb-14	4	3	1
Mar-14	5	3	2
Apr-14	6	5	1
May-14	0
Jun-14	8	7	1
Jul-14	12	7	1	1	1		1	1
Aug-14	5	3	2
Sep-14	5	3	1	1
Oct-14	5	4	1
Nov-14	10	6	4
Dec-14	8	4	3	1
Jan-15	5	4		1
Feb-15	2	2
Month	Total	Hostage	Concerted Indiscipline	Incident at Height	Industrial Action	Escape	Barricade	Fire		Civil Unrest
Mar-15	13	9	2	2
Apr-15	5	3	1	1
May-15	6	4		2
Jun-15	9	5	2				1		1
Jul-15	14	7	2	5
Aug-15	3	1	2
Sep-15	9	6	2	1
Oct-15	6	3	2	1
Nov-15	5	2	3
Dec-15	5	2	1	2

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many settlements his Department estimates have been affected by errors on his Department’s Form E divorce form.

Mr Shailesh Vara

An investigation into this issue is taking place. Officials are taking steps to identify rapidly cases where the regrettable error caused by the embedded calculator at table 2.20 may have had an impact, and we will be writing to anyone affected as soon as possible. Anyone concerned about their own court proceedings should contact formE@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk. The form now online no longer contains the error.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he made of the potential effect on court fee income of the announcement in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on changes to personal injury laws and procedure before making that announcement; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab

The Government will consult on the detail of the new reforms in due course. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the humanitarian effect of the Israeli government’s policy on demolition orders.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We believe these demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are, in all but the most exceptional of cases, contrary to international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that the destruction of any real or personal property in Occupied Territory is not justified unless it is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations. This is why Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and officials regularly raise the matter with the Israeli Government, emphasising our concerns.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Ministers in his Department have visited G4S Medway in the last five years.

Andrew Selous

In the last five years, available records show that three Ministers have visited Medway Secure Training Centre.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his oral evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee of 2 December 2015, Question 9, what progress he has made on determining his policy on whether to use a British Bill of Rights to make the Supreme Court a constitutional long stop.

Dominic Raab

We will announce proposals in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22284, how many members of (a) the National Tactical Response Group and (b) Tornado Teams have been injured during a callout at HM Prison Oakwood in each of the last three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

There have been zero injuries to members of (a) the National Tactical Response Group and (b) Tornado Teams during a callout at HM Prison Oakwood in each of the last three years.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what investigation his Department is making into the concerns recently raised by assistant coroner Christopher Wooley with regards to failures at HM Prison Parc.

Andrew Selous

I have received a report from the Coroner following the recent inquest into the tragic death from natural causes of a prisoner at HMP Parc in 2014. I have noted the matters of concern set out in it, which include issues of policy across the prison estate, as well as local practice at HMP Parc. The National Offender Management Service is working with the Director of the prison, and the other organisations to which the report has been sent, to ensure that the concerns are examined and appropriately addressed, and that the Coroner receives a response to his report within the statutory deadline.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21315, how many specially-trained dogs are used by his Department to detect illicit alcohol.

Andrew Selous

We have trained more than 500 dogs to search prisoners, visitors, prison perimeters and suspicious packages for illicit items such as drugs, weapons, alcohol and mobile phones. As part of that, we have trained more than 300 sniffer dogs to detect new psychoactive substances. Many dogs are trained to detect a range of contraband. As at 31 December 2015, 44 dogs had been licensed to detect alcohol.