Tag: Andy Slaughter

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38441, what average rate people serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection have served over their tariff.

Andrew Selous

The tariff period is the minimum amount of time that prisoners serving indeterminate sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) must serve for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Release is then a matter for the Independent Parole Board. The Parole Board will recommend release only once they are satisfied that prisoners’ risks have been reduced to a level that can be safely managed in the community.

For those IPP prisoners who are beyond their tariff date the average period served post-tariff, rounded to the nearest year, is 4 years. This figure excludes IPP prisoners who have been released and subsequently recalled to custody.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish new guidance on assisting transgender people in prison.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government is firmly committed to ensuring that the needs of transgender prisoners are fully met and their rights respected. The Ministry of Justice has carried out a review into the care and management of transgender offenders, which will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s policy is on rewilding lynxes.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits the release of species that are not ordinarily resident in the wild, without a licence granted by Natural England.

If a licence application for the reintroduction of lynx is received, Natural England would consider it carefully in accordance with appropriate international guidelines, taking account of socio-economic impacts and the impact on the welfare of the animals themselves.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is investigating complaints made about the conduct and performance of the West London Coroner.

Caroline Dinenage

Operational responsibility for coroner services lies with the relevant local authority – in this case the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham – and complaints about a coroner’s conduct are investigated by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO). The JCIO has recently confirmed that it is investigating a complaint about the West London Senior Coroner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to amend the Act which results from the Investigative Powers Bill in the event of repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Mr John Hayes

The draft Investigatory Powers Bill will provide law enforcement and the security and intelligence agencies with the powers they need to keep the UK safe in a world of internet-enabled communications and evolving technologies. The Bill specifies that all the powers will be subject to appropriate safeguards and robust oversight arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of occasions when due to the loss or theft of keys, a prison has had to be relocked between (a) May 2010 and May 2011, (b) May 2011 and May 2012, (c) May 2012 and May 2013, (d) May 2013 and May 2014, (e) May 2014 and May 2015 and (f) after May 2015 to date; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such incident.

Andrew Selous

Security is paramount within prisons and it is important that the risk of any potential key compromise is addressed as quickly as possible to protect the public. When a key/lock incident is reported an immediate investigation is undertaken to assess the risk and unless it is clear that security has not been compromised, locking mechanisms and keys will be replaced and/or other necessary remedial action will be taken.

Between 2005 and May 2010 there were 16 relocks which resulted in costs of £1,280,234. Since May 2010 there have been 8 relocks, at a cost of £529,973.

The table below shows the number of incidents and cost to the public purse of re-lock within prisons in England and Wales due to loss or theft of keys and for the time periods requested.

Time Period	No of Incidents	Total Cost (excluding VAT)
1 May 2010 – 1 May 2011	3	£337,553
2 May 2011 – 1 May 2012	1	Nil cost
2 May 2012 – 1 May 2013	0	0
2 May 2013 – 1 May 2014	1	£28,812
2 May 2014 – 1 May 2015	2	£46,396
2 May 2015 – 9 Dec 2015	1	£117,212

Notes:

1. Figures exclude VAT.
2. The 2011/12 incident involved a privately operated prison and the cost of re-lock was met by the private contractor in full at nil cost to the public purse.
3. Prisons are also responsible for re-locks of crown court cells. Figures exclude re-lock of cells in two crown courts during the period.
4. The figures quoted have been drawn from live administrative databases and may subsequently be amended. Due care is taken during processing and analysis, but the detail is subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

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 about the restrictions on construction in government-planned Bedouin towns.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Officials at our Embassy in Tel Aviv are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to demonstrate UK concern by regularly visiting Bedouin communities in the Negev. The Embassy has arranged for the Arab Centre for Alternative Planning to meet Israel’s Minister of Construction to discuss the issue of restrictions on construction in Negev Bedouin towns. The Ambassador plans to raise this issue with the Minister of Construction in January.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to reply to Question 15306, tabled by the hon. Member for Hammersmith on 16 November 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

I refer the honourable member to the answer which I gave in PQ 15306, answered on 17^th February 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Foreign Secretary of 16 December 2015, on Daesh: Syria/Iraq, if he will take steps to assess whether there have been civilian casualties as a result of UK airstrikes in Iraq and Syria through means other than receipt of reports.

Penny Mordaunt

We analyse the risks involved in any potential strikes in advance in order to minimise risks to civilians. Once a mission is launched, our aircrew assess and minimise risks prior to weapons being released. Every strike is subjected to careful post-mission scrutiny to confirm the aircrew’s assessment, allowing us to examine in detail any claim of civilian casualties. We would publish any report which concluded that civilian casualties had resulted from UK military action.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been charged with trying to escape from a prison van in each of the last five years; and how many such people have avoided recapture.

Andrew Selous

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not hold data about the number of people charged with trying to escape from vehicles operated by NOMS or by contractors.

NOMS has implemented a range of measures in recent years to improve the security surrounding prisoners on escort. Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, 23 prisoners escaped from vehicles operated by NOMS or by contractors. All were re-captured.

Overall, the number of escapes from prison escorts almost halved from 102 between 2005-06 and 2009-10, to 59 between 2010-11 and 2014-15.

The table below gives the numbers and details of the escapes for each of these years.

Escapes from escorts while entering or leaving vehicles1 or en route to or from venue
Response	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
ENTERING VEHICLE	0	0	0	2	2
LEAVING VEHICLE	0	1	1	1	0
VEHICLE EN ROUTE FROM VENUE	0	2	0	1	0
VEHICLE EN ROUTE TO VENUE	1	6	1	3	2
TOTAL	1	9	2	7	4
(1) Vehicles primarily refer to prison vans used for escorting prisoner but do include other vehicle types

The table below provides information about escapes which have taken place from prison escort and private escort contractors from 2005/06 to 2014/15. The table includes escapes from courts but not those escapes of less than 15 minutes’ duration and covers the full duration of the escort process.

KPI Escapes1 from Prison Escort2 and from Private Escort Contractors (PECS)3 from 2005/06 to 2014/15
	2005 /06	2006 /07	2007 /08	2008 /09	2009 /10	2010 /11	2011 /12	2012 /13	2013 /14	2014 /15
KPI Prison Escorts Escapes	8	6	2	4	3	1	2	0	2	1
KPI Contracted Out Escort (PECS) Escapes	17	19	16	15	12	10	13	9	9	12
KPI Category A Escapes during Escort	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–
1) The definition of a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Escape if (i) the prisoner is at liberty for 15 minutes or more before recapture or (ii) a prisoner escapes and is charged with another criminal offence.
2) Escaping the control of escorting prison service staff.
3) Escapes from the secure vehicles or supervision of contracted prison escorts. This includes escapes from court where contracted prison escort staff have been notified.

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