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 additional resources have been allocated to the management of prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection in the last 24 months.

Andrew Selous

The sentence of IPP was introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for offences committed after April 2005. They were abolished in 2012 by the Coalition Government.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not disaggregate spending on IPP prisoners from spending on all prisoners.

It is a priority for us to help remaining IPP prisoners progress towards release, when it is safe to do so, including by giving them opportunities to complete relevant interventions and work to reduce their risk of harm and risk of reoffending.

The ongoing work to improve progression opportunities is continuing to achieve results, with 512 IPP releases approved by the Parole Board in 2015, the highest number of annual releases since the sentence became available in 2005.

The release dates of prisoners serving IPP sentences, once they have completed their tariff, is entirely a matter for the independent Parole Board. The Board will direct release only if prisoners’ risks have been reduced to a level that may be safely managed in the community.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse was of replacement prison cell doors because of damage by prisoners in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous

The Information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

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 assessment he has made of whether the Bahrain Ombudsman’s investigation into the case of Mohammad Ramadan has complied with international minimum standards for torture investigations.

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, how many firms have written to the Legal Aid Agency indicating an intention to challenge a decision not to award them a contract in the Criminal Duty Tender; and how many firms have issued legal proceedings in respect of that decision.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Over 1000 bids were received for 527 contracts under this process. Some unsuccessful bidders are challenging the decision not to award contracts to them. 115 claims have been issued by 97 firms. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) continues to consider the legal proceedings issued by unsuccessful bidders in the crime duty tender.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many homophobic assaults were recorded in (a) male and (b) female prisons in the last 12 months.

Andrew Selous

Centrally held records do not record data identifying homophobic assaults. This information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) consultants, (b) non-executive directors and (c) associates have been employed by Just Solutions International since it was established; when each such person was appointed; and what the remuneration of each such person has been.

Andrew Selous

This information was provided to the House on 17 March 2015. As I told the house then, Just Solutions International (JSi) was a brand within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) that the Agency adopted in early 2013. The Ministry of Justice contracted with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the provision of support for the development by NOMS of a business model to generate commercial income through the provision of advice and support to other governments on prison and probation issues. The contract was awarded to PwC in September 2012 and was for a period of 8 months from January to August 2013. The amount paid for the provision of services was £101,179 excluding VAT.

Through JSi, NOMS also worked with PwC in Pakistan supporting reform of Punjab prisons. This project was funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth office, which paid PwC £7,308.40 excluding VAT.

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 work his Department is undertaking with partner countries to address the inequalities experienced by Bedouin Arab communities in Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are concerned about the inequalities faced by Bedouin Arab communities in Israel. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv is particularly focused on issues related to housing and supports several Arab town planning projects in Green Line Israel. These projects provide professional training and practical solutions for dozens of urban planners and engineers in Arab towns, helping them to overcome planning obstacles. This year our projects include: establishing an engineers’ task-force, professional advice for Arab local authorities in planning matters and a piece of research into planning obstacles.

We continue to lodge our concerns about ongoing evictions and demolitions with contacts at Israel’s Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Agriculture and to encourage the development of a policy based on genuine consultation, which secures the buy-in of the community. We have pursued this with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s chief advisor on Arab affairs, who told us that the state has invested 1.2 billion NIS in Bedouin education, employment and infrastructure.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18875, in which prisons each of those mobile telephones and sim cards were detected in each of those years; and what the number of such detections was per prisoner in each of those years.

Andrew Selous

Mobile phones have no place in our prisons and we have invested in technology to prevent their use. But more needs to be done, and we will look at new ways of finding and blocking them. It is a criminal offence to possess a mobile phone or component part in a prison.

The Chancellor announced in the spending review that we will invest in more safety improvements to stamp out the organisation of crime from within prisons, including funding for tackling illicit mobile phones and investing in body scanners.

The table below provides the number of ‘‘finds’ of mobile phones and/or SIM cards reported by each prison between April 2010, when recording started, and December 2014. One ‘find’ may constitute a handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.

Table: Number of mobile phone and SIM card finds broken down by prison.

ESTABLISHMENT	2010*	2011	2012	2013	2014	2010*-2014 total
ACKLINGTON	63	28	–	–	–	91
ALBANY	0	3	4	0	–	7
ALTCOURSE (C)	790	609	534	290	689	2912
ASHFIELD(C)	1	2	2	0	0	5
ASHWELL	2	7	–	–	–	9
ASKHAM GRANGE	0	0	2	1	0	3
AYLESBURY	278	97	29	176	130	710
BEDFORD	27	55	29	53	28	192
BELMARSH	15	25	9	126	180	355
BIRMINGHAM (C)	248	537	302	133	140	1360
BLANTYRE HOUSE	19	12	4	3	14	52
BLUNDESTON	27	1	11	6	–	45
BRINSFORD	12	76	45	182	200	515
BRISTOL	54	33	26	32	37	182
BRIXTON	46	67	28	23	41	205
BRONZEFIELD(C)	34	12	3	13	18	80
BUCKLEY HALL	11	22	149	111	197	490
BULLINGDON	42	16	6	23	51	138
BULLWOOD HALL	1	8	15	1	–	25
BURE	5	1	0	1	0	7
CAMP HILL	98	52	22	1	–	173
CANTERBURY	22	10	21	7	–	60
CARDIFF	19	36	7	9	14	85
CASTINGTON	10	11	–	–	–	21
CHANNINGS WOOD	64	63	15	39	34	215
CHELMSFORD	42	38	11	4	4	99
COLDINGLEY	37	52	42	106	34	271
COOKHAM WOOD	6	1	1	1	0	9
DARTMOOR	27	16	2	11	42	98
DEERBOLT	3	15	2	4	25	49
DONCASTER(C)	15	6	24	182	419	646
DORCHESTER	20	14	8	5	1	48
DOVEGATE (C)	5	24	15	30	51	125
DOVER	14	21	10	5	2	52
DOWNVIEW	5	5	2	1	0	13
DRAKE HALL	10	2	3	0	4	19
DURHAM	24	41	23	20	0	108
EAST SUTTON PARK	1	5	4	6	1	17
EASTWOOD PARK	3	9	1	6	9	28
EDMUNDS HILL	25	22	–	–	–	47
ELMLEY	45	47	53	103	308	556
ERLESTOKE	62	176	137	98	83	556
EVERTHORPE	50	32	26	45	19	172
EXETER	14	21	15	16	7	73
FEATHERSTONE	39	29	133	42	128	371
FELTHAM	84	65	45	22	27	243
FORD	61	250	200	202	270	983
FOREST BANK (C)	122	37	105	165	258	687
FOSTON HALL	0	1	2	6	2	11
FRANKLAND	6	2	7	0	5	20
FULL SUTTON	10	4	9	2	10	35
GARTH	76	32	39	33	36	216
GARTREE	14	22	65	57	20	178
GLEN PARVA	2	4	8	3	4	21
GLOUCESTER	1	4	3	0	–	8
GRENDON	17	10	3	0	1	31
GUYS MARSH	77	182	175	54	75	563
HASLAR	0	0	2	0	0	2
HATFIELD	10	58	154	96	104	422
HAVERIGG	107	134	291	172	95	799
HEWELL	76	289	335	166	366	1232
HIGHDOWN	23	68	49	61	164	365
HIGHPOINT	80	55	180	203	214	732
HINDLEY	1	4	6	1	9	21
HOLLESLEY BAY	193	129	90	120	59	591
HOLLOWAY	7	7	10	5	8	37
HOLME HOUSE	18	15	5	9	105	152
HULL	23	25	13	2	2	65
HUNTERCOMBE	2	36	9	26	34	107
ISIS	8	52	39	18	4	121
ISLE OF WIGHT	–	–	–	0	4	4
KENNET	4	5	9	8	35	61
KINGSTON	6	0	0	0	–	6
KIRKHAM	273	390	493	488	526	2170
KIRKLEVINGTON GRANGE	13	15	19	9	19	75
LANCASTER CASTLE	18	–	–	–	–	18
LANCASTER FARMS	89	79	25	117	92	402
LATCHMERE HOUSE	69	40	–	–	–	109
LEEDS	53	59	27	8	7	154
LEICESTER	27	26	15	9	24	101
LEWES	38	46	30	51	140	305
LEYHILL	83	27	30	49	42	231
LINCOLN	28	33	4	1	3	69
LINDHOLME	164	96	145	63	70	538
LITTLEHEY	13	34	4	2	7	60
LIVERPOOL	138	118	88	65	15	424
LONG LARTIN	12	31	77	28	34	182
LOW NEWTON	0	3	0	0	1	4
LOWDHAM GRANGE (C)	27	10	26	24	2	89
MAIDSTONE	6	34	22	26	38	126
MANCHESTER	41	36	23	12	8	120
MOORLAND	111	65	13	20	52	261
MOORLAND OPEN	10	–	–	–	–	10
MORTON HALL	0	4	5	2	5	16
MOUNT	86	78	182	220	111	677
NEW HALL	2	0	1	1	0	4
NORTH SEA CAMP	86	63	67	61	48	325
NORTHALLERTON	0	7	3	11	–	21
NORTHUMBERLAND (C)	–	15	109	130	170	424
NORWICH	30	15	11	18	66	140
NOTTINGHAM	11	38	17	16	136	218
OAKWOOD (C)	0	0	33	194	181	408
ONLEY	53	68	65	85	197	468
PARC (C)	32	79	16	16	30	173
PARKHURST	6	8	20	16	–	50
PENTONVILLE	207	199	124	149	282	961
PETERBOROUGH (C)	141	145	60	44	51	441
PORTLAND	24	6	11	10	0	51
PRESCOED	0	2	4	4	9	19
PRESTON	18	15	9	12	98	152
RANBY	90	124	300	229	261	1004
READING	12	25	7	5	–	49
RISLEY	72	12	37	84	30	235
ROCHESTER	6	10	23	60	145	244
RYE HILL (C)	42	79	70	113	71	375
SEND	3	12	11	13	8	47
SHEPTON MALLET	3	7	4	1	–	15
SHREWSBURY	3	0	0	0	–	3
SPRING HILL	12	13	34	117	104	280
STAFFORD	12	69	14	70	7	172
STANDFORD HILL	150	186	127	270	159	892
STOCKEN	26	12	30	11	38	117
STOKE HEATH	8	28	19	44	100	199
STYAL	7	7	9	13	10	46
SUDBURY	72	120	124	134	102	552
SWALESIDE	100	58	107	103	241	609
SWANSEA	2	0	1	61	2	66
SWINFEN HALL	32	44	14	10	18	118
THAMESIDE (C)	0	0	8	98	33	139
THORN CROSS	74	79	84	109	141	487
USK	2	1	1	1	3	8
VERNE	67	144	161	50	3	425
WAKEFIELD	1	2	3	4	4	14
WANDSWORTH	157	131	119	119	163	689
WARREN HILL	5	10	5	0	1	21
WAYLAND	20	30	17	15	34	116
WEALSTUN	57	145	155	120	330	807
WELLINGBOROUGH	61	195	181	1	–	438
WERRINGTON	12	4	9	6	7	38
WETHERBY	5	3	5	1	2	16
WHATTON	9	1	0	3	5	18
WHITEMOOR	18	28	17	9	1	73
WINCHESTER	39	3	31	21	9	103
WOLDS	104	96	44	23	54	321
WOODHILL	4	58	74	64	74	274
WORMWOOD SCRUBS	141	267	39	128	248	823
WYMOTT	58	50	11	34	52	205
Subtotal	6758	7786	7301	7451	9745

*April to December only.

(C) denotes a privately operated prison

Note: The following prisons closed during the reporting period:

HMP Ashwell – April 2011

HMP Lancaster Castle – March 2011

HMP Latchmere House – April 2012

HMP Wellingborough – December 2012

HMP Bullwood Hall – March 2013

HMP Canterbury – March 2013

HMP Gloucester – March 2013

HMP Kingston – March 2013

HMP Shepton Mallet – March 2013

HMP Dorchester – January 2014

HMP Shrewsbury – March 2013

HMP Camp Hill – March 2013

HMP Blundeston – January 2014

HMP Northallerton – January 2014

HMP Reading – January 2014

HMYOI Moorland Open was renamed HMYOI Hatfield in the autumn of 2010

HMPs Acklington and Castington became HMP Northumberland in October 2011

HMP Edmunds Hill merged into HMP Highpoint in July 2012

HMPs Albany and Parkhurst became HMP Isle of Wight in February 2013

All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time.Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

We do not collect data on the number of detections of mobile phones and SIM cards in a way that would enable us to provide a meaningful rate of detection per prisoner.

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

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

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The British Government is very concerned about the case of Abdullah al-Zaher. We have raised this case at a senior level in the Government of Saudi Arabia. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially in cases which do not meet the minimum standards defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes the execution of a minor and the use of the death penalty for a crime which isn’t deemed “the most serious”. We take every opportunity to make the Saudi authorities aware of our views.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Government has paid in compensation claims for injuries while in custody in the last two years.

Andrew Selous

From 2005 to 2010 approximately £7.69m was paid in compensation to prisoners as a result of injuries sustained whilst in custody. In 2010 to 2015 this fell by 21.1% to £6.07m, with £0.68m paid in 2013/14 and £1.2m in 2014/15 respectively.

NOMS robustly defend all claims brought and successfully defended two thirds of total claims brought by prisoners. An audit of all concluded personal injury claims submitted to the Prison Service over the course of a year is underway as part of a drive to identify opportunities to cut payouts and legal costs.

The data relates to claims cases settled out of Court and those lost at Court. It is drawn from information available on a National Offender Management Service database. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible error in data entry and processing.