The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest day rate paid for external legal advice by his Department was in each year since 2010.
Mr Shailesh Vara
To obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice by his Department were in 2014; and to whom such payments were made.
Mr Shailesh Vara
It would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the 20 highest amounts paid for external legal advice by his Department were in 2013; and to whom such payments were made.
Mr Shailesh Vara
It would incur a disproportionate cost to obtain this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the government of Bahrain to hold talks with the opposition in Bahrain on human rights in that country; and what representations he has received on the arrest and trials of Ali Salman and Ebrahim Sharif.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to make progrerss with an open and inclusive national dialogue. We continue to monitor the cases of Ali Salman and Ebrahim Sharif as well as actions taken against other opposition activists. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my righthon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised human rights with his Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad al Khalifa at their last meeting on 13 October. We also continue to raise these cases with the Government of Bahrain, at all levels, and call for them to ensure due process is followed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to withdraw the courses and services provided by the College of Policing to the government of Saudi Arabia.
Mike Penning
This is an agreement between the College of Policing and Saudi Arabia, and therefore any decision about the contract would be a matter for the College which is an independent organisation. The College currently has no plans to withdraw from the contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the review which led the Government to decide not to proceed with a prisons training contract with Saudi Arabia.
Andrew Selous
I refer the hon member to the Secretary of State’s statement of 13 October 2015. As has been the practice with successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed. We have no plans to undertake an impact assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on external legal advice not from Queen’s Counsel since 7 May 2010.
Mr Shailesh Vara
It would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will issue a new impact assessment examining the economic and value for money consequences of Just Solutions international.
Andrew Selous
I refer the hon member to the Secretary of State’s statement of 13 October 2015. As has been the practice with successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed. We have no plans to undertake an impact assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to impose a residence test for legal aid.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Legal aid is a fundamental part of our justice system, but resources are not limitless.
The Government believe that individuals should have a strong connection to the UK in order to benefit from the civil legal aid scheme. We believe the residence test we proposed is a fair and proportionate way to demonstrate that connection.
The proposed residence test was challenged by way of judicial review brought by the Public Law Project. We are disappointed with the High Court judgement and have been granted permission to appeal. The appeal has been listed for 16 and 17 June 2015 in the Court of Appeal.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has recieved from (a) the Law Society, (b) Rights of Women and (c) other organisations on legal aid for victims of domestic violence.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Ministers and officials maintain a regular dialogue with key stakeholders on matters such as domestic violence. It was as a result of this type of engagement that we made changes last year to make it easier for people to access legal aid in domestic violence cases.