Tag: Andy Slaughter

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.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for the Government’s policy on the Low Commission’s reports, Tackling of the findings of the Advice Deficit, published in 2014, and Getting it Right in Social Welfare Law, published in 2015.

Mr Rob Wilson

Government is supporting, free, independent and social welfare advice, including through the Advice Services Transition Fund (ASTF).

The ASTF is supporting the sector to be able to respond with confidence to the challenges presented by the changing funding environment. The ASTF is a transformational fund and, rather than providing running costs, it is designed to support more collaborative and sustainable ways of working.

We are working with the Big Lottery Fund to ensure that learning from the fund is identified and shared across the advice services sector.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the changes to personal injury law and procedure announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on the prevalence of the practice of third party capture; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab

The Government received and analysed data from numerous sources when formulating the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. We will continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders including other Government Departments, solicitors and insurers in taking forward the new reform package. The Government will consult on the detail of these measures in due course. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times G4S has been in breach of its contract at Medway STC since it was awarded that contract; for what reasons each such breach occurred; and what fines were incurred by G4S for each of these breaches.

Andrew Selous

Since the contract was awarded in 1997, there have been two instances of financial remedies on G4S’s contract at Medway STC, both for failure to comply with procedures. The financial penalties were for a total of £1221.87.707.40. We are examining whether the allegations made by Panorama would constitute a breach of contract.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many fines G4S has paid under any contract with his Department in each of the last five years; and for what reasons each such fine was imposed.

Andrew Selous

The Ministry of Justice holds a number of centrally and locally managed contracts with G4S and information on the total financial remedies imposed could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost. However, the total for G4S run prisons, Young Offender’s Institutes (YOIs) and secure training centres (STC) were as follows:

As I stated in the answer to PQ 22664, there have been two incidents in the last five years in which financial remedies were applied at Medway STC. In both cases, G4S failed to comply with operating procedures. In the same time period, there was one incident for which financial remedies were applied at Rainsbrook STC, for failing to comply with operating procedures.

Financial remedies applied to private prisons, including HMP/YOI Parc since 2010 are set out in the attached table.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the five items most commonly recorded by the Incident Report System are; and how many of each such item were recorded in the last year for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous

The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners diagnosed with a mental health illness are being held with another prisoner in a cell designed for one person.

Andrew Selous

As the Secretary of State has said, the prison estate is overcrowded and out of date. That’s why we have announced that we will close down aging and ineffective prisons, replacing them with buildings fit for today’s demands, including better management of prisoners with mental health illnesses.

On arrival all prisoners have a health assessment that looks in particular at mental health, risk of self-harm and suicide, risk of harm to others and vulnerability or risk of harm from others. A cell sharing risk assessment is also undertaken to inform whether a prisoner can share a cell, which includes looking at the health assessment. All prisons have on-site primary health care teams who can provide mental health care, refer prisoners to talking therapies or refer them for a further psychiatric assessment for serious mental illness.

While the National Offender Management Service collects centrally the data on when two prisoners are held in a cell designed for one, it does not centrally record how many of these prisoners have an identified mental health concern.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which prisons the eight apparent homicides referred to in the Safety in Custody Statistics, England and Wales: Deaths in prison custody to December 2015; Assaults and Self-harm to September 2015, published on 28 January 2016, took place.

Dominic Raab

The eight apparent homicides occurred at the following prisons: HMP Dartmoor, HMP Doncaster, HMP Long Lartin, HMP Nottingham, HMP Peterborough, HMP Ranby, HMP Swaleside, HMP Wandsworth.

The classification of these deaths remains provisional until confirmed at inquest.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effects of UK membership of the EU on policy areas in the remit of his Department.

Dominic Raab

The Prime Minister has made clear that the European Union needed to reform if it was to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the UK, so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.