Tag: Andy Slaughter

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help secure the long-term status of UK citizens in other EU member states before Article 50 negotiations formally begin; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government has repeatedly stated that there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of UK nationals and their family members entering or currently residing in the European Union.

During the period of the negotiations, the UK remains a full member of the EU, entitled to all the benefits and obligations of membership. We have published guidance on gov.uk which makes this clear.

It is a Government priority to protect the legal rights of British nationals living in EU countries, as well as EU nationals in the UK, and we are confident that we will be able secure those things together during discussions with our EU partners.

As part of this process, the Secretary of State will continue to work closely with EU counterparts and with relevant stakeholders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport on (a) London’s air quality and (b) greenhouse gas emission levels.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is currently considering the very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report.

Any decision regarding future airport capacity will take into account the Government’s commitment to comply with EU air quality standards and its obligations under the 2008 Climate Change Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he, his Ministers or officials have had since the 2015 General Election with (a) insurance companies, (b) claimant personal injury solicitors and (c) defendant personal injury solicitors; and who attended any such meeting.

Harriett Baldwin

Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of companies and organisations to discuss relevant issues.

As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers who have received (a) severance and (b) redundancy packages since May 2010 have subsequently been re-employed as prison officers.

Andrew Selous

Between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2015 60 prison officers left the prison service, received severance payments and have subsequently re-joined the National Offender Management Service as prison officers.

Over the last Parliament, NOMS delivered £334m prison efficiency savings and £169m savings in prison capacity management through prison closures and the introduction of benchmarking.

Voluntary exit was used in the last Parliament as a result of the closure of uneconomic prison places. These prison closures and benchmarking reforms have delivered savings of £300 million a year, with the average cost per prison place falling in real terms by 19% since 2009/10.

This figure is rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting. However the database itself is dynamic, and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate, and to present unrounded figures would be to overstate the accuracy of the figures. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty that is held with these figures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on agency workers to cover clerical agency staff in each month since May 2015; and which companies provided those services.

Mike Penning

The information requested is published in the department’s annual accounts. These can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/217243/moj-annual-report-accounts-2010-11.pdf

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/MoJ/2012/moj-annual-report-accounts-2011-12.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208728/moj-annual-report-2012-13.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323308/moj-annual-report-2013-14.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/434016/moj-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-15.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has made to his American counterpart on Guantanamo Bay in the last five years.

Dominic Raab

It has been a long standing policy of successive British Governments to seek the release and return of those UK nationals and former legal residents who were held at Guantanamo Bay and, in doing so, assist the US administration in its efforts to close the detention facility.

We remain committed to assisting the US in its aim to close Guantanamo Bay by facilitating engagement with countries that have agreed to accept former detainees, and by sharing experience and advice on managing the return process.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to consult the Justice Select Committee on introducing a new streamlined claims process for low cost medical negligence claims.

Ben Gummer

The Department is leading the consultation on Fixed Recoverable Costs for low-value clinical negligence claims and there will be a full public consultation, which will be open to all interested parties to make representations.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department made to the Saudi Arabian government on Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr (a) prior to and (b) after his execution.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Prior to his execution the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the case of Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr with the Saudi Arabian authorities at a very senior level. This was a case we followed very closely. I have also raised concerns with the Saudi authorities about the mass execution on 2 January, which included that of Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr, and the use of the death penalty most recently on 12 January.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date he last met insurance company representatives to discuss issues relating to personal injury claims; who was present at that meeting; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab

On 8 December, following the Chancellor’s announcement of further whiplash reforms in his Autumn Statement on 25 November, Lord Faulks and two ministerial colleagues, Oliver Letwin and Harriett Baldwin, met a representative group of senior figures from the insurance industry, including the Association of British Insurers. The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss passing savings arising from the reforms to motorists by way of reduced premiums.

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 below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20564, how many people were charged with jury (a) intimidation and (b) tampering in each of the last five years.

Robert Buckland

Section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 creates two offences:

S.51(1) creates an offence directed at acts against a person who assists in an investigation of an offence or who is a witness or potential witness or juror or potential juror whilst an investigation or trial is in progress

S.51(2) creates an offence directed at acts against a person who assisted in an investigation of an offence or who was a witness or juror after an investigation or trial has been concluded.

The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in the magistrates’ courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted. A single defendant may be prosecuted for multiple offences.

The number of offences charged under s.51(1) and s.51(2) are as follows:

		2010-2011	2011-2012	2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 51(1)	Intimidate a witness / juror	3,275	2,630	2,148	2,066	2,202
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 51(2)	Do an act which harmed a witness / juror	102	166	99	72	109
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 51(2)	Threaten a witness / juror	240	172	118	122	129

The proportion of CPS cases that result in a guilty plea has increased from 67.2% in 10/11 to 74.5% in 14/15 which means that there are fewer cases that are likely to be subject to the sorts of acts covered by s.51(1) during the course of the prosecution.

Also, s.51(1) covers intimidation of juror or potential jurors. The number of crown court trials have also been reducing over the period in question by 9.5%, again resulting in fewer cases where S.51(1) offences are likely to apply.