Tag: Ann Coffey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of quality assurance procedures for registered intermediaries.

Mike Penning

Registered Intermediaries are required to adhere to professional standards as set out in a Code of Conduct and a Code of Ethics. Instances where performance falls below the required level can be investigated by the Quality Assurance Board which oversees and monitors quality issues and reports to the Ministry of Justice. A number of options are available for the board to take, including disciplinary action where it sees fit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 2015 protocol between the association of chief police officers, the crown prosecution service and HM Courts and Tribunals service to expedite cases involving witnesses under 10 years old.

Mike Penning

This Protocol provides additional guidance on support to young witnesses at Court. The protocol came into effect on the 1^st April 2015; currently there are no plans to review it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remote sites for giving evidence in court are open in each region of England and Wales; and what the location is of each such facility.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, including child abuse victims, can give evidence from a remote site away from the court environment. There is at least one remote site in each of the seven Regions of Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service in England and Wales, and 21 in total. They are located in Ashburton, Ashford, Barry, Bournemouth, Buxton, Durham, Hemel Hempstead, Ipswich, London East India Dock, London Lewisham, Manchester, Margate, Middlesbrough, Neath, Newcastle, Northwich, Norwich, Sittingbourne, Swanley, Teesside and Welwyn Garden City.

For those who do not need to give evidence away from the court environment, the court estate is video-enabled so that any victim or witness can give evidence from a court building other than that in which the trial is being held. This ensures the victim or witness does not come into contact with the defendant, their family or their supporters.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was spent on (a) local authority and (b) non-local authority residential care provision per week and per child in each local authority in the latest year for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities submit annual outturn statements to the Secretary of State for Education on actual expenditure for their education and children’s social care functions.

The most recent outturn figures can be found on GOV.UK[1]. The file named “S251 outturn 2014 to 2015: individual LA expenditure data” enables reported annual expenditure by each local authority to be viewed at an individual local authority level. There is a distinct line for residential care.

The information on residential care spend is attached.

Total annual spend by each local authority is broken down to show spend on:

• Own provision
• Private provision
• Other public provision (this includes other local authorities); and
• And voluntary sector provision.

It is not possible to measure spend on provision within each local authority. This is because the location of the provision provided is not captured in the section 251 financial return.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/section-251-outturn-2014-to-2015-data

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were placed in regulated children’s homes within each local authority boundary in the year ending 31 March 2015; and how many and what proportion of children in regulated children’s homes within each local authority boundary were the responsibility of that local authority in that year.

Edward Timpson

The information requested is attached.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked-after children have committed criminal offences in the last three years; what the (a) age and (b) gender was of each such child; what offence was committed in each such case; and what distance away from home each child had been placed when the offence was committed.

Edward Timpson

The numbers of looked after children who were convicted or subject to a final warning or reprimand in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by age and gender is published in Table 4 of the statistical first release ‘Outcomes for Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England as at 31 March 2014’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/outcomes-for-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities.

The Department for Education does not collect information on the type of offence committed or the location of each child at the time of the offence.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish Alan Wood’s report on local safeguarding children’s boards’ roles and functions.

Edward Timpson

Alan Wood’s independent review of the role and functions of Local Safeguarding Children Boards has now been published. It can be found on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wood-review-of-local-safeguarding-children-boards

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times the Child Protection Taskforce announced by the Prime Minister on 24 June 2015 has met; and when that taskforce plans to publish its first report.

Edward Timpson

The Child Protection Implementation Taskforce has met on four occasions since June 2015. As set out in the terms of reference, Taskforces are responsible for monitoring and driving the delivery of the Government’s priorities. The Department for Education published a paper in January 2016 ‘Children’s Social Care reform: A vision for change’[1] which outlines the three areas of work undertaken by the Taskforce thus far.

As it is responsible for monitoring implementation rather than developing policy, the Taskforce does not have any plans to publish a report at this time.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491968/Childrens_social_care_reform_a_vision_for_change.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the report evaluating the pilots of section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.

Mike Penning

Pre-trial cross-examination under Section 28 of the YJCEA 1999 was piloted in three Crown Court centres. A report will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Tables 5.1 and 5.2 of the official statistics bulletin, An Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales, published on 10 January 2013, what the average number of days from offence to completion for sexual offence criminal proceedings for each offence type was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning

Our courts system is in need of urgent reform, which is why we have committed to building a justice system that is swifter and more certain.

We are investing £700 million over the next five years to create a more effective service. We will utilise modern technology to meet the needs of everyone who uses our services.

MOJ do not hold figures on dates of sentencing or acquittals and have instead provided the time from first listing to completion.

The age of a victim is only known where specified as part of the wording of an offence in statute. Figures for sexual offences cases where the victim was a minor are based on cases where the victim was known to be a minor, and figures where the victim was an adult include cases where the age of the victim was not known.

Data included in the attached tables.

Table 1 – the average duration from offence to charge, from charge to first listing, and from first listing to completion for sexual offences cases in Greater Manchester LCJB and in England and Wales, for cases completing in 2013, 2014 and January to September 2015.

Table 2 – the average duration (days) between offence to charge, charge to first listing, and first listing to completion for sexual offence cases completed in England and Wales where the victim was a minor or an adult, 2013 to Q1-Q3 2015.

Table 3 – the average durations for sexual offences cases in England and Wales. These are an update of Tables 5.1 and 5.2 in the ‘Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales’ publication. Figures are for the last 12 months available, from October 2014 to September 2015.