Tag: Baroness Smith of Basildon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department for Work and Pensions on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Freud

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments　laid　since 2010　or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that　the　number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked　at 1,885　in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-04-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many dedicated road traffic officers there were in each of the past five years in (1) Essex, (2) Kent, (3) Sussex, and (4) London.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The number of full time equivalent police officers employed in traffic policing roles as at 31 March in each of the last 5 years is provided in the tables. Officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function or role. Data for 31 March 2015 (the latest period for which figures are available) can also be found in the supplementary tables of the July 2015 police workforce statistics publication:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/444537/police-workforce-supptabs-mar15.ods

As HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.

Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities. What matters is how officers are deployed, not how many of them there are.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-04-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings (1) the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and (2) other ministers, have had with (a) the Civil Nuclear Police Authority, (b) the Chief Constable of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, and (c) the Civil Nuclear Police Federation, to discuss the occupational retirement age for Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy has met with the Chair of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) and the Chief Constable of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) on two occasions since taking office where the pension age of officers was discussed. In October 2015 and March 2016.

The Minister of State has recently written to the Civil Nuclear Police Federation about meeting representatives of that organisation to discuss issues including the age at which CNC officers receive their pension.

Officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change have worked closely with officials at the CNPA and CNC at all levels, up to and including the Chief Constable, on the issue of the pension age of CNC officers since May 2014. The Department has received frequent and substantial advice on all aspects of this issue. This includes, but is not limited to, the impact of fitness standards on CNC officers and how those standards affect deployability of officers, and the costs of administering a pension scheme with a lower effective pension age.

The Minister of State has received two letters from the Civil Nuclear Police Federation outlining their legal case for a lower pension age. Officials have met with the Civil Nuclear Police Federation to discuss the pension age of CNC officers on two occasions in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been stopped by the police resulting in action being taken for road traffic offences in each year since 2010.

Lord Bates

Data on the number of people stopped by police for road traffic offences is not collected centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2014-06-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the defence of the normal use of prescribed drugs in protecting innocent patients from prosecution for drug driving.

Baroness Kramer

The Government will not be able to make a full assessment of the effectiveness of the statutory medical defence for those patients legitimately taking medication until the new drug driving offence comes into force next year. We have though appointed a research company who will be evaluating the effectiveness of the new offence including the application of the medical defence and will report in 2016.

The Government set out the actions it proposes to take on minimising any inconvenience on patients in the summary of responses to the consultations on its proposed drugs and limits to be specified in regulations on 27 March 2014, which is available at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/drug-driving-proposed-regulations and in the libraries of the House. We do not expect the new drug driving legislation to change for patients from the current position.

“