Tag: Catherine McKinnell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of Crown Prosecution Service expenditure on (a) victim liaison units and (b) witness care units in real terms in each year since 2010-11.

Robert Buckland

It is not possible to provide the actual expenditure on Witness Care Units (WCUs) and Victim Liaison Units (VLUs) without incurring a disproportionate cost since this information is not separately captured by the CPS. However, the total budget allocated for the administration of WCUs and VLUs in each year since 2010-11 is detailed in the following table;

	WCUs	VLU’s
2010-11	£5,500,000	–
2011-12	£4,000,000	–
2012-13	£4,000,000	–
2013-14	£4,000,000	–
2014-15	£2,500,000	£1,500,000

In each of the last four years the CPS has allocated £2.5 million of its Voted expenditure to WCUs. The remainder of the total CPS allocation was funded by income from the Ministry of Justice, via the Victims Surcharge up to and including 2013-14.

Witness attendance rates (which are used as a proxy for satisfaction) have remained above 80%.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of hearsay evidence in court proceedings in reducing the number of unsuccessful cases due to victim or witness issues; and what estimate he has made of the number of cases where hearsay evidence has been used by prosecutors in each year since 2010-11.

Robert Buckland

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors will apply to admit hearsay evidence where they consider it appropriate to do so and the legislation permits. However, the CPS does not record information on the number of cases where hearsay evidence has been used in the course of criminal proceedings. It follows, therefore, that no assessment of the effectiveness of the use of hearsay evidence in court proceedings in reducing the number of unsuccessful cases due to victim or witness issues is routinely conducted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that vulnerable people are prioritised in the provision of settled accommodation.

Mr Marcus Jones

Under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, households that include someone who is vulnerable, for example because of old age, physical or mental disability or any other special reason, have a priority need for accommodation. Housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for anyone if they are in priority need, are eligible for assistance and unintentionally homeless.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-04-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of parents who will not be eligible for tax-free childcare as a result of the decision to (a) lower the upper income limit per parent from £150,000 to £100,000 and (b) increase the minimum income level per parent from the equivalent of eight hours to 16 hours at the national living wage.

Damian Hinds

The Government will publicise the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme in good time ahead of its introduction through a range of digital and print channels. HMRC will also work with the childcare industry and representative groups who interact regularly with parents to raise awareness of the scheme.

HM Revenue and Customs is developing an online childcare calculator to help parents understand their eligibility for government childcare support. From early 2017, parents of the youngest children will be able to enter the scheme first, with all eligible parents brought in by the end of 2017. Parents will not be able to open childcare accounts prior to the launch of the scheme.

TFC will be straightforward and quick to apply online for the vast majority of parents. We estimate that up to 9% of the families eligible for the scheme of that population may have issues with either accessing or using the internet. HM Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided, usually by telephone, so these families do not miss out on the support available.

Tax-Free Childcare is part of the wider government childcare offer which will be worth over £6Bn per annum and together provide generous support to families on all levels of income.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) victim liaison officers and (b) witness care officers were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service in each year since 2010-11.

Robert Buckland

The total number of (a) victim liaison officers and (b) witness care officers that were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service at the end of each year since 2010-11, can be seen in the table below.

	Victim Liaison [1]	Witness Care
FTE	FTE
2010/11	N/A	182.5
2011/12	N/A	137.8
2012/13	N/A	118.5
2013/14	N/A	89.2
2014/15	44.11	76.4

Notes:

Data extracted from the CPS HR Database iTrent as at the 31^st March in each year. Data may be subject to change due to retrospective changes in the HR database. Data may differ from previously published data due to differing specifications.

There has been a reduction in total staff numbers and the proportion of the workforce that is employed in witness care units from a peak in 2008. Witness care has been dealt with primarily by the joint CPS/police Witness Care Units. However, most of the staff in WCUs are, and have always been, police staff. Witness attendance rates (which are used as a proxy for satisfaction) have remained above 80%.

[1] Dedicated Victim Liaison Units were established by the CPS in 2014

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15443, for what reason the (a) Government Legal Department’s expenditure on temporary agency staff and (b) Crown Prosecution Service’s expenditure on (i) consultants and (ii) non-payroll staff increased between 2010-11 and 2014-15.

Robert Buckland

The Government Legal Department (GLD) provides legal services to government. It engages temporary and contract staff as a way of managing short term variations in demand. Where an increase in demand for legal services is expected to continue for the medium or long term, the department will use temporary staff to resource the work until permanent staff can be recruited. The increase in temporary staff from 2010-11 to 2014-15 reflects increased demand for legal services and the growth of GLD as a result of the Shared Legal Services programme that has brought into one organisation legal teams from across government. As a result overall staff numbers have increased by 69% between 2010-11 and 2014-15.

As outlined in the previous answer the actual expenditure incurred by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on consultants and non-payroll staff between 2010-11 and 2014-15 was as follows.

Year	Consultants	Non-payroll staff
2010/11	£684,314	£392,968
2011/12	£13,347	£23,355
2012/13	£9,793	£2,861
2013/14	£960	£273,935
2014/15	£0	£1,350,317

Between 2010-11 and 2014-15 the CPS has actually reduced its expenditure on consultants by £684,314.

In 2014-15 the CPS set up a project to manage the transition from its existing main Information Technology service provider. The Project Manager and remaining team are non-CPS staff, and their costs of £1,350,317 were the only non-payroll staff costs incurred last year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20722, what figures his Department used for the number of motor accidents in each year from 2006 to 2015 in formulating that Answer.

Dominic Raab

Data on the number of motor accidents between 2006 and 2015 was obtained from publicly available datasets published by the Department for Transport. This data can be obtained from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497176/ras45004.xls

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461863/ras10013.xls

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-04-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to raise awareness of tax-free childcare with parents before that scheme is launched in early 2017.

Damian Hinds

The Government will publicise the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme in good time ahead of its introduction through a range of digital and print channels. HMRC will also work with the childcare industry and representative groups who interact regularly with parents to raise awareness of the scheme.

HM Revenue and Customs is developing an online childcare calculator to help parents understand their eligibility for government childcare support. From early 2017, parents of the youngest children will be able to enter the scheme first, with all eligible parents brought in by the end of 2017. Parents will not be able to open childcare accounts prior to the launch of the scheme.

TFC will be straightforward and quick to apply online for the vast majority of parents. We estimate that up to 9% of the families eligible for the scheme of that population may have issues with either accessing or using the internet. HM Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided, usually by telephone, so these families do not miss out on the support available.

Tax-Free Childcare is part of the wider government childcare offer which will be worth over £6Bn per annum and together provide generous support to families on all levels of income.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the amount of expected underspend for his office against departmental expenditure limits in 2015-16.

Jeremy Wright

The Departmental Expenditure Limit for HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor includes the Government Legal Department (GLD), the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI). The estimated underspend against the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit is £2.69m. Total expenditure is estimated to be £190m.

GLD sets its fees and fee rates at the beginning of the year with the aim of achieving full cost recovery and in line with HM Treasury guidance Managing Public Money. In setting the fees and fee rate judgements about volumes of work, the impact of inflation, and cost are made and as a result it is normal for there to be a variance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the extent of a fraud and claims culture in the motor insurance industry; and what evidence of such a culture he provided to HM Treasury before publication of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Dominic Raab

The Government received and analysed data from numerous sources when formulating the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. The quoted figures were arrived at by combining published industry estimates along with data from government and other sources.

Government data, compiled by the Compensation Recovery Unit at the Department for Work and Pensions, indicates that claims volumes remain at historically high levels, some 50% higher than in 2006. Over the same period motor accident rates have fallen by around 26%. This is clear evidence that the system is in need of further reform, which is why on 25 November, in his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced tough new measures to control costs and reduce the number of unnecessary whiplash claims.

The Government will consult on the detail of the new reform package in due course and the consultation document will be accompanied by an impact assessment.