Tag: Catherine McKinnell

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of trials were ineffective due to the (a) prosecution being engaged in another trial, (b) prosecution advocate failing to attend and (c) prosecution increasing the time estimate due to insufficient time for trial to start in (i) Magistrates’ courts and (ii) the Crown Court in each year since 2007.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Overall numbers and reasons for cracked and ineffective trials are included in our Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly publication, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015

In the published data the reasons specified in the question are aggregated together into one reason in our table: “prosecution end case” for cracked trials and “prosecution availability” for ineffective trials.

The information requested can be found in the table attached.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of medication errors involving hospital patients with Parkinson’s disease resulting in (a) no, (b) low, (c) moderate and (d) severe harm were reported to the National Reporting and Learning System in the last quarter of 2014 and in each quarter of 2015; and which reporting organisation reported each such incident.

Ben Gummer

A recent search of the National Reporting Learning System was carried out of all medication incidents reported as occurring between the dates 1 October 2014 and 31 December 2015.

This search used key word searches most likely to identify the requested incidents. The search mechanism available does not allow us to confirm that the patients involved with these incidents have Parkinson’s disease but it was focused on medication incidents involving drugs commonly used in Parkinson’s. It is possible that there are additional relevant incidents.

The information requested is provided in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.61 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of families that will sign up for tax-free childcare in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

Damian Hinds

The Government confirmed that Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017. To roll out the scheme in a safe and managed way, we will be gradually opening up the scheme to all eligible parents within 12 months.

We will provide further details of the exact plans for this rollout in due course, in good time for parents and childcare providers to prepare for the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare.

Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that around 2 million families will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare. And we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested with users before the scheme is launched.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government will be represented at the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees to be hosted by President Obama on 20 September 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government has no plans to introduce additional pathways for refugees to come to the UK. The UK is already a leading resettlement state, offering a number of safe and legal pathways for refugees. In the year ending June 2016, a total of 3,439 people were resettled in the UK.

In addition to the 20,000 Syrian refugees and up to 3,000 vulnerable persons from the Middle East and North Africa region that the Government has committed to resettle by 2020, the UK has also committed to relocate unaccompanied refugee children from France, Greece and Italy. Under the family reunion policy we have reunited around 22,000 refugees with their immediate family over the past five years and will continue to do so. The Government supports the principle that those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. This allows vulnerable persons to receive help quickly rather than risking their lives on hazardous journeys into and across Europe or falling victim to criminal gangs who are exploiting the situation. Providing humanitarian aid in the region is the best way to provide much needed support to the majority of those fleeing persecution while working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resettle the most vulnerable who cannot reasonably remain.

HM Government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high level meeting on 19 September and the Leaders’ Summit on refugees to be hosted by President Obama on 20 September.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 12365, what savings have resulted from the police-led prosecution initiative in each year since 2012-13.

Robert Buckland

The police-led prosecution initiative has led to a significant reduction in motoring offences prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in magistrate courts, as the following figures indicate:

Motoring offence cases finalised in the Magistrates Court

2012-13: 229,875

2013-14: 171,517

2014-15: 112,955

While the reduction has led to a fall in expenditure on these low-level cases, the overall effect on CPS budgets has been cost-neutral. A high proportion of these cases are dealt with as summary first-time guilty pleas, in which the Court requires the defendant to pay the prosecution costs as part of any financial penalty. Therefore, whilst the CPS has benefitted from a reduction in expenditure, it has foregone the receipt of cost awards that are routinely made in motoring offence cases, as these awards are now payable to the police.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the likely average change in the amount received by workless 18 to 21 year olds as a result of the removal of housing allowance from such people in April 2017.

Justin Tomlinson

The amount of Universal Credit awarded where the housing element is payable is not being changed; this policy will simply remove entitlement from certain 18 -21 year olds. Some 18-21 year olds will be unaffected by this change as exemptions will allow support with housing costs to continue in their award.

The Department continues to liaise with a range of key stakeholders as it develops exemptions. This includes discussing this policy with landlords, housing associations and charities. Once this work has been completed we will bring forward detailed proposals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department takes to monitor and assess allegations of human rights abuses by UK-listed companies.

Anna Soubry

Where allegations are made against companies (listed or otherwise) about breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, including the guidelines on human rights, these breaches are assessed by the UK’s National Contact Point in accordance with the framework set out in the Guidelines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to continue to fund (a) innovative projects on anti-corruption and transparency and (b) country-specific anti-corruption strategies.

Rory Stewart

My Department will continue to fund innovative projects on anti-corruption and transparency. The Secretary of State for International Development has confirmed that transparency and accountability are at the top of her agenda. Moreover the London Anti-Corruption Summit committed to a range of innovative approaches to fighting corruption globally, many of which DFID will support. This includes increased use of company beneficial ownership registers and improved open public contracting standards. DFID will also contribute towards a new UK-led Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub. It will establish a network across countries, businesses and civil society to share know-how, identify opportunities for collaboration and connect technology and data experts with law enforcement and civil society.

DFID has refreshed anti-corruption strategies for our priority country programmes. These take into account the issues and ambitions created by the Summit and the forthcoming UK Anti-Corruption Strategy. DFID will support our partner countries to implement their Summit commitments where appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will encourage the International Organisation of Securities Commissions to bring global listing rules in line with those set out in the European Non-Financial Reporting Directive.

Anna Soubry

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is due to implement the requirements in the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive into UK law by 6 December 2016. BIS has no plans to extend these requirements beyond those contained in the EU Directive.

Representation to the International Organisation of Securities Commissions and policy responsibility for UK listing rules falls within the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority and any further enquiries on these matters should be directed to them.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the removal of housing allowance for 18 to 21 year-olds who receive universal credit in the number of (a) homeless people and (b) claimants living on temporary accommodation.

Justin Tomlinson

The Department continues to liaise with a range of key stakeholders as it develops exemptions to the removal of automatic entitlement to housing support for 18-21 year olds in Universal Credit. This includes discussing this policy with landlords, housing associations and charities.

Once this work has been completed we will bring forward detailed proposals.