Tag: Catherine McKinnell

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

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2015 to Question 11888, for what reason the (a) prosecution cost per defendant and (b) overall spend per completed case has increased since 2010-11.

Jeremy Wright

The increase in (a) average prosecution cost per defendant and (b) overall spend per completed case reflects the significant change in the caseload mix since 2010-11.

For example, the prosecution of low level traffic offences has been transferred to the police since 2010-11, leading to a fall of 61.1% in motoring cases. A rising proportion of the CPS workload is now geared towards larger and more complex cases, including non-recent sexual abuse cases.

The average costs are also unadjusted for inflation. If average costs for each prior year were all restated in terms of 2014-15 prices, then they would all be increased accordingly.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Written Statement on 9 December 2015, HCWS369, whether the new franchisees referred to will be required to replace all Pacer trains on both the TransPennine Express and Northern franchises; and by what year all Pacer trains will be replaced on both franchises.

Andrew Jones

As we have made clear both publicly and in the House (UINs 5008 and 19363) all Pacer trains in service on the Northern Franchise will be withdrawn by the end of 2019.

There are no Pacers in service with the TransPennine Franchise.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to run a pilot of tax-free childcare before that scheme is launched.

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 2016-04-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.77 of Budget 2016, whether eligible parents will be able to open tax-free childcare accounts prior to the launch of that scheme 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 Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse of a vacated trial in (a) Magistrates’ courts and (b) the Crown Court.

Mr Shailesh Vara

HMCTS is unable to provide the information requested, as this information is not held.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-01-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the target of 20,000 resettled Syrian refugees is met by the end of this Parliament.

Greg Hands

At the Spending Review we announced that over £460 million of the overseas aid budget will be used by 2019-20 to resettle 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, covering the full first year costs to ease the burden on local communities. The Spending Review also provided around a further £130 million by 2019-20 to local authorities to contribute to the costs of supporting refugees beyond their first year in the UK.

The Home Office will administer this scheme in partnership with other departments, international agencies, local authorities and the voluntary sector.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans for eligible parents to be able to open accounts as soon as tax-free childcare is launched.

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 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 2 March 2016 to Question 29364, what the grounds are for the Public Health England Office for Data Release denying requests made to it for information collected via the Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy dataset; what the timescale is for that office to respond to any requests made; and whether there will be a public announcement setting out the date when requests for data may be made to that office.

George Freeman

Public Health England (PHE) is making data collected as part of the Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy dataset available through its Office for Data Release (ODR) function. The data have been available since April 2016 and the ODR is currently processing requests. The priority of PHE, and the ODR, is to maintain patient confidentiality and therefore data will only be released to external parties in a format that does not compromise patient confidentiality either directly or by inference.

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 cracked as a result of the prosecution due to (a) insufficient evidence, (b) witness absent or withdrawn, (c) public interest grounds and (d) adjournment refused 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.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-01-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s press release of 1 July 2015, on tax-free childcare, how he plans to roll-out the delivery of tax-free childcare.

Damian Hinds

As the Government press release of 1 July confirmed, Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017, with the scheme rolled out gradually to all eligible parents within a year.

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