The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many external hospital appointments for prisoners were cancelled or postponed in each prison in the last 12 months due to a lack of staff to escort prisoners.
Nicola Blackwood
The information is not held in the format requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recruitment campaigns and job vacancies there are at Medway Secure Training College.
Andrew Selous
The centre currently has sufficient staff to meet required staffing levels. Recruitment campaigns are run at regular intervals in order to maintain the required staffing levels
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with ministers of the Scottish Government and women’s organisations on devolving competence for abortion legislation to Scotland.
David Mundell
I have discussed the issue of devolution of competence for abortion law in Scotland with representatives of several women’s organisations and I have a regular dialogue with the Scottish Government’s Deputy First Minister on all aspects of implementation of the Smith Agreement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people were employed in the Insolvency Service Cardiff office in each year since 2010.
Anna Soubry
The number of employees working in the Insolvency Service’s Cardiff office prior to 2014 is not held and could only be ascertained at disproportionate cost. The numbers of permanent employees working in the Cardiff office since 2014 are as follows:
1 January 2014: 35
1 January 2015: 45
1 January 2016: 46
The increase in staff numbers between 2014 and 2015 follows the closure of the Insolvency Service’s Swansea office and transfer of staff between the two offices.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether all European funding for schemes to improve the employability of prisoners has been protected for the duration of their funding period.
Mr Sam Gyimah
As the Chancellor set out on 13 August, all structural and investment fund projects signed before the Autumn Statement will be fully funded, even when these projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many members of staff of Medway Secure Training College have (a) been suspended, (b) received an official warning and (c) been dismissed since 30 December 2015.
Andrew Selous
Since 30th December 2015, ten members of staff have been suspended, five have received an official warning and five have been dismissed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to eradicate new psychoactive substances across the prison estate; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Selous
We take a zero tolerance approach to drugs in prison and there are already a range of robust measures in place to detect drugs, including the use of search dogs and intelligence-led searches. More than 300 dogs have received specialist training to detect NPS. We recently introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they will face prosecution and extra time behind bars.
We have begun a pilot to test for the use of psychoactive substances, and in April 2016, we plan to introduce widespread mandatory drug testing of prisoners for psychoactive substances. Those who are found to have used psychoactive substances will face sanctions under prison rules, including by having days added to their time in custody.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions a judicial officer has not imposed a victims surcharge or any other fine following a request to do so in each of the last three years.
Mike Penning
Courts are required to impose the victim surcharge on all offenders convicted of any offence, however those who receive an absolute discharge or a Hospital Order under the Mental Health Act 1983 are exempt from the surcharge.
In respect of fines, the sentence imposed in a particular case is based on the details of the offence and the offender, within the maximum penalties set out in statute and with due consideration to sentencing guidelines. The court is obliged to follow any sentencing guidelines unless it is contrary to the interests of justice to do so. If a court imposes a sentence outside the range indicated in the guidelines, it must state its reasons for doing so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drones have been intercepted operating over prisons in England and Wales (a) in 2015 and (b) from January 2016 to date.
Mr Sam Gyimah
There were 33 incidents relating to drones reported by prisons in 2015. This includes finds, interceptions and sightings of drones in and around prisons in England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice intends to routinely publish information on prison drone incidents in the future and 2016 data will be provided in due course as part of the publication schedule.
We remain vigilant to all incidents involving drones and take the threat they pose to prison security very seriously. A range of methods to counter the threat posed by drones are being trialled and evaluated for their effectiveness across the prison estate. We have already introduced new legislation to further strengthen our powers, making it illegal to land a drone in prison or to use a drone to drop in contraband. Anyone found using a drone in an attempt to get contraband into prisons can be punished with a sentence of up to two years imprisonment. We take a zero tolerance approach to smuggling of contraband into prisons and work closely with the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to ensure those caught are prosecuted.
Note: All figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on (a) IT systems and (b) cyber-security in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14, (v) 2014-15 and (vi) 2015-16 to date.
Justin Tomlinson
The available information is set out below:
(a) IT costs which can be found in the published DWP Annual Report and Accounts, are summarised as follows:
|
£ (to nearest 1,000) |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
2015-16 to September |
|
Total IT |
960,572,000 |
926,912,000 |
1,111,308,000 |
802,134,000 |
732,352,000 |
327,006,000* |
*Please note that the figure for 2015/16 to September has not yet been audited for accounts.
(b) DWP has tracked all core aspects of expenditure on cyber security, apart from in specific IT systems, since April 2015. The current estimate up to September 15/16 is £5.6m, with further significant investment planned for the second half of the year.