Tag: Karl Turner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Attorney General, if he will place in the Library data gathered by Crown Prosecution Service Business Area of prosecutions and convictions for (a) rape-flagged offences, (b) domestic violence, (c) child abuse and (d) human trafficking for each year since 2013.

Jeremy Wright

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of prosecutions and convictions in each CPS business area flagged as rape, domestic violence, child abuse and human trafficking.

The attached tables show the volume of defendants prosecuted and convicted in flagged cases for each CPS business area over the last three financial years for which data is available. These also include a number of caveats and explanatory notes which should be observed when reviewing the data. Data for 2015/16 will be published later this year and will be placed in the House of Commons library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32551, how many reports from the dedicated reporting channel were deemed to have enough information to warrant opening an investigation in each year since 2012.

Jeremy Wright

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is an intelligence led agency and follows the National Intelligence Model (NIM) when sharing information with law enforcement partners.

Every report made to the SFO is assessed by a member of its Intelligence Unit in conjunction with other information available. The SFO passes information on to others when it has appropriate intelligence to share. This could be information from a single report, or a collated intelligence package.

The vast majority of reports made to the SFO are not matters which it can investigate, and are more appropriate for the police or other agencies. Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre. Individuals are asked to report matters directly to them so that Action Fraud can make best use of their information. They will also be given a crime report number for future reference.

The table below shows the minimum number of intelligence referrals made by the SFO to other agencies which are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel(1) since these statistics have been recorded. It also shows the number of SFO investigations opened since 2012 where the initial report to the SFO came through its online reporting system.

Year	Number of referrals	SFO investigations that originated through online reporting system
2012	Not recorded	1
2013	Not recorded	2
2014	144	3
2015	154	3

1. The SFO does not record statistical information about all types of referrals that it makes to other agencies that are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel, so the total number may be higher.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the exclusion of sexual assault, voyeurism, exposure and sexual activity in a public lavatory from the schedule of offences that are subject to the mandatory referrals process on the ability of victims to report such acts.

Mark Lancaster

A person who believes they have been a victim of crime may report the matter to the Service or civilian Police, or to their chain of command. Commanding Officers are under a statutory duty to ensure that all allegations which indicate that a service offence may have been committed – including the offences of sexual assault, voyeurism, exposure and sexual activity in a public lavatory – are properly investigated. The Ministry of Defence has undertaken to review the existing provisions whereby Commanding Officers can decide how best to investigate those allegations of sexual offences which do not fall to be automatically referred to the Police. We expect the review to be complete by the end of the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training was provided to the people who assessed bids for legal aid duty solicitor contracts in administering and assessing such contracts.

Mr Shailesh Vara

13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.

The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.

The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps his Department took to ensure accuracy of the £2 billion quoted as the cost to insurers of whiplash claims; and if his Department will conduct its own estimate of that cost.

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 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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Attorney General, if he will place in the Library the number of cases of (a) rape, (b) domestic violence, (c) child abuse and (d) human trafficking referred by each police force in England and Wales to each regional division of the Crown Prosecution Service in (i) 2014 and (ii) 2015.

Jeremy Wright

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the numbers of suspects referred by the police to each CPS business area of cases flagged as involving allegations of rape, domestic violence, child abuse and human trafficking. The attached tables show the volumes of referrals for 2013/14 and 2014/15. The tables are accompanied by a number of caveats and explanatory notes which should be observed when reviewing the data. Data for 2015/16 will be published later this year and will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault, (b) voyeurism, (c) sexual activity in a public lavatory and (d) exposure have been dealt with summarily by a commanding officer in each year since 2009.

Mark Lancaster

Commanding Officers do not have the power to deal by summary hearing with the offences of sexual assault, voyeurism, sexual activity in a public lavatory or exposure. These charges can only be dealt with by Court Martial or Service Civilian Court.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the electrification of the Hull to Selby rail line; and what his provisional timeline is for those works to be completed.

Paul Maynard

The government is currently considering the case for electrification of the line between Selby and Hull in light of the intention by Hull First Trains to invest in a new bi-mode fleet. The government will announce its decision in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the procurement process for legal aid duty solicitor contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.

The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.

The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what the evidential basis is of the statement that a claimant culture exists in England and Wales in relation to whiplash claims.

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 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.