Tag: Lord Beecham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the data published in court proceeding tables associated with their criminal justice statistics quarterly report of December 2013, whether they plan to institute an inquiry into the higher proportion of black and minority ethnic defendants denied bail or receiving custodial sentences than non-black and minority ethnic defendants with comparable records for similar offences.

Lord Faulks

The Government is committed to making sure that the criminal justice system is fair and just.

The Criminal Justice System Strategy & Action Plan, published last summer, set out a number of commitments to promote equality including a series of Minister-led events with stakeholders to explore what more could be done.

The Criminal Justice Board has had several recent discussions about equality and diversity and regularly reviews the statistical data.

We do not plan to hold a specific inquiry into the proportion of black and minority ethnic defendants denied bail or receiving custodial sentences as compared with non-black and minority ethnic defendants with comparable records for similar offences but are clear that more analysis is needed to understand the underlying causes reflected in this data.

The Government will shortly publish an update to this plan which will contain further actions designed to promote equality.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of reports in The Guardian newspaper on 11 June, they intend to make representations to the government of Thailand about the exploitation and abuse of workers in that country’s fishing industry and to United Kingdom companies which purchase the products of that industry.

Baroness Warsi

We are aware of labour rights issues and allegations of human rights abuses in the Thai fishing industry, though not until now of the specific allegations made by the Guardian. We regularly raise our concerns about labour rights in Thailand with the relevant Thai authorities, for example during the UK-Thailand Strategic Dialogue in May 2013. The Guardian’s report contains very serious allegations. We look to the Thai authorities to investigate.

Given the acute and continual political uncertainty in Thailand our ability to raise these issues with the authorities at this point is limited. However, we take the allegations very seriously and will look for opportunities to raise our concerns. At a minimum, we will continue to press for an improvement in labour rights in Thailand through ongoing negotiations towards an EU-Thailand Free Trade Agreement.

The UK remains a global leader in tackling human trafficking and slavery as shown by its recent introduction of a Modern Slavery Bill. We welcome any investigation which sheds light on these horrific allegations.

We also launched our action plan on business and human rights in 2013, becoming the first country to set out guidance to companies on integrating human rights into their operations. We engage regularly with British companies as part of our efforts to boost UK trade and inward investment, but at the same time we also clearly set our commitment to protecting human rights and its expectations of UK companies in this area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many cases since the passage of the Justice and Security Act 2013 applications have been made for closed material procedures to be employed; and how many have been successful.

Lord Faulks

In accordance with section 12 of the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Government will lay before Parliament, in the course of 2014, a report on the use of the closed material procedure under section 6 of that Act. This will include the numbers of applications made and whether such applications have been granted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many cases since the passage of the Justice and Security Act 2013 the public interest immunity procedure has been invoked; and how much compensation has been paid as a result.

Lord Faulks

The Public Interest Immunity procedure may be used in a wide variety of court proceedings and as such no central record exists of its application.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, and within what timescales, to ensure that custody trials can be listed at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court, in the light of the closure of the court cells in December 2013 following safety concerns.

Lord Faulks

The cell accommodation at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court is housed within the interconnected Pilgrim Street Police Station which is due to close in summer 2014 and belongs to Northumbria Police.

The cells have not been in use since 7April, 2014 when a temporary arrangement was put in place to enable urgent fire safety works to be undertaken. Whilst five of the 13 cells are unlikely to be used again due to safety concerns, the remaining eight are now available for use as the fire safety work has been completed.

The current temporary closure has been extended until 30 May, 2014 to enable conclusion of discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner over future use and maintenance of the cells once the Police Station closes.

The temporary arrangement, comprising a daily remand court at North Tyneside and the listing of other custody work in available courtrooms across the court estate in Northumbria, is not wholly satisfactory and the impact is being assessed on a daily basis, in particular the impact on victims and witnesses. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is seeking to conclude the discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner as quickly as possible and currently intends to resume use of the cells on 2 June, 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of the court cells at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court since December 2013.

Lord Faulks

The cell accommodation at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court is housed within the interconnected Pilgrim Street Police Station which is due to close in summer 2014 and belongs to Northumbria Police.

The cells have not been in use since 7April, 2014 when a temporary arrangement was put in place to enable urgent fire safety works to be undertaken. Whilst five of the 13 cells are unlikely to be used again due to safety concerns, the remaining eight are now available for use as the fire safety work has been completed.

The current temporary closure has been extended until 30 May, 2014 to enable conclusion of discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner over future use and maintenance of the cells once the Police Station closes.

The temporary arrangement, comprising a daily remand court at North Tyneside and the listing of other custody work in available courtrooms across the court estate in Northumbria, is not wholly satisfactory and the impact is being assessed on a daily basis, in particular the impact on victims and witnesses. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is seeking to conclude the discussions with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner as quickly as possible and currently intends to resume use of the cells on 2 June, 2014.