Tag: Lord Browne of Belmont

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to curb gang culture across the UK.

Lord Bates

Ending gang violence and exploitation is a priority for the Government and on 13 January 2016 we published a paper setting out our refreshed approach. This has a twin focus concerned with both reducing violence, including knife crime, and protecting vulnerable individuals from exploitation by gangs. The full refreshed approach can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ending-gang-violence-and-exploitation.

This builds on our work since 2012 when we introduced the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme aimed and targeted at supporting local areas building their resilience and ability to respond to gangs. Since 2012, we have worked with 52 local areas facing problems associated with gangs through supporting peer reviews to identify the main local challenges.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that young people gain key transferable skills in order to increase their future employment opportunities.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

This Government is taking a series of important steps to help young people gain a good broad education with transferable skills such as literacy and numeracy, as well as employability skills from work experience.

This includes our reforms to GCSEs to ensure that they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy and numeracy than the old GCSEs. We are also reforming Functional Skills to improve the rigour and relevance of these qualifications as well as improving their recognition among employers. The new Functional Skills qualifications will be ready to teach in 2018.

As of August 2015, the condition of funding has been revised, so all 16-18 year old full-time students starting their study programme who have a grade D GCSE or equivalent in maths or English must be enrolled on a GCSE or approved IGCSE qualification in maths or English to work towards attaining a good pass.

We have also built English and maths into the heart of traineeships and apprenticeships to ensure that young people have the literacy and numeracy skills needed by employers. Our traineeship programme is supporting 16-24 year olds to gain the skills and work experience they need to be able to compete for apprenticeships and other jobs. In addition, all of the new employer-led apprenticeship standards must demonstrate acquisition of transferable skills and offer more than just training for a single job or employer. Standards must ensure that an apprentice can adapt to a variety of roles, with different employers, developing the ability to progress in their careers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many extra days or weeks imprisonment have been given to prisoners for assaults committed on (1) fellow prisoners, and (2) prison staff, in each of the last five years.

Lord Faulks

The table attached shows the numbers of awards of additional days in prison establishments as a result of adjudications in each year since 2011, for breach of prison discipline involving violence, including the number of adjudications where awards of added days were as a result of an assault against (1) another prisoner or (2) a member of prison staff.

Violence in prison has increased in recent years. The nature of offenders currently in custody and the widespread availability of new psychoactive substances have both contributed to making prisons less safe. There is no single, simple solution to improving safety in prisons but we are making progress.

We are trialling the use of body worn cameras and training sniffer dogs to detect New Psychoactive Substances. We have made it an offence to smuggle New Psychoactive Substances into prison, but ultimately the only way to reduce violence in prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to reform and rehabilitate offenders more effectively.

Data for 2015 – 2016 is not yet available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions they have had about the work of UK Trade and Investment in promoting inward investment in Northern Ireland.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The established relationship between UKTI and Invest Northern Ireland (INI) enables both to support each other’s efforts to achieve the shared ambition to increase trade and investment and in turn jobs and growth, this includes regular engagement at Ministerial, Chief Executive, and operational levels.

For example, over the last month Lord Maude visited Northern Ireland on 28^th and 29^th January, including both a meeting with the Chief Executive of INI and a number of company meetings. He has also conducted one overseas visit alongside Northern Ireland Assembly Minister Bell to Canada in February.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people from other EU countries have been admitted to (1) work, and (2) live, in Northern Ireland in each year since 2010.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken over the past five years to disrupt and intercept the supply of illicit drugs into UK prisons.

Lord Faulks

Prisons in England and Wales take a zero tolerance approach to illicit drugs. We have a comprehensive range of security measures and searching techniques in place to detect drugs, and to prevent smuggling into prisons. We are about to pilot the use of body scanners to reveal drugs concealed within the body, we have introduced specific dog training to allow dogs to detect new psychoactive substances (NPS) and will introduce widespread drug testing of prisoners for NPS as part of the national mandatory drug testing programme in April 2016. We have also made it illegal to smuggle NPS into prisons. We are working with the Department of Health and others to improve our understanding of the risks NPS present for offenders and to provide appropriate information, guidance and support to offenders and those working with them in prison. Anyone caught with any drugs in prison will be severely dealt with. Punishments available include closed visits, loss of privileges and up to 42 days added to their time in custody. Where prisoners are caught with controlled drugs, we will work with the police to consider prosecution and a further sentence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-10-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what options and support are available for young people with special educational needs, but who do not have a statement of special needs, during the transition between school and further education.

Lord Nash

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice makes it clear that both schools and further education colleges in England should support all children and young people with SEN through this important transition, whether or not they have a statement of SEN or an Education, Health and Care Plan.

The Code of Practice sets out expectations for this transition. These include a working partnership between schools and colleges; opportunities for young people to familiarise themselves with the new setting; and that the new setting ensure the right provision is in place to meet the young person’s needs and aspirations.

Schools also have a duty to secure independent careers guidance for all Year 8 -13 pupils, including those with SEN. This must include information on the full range of education and training options, including further education and apprenticeships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-10-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of immigration into the United Kingdom across the land border with the Republic of Ireland.

Lord Bates

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Routine immigration controls are not conducted on the land border between the UK and Republic of Ireland. However, the Government takes protecting our border security very seriously, and there is a high level of collaboration on work with Ireland to strengthen the Common Travel Area’s external border.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-10-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of paramilitary-linked organised crime in Northern Ireland.

Lord Dunlop

The assessment of the structure, roles and purpose of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland, published on 20 October stated that individual members of paramilitary groups are involved in ‘serious criminal activity’. Examples cited in the assessment include: ‘large scale smuggling operations, fuel laundering, drug dealing and extortion of local businesses’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-10-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of (1) crime against older people, and (2) fear of crime amongst older people; and what steps they are taking to address both the incidence and fear of crime against older people.

Lord Bates

The Home Office has made no specific assessment of the level of crime against older people, and fear of crime amongst older people. The attached tablesshow figures from the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for the year to March 2015 for (1) the percentage of adults in each age group who were victims of crime, and (2) the percentage of adults in each age group who had high levels of worry about crime.

Police reform is working and the Crime Survey shows that overall crime is down by more than a quarter since 2010. We continue to develop the role of our elected and accountable Police and Crime Commissioners to shape policing services to local needs and priorities, as they are now doing in commissioning victims’ services, setting policing priorities and driving reform.