Tag: Lord Browne of Belmont

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 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what resources and schemes are being targeted at those who lack the basic levels of literacy and numeracy.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

This Government understands the importance of English and maths and makes these subjects a priority for support within the adult skills system. Adults who improve their literacy and numeracy are more likely to experience better health and well-being, increase their chances of employment and progress to better jobs.

We fully fund, through a statutory entitlement, all adults to achieve their first English and maths GCSE at grade C or above as well as other qualifications which help them get to that level. The total funding for English and maths for academic year 2013/14 (including for apprenticeships, English for Speakers of Other Languages and prisoners) was £563,961,000. Of this £142m was spent on English and maths in apprenticeships. (905,600 learners participated in English and maths courses in 2013/14)

We fund a wide range of learners to study English and maths including:
• Prisoners, through the Offender Learning and Skills Service
• Learners in the community, including through Family English, Maths and Language
• People who need English for Speakers of Other Languages
• Trainees as part of their traineeship
• Apprentices as part of their apprenticeship
• Jobseekers

We have increased our expectations of what learners should achieve in order to increase the standard of literacy and numeracy. To do this we have embedded English and maths at the heart of all our major programmes. This means:
• Learners who did not achieve a good GCSE pass in English and/ or maths by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study those subjects post-16;
• Since 2014/15, the English and maths requirement for Intermediate Apprenticeships has been stronger, with all apprentices who have already achieved level 1 English and maths having to work towards level 2;
• Since 2014/15, young people undertaking a traineeship have been required to study English and maths unless they already have level 2 qualifications in these subjects;
• In August 2014, we introduced mandatory assessment of maths and English for all newly-received prisoners to ensure that all offenders, not just those that go into learning, receive a learning assessment (focused around English and maths, but also covering learning difficulties and disabilities)

We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy and numeracy than the old GCSEs. We also recognise that some people are not ready to take GCSE so we are also improving the rigour and relevance of English and maths Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over. We have commissioned the Education and Training Foundation to revise the National Literacy and Numeracy Standards and reform Functional Skills. The foundation has launched a consultation which will run until April and which will involve employers, teacher and subject experts.

We recognise the need to improve the quality of English and maths teaching in further education. We have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to fund a range of measures to improve the workforce in areas such as leadership, governance, teaching and learning, with a particular focus on maths and English. This has resulted in over 1,000 bursaries to attract graduates to teach in further education and over 3,800 teachers have benefited from training to improve the quality of their English and maths courses.
We are undertaking a range of research to best understand where Government investment in English and maths has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. This includes:
• Using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and maths and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course; ;
• Longitudinal research into skills gain and skills atrophy of adult English and maths learners
• Comparing the impact of blended and more traditional classroom learning.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the average change in annual household energy consumption after the installation of a smart meter.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Our central estimate of energy savings to domestic consumers as a result of smart metering is 2.8% for electricity (prepayment and credit) and 2% for gas (credit) and 0.5% for gas (prepayment).

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.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of young people considered not to be in education, employment or training (1) have a disability, or (2) are carers, broken down by region.

Lord Nash

Official data covering young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England is regularly published by the Department for Education. This data cannot, however, be broken down by individual characteristics.

Local authorities collect data on the proportion of 16-18 year olds known by their local authority to be NEET, and who have a learning difficulty or disability, or who are carers.