Tag: Lord Falconer of Thoroton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the monthly sales figures for (1) e-cigarettes, and (2) tobacco products, in prison shops in the past year.

Lord Faulks

For prisons in England and Wales monthly sales (number of units sold[1]) for the period December 2014 to November 2015 were as follows:

	TOBACCO & CIGARETTES	SUNDRIES[2]	E CIGARETTE
DECEMBER 2014	318,300	252,500	310
JANUARY 2015	352,500	284,200	140
FEBURARY 2015	283,600	228,300	80
MARCH 2015	291,700	228,400	20
APRIL 2015	344,100	282,500	40
MAY 2015	290,800	230,100	60
JUNE 2015	286,000	216,000	60
JULY 2015	350,400	268,400	40
AUGUST 2015	286,900	220,400	6,500
SEPTEMBER 2015	280,200	219,100	5,600
OCTOBER 2015	344,200	268,700	3,000
NOVEMBER 2015	278,400	220,200	1,500

It should be noted that some of the variation in monthly sales is due to months having four weekly accounting periods and other months having five.

From December 2014 to mid-August 2015 e-cigarettes were only available in prisons in Wales plus the three Public Sector Prison establishments in England, (Eastwood Park, Stocken, and Preston) hence the relatively low sales. From 17 August 2015 all public sector establishments offered an e-cigarette on their Local Product List (prison shop form). The decrease in e-cigarette sales since August is thought to be due to an initial peak in sales when these products were first introduced.

[1] Rounded to the nearest 100, or nearest 10 when sales are less than 1,000.

[2] Sundries include, for example, rolling papers, lighters, matches, filter tips and rolling machines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to implement the second legal aid fee cut when its suspension ends on 1 April 2017.

Lord Faulks

We will review the matter in due course and any announcement will be made in the usual way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prison inmates are enrolled on courses or treatments to help them stop smoking.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Validated information is not available centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect of planned changes to personal injury law and whiplash claims on access to justice.

Lord Faulks

The Government will consult on the detail of the new reforms in due course, including any necessary safeguards. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions the fire brigade has been called to an incident at a migrant detention centre in each of the last five years.

Lord Bates

Information for the complete data period requested is not held centrally.

Provisional management information available on the number of attendances by the fire brigade for fires at immigration removal centres from January 2013 is provided below in line with the period for published statistics:

Jan to Dec 2013 – 12 incidents

Jan to Dec 2014 – 10 incidents

Jan to Sep 2015 – 8 incidents

Attendances by the fire brigade for incidents other than fires during the same data period could only be provided by examination of individual records so this information cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the Justice Secretary Michael Gove’s letter to the Justice Select Committee chair dated 19 February regarding errors in the processing of warrants, how many staff have been suspended or have had disciplinary action taken against them as a result of such errors.

Lord Faulks

To date formal disciplinary action has been initiated against eight members of staff in Greater Manchester. Two of the eight have been suspended pending the formal disciplinary proceedings.

These are inexcusable errors, for which we sincerely apologise. HMCTS is conducting a full investigation and will take appropriate disciplinary action. Immediate steps have been taken to ensure that proper procedures are now being followed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many literacy courses were enrolled on by offenders assessed as having a literacy need in each year since 2010.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The number of offender learners participating in English courses for all academic years where data are available is shown in Table 1. A separate breakdown identifying learners who participated on an English course after being assessed as having a literacy need is not available.

Table 1: Offender Learner Participation in English (2010/11 and 2013/14)

2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14
23,980	25,220	22,620	26,080

Notes

1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.

Mandatory English and maths assessments for newly-received prisoners (except individuals who have been assessed recently, and those who already have maths and English at Level 2) were introduced from academic year 2014/15. The outcomes for the English education assessments in 2014/15 are published online at the FE Data Library (link below) and attached.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473764/feandskills-OLASS-participation-english-and-maths-assessments.xls

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many years’ worth in sentences have been handed out to offenders brought back to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant.

Lord Faulks

This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant. These can be found on their website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total value of criminal courts charges (1) issued by the courts, and (2) collected to date; and what estimate they have made of the total cost of enforcement to date.

Lord Faulks

Information on the enforcement of financial impositions is contained within an annex to Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly statistical bulletin published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice.

Data relating to the criminal courts charge for the period April to September 2015 will be published on 17 December 2015. This will separately identify the monetary values of the criminal courts charge imposed and collected since 13 April 2015.

The cost of enforcing the criminal courts charge cannot be separated from the total cost of enforcing all types of court ordered financial impositions. Enforcement action is taken against the total amount an offender owes and offenders are often ordered to pay more than one type of financial imposition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total spent, above basic salaries, on staff on detached duty at young offender institutions in England and Wales in each month between October 2014 and October 2015 inclusive.

Lord Faulks

The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required.

The total amount spent on staff on detached duties above basic salaries could only be provided at disproportionate cost.