Tag: Lord Lester of Herne Hill

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether public funds are used by the Police Federation to support defamation litigation.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Funding provided by the Government to the Police Federation of England and Wales may only be used for specific purposes. These are to pay part of the salaries of its principal officers, and to support their statutory function in negotiating the pay of police officers.

    As the Home Secretary announced on 21 May, all Government funding provided to the Police Federation will cease by August this year.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take in the light of the judgments of the Supreme Court in the case of Stott v Thomas CookTour Operators Ltd [2014] UKSC 15 to ensure that airline passengers have redress for violations of their fundamental human rights.

    Baroness Kramer

    The Department for Transport is currently considering the decision of the Supreme Court Judgement on the Stott v Thomas Cook case and any actions that may be necessary as a result.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take into account the Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information in reviewing legislation and practice concerning access to information, as recommended by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution of 2 October 2013.

    Lord Faulks

    The UK Government notes that the recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be considered by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in the near future. The UK Government is considering how to respond to the recommendation.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their reasons for reducing the access to books of prisoners serving sentences in England and Wales.

    Lord Faulks

    We have not made any policy changes specifically about the availability of books in prisons.

    We have always recognised the importance of reading and literature in the rehabilitative process, and the positive effects these have on prisoners’ welfare. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access. Prisoners may hold up to 12 books in their cell at any one time, and additional books can be stored locally at the prison. The National Offender Management Service also works closely with the Shannon Trust to support schemes such as ‘Toe by Toe’, which includes peer mentoring to improve reading levels.

    There have always been controls on the sending of parcels into prisons, and allowing parcels to be sent in unrestricted would be operationally unmanageable and would lead to a significant risk of drugs and other illicit items being smuggled into prisons.