Tag: Lord Trefgarne

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Chairman of Committees how much has been paid to Electoral Reform Services for their supervision of each hereditary peers by-election since the start of the 2014–15 session in the House of Lords.

Lord Laming

The table below shows the date of the count of, those eligible to vote in the by-election and the amount paid to Electoral Reform Services in respect of each by-election since the start of the 2014–15 session.

The by-election in October 2014 involved the manning of a polling station for a day.

Amounts are exclusive of VAT. The table does not include two recent by-elections in respect of which Electoral Reform Services has provided services but not yet been paid.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what controls exist relating to the release of information on vehicle ownership held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) takes the security of the data it holds very seriously and has measures in place to protect it. The law allows vehicle keeper details to be disclosed in certain circumstances, including as a first point of contact to establish where liability for an incident or event may lie.

All DVLA’s data release services are subject to a formal assessment before they are made available for use. This ensures that there are adequate policies as well as procedural and technical controls in place to protect the data. Privacy Impact Assessments are also completed to identify and address any privacy risks and ensure that personal data is processed in compliance with the law.

An audit carried out earlier this year by the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed that the DVLA’s procedures offer high assurance that processes are in place to mitigate the risks of non-compliance with the Data Protection Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-12-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many women responsible for one or more young children are currently serving prison sentences in England and Wales, and what assessment they have made of the sentencing guidelines relating to such women.

Lord Faulks

The specific information requested is not held.

Sentencing guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council. They are available on the Sentencing Council website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Vigilant motorised gliders are presently available for training RAF Cadets and potential aircrews.

Earl Howe

There are currently four Vigilant motorised gliders available for training RAF cadets, and a further four are about to return to service. Air experience opportunities have been afforded to our cadets in the interim. These include flights in other RAF aircraft, as well as opportunities to fly in civilian gliders. Vigilant is not used to train potential regular RAF aircrew.

We recognise how frustrating this has been for our Air Cadets, but safety has got to be our top priority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-12-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will clarify whether they intend to reissue the 65+ Guarantee of Growth Bonds as and when they mature.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

65+ GGB “Pensioner” Bonds were a special issue aimed at helping pensioners who rely on their savings in retirement. There are currently no plans for a further issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2015-12-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 17 December (HL4250), whether they now have any additional information about the number of women responsible for one or more young children who are currently serving prison sentences in England and Wales.

Lord Faulks

Whilst the specific information requested is not held, the Ministry of Justice recently published statistics on child dependents of female offenders, which can be found at gov.uk on the Statistics at MOJ pages under the topic Ad-hoc justice statistics. A copy of the report is attached here.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Criminal Cases Review Commission to make and publish a decision in respect of the case of Sgt Alexander Blackman.

Lord Faulks

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is independent of Government and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on specific cases. I understand the average time that it takes the CCRC to reach an initial decision is seven months, although the length of time will depend upon the complexity of the application and the individual case.

I am informed that the CCRC has assessed Mr Blackman’s case as a level one priority case and this has been communicated to him and his representatives

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers are available to ministers to order the release of prisoners duly sentenced and held in England and Wales.

Lord Faulks

Prisoners are held in accordance with the type and length of sentence they are given by the courts and legislation prescribes when and how they are to be released. The majority are released automatically, with standard determinate sentence prisoners released at the half-way point in their sentence. Some prisoners are released at the discretion of the independent Parole Board – for example, all prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence and some extended sentence prisoners – once they have reached the point in their sentence when they are eligible to be considered for parole.

Legislation also gives the Secretary of State discretion to release sentenced prisoners in certain circumstances. In practice, these decisions are taken on behalf of the Secretary of State by prison governors or other officials in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). For example, some shorter sentenced, low risk offenders may be considered for release before their automatic release date under the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme, at the discretion of prison governors.

There is also a statutory power for the Secretary of State to release any sentenced prisoner if there are exceptional circumstances which justify release on compassionate grounds. Decisions on whether to grant early compassionate release are taken on a case-by-case basis by senior officials in NOMS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Chairman of Committees what assessment he has made of the progress made in respect of the roadworks underway in Bridge Street at the northern end of Westminster Bridge, and when he expects those works to be completed.

Lord Laming

The work on Bridge Street, Westminster Bridge and Victoria Embankment is due to be completed by the end of this month; remaining works around Parliament Square should be completed by the end of April as planned. There have been detailed and helpful discussions, and ongoing liaison, between the Administrations of both Houses and Transport for London about the scheduling of the work in order to ensure that the plans for the cycle superhighway disrupt access to Parliament as little as possible. Since the works began, there have been no reports that they have adversely affected or disrupted the business of Parliament. Parliament has shared information about these works on the intranet.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to require cyclists using the public highway to carry photo identification.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

We have no plans to make cyclists carry photographic or other forms of identification. The police already have sufficient powers if they are unsure of a person’s identity. There are other users of the highway, for instance pedestrians and horse riders who are also not required to carry personal identification, or have other forms of identification, e.g. registration numbers displayed.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 sets out the general powers available to the police, including in circumstances when an individual’s identity needs to be established, or when false identity information has been provided. Similarly, powers exist under Section 168 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, where the person is suspected of having committed an offence under Sections 28 (Dangerous Cycling) and 29 (Careless Cycling) of the same Act. The application of any such powers is an operational matter for the police.