Tag: Philip Davies

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remote sites (a) are operational to enable witnesses to give evidence away from court, (b) were available for use by children under the age of 18 in 2014-15 and (c) were used by children under the age of 18 in that year.

Mike Penning

The Ministry is committed to supporting all victims and witnesses, including children, when giving evidence in criminal trials. All victims and witnesses are eligible for special measures to relieve stress when giving evidence, including giving evidence by video remotely.

We have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan for investing this in reforming the courts and tribunals so they can deliver swifter, fairer justice at a lower cost. This will include digitisation and modernisation of our IT infrastructure. This will mean court users can attend hearings remotely, and not be inconvenienced by having to take a day off work to come to court. It will also mean victims of crime can give evidence from somewhere they feel safe.

Since March 2015 vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, including child abuse victims, can give evidence from a remote site which is away from the court environment. There is at least one remote site in each of the seven Regions in England and Wales, and twelve sites in total.

In addition, the court estate is video-enabled so that any victim or witness can give evidence from a court building other than the trial site to ensure they do not come into contact with the defendant, or their family and supporters.

Whilst HMCTS collates data on the number of witnesses giving evidence by video, the ages of the victims and witnesses are not recorded.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 13471, if he will assess the proposed standardised packaging of tobacco against the revised one in, two out framework criteria published by the Better Regulation Executive in its publication entitled, Better Regulation Framework Manual, published in March 2015.

Jane Ellison

Government policies, including standardised packaging of tobacco products, are assessed against the Better Regulation Framework in place at the time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2015 to Question 18367, what length of sentence was handed down to each offender convicted of offences involving inciting terrorism in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous

All the offenders convicted of the specified offences below involving inciting terrorism received immediate custodial sentences. The number of offenders found guilty and sentenced, with sentencing outcomes, for offences related to inciting terrorism, in all courts in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2014, can be viewed in the tables, as follows:

• Table 1 includes data on Section 59 of the Terrorism Act 2000
• Table 2 includes data on Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
• Table 3 includes data on Sections 15 to 19 of the Terrorism Act 2000
• Table 4 includes data on Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual cost of paying child benefit to EU nationals under the terms of the renegotiation proposed by the EU Council President.

Damian Hinds

The information is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff in her Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

No one working in my Department is in receipt of any of these allowances.

My Department has two executive non-departmental public bodies – the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body – the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As these bodies are independent of Government, the hon Member may wish to write to the Commissions directly on these matters – contact details are set out below:

ALB	Status	Contact Details
Parades Commission for Northern Ireland	Executive NDPB	info@paradescommission.org
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission	Executive NDPB	information@nihrc.org
Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland	Advisory NDPB	contact@boundarycommission.org.uk

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15303, on reoffenders, how many (a) offenders had committed each of the listed offences and (b) offenders in each category were given a fixed term recall for committing a further offence.

Dominic Raab

I am unable to provide the data you have requested in Question 29034 within the timescales for this parliamentary question. I will write to you in due course with such data as officials can collate it from casework systems.

Any offender who is believed to have committed further offences whilst on licence is liable to be arrested and charged and, if convicted, given a further sentence. If the offence is serious, they can be remanded into custody until trial. Offenders on licence who are charged with further offences are also liable to be recalled, potentially to serve the rest of their sentence in prison, as they will be in breach of the requirement of their licence to be of good behaviour. If the offender is assessed as not presenting a risk of harm to the public they can be assessed as suitable for a shorter, fixed term recall. Those who have been charged with serious sexual or violent offences will not be considered suitable for a fixed term recall.

The table below provides the proportion of recalls in 2013 and 2014 and the proportion who received a fixed term recall.

Year	Proportion of total recalls which were fixed term
2014	42%
2013	42%

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what security checks are in place to verify Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) visa applications.

James Brokenshire

All out of country entry clearance applications are subject to an extensive range of mandatory and discretionary checks.

These include, but are not limited to, identity, travel document verification, searches against national and international police records and against previous Immigration history. Biographic and biometric checks can also be made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will seek evidence from (a) the NUM, (b) Unite, (c) Hargreaves Services plc, (d) Banks Mining, (e) Celtic Energy and (f) Miller Agent in her Department’s consultation on the future of coal-fired power stations; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

All interested parties including the NUM, Unite, Hargreaves Services plc, Banks Mining, Celtic Energy and Miller Agent are encouraged to engage and respond to the consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have participated in an out-of-court restorative justice resolution on more than one occasion.

Mike Penning

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

It is vital that victims see swift and certain justice delivered to their offender. It is also vital that victims of crime get the help they need to cope with, and recover from, crime.

That is why we have protected the victims’ budget and given Police and Crime Commissioners greater flexibility to decide which services are needed in their local area. Restorative Justice can be a part of a wide range of services offered to victims of crime, and we are providing advice and guidance to help Police and Crime Commissioners deliver it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost to the public purse was of (a) a district judge and (b) bench of magistrates hearing (i) a guilty plea case, (ii) a summary trial and (iii) an either-way trial in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The requested information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.