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 are operational to enable witnesses to give evidence away from court; in which areas such sites are located; how many such sites are available to children under the age of 18; and how many such sites have been used by children under the age of 18.

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 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2015 to Question 13136, what consideration he has given to such representation made by the hon. Member for Shipley.

Alistair Burt

We have noted the hon. Member’s representations on this matter and will continue to take them into account.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving prisoners were not in prison on 25 December 2015; what offences were committed by each such offender; and how many such offences were in what category of violent offences against the person offences.

Andrew Selous

The data to answer this question is currently unavailable. The Ministry of Justice publishes data on incidences of release on temporary licence and the number of prisoners released on ROTL on a quarterly basis. The data is collated a quarter in arrears and published after quality assurance. Data for the fourth quarter of 2015 will be published on 28 April 2016.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

Matthew Hancock

The Prime Minister’s office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

No staff receive a home to work travel allowance or a car allowance. Health insurance is not a benefit offered to staff however, due to a TUPE transfer where Cabinet Office brought staff in from the private sector there a smaller number of staff able to claim subsidised health insurance.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff in his Department receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

Alun Cairns

No staff in the Wales Office receive these allowances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to make representations to EU institutions on EU plans to tax (a) e-cigarettes and (b) other reduced risk products at the same rates as combustible cigarettes.

Damian Hinds

There are no plans to mandate EU-level rules on taxing e-cigarettes and no legislative proposals have been submitted. As the EU Commission clarified last week, all that has happened is that the Commission has been asked to further analyse the issue of e-cigarettes as part of a wider review of the Tobacco Duties Directive (2011/64/EU). Any proposal would need the unanimous support of all 28 EU governments for it to be approved.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2016 to Question 26829, what the job titles are of those people in receipt of travel expenses, paid car allowances or subsidised health insurance.

Justin Tomlinson

The information about job titles is not held.

DWP expenses are paid in line with the Civil Service Management Code.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential costs and benefits of introducing an import tax on coal and gas imported from outside the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

The UK is part of the EU Single market which has a common EU tariff policy which applies to all imports. Import tariffs are set by the EU. The UK has no legal ability to set its own import tariffs.

EU tariffs rates form part of our World Trade Organisation (WTO) commitments and apply to all WTO member countries. Under WTO rules increases to EU tariffs above the level committed to, or ‘bound’ rate, require us to give compensation to affected countries (in the form of lower tariffs on other products). Any potential benefit of an import tariff increase may therefore harm another UK sector.

The latest version of the EU tariff was published in Official Journal to the EU L285 on 30 October 2015 (Council implementing Regulation EU No 1101/2014 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC|) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff). Chapter 27 covers the import of fuel including coal and gas. The import of coal has a 0% import duty and the import of gas ranges from 0% to 8% depending on the type and usage.

WTO rules, do however allow countries to impose import tariffs when goods are being “dumped” e.g. sold on our market at below manufacturing cost price. If there is evidence that imports of coal and gas are being dumped the European Commission could propose imposing anti-dumping duties.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on which religious occasions prisoners are eligible for release on temporary licence; and how many prisoners were released on each such occasion in the last year for which information is held.

Andrew Selous

Faith communities can play a significant part in supporting offenders to resettle into the community. Facilities for worship are available in each establishment but, as part of restoring links between the offender and wider community, suitable, risk-assessed offenders may attend worship outside the prison to help them adjust to the climate of non-prison worship and mixing with the community. In addition, temporary release for the purpose of maintaining family ties might be timed so as to coincide with religious occasions. There is no prescription as to the nature of the religious occasion; it is for the governor, on the advice of the temporary release board, to decide whether the activity is linked to the offender’s resettlement plan.

Records show that, in 2015, prisoners were released on temporary licence specifically in order to attend a religious service on 90 occasions.

Releases on temporary licence (ROTL) recorded as "attend religious service", 2011-2015, England & Wales

Attend religious service	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Incidences of ROTL	231	217	139	228	90

NB. This is number of occasions a prisoner was released, not number of prisoners released.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people who have had their application for asylum refused but cannot legally be returned to their country of origin.

James Brokenshire

The government expects those who have been refused asylum and who have no lawful basis to remain in the UK to leave at the earliest opportunity. If there is a genuine obstacle that prevents a failed asylum seeker’s departure from the UK and they are destitute, they can apply for support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. As of 31 December 2015, a total of 3,821 failed asylum seekers and their dependants were supported under section 4.