Tag: Philip Davies

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners are currently serving sentences in the UK that were (a) handed down by the International Criminal Court or (b) heard at the Hague.

Andrew Selous

One prisoner convicted and sentenced at The Hague by the Special Court for Sierra Leone is serving his sentence in the United Kingdom. There are no prisoners serving sentences in the UK which were handed down by the International Criminal Court.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-09-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27 July 2015 to Question 7826, what his definition is of a contentious grant; and whether any grants have come into this category since October 2014.

Greg Hands

The principles and guidance for government departments set out in Managing Public Money explain that departments need Treasury consent before undertaking expenditure. Specific Treasury approval is required for any spending outside delegated authorities or which set precedents, are novel, contentious or could cause repercussions elsewhere in the public sector. Managing Public Money does not seek to define these terms beyond their normal meaning, but does include the Treasury’s expectation (in respect of certain payments) that the responsible accounting officers would feel able to justify proposed payments in parliament if challenged.

The scheme described in response to Question 7826 was established in line with these principles.The Treasury was not asked to give specific approval to any of the grants made since 2014 under section 64 of the Health and Public Health Act 1968 mentioned in the Hon. Member’s previous question.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many DNA profiles of current prisoners have not been added to the DNA database.

Karen Bradley

The information requested is not held.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost per (a) prison place and (b) prisoner in each category of prison was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright

The Department routinely publishes average costs per prisoner and prison place, based on actual net resource expenditure for each private and public sector prison and in summary form for the whole of the prison estate in England and Wales on an annual basis after the end of each financial year. This includes a breakdown of these costs by prison category and individual prison within each category, and separately by prisoner gender.

The most recently published figures are for financial year 2012-13 which give an average annual Overall cost per place of £36,808 and average annual Overall cost per prisoner of £34,766. An average annual cost per male prisoner of £34,306 and £44,746 per female prisoner, based on Overall resource costs, is also published.

The information for financial year 2012-13 is available in the Cost per Place and Prisoner and Supplementary Information files on the Department’s website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201213

Figures for 2013-14 will be published alongside the Management Information Addendums to the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts in October 2014.

Continuing to reduce prison unit costs is one of the key targets for the Department. Between 2009/10 and 2012/13 prison unit costs (based on Overall prison costs) have reduced in real terms by 16% per place and 13% per prisoner.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of those convicted of a knife crime offence were sentenced to prison for (a) up to six months, (b) up to and (c) over 12 months in the last 12 months.

Mike Penning

Knives on our streets are a social scourge. Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon is already a serious criminal offence (which carries a maximum 4 year custodial sentence). We are building on that to send a clear and unequivocal message that those who use a knife or offensive weapon to threaten another person are behaving in a wholly unacceptable manner and can expect an automatic custodial sentence.

This Government introduced the offences of threatening with a knife or offensive weapon in public or in a school. And last year, the Government made changes to the Simple Cautions Guidance issued to police to restrict the use of cautions for certain offences, including knife possession, in all but exceptional circumstances. The Ministry of Justice is also legislating on these changes within the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, to make it absolutely clear that cautions should no longer be used for serious offences such as those involving a knife or offensive weapon.

Within the sentencing framework, it is for judges and magistrates to decide the appropriate sentence in individual cases taking account of the harm the offence caused and the culpability of the offender. Under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, there is an obligation on courts, when sentencing for offences, to follow the guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council, unless it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold information disaggregating crimes committed using a knife, as opposed to violent offences committed via other means. However, detailed figures relating to knife and offensive weapon possession are published on a quarterly basis, the latest version of which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly-brief-july-to-september-2014

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contact his Department had with Action on Smoking and Health on the Tobacco Control Strategy 2011 before publication of that strategy.

Jane Ellison

Health Lives, Healthy People: A Tobacco Control Plan for England, states that the plan was developed in collaboration with local government representatives, public health advocacy groups, academics, clinicians, professional bodies and retailers.This included Action on Smoking and Health.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful matches there have been between DNA profiles taken from crime scenes and those stored on the National DNA Database in each of the last two years.

Karen Bradley

The requested data are as follows:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the ratio of prison officers to inmates in prisons in England and Wales was, by category of prison, in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous

Staffing levels are being reviewed prison by prison as part of a ‘benchmarking approach’. Benchmarking has been agreed with the unions and the NAO has commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years. It delivers efficiencies while ensuring that public sector prisons operate safely, decently and securely. Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing roles.

The information requested has been placed in the library and extends the table provided to the honourable member for Tooting on 4 Mar 2014, Official Report, 805W. The tables include both public and private sector establishments. Figures are not however comparable across public and private sector establishments. There is no comparison within Private Sector Prisons for Prison Officer Specialists. Functions carried out by badged officers vary, particularly across private prisons, relating to whether functions are civilianised, contracted out, or performed by badged officers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2014 to Question 214859, how many foreign national prisoners from each country were convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014.

Andrew Selous

International prisoner transfer arrangements may enable non-nationals to apply to transfer to their state of normal residence or to the state to which they have close ties. There is no requirement on a state to accept the transfer of a non-national resident. Since 2010, no such transfers have taken place to England and Wales. Prisoner transfer is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014 are in the attached table 1.

The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country, convicted of each offence type from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 are at the attached table 2. Prison receptions data for April to June 2014 is not available by offence group due to problems with data quality. Figures for this period will be published in due course subject to the result of ongoing investigations. Prison receptions data for July to September 2014 is currently not available and is due to be published on 29 January 2015.

The number of foreign national offenders in our prisons has reduced since 2010, compared to that number doubling between 1997 – 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2015 to Question 2761, if he will place in the Library a copy of the grant application received by his Department from Action on Smoking and Health.

Jane Ellison

The Department has received a request for grant funding from Action on Smoking and Health for the 2015-16 financial year. This proposal is currently under assessment and a decision on funding has not yet been made.