Tag: Philip Davies

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women convicted of benefit fraud in each of the last five years received (i) a conditional discharge, (ii) a fine, (iii) a community order and (iv) a suspended prison sentence.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Department for Work and Pensions operates a tough series of specific penalties for benefit fraud that run alongside the criminal justice system. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 toughened penalties for those who commit, or attempt to commit benefit fraud. We have introduced a financial administrative penalty as an alternative to prosecution which, for the first time, can be applied to attempted fraud.

    The Government has also introduced a tougher loss of benefit penalty to restrict benefits to people convicted of benefit fraud or who have accepted an administrative penalty. Benefits can be reduced for periods of 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 3 years, dependent on the number of benefit fraud offences committed within a specified period, where the latest offence results in a conviction.

    Judges make their decisions independently of Government based on the facts of each case. The maximum penalty for fraud is 10 years in prison.

    The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ court found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to benefit fraud, with sentencing outcomes and the average custodial sentence length by gender, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.

    Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what measures are in place to ensure that aid given to foreign countries is used for the purposes intended; and what proportion of such aid not being used for those purposes would result in future aid being denied to that country.

    Justine Greening

    DFID has a number of controls in place focussing on monitoring and evaluation, including both internal and external audits and reports from the International Development Committee and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.

    DFID has strong internal review processes in place to make sure projects are properly monitored and closed if they are not delivering good results and value for money.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2014, Official Report, column 821W, on immigration controls, what procedures are in place to ensure that immigration officers ensure the removal of any face coverings before authorising entry to the UK; how many incidents have been recorded where the correct procedures relating to the removal of face coverings have not been followed by immigration officers in each of the last three years; and what disciplinary action has been taken in such incidents in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average compensation payment ordered in employment tribunal cases relating to discrimination on the grounds of race was, by ethnicity of complainant, in each of the last five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I am answering these questions together.

    Data on highest compensation awards for discrimination jurisdictions for the last five years are set out in Tables E6 to E10 of the latest Official Statistics release published by the Ministry of Justice, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013.

    Data on average compensation awards in race discrimination and religious discrimination claims are set out in Tables E6 and E9 of that publication, respectively.

    Information on the nature of complaints upheld, and the type of race or religion relevant to individual claims, is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost following a manual trawl of all relevant tribunal files. The records retention and disposal schedule applicable to such tribunal files also means that information covering each of the last five years would not be held.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) court possession orders and (b) interim possession orders in relation to squatting in non-residential buildings have been made since the introduction of the criminal offence of squatting in a residential building; and how many such orders were made in the equivalent period preceding this law being implemented.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    While we hold records on the total number of possession orders and interim possession orders applied for and granted by the civil courts, our databases do not show what proportion of these related to non-residential buildings or, in the case of possession orders, actions against trespassers. Such information could only be obtained by manually checking court case files at a disproportionate cost.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which powers he is seeking to repatriate from the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in May, Brussels has got too big, too bossy, too interfering. It should be nation states wherever possible, Europe only where necessary.

    Our reform priorities are to make the EU more democratically accountable, more competitive and more flexible.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the action by barristers on (a) 6 January 2014 and (b) 7 March 2014; and what his policy is on imposing a costs sanction on the barristers involved.

    Shailesh Vara

    We have not yet made an estimate of the cost to the taxpayer of the action by barristers on 6 January and 7 March 2014. The question of costs is a matter for judges to consider in individual cases under the provisions set out in the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (as amended).

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were released on temporary licence for (a) up to 12 hours, (b) 12 to 24 hours and (c) over 24 hours in a week in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prisoners may be released on temporary licence for reasons linked to their resettlement needs and sentence plans, or where there are compelling circumstances that justify the release. Last month, we announced a range of measures to strengthen the existing temporary release provisions to ensure that the right balance is always struck between facilitating resettlement and protecting the public. Under our plans, public protection will always take priority.

    Data on the number of hours for which prisoners are released on temporary licence is not collated centrally.

    Data on temporary releases in 2012 is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-notice-releases-on-temporary-licence-2012

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