Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions there have been in the past three years for (1) theft where the sum of money or the value of the goods alleged to have been taken is £10 or less, (2) begging, and (3) rough sleeping.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts for theft offences, and begging and sleeping out, in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2014 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for selected offence categories, England and Wales, 2012 to 2014 (1)(2) | |||
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Offence category | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
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Theft offences | 144,972 | 142,011 | 135,401 |
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Begging | 1,229 | 2,097 | 2,219 |
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Sleeping out | 21 | 30 | 23 |
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(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. | |||
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(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |||
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Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | |||
Ref: PQ HL 8107 |
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Information on the value of the items involved in each individual theft offence is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The figures in the table can also be found in the Outcomes by Offence tables in the annual publication on the Government website.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim communities in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Everyone in Britain has the right to feel safe and at ease in the place where they live. There is no place for hatred against people because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, faith, sexual orientation, age or disability.
Anti-Muslim attacks rose 30-40% in the first two weeks after the Paris attacks. These attacks are unacceptable in Britain. The Government funds Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) to encourage reporting of these crimes and to support victims. We have also set up the first cross Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group to raise awareness of Islamaphobic attacks. In addition, the Prime Minister announced that the police will disaggregate hate crime by religion beginning in April 2016. This will help the police to build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to hold them to account.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of cutting the funding at higher education level of arts subjects on (1) the choice available to students, and (2) the creative industries.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
As with other degrees, since 2012, Higher Education Institutions with an Access Agreement approved by the Office for Fair Access have been able to charge up to £9,000 a year for an arts degree. This funding comes via student loans and universities compete on quality and their offer to students. The Government also supports specialist institutions such as art and music colleges through the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Institution-specific Funding.
We value the creative industries which is why we support them through these and other policies. We are working with industry to take forward the recommendations in *CreateUK, the strategy for the sector developed by industry members of the Creative Industries Council.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the claim by the Secretary of State for Education that those studying solely arts and humanities subjects will be "held back" on students who are, or are considering, studying those subjects.
Answered by Lord Nash
The government wants all young people to benefit from a broad and balanced education that equips them with the knowledge, skills and character they need to thrive in modern Britain and realise their full potential. Arts and humanities subjects form part of a broad and balanced curriculum. Our expectation is that every child should experience a high quality arts and humanities education. That is why the national curriculum sets the expectation that pupils study these subjects in key stages 1 to 3.
At key stage 4, the government wants to increase the number of pupils who take GCSEs in the EBacc subjects of English, maths, science, history or geography and a language. These are the subjects that give young people the most options in their futures and will help to secure a place at university or in employment.
As the EBacc is a specific, limited measure consisting of five subject pillars and up to eight GCSEs, there is time in the curriculum for most pupils to study other valuable subjects. The proportion of pupils in state-funded schools taking at least one GCSE in an arts subject has increased since the EBacc was first introduced, rising from 46% in 2011 to 50% in 2015.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) men, and (2) women, were imprisoned for non-payment of council tax in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, and (c) 2014.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Data showing how many people were imprisoned for non-payment of council tax in 2012, 2013 and 2014 are presented in the table below:
Year | Female | Male | Not Specified |
2012 | 41 | 62 | 4 |
2013 | 41 | 60 | 7 |
2014 | 33 | 45 | 11 |
It should be noted that there are a few cases where the gender of the defendant has not been specified and these have been shown separately in the table above.
These data are sourced from the Libra Management Information System (MIS). As such this data set is not subject to the same levels of quality assurance as national statistics
In extracting this data only offences of complaint for council tax committal application have been included where the court hearing date occurred within each year reported (i.e. between 1 January and 31 December).
It should also be noted that, although committals to prison are reported as occurring within a particular financial year, the non-payment of council tax itself may relate to a previous financial year or even a period covering more than one financial year.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce measures to combat Islamophobia in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government has done more than any other to tackle anti-Muslim hatred:
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce measures to help prevent Muslims born and bred in the United Kingdom from being labelled by their faith and excluded from the mainstream.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My rt hon friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Eric Pickles) made a Written Ministerial Statement on 18 December, Official Report Column 110WS, setting out the Government’s work on integration. As the Statement notes since 2010 the Department for Communities and Local Government has spent £45 million on supporting integration projects. It also makes clear that we are rising to the challenges, championing what unites our country across class, colour and creed and making clear that Britain is a stronger nation because of its faith communities. We are also taking initiatives and supporting communities in addressing anti-Muslim hatred.
We are clear that British values are Muslim values and there are incredible and powerful examples of Muslim social action and charitable contributions made by Britain's Muslim communities. Britain has a proud track record of multi-faith cooperation and we are confident that our communities work together in strengthening society. This cannot be achieved by Government alone and local communities and faith leaders are in a unique position in working with Government in ensuring that no British citizen feels marginalised.