Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121252, on Coroners, whether he has made an assessment of whether the actions of the Coroner for Inner North London are in line with that guidance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Coroners are independent judicial office holders. As such, it would be inappropriate for Ministers to comment.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance is issued to Coroners on respect for religious beliefs which require speedy burial following death.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Guidance for coroners is issued by the Chief Coroner.
The needs of those faiths which require early burial can only be fully met if coroners provide an out of hours service. In his Annual Report for 2016-2017 the Chief Coroner recommended that coroner areas should provide an out of hours service but that they should normally do so on a ‘light touch’ basis. He went on to say however that “in some areas an out of hours service will require more, particularly in order to assist families who seek early burial for their loved ones”.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice’s Guide to Coroner Services, which is available on gov.uk and is aimed in particular at bereaved families, says that “the coroner’s office will take account where possible of individuals’ views and expectations, including family and community preferences, traditions and religious requirements relating to mourning, post-mortem examinations and funerals”.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the letter from the Right hon. Member for Warley on Mr Maxwell.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The response you have requested was sent out on 13 November 2017.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign prisoners have been (a) deported and (b) transferred to foreign prisons in 2017.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government is absolutely committed to removing Foreign National Offenders from the United Kingdom. 6,343 FNOs were removed in 2016/17 – a record number. Of these, 110 prisoners were transferred to prisons in their own countries in the same period.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much HM Prison Service has paid in redundancy packages to its staff in each since 2010.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Data on exit payments is in the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts and can be found on www.gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department's purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Ministry of Justice complies with all public procurement policy notes, published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/procurement-policy-notes. These include measures to support both British industry and British agriculture.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department last discussed votes for prisoners with the Council of Europe.
Answered by Dominic Raab
I visited the Council of Europe and discussed votes for prisoners on 7 December 2015. We have consistently made clear that prisoner voting is a matter for Parliament to determine. I explained at the September Committee of Ministers meeting that there was no realistic prospect of Parliament lifting the current ban for the foreseeable future.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to announce changes to procedures to deal with motor accident claims for whiplash.
Answered by Dominic Raab
In his Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced further reforms to tackle the number and cost of whiplash claims. The Government will consult on the detail of these reforms in due course.