Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they hold on the number of, and circumstances behind, arson attacks on churches in (1) the UK, and (2) overseas, in the last two years; how many prosecutions there have been for such attacks in the UK; and what assessment they have made of the motives of those responsible.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
We have consulted Home Office, who do not hold detailed information for all police forces around the circumstances and location of offences. Detailed information on the location of arson offences, such as churches, may be held on court record but to be able to identify these cases, as they are not held centrally, we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost. Matters relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for those respective devolved administrations. |
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what contact they have had, if any, with the Birmingham Coroner to establish what is known about the origins of the 20 skinless human bodies being exhibited at the National Exhibition Centre; and whether inquests will be opened to establish the facts involved in their deaths.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Coroners are independent judicial office holders and as such it would be inappropriate for Ministers to intervene in or comment upon the decisions of the Birmingham and Solihull Senior Coroner.
The exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre has been licenced by the Human Tissue Authority in line with the provisions of the Human Tissue Act 2004. Responsibility for hosting the exhibition and maintaining ethical standards lies with the National Exhibition Centre.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) prosecutions, and (2) convictions, for female genital mutilation there have been since it was criminalised in 1985; and in each case, what sentences were imposed by the courts.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Up until 31 December 2017, there have been two prosecutions (one in 2014, one in 2016) and no convictions for female genital mutilation under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
Data for 2018 will be published in May 2019.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 3 November (HL Deb col 770), what estimate they have made of the financial cost of each suicide which occurs in prisons and of the annual cumulative cost.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Every death in custody is a tragedy, and the Government is committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prison. It is very difficult to accurately calculate the financial costs of suicide in prison.
Action to reduce the number of self-inflicted deaths is an urgent priority, and our plans, including investment in 2,500 more prison officers across the prison estate, are set out in the White Paper on Prison Safety and Reform which was published earlier this month.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply of Earl Howe on 15 March (HL Deb, col 1736) that in the UK a declaration of genocide is "a matter for the judicial system", what they consider to be a prerequisite for such a declaration to be made by British judicial authorities; who is responsible for instigating this; and what is their response to the recent declarations of genocide against Daesh made by the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The judiciary in England and Wales does not make general declarations on genocide. It is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred should be a matter for the international judicial system.
Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. The UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh's inhumanity.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what budgetary provision the Information Commissioner’s Office has made regarding its data protection activities for the next financial year.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) data protection activities are funded by fees from organisations that process personal data. The amount available to spend each year is dependent on the number of organisations that notify with the ICO.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Ministry of Justice have given to ensuring that action is taken against all those who have not complied with their registration obligations; what weight the possible disadvantage to those who have paid their due fees is given in deciding whether to prosecute non-registration; and what assessment they have made of whether all those involved in the administration of justice are compliant.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.
The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.
In 2014/15 the ICO brought eight prosecutions against organisations for non-notification and two prosecutions for wrong purposes.
The Ministry of Justice and the ICO are looking at the current funding model as part of negotiations on the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial incentive or disincentive for the Information Commissioner’s Office to maximise the registration fee income it receives and recoup any registration fee income that has not been paid by data controllers in previous years.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.
The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.
In 2014/15 the ICO brought eight prosecutions against organisations for non-notification and two prosecutions for wrong purposes.
The Ministry of Justice and the ICO are looking at the current funding model as part of negotiations on the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps have been taken and what steps they plan to take to increase the number of registrations with the Information Commissioner’s Office; what estimate they have made of the consequential annual increase in income, and of the recovery of lost income from those who have not paid the required fee as data controllers; and what assessment they have made of current levels of fees.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.
The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.
In 2014/15 the ICO brought eight prosecutions against organisations for non-notification and two prosecutions for wrong purposes.
The Ministry of Justice and the ICO are looking at the current funding model as part of negotiations on the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of data controllers who ought to have registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office but have not done so; and what steps have been and will be taken by (1) the Information Commissioner’s Office, and (2) the Ministry of Justice, to secure compliance with the statutory obligation to register.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.
At the end of 2014/15 there were 409,000 data controllers registered with the ICO which generated a total income of £17,519,000.
It is for data controllers to seek registration; the ICO periodically reminds organisations of the requirement to notify.