Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
Her Majesty's Government what is the latest figure for self-inflicted deaths in prisons in the UK; and what steps they are taking to reduce them.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Government publishes statistics on deaths in custody quarterly, and updated detailed tables annually. These figures cover only England and Wales. They can be viewed at:
In the twelve months to June 2017, there were 97 apparent self-inflicted deaths in custody.
Improving safety is a priority for this Government. We are investing £100m a year to strengthen the frontline by recruiting around 2,500 more prison officers by the end of 2018. We are rolling out improved training across the estate for staff on suicide and self-harm reduction and have put in place specialist roles - regional safer custody leads - in every region to provide advice to prisons and to spread good practice on identifying and supporting prisoners at risk. We are providing grant funding to the Samaritans to support the prisoner Listener scheme and are providing an additional funding in 2017-18 to fund a number of other projects, including a learning tool for staff and emotional resilience training for prisoners.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking about the deteriorating political situation and increasing violence in Burundi.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports the East African Community-led dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Burundi. We continue to urge the Burundi government to engage with the East African Community.
At the recent Human Rights Council session on 20 June 2017, the UK called on the Burundi Government to end the violence and collaborate with the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi to ensure that individuals responsible for human rights abuses in Burundi are held to account. Our non-resident Ambassador and officials regularly visit for consultations with the Burundi Government; these discussions cover human rights and the importance of maintaining the principles of the 2000 Arusha Agreement, including the protection of minority groups in Burundi. In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is implementing projects in Burundi focused on human rights, sexual and gender based violence and security.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking in response to the continued violation of human rights in West Papua, most recently the arrest of 130 people taking part in a peaceful march between 30 June and 6 July.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We follow the situation in Papua with close interest, whilst respecting the territorial integrity of Indonesia. We recognise there are significant challenges in Papua and are concerned about the sporadic violence and restrictions on freedom of expression which continue to take place, such as the events in Nabire District between 29 June and 6 July. As a result, we have pressed the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate concerns and ensure the sustainable and equitable development of the province. Our Ambassador and Embassy officials visit Papua periodically. Officials most recently visited earlier this month and our Ambassador will visit again later this year. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Indonesian authorities. We also raised the issue of access to Papua for foreign journalists during Indonesia's Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council in May 2017.
We welcome the Indonesian Government's commitment to improving the situation in Papua. President Widodo has visited a number of times since his election in 2014 and has granted clemency to some prisoners and lifted travel restrictions for foreign journalists and international organisations. These are welcome developments, which we support.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how long it took to agree 50 per cent of Advance Thin Capitalisation Agreements in (1) 2014–15, and (2) 2015–16.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) intends to publish Advanced Thin Capitalisation Agreement statistics in due course as part of a wider publication of data relating to HMRC’s work on collecting tax owed to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the average time to reach an Advance Thin Capitalisation Agreement in (1) 2014–15, and (2) 2015–16.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) intends to publish Advanced Thin Capitalisation Agreement statistics in due course as part of a wider publication of data relating to HMRC’s work on collecting tax owed to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Advance Thin Capitalisation Agreements (1) were agreed, and (2) were in force, in (a) 2014–15, and (b) 2015–16.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) intends to publish Advanced Thin Capitalisation Agreement statistics in due course as part of a wider publication of data relating to HMRC’s work on collecting tax owed to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have discontinued the publication of annual Transfer Pricing statistics; and if so, why.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
HM Revenue and Customs has not discontinued the publication of these statistics. The Department intends to publish the transfer pricing statistics shortly.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was (1) the weighted average interest rate for intra-group loans under Advance Thin Capitalisation Agreements (ATCAs), and (2) the average level of taxable profits to which ATCA-related tax relief applied, in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold this information in a form which allows it to be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total volume of intra-group loans (1) for which Advance Thin Capitalisation Agreements (ATCAs) applied, and (2) in relation to which new ATCAs came into force, in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold this information in a form which allows it to be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 28 December 2016 (HL4016), and in the light of the involvement of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the LuxLeaks trials in Luxembourg and the reported pressure placed upon one of the LuxLeaks whistle-blowers to sign a secrecy agreement, whether they intend to desist from conducting any further Government business with PwC.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
As stated in my response of 21 December 2016 (HL4016), the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 ensures that workers who raise concerns of wrongdoing to their employer or a relevant external body (by making what is known as a ‘protected disclosure’) and suffer detriment as a result may seek redress through an Employment Tribunal.
When a finding of unlawful practices has been made against the organisation at a Employment Tribunal, a public body may exclude that organisation from participation in a procurement procedure. This is laid out in the discretionary exclusion grounds of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Such a finding has not been made against PwC as a result of the LuxLeaks trials.