Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if she will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of the increase in fees for prosecution barristers acting on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service; and whether her Department has made an impact of assessment of this decision.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The estimated annual cost to keep parity between the prosecution and defence schemes will be around £30 million. The Crown Prosecution Service have modelled where the changes to the scheme need to be made and have been in liaison with the Bar Council.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to his Department received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.
The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking as a result of the BBC Panorama documentary, Undercover: Britain’s immigration secrets, broadcast on 4 September 2017.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Sussex Police have sought early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), South East Area, in respect of possible criminal offences. The CPS has received some documentation and had a meeting with the officer in charge of the investigation in February 2018.
The police investigation is still ongoing and CPS will only be in a position to provide advice regarding charging or otherwise once all the papers are received.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, when the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the G4S and Serco electronic monitoring contracts which was initiated in 2013 is due to conclude.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The SFO criminal investigation into G4S and Serco electronic monitoring contracts is still ongoing. SFO cases are by their very nature complex, lengthy and resource intensive and it is not unusual for them to take a considerable time to be concluded. However, the SFO will publish information about this case on its website when it is appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to page 11 of the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) 2016-17 annual report, on the appointment of inclusion and community engagement managers, whether the CPS consulted (a) Muslim community based organisations and (b) other groups addressing anti-Muslim prejudice and hate crime.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The CPS regularly consults with Muslim community based organisations to address anti-Muslim prejudice and hate crime. Nationally, the CPS consults with community-based organisations through its Community Accountability Forum, which includes a representative from the All Parliamentary Group on British Muslims. At a local level, Inclusion and Community Engagement Managers also engage with local Muslim community based organisations through Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panels (LSIPs) in each CPS Area.
The CPS circulated the job advert containing details of the posts of Inclusion and Community Engagement Managers to the Community Accountability Forum, LSIPs and other community contacts, to encourage the widest possible pool of people to apply.
The CPS is also a member of the cross Government anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, the cross Government Hate Crime Strategic Group, and the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, all of which include a number of representatives from Muslim organisations that actively tackle anti-Muslim hatred.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to page 11 of the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) 2016-17 annual report, on hate crime campaigns, what hate crime campaigns (a) have been delivered to date and (b) are to be delivered in future by region and partner organisation.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The CPS is committed to raising awareness of hate crime and increasing the confidence of victims and witnesses when they come to report it. In August 2017, to coincide with the launch of the revised public statements on hate crime, the CPS launched the week-long #HateCrimeMatters campaign with involvement from each CPS Area as well as a wide range of local and national community partner organisations. The social media campaign had over 7,000 contributors and the campaign website has had almost 6,000 views.
During National Hate Crime Awareness Week (NHCAW), the CPS is standing alongside its community partner organisations and published its Annual Hate Crime report on 17 October. This was accompanied by communications activity including both national and local engagement with the NHCAW campaign.