Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of vehicle licence plate cloning-related crimes in each year since 2012.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
From centrally held data it is not possible to separately identify convictions for offences where vehicle licence plate cloning was involved, without incurring disproportionate cost.
The number of people convicted of offences under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (forgery and fraud of vehicle licence or registration documents etc.) which can include, but is not limited to, cloning number plates, is available at https://www.gov.uk in the Criminal Justice Statistics section.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of sentence handed down to a person convicted of rape was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The average length of custodial sentence for rape, in England and Wales, from 2011 to 2015, can be found in the ‘Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2015’ which can be found on Gov.uk.
Rape carries a maximum penalty of a life sentence. Indeterminate sentences such as life sentences are specifically excluded from the average custodial sentence length calculation.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on drug addiction services in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
My colleagues have recently met with Ministerial counterparts at the Department of Health to discuss healthcare in prisons, including drug treatment.
The Secretary of State for Justice has recently met with Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health to discuss prison healthcare and collaborative working between the two departments. Phillip Lee, Minister for Offender Health at the MoJ has also recently met with his counterpart Nicola Blackwood, Minister for Prison Health Services. These have been productive and collaborative conversations.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of attacking ambulance workers in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not specifically identify people convicted of attacks on ambulance workers. The information requested could therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of sentence was for people convicted of attacks on ambulance workers in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not specifically identify people convicted of attacks on ambulance workers. The information requested could therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the success of drug recovery wings in prisons; and whether she plans to increase the number of drug recovery wings in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Our Prison Safety and Reform White Paper, published this month, affirms the government’s commitment to fundamentally reassess our wider approach to tackling the supply and demand for drugs in prisons. We want prisoners who arrive dependent on drugs to get the treatment they need so when they leave they don’t need to commit crimes to feed their addiction.
Drug Recovery Wings are one approach to tackling substance misuse in prison. Drug recovery wings were formally piloted in 11 prisons, a Department of Health funded independent evaluation is currently under peer review and will feed into our work on prison reform. Some establishments, in partnership with Drug Treatment Providers, have also established their own local recovery wing models outside of the original pilot areas. It is for health commissioners, alongside prison governors, to decide if they wish to commission drug recovery wings when considering how best to meet the needs of their population.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) former and (b) current coroners responded to the consultation on the post-implementation review of the coroner reforms in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The post-implementation review of the coroner reforms consultation closed on 31 December 2015. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.
We received 214 responses to the review from current coronial officer holders. No respondents indicated that they were former coroners.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received from minority faith groups since July 2013 on the availability of coroners at all times.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Justice Ministers have received representations from the Jewish and Muslim communities about coroners out of hours’ services and have met representatives from these communities. We recognise the importance of an out of hours service and have worked with the police and local authorities to this end.
Regulation 4 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 requires coroners to be available at all times to address matters relating to an investigation into a death which must be dealt with immediately and cannot wait until the next working day. This is particularly important in cases of homicide and mass fatalities. Coroners also make themselves available if needed in cases involving organ and tissue donation.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability of coroners at all times to address matters which must be dealt with immediately under the provisions of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Justice Ministers have received representations from the Jewish and Muslim communities about coroners out of hours’ services and have met representatives from these communities. We recognise the importance of an out of hours service and have worked with the police and local authorities to this end.
Regulation 4 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 requires coroners to be available at all times to address matters relating to an investigation into a death which must be dealt with immediately and cannot wait until the next working day. This is particularly important in cases of homicide and mass fatalities. Coroners also make themselves available if needed in cases involving organ and tissue donation.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on preparing a response to the consultation on the post-implementation review of the coroner reforms in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The post-implementation review of the coroner reforms consultation closed on 31 December 2015. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.
We received 214 responses to the review from current coronial officer holders. No respondents indicated that they were former coroners.