Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what proportion of (a) named day questions and (b) ordinary written questions were responded to by her Department within the required timescale in (i) May 2025, (ii) June 2025, (iii) July 2025, (iv) August 2025, (v) September 2025, (vi) October 2025 and (vii) November 2025.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of written parliamentary questions (PQs).
The House of Commons Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and publishes a report of the government’s consolidated PQ data following the end of each session.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the average fine was for convictions for offences relating to hare coursing in each police area in England in each year from 2014 to the last year for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Data on fines is recorded by the Ministry of Justice for these offences, rather than the AGO. Officials at the MoJ have advised us that there were no fines in 2014; four in 2015 and none in 2016. The MoJ does not provide information on amounts of fines when the samples are statistically this small.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions for offences relating to hare coursing led to a conviction in each police area in England in each year from 2014 to the last year for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Hunting Act 2004 introduced a prohibition against hare coursing. Under Section 5 of the Act, a person commits an offence if they participate in, attend, knowingly facilitate, or permit land owned by them to be used in a hare coursing event.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced, including offences charged by way of Section 5 of the Hunting Act 2004 which covers England and Wales.
The table below shows the number of these offences prosecuted and the police force area, in each of the last three years.
- | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 |
Essex | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Norfolk | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Sussex | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 4 | 8 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||
There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that defendants will be prosecuted for more than one offence in the same set of proceedings.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions there have been for offences relating to hare coursing in each police area in England in each year from 2014 to the last year for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Hunting Act 2004 introduced a prohibition against hare coursing. Under Section 5 of the Act, a person commits an offence if they participate in, attend, knowingly facilitate, or permit land owned by them to be used in a hare coursing event.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced, including offences charged by way of Section 5 of the Hunting Act 2004 which covers England and Wales.
The table below shows the number of these offences prosecuted and the police force area, in each of the last three years.
- | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 |
Essex | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Norfolk | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Sussex | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 4 | 8 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||
There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that defendants will be prosecuted for more than one offence in the same set of proceedings.