Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, who the the lead non-executive director and other non-executive director board members are in the Law Officers' Departments.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The non-executive Board members for:
the CPS are: Jeremy Newman, Monica Burch, Alison Porter, Mark Hammond
the SFO are: Simon Duckworth OBE DL, Tony Osbladiston and Ruth Evans
GLD are: Jeremy Newman, Oonagh Harpur and Jenny Rowe, who is an Independent External member of GLD’s Audit & Risk Committee and does not sit on the Board.
There is no lead member in any of these instances.
The AGO and HMCPSI have no non-executive directors.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of his Department's Answers to Written Parliamentary Questions in the 2017-18 Session to date have referred to the information requested not being (a) collected or (b) collated centrally.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
My department has answered six written parliamentary questions explaining that the requested information was not available on the grounds of it not being collected or held centrally. This is out of a total of 102 parliamentary questions that have been answered in the 2017/18 session to date and represents just under 6% of the total number.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of her Department's Answers to Written Parliamentary Questions have advised that the requested information was not available on the grounds of disproportionate cost associated with data collection and collation in the current session.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
My department has answered 10 written parliamentary questions explaining that the requested information was not available on the grounds of disproportionate cost. This is out of a total of 102 parliamentary questions that have been answered and represents 10% of the total.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions for the sale of illegal tobacco have taken place in each police authority area in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of people who have been charged with, and prosecuted for, selling illegal tobacco. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
The Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 relates to the excise duty on tobacco products. Section 8G(4) and 8H(6) of the act was inserted by the Finance Act 2000 and creates the offences of (a) possess, transport or display unmarked tobacco products otherwise than as described and (b) selling, offering to sell or otherwise deals in unmarked tobacco products; or suffers premises to be used for the sale of unmarked tobacco products. In these sections unmarked products mean tobacco products that are subject to fiscal marking but do not carry compliant duty-paid fiscal mark.
Although it is not possible to identify the number of people charged with particular offences, records are held showing the overall number of offences in which a prosecution commenced in the Magistrates’ courts. The table below shows the number of offences, rather than defendants, charged by way of the Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence. Data are only available since 2011-12. Prior to this date, prosecutions under this legislation were carried out by the Revenue and Customers Prosecution Office (RCPO).
- | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 |
Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 { 8G(4)(a) and (6) } | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 16 | 22 |
Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 { 8G(4)(b) and (6) } | 2 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 16 |
Total Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 6 | 36 | 38 |
Total | 4 | 6 | 38 | 12 | 72 | 76 |
The Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 relates to the collection and management of the revenues of custom and excise. Prosecutions under section 170(1)(b) for being knowingly concerned in ‘carrying, removing, depositing, harbouring, keeping or concealing or in any manner dealing’ with excise goods and the offence of fraudulent evasion of duty under s170(2) can include offences involving tobacco products but also other products.
CPS data does not dis-aggregate the overall number of these offences in which a prosecution commenced in the Magistrates’ courts. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Some offences in relation to the unlawful sale of tobacco products are prosecuted by trading standards departments and would not be recorded in CPS data.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) national newspaper advertisements, (d) local newspaper advertisements, (e) social media advertising and (f) other types of advertising in each year since 2010.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 17 March 2015 to UIN:227295
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2014 to Question 218070, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in shoplifting between 2010 and 2014.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service has not made any formal assessment of these figures. However the figures provided in the response to Question 218070 showing an increase in charges are consistent with Home Office statistics for the number of shoplifting offences recorded by the police. These were given in a written answer (218106) provided to the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth on the 15th December 2014, which is published at;
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of the Law Officers Departments' executive board were educated at (a) private and (b) state school.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The information requested is not collected.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many people have been charged with disability hate crimes in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of defendants charged and prosecuted in cases where the offences involved disability hate crime.
The CPS defines disability hate crime as any incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person because of their disability or perceived disability.
The CPS began identifying and monitoring disability hate crime cases from 1st April 2007 following the publication of the Hate Crime Public Policy and Prosecution Guidance in February 2007.
During each of the last seven years the numbers of defendants charged and prosecuted, in cases flagged as disability hate crime, is as follows:
Total Prosecuted | |
2007 - 08 | 183 |
2008 - 09 | 393 |
2009 - 10 | 638 |
2010 - 11 | 726 |
2011 - 12 | 621 |
2012 - 13 | 640 |
2013 - 14 | 574 |
Data Source: CPS Management Information System
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the Law Officers' Departments' policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.
Answered by Dominic Grieve
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the 26th March 2014 (Official Report, Col 300W).