Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's guidance on the practice of second post-mortems in accounting for recent technological advances.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Chief Coroner, who is responsible for issuing guidance to coroners, intends to issue revised guidance on the practice of second post-mortems later this year. This will replace existing guidance (Home Office Circular 30/1999 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20040722015642/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/hoc9930.html).
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received from civil society groups on making the practice of up-skirting a sexual offence.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
My department have received representations from a range of stakeholders to make upskirting a specific criminal offence and have met with campaigners to discuss their concerns.
I share their determination to ensure that the intrusive practice of up-skirting is tackled robustly and that is why I am pleased to confirm that, following detailed review of the law by my department, the Government has committed to supporting Wera Hobhouse’s PMB. This creates two new offences specifically covering the practice of upskirting and will strengthen the law, close any potential gaps and better protect victims.
Alongside this, I continue to support work across government - with police, prosecutors and others - to make sure this degrading offence continues to be prosecuted as effectively as possible.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the letter of 28 March 2018 from the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield on legal aid for families of the victims of the Birmingham Pub Bombings.
Answered by Rory Stewart
A response was dispatched on the 26th April.
Regarding the families’ application for legal aid for the judicial review, there is still a right of appeal to an Independent Funding Adjudicator. The law firm have been advised to submit the requisite paperwork to the LAA if they wish to exercise this right.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the extent of variations in rules and protocols surrounding second post-mortems throughout the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The MoJ has not made such an assessment. Coroners continue to rely on Home Office Circular 30/1999
Coroners are independent judicial office holders and the way they carry out their judicial functions is a matter for them.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of using computerised tomography for post-mortems; and what guidance his Department has issued to coroners on the use of that technology.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Ministry of Justice has not assessed the use of computerised tomography for post-mortem examinations because this is a matter for individual coroners who decide how to proceed in light of guidance from the Chief Coroner. The guidance can be found on his website at: https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/guidance-no-1-use-of-port-mortem-imaging.pdf
The guidance says that a coroner should consider, with the assistance of a pathologist and, where appropriate, a radiologist, whether this method is the most appropriate in any particular case, bearing in mind the wishes of the bereaved family and, if known, of the deceased.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions there have been for hunting foxes with hounds in each local authority area in England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the levels of (a) availability and (b) use of psychoactive substances in prisons in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We take a zero-tolerance approach to drugs in our prisons. Anyone found with contraband will be subject to disciplinary action and police investigation. We are taking unprecedented action to stop the supply and use of drugs. This is based on a multi-agency approach working closely with health partners and law enforcement agencies. We are the first prison jurisdiction in the world to have developed a test for psychoactive substances and have over 300 dogs to detect psychoactive substances.
We have invested £3m in enhancing our intelligence capability to identify the organised crime groups and individuals behind supply routes, and are using this intelligence to work with the police to disrupt them
Data on the number of finds of Psychoactive Substances has been recorded on the HMPPS Incident Reporting system since October 2015, so whole year data is only available for 2016 and 2017.
Testing for psychoactive substances was only in place across the whole prison estate from September 2016 onwards. Figures for 2017/18 will be published in the Annual HMPPS Digest in July 2018.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent by HM Prison and Probation Service on recruitment in each month since September 2016.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Period | Recruitment costs* (£) |
September 2016 | 129,357 |
October 2016 | 219,450 |
November 2016 | 301,913 |
December 2016 | 563,028 |
January 2017 | 338,803 |
February 2017 | 76,497 |
March 2017 | 1,176,080 |
April 2017 | 1,109,430 |
May 2017 | 227,939 |
June 2017 | 438,487 |
July 2017 | 1,097,571 |
August 2017 | 1,181,421 |
Recruitment costs provided only include spend on advertising and recruitment through external suppliers and does not account for recruitment-associated costs of any HMPPS staff working on resourcing initiatives or any other miscellaneous costs of recruiting staff (this data is not readily available within centrally held records). Figures include advertising costs in respect of recruitment and various media campaigns for prison officers, probation officers and the Unlocked Graduates scheme.
*The figure provided has been drawn from our central accounting system and although care is taken when processing data, this may be subject to the inaccuracies and input errors inherent in any large scale recording system.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support the prison service on reporting problems and sharing best practice on preventing the misuse of drones around prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We remain vigilant to all incidents involving drones and take the threat they pose to prison security very seriously. A range of methods to counter the threat posed by drones are being trialled and evaluated for their effectiveness across the prison estate. This includes the use of technology to detect and block drones, the enhancement of physical security and working with drone manufacturers.
Officials in the National Offenders Management Service (NOMS) provide support to prisons on how to report drone related incidents alongside other key security incidents. A new reporting category for drones was introduced on the Incident Reporting System (IRS) in October 2016 to support clearer reporting. The introduction of a specific reporting category was accompanied by an educational piece on how prisons should report incidents and for what purpose in order to help inform the developing threat picture and advise the national response.
Best practice is also shared regularly through security nudges direct to prison mailboxes, senior leader bulletins and frequent prison visits to promote practical support.
Asked by: Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons in each category are (a) fitted and (b) not fitted with netting on outdoor areas to restrict drone access; and what other anti-drone techniques are being trialled in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
A range of methods to counter the threat posed by drones are being trialled and evaluated for their effectiveness across the prison estate. This includes the use of technology to detect and block drones, the enhancement of physical security and working with drone manufacturers.
Information on netting fitted by each prison and by purpose is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.