Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what restrictions are in place to prevent the National Fund being freed for use for good causes.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 8 May 2018 to his Question 140746.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if he will make it his policy to disburse the monies held by the National Fund to good causes.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The National Fund was set up by a trust deed in 1928. It is a charitable trust. The Fund is held on trust for the purpose of reducing the National Debt. The trustee is required to accumulate the income of the fund, and not to pay out any funds until the value of the Fund is sufficient to discharge the National Debt; the value of the Fund will continue to grow until such time as it is equal in value to the National Debt. According to expert evidence, there is no realistic prospect of the Fund ever amounting to a sum sufficient to pay off the whole of the National Debt. The question then arises: what actions can be taken to release the funds from the trust?
The intentions and wishes of the person who originally set up the Fund, which were to discharge the National Debt, must be respected and borne closely in mind when considering this legally complicated issue.
I have been working closely with the trustee of the Fund and the Charity Commission to resolve this issue. I will be able to provide an update on actions I will be taking regarding the future of the Fund shortly.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps the CPS has taken to ensure that administrative errors do not prevent victims from giving evidence at trial.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does all that it can to make sure that administrative errors do not prevent victims from giving evidence at trial.
The CPS introduced a national standard operating practice for magistrates’ court activity in May 2015. The process is digital and task-based and is designed to ensure consistency of approach and timing of activity in managing casework which will further reduce the risk of administrative errors being made. Testing of Crown Court standard operating practice commenced at the beginning of February 2016.
Joint police/CPS Witness Care Units (WCUs) provide a single point of contact for victims and witnesses and ensure they have access to tailored support to make sure they are able to attend court and give their best evidence. Most WCUs use the Witness Management System (WMS) to record the contact they have with victims and witnesses. WMS is a bespoke IT system designed to support WCUs in managing their cases, thereby reducing the risk of administrative errors.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The following table contains the available costs information for internal staff or client surveys which the Law Officer’s Departments commissioned during 2013 and 2014. These costs were all incurred with Survey Monkey.
Subscription costs – Survey Monkey | ||
Department | 2013 | 2014 |
| ||
Treasury Solicitor’s Department | £272 | £296 |
Attorney General’s Office | £249 | £249 |
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate | £203 | £151 |
Serious Fraud Office | £299 | - |
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not centrally record the number and costs of all surveys and focus groups across the organisation, and to determine this would involve contacting all CPS Areas to manually check their records over the two year period, which would represent a disproportionate cost.