Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
There are currently no projects which have been put on hold within the department due to requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The approximate total number of people working on EU exit across the MoJ is 110. The MoJ EU exit programme includes work on both deal and no-deal scenarios in preparation for the UK exit from the EU.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of re-offending.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Reducing reoffending is a priority for the Ministry of Justice, to cut crime and improve public safety. The Ministry of Justice does not analyse the overall cost to the public purse of reoffending. However, the National Audit Office (NAO) has produced analysis in the past.
Reoffending has been too high for too long which is why we are investing £1.3bn over the next five years to transform the prison estate and give prisoners the help they need to turn their lives around. We have also changed the way offenders are managed in the community with almost all now receiving targeted support on release. This will help reduce reoffending, cut crime and make our streets safer.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to reduce re-offending.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Reducing reoffending is a priority for the Ministry of Justice, to cut crime and improve public safety. The Ministry of Justice does not analyse the overall cost to the public purse of reoffending. However, the National Audit Office (NAO) has produced analysis in the past.
Reoffending has been too high for too long which is why we are investing £1.3bn over the next five years to transform the prison estate and give prisoners the help they need to turn their lives around. We have also changed the way offenders are managed in the community with almost all now receiving targeted support on release. This will help reduce reoffending, cut crime and make our streets safer.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of sentencing guidelines for people convicted of using a mobile phone when driving.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The offence of using a mobile phone while driving risks harm to others and is wholly unacceptable in our society. Guidelines on sentencing are produced by the independent Sentencing Council, which was established to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing. The Council has a statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines.
The most recent statistics on sentencing for using or causing to use a mobile phone whilst driving can be viewed in the motoring data tool on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations his Department has received on strengthening sentencing guidelines for people using a mobile phone when driving.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The offence of using a mobile phone while driving risks harm to others and is wholly unacceptable in our society. Guidelines on sentencing are produced by the independent Sentencing Council, which was established to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing. The Council has a statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines.
The most recent statistics on sentencing for using or causing to use a mobile phone whilst driving can be viewed in the motoring data tool on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's wellness strategy is.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Ministry of Justices (MoJ) Wellbeing strategy seeks to help foster a culture that promotes physical and mental wellbeing for all staff and to make the management of health and wellbeing part of our daily routine.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out the role of special advisers and describes the range of activities they may undertake. Copies of the Code of Conduct are available in the Library of the House and online at
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on the introduction of a Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. The UK has a proud tradition of respect for human rights which long pre-dates the 1998 Human Rights Act. The 1998 Act opened the system to abuse, which has damaged the credibility of human rights.
We will bring forward proposals for a British Bill of Rights, which will replace the Human Rights Act. Our Bill will protect fundamental human rights, but also prevent their abuse and restore common sense to the system.
We will fully consult on our proposals before introducing legislation.