Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders breached the terms of their community order in each of the last five years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are investing £155 million in funding each year into the Service and recruited over 4000 new probation officers since reunification of the Probation Service in 2021 to deliver better and more consistent supervision of offenders in the community.
Delivering public protection and cutting crime is not just about custody. There is persuasive evidence that suspended and community sentences are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending and promoting rehabilitation. These sentences can include a range of robust requirements to punish the offender, protect the public and deliver rehabilitation. Electronic monitoring of curfews, exclusion zones, attendance at appointments, location monitoring and alcohol bans are all available requirements which the courts can use. To make sure that offenders are visibly and publicly making reparations for their crimes, courts can impose up to 300 hours of unpaid work.
Any breach of these requirements could see them returned to court and face immediate custody.
Please note that where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, the courts will retain full discretion to impose a sentence of immediate custody.
Please see attachment for the information requested.
Data sources and quality
The figures in this table have been drawn from the Delius case management system which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Source: Offender Mangement Statistics Quarterly Bulletin: October to December 2023
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the guidance provided to Ministers on recusing themselves from decision making; and what plans they have, if any, to review that guidance.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Ministerial Code, there is an established regime in place for the declaration and management of interests held by ministers. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest. Under the terms of the Ministerial Code Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their ministerial position and their private interests, financial or otherwise. The Ministerial Code is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. There are no current plans to update the Ministerial interests’ provisions in the Code.
Chapter 7 of the Ministerial Code provides detail on the procedure ministers must follow regarding their private interests. In particular it states, “it is the personal responsibility of each Minister to decide whether and what action is needed to avoid a conflict or the perception of a conflict”.
More information about the process by which ministerial interests are managed is available in the Annual Report of the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests and the List of Ministers Interests. These are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are taking to ensure transparency in relation to ministerial recusals.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under the terms of the Ministerial Code, Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their ministerial position and their private interests, financial or otherwise.
There is an established regime in place for the declaration and management of interests held by ministers. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest. Interests judged, by the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests, to be relevant to a ministerial role are published in the List of Ministers' Interests, which is available on GOV.UK.
As set out in the Ministerial Code, it is the personal responsibility of each Minister to decide whether and what action is needed to avoid a conflict or the perception of a conflict, taking account of advice received from their Permanent Secretary and the Independent Adviser on Ministers' interests.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the potential additional cost to the public purse for the continued use of the digital case management system as well as Common Platform by Crown Courts.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst the detailed allocation of funding to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) for 2024/25 is still being finalised, the annual support cost for Digital Case Management system is expected to be £0.6 million for the foreseeable future, plus another £0.4 million to complete work on an interface between this and Common Platform in 2024/25.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle shortages of medicines in pharmacies.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has a responsibility to work with United Kingdom medicine license holders, to help ensure continuity of supply. We monitor and manage medicine supply at a national level, so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. There are approximately 14,000 medicines licensed for supply in the UK, and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. The medicine supply chain is complex, global, and highly regulated, and supply issues can be caused by a range of factors. For example, suppliers can encounter manufacturing problems, difficulty accessing raw materials, and surges in demand. These are commonly cited as the drivers of recent supply issues, which have affected many countries, not just the UK.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients at a national level. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with Novartis on the adequacy of supply of the epilepsy medication Tegretol.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working intensively to address issues with the supply of some epilepsy medications, and as a result we have helped to resolve issues with Tegretol 200 milligram and 400 milligram prolonged release tablets, and Tegretol 100 milligram immediate release tablets. We are aware of a shortage of Tegretol 100 milligram/5 millilitre liquid, but have been advised that resupplies are expected this month. We are continuing to work closely with manufacturers, including Novartis, to help ensure the continued supply of these medicines for patients in the United Kingdom, for example by asking suppliers to expedite deliveries.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using a potential digital pound for its own disbursements and cash management.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No decision has yet been made to issue a digital pound. HM Treasury and the Bank of England continue to explore the feasibility and potential design choices of a digital pound as part of the current design phase. The exploration of a digital pound considers the future of central bank money, meaning that this project supports the Bank of England’s primary objectives on monetary and financial stability.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the contract awarded by her Department to PA Consulting Services Limited on 8 January 2024 under procurement reference CF-2104, whether the supplier has delivered a pilot build of a replacement Content Management System for the National Institute for Health and Care Research websites.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
PA Consulting have undertaken the foundational work required to replace the Content Management System for the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The work is continuing within the existing contract and will be finalised as part of a new contract, which will be established when the current contract concludes. The new contract will be established pursuant to the Department’s C249854 Digital Strategy Services invitation to tender.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he is taking steps to support anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine prior to post-war reconstruction.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Tackling corruption is a critical part of Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction efforts. The UK's Good Governance Fund Ukraine, a £38 million three-year technical assistance programme, has been supporting anti-corruption, judicial and institutional reforms in Ukraine. This includes the development of the new, comprehensive Digital Reconstruction Management System, which will allow oversight over reconstruction projects and the relaunch of the High Council of Justice and High Qualification Commission of Judges, institutions critical to a judiciary free from unlawful interference. Alongside our US colleagues, we are jointly strengthening the capacity of Ukraine's national and local anti-corruption bodies, working with sub-national administrations that will be at the forefront of reconstruction.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to update the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures in relation to the potential risk surgical of fires.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In January 2023, following a consultation, the Centre for Perioperative Care published revised National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs2). These national standards specifically cover all invasive procedures, and include a requirement for local fire safety policies to minimise the risk of surgical fires and to contain a management plan in the event of one occurring. NHS England and the Department are not responsible for the NatSSIPs2 guidance, or further updates.