Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1453134

registered interest
date	22/03/2022
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Fraud: Victims
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions she has had with the Serious Fraud Office on victims of fraud; and what steps she is taking to help ensure that victims of fraud are compensated accordingly.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	144902
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2022 answer text <p>I meet regularly with the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to discuss casework and corporate matters, including issues connected to victims of crime and compensation.</p><p> </p><p>The SFO always aims to trace and seize money and other assets from criminals in all of its fraud, bribery and corruption cases, so that criminals do not benefit from their offending and victims can be compensated wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>The SFO continues to perform well in this regard and its proceeds of crime recovery rate was higher than all comparable UK agencies in three of the last four years. Last year, the SFO recovered the fourth highest amount in value out of 180 agencies across England and Wales, after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Metropolitan Police and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), all of which are much larger organisations. Its success in recovering the proceeds of crime and the work of its Witness Care Team in supporting victims – sometimes totalling thousands in a single case – and witnesses were also positively recognised in two HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) inspection reports published in the past year.</p><p> </p><p>Internationally, the SFO recently obtained £210,610 in compensation as a result of its investigation into Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Limited. The funds will be transferred by the UK Government to the Federal Government of Nigeria, and will support key infrastructure projects, ensuring that the people of Nigeria benefit directly.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 29/03/2022 08:08:11 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1433978

registered interest
date	22/02/2022
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Homicide: Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many people have been charged with attempted murder in each of the last three years by age group.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	127410
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2022 answer text <p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of people charged with and prosecuted for attempted murder. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>While no data is held reporting the number of people prosecuted specifically for attempted murder, the CPS can report the number of defendants where the prosecution was flagged under the ‘homicide’ category at finalisation.</p><p> </p><p>The ‘homicide’ category includes offences of murder, manslaughter, causing death by driving dangerously, carelessly or under the influence of alcohol/drugs. The corresponding inchoate offences, such as conspiracy, solicitation, or criminal attempts, are also assigned to this category. It is not possible to separately report prosecution outcomes by the individual offences allocated to this category.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows by age group, the number of prosecutions in which defendants were allocated the ’homicide’ category at finalisation during each of the last three years.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2018-2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019-2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020-2021</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10-13</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>14-17</p></td><td><p>113</p></td><td><p>103</p></td><td><p>75</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18-24</p></td><td><p>382</p></td><td><p>315</p></td><td><p>306</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>25-59</p></td><td><p>753</p></td><td><p>724</p></td><td><p>584</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>60-69</p></td><td><p>52</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td><p>43</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>70-79</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>80+</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not Provided</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>TOTAL COMPLETED PROSECUTIONS</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1,360</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1,245</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1,064</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"><p>Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 25/02/2022 09:28:44 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1420084

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Children: Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to help increase the number of successful prosecutions for cases involving child abuse.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	119570
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2022 answer text <p>Child sexual abuse cases are some of the most challenging, complex and sensitive cases. They are dealt with by specially trained prosecutors, working closely with the police to build the strongest possible cases that meet the legal test. In 2020-2021 there were 6,402 prosecutions for cases classified as child abuse. In the same period the conviction rate was 85.6%, an increase of 2.7% on the previous year.</p><p> </p><p>The government has successfully rolled out Section 28 for vulnerable victims and witnesses, including children, in all Crown Courts from November 2020. We know that Section 28 provisions which provide for pre-recorded cross-examination can help to improve the experience of victims by enabling them to give their evidence earlier in the process and outside of the courtroom.</p><p> </p><p>The CPS has comprehensive Legal Guidance for prosecutors on cases involving child abuse. This Guidance supports prosecutors to build strong cases and bring effective prosecutions. It is currently being updated to take account of the latest developments in law and policy.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 15/02/2022 15:59:00 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1341687

registered interest
date	29/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Marriage: Age
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on increasing the legal age of marriage to 18 years old.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	24179
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2021 answer text <p>The Government in principle supports raising the legal age of marriage to 18 years of age by removing the ability to marry at age 16 or 17 with parental consent. We will do so when a suitable legislative opportunity arises. In that context, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill was introduced by the hon. member for Bromsgrove on 16 June as a Private Members’ Bill. The hon. member for Mid Derbyshire is now sponsoring that Bill and Ministers will meet with her shortly to discuss its provisions. The Government will make its further intentions clear in due course.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 07/07/2021 16:01:01 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1341080

registered interest
date	28/06/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Detention Centres and Prisons: Crime
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made a recent assessment of the trends in the levels of crimes that take place inside prisons and detention centres; and what steps he plans to take to eradicate those crimes.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	23190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2021 answer text <p>The ‘Crime in Prison Tracker’ method of recording crime in the prison estate, launched shortly before the pandemic, was temporarily suspended in 2020. Whilst prisons have not been required to upload all data using the dedicated tool, they were asked to keep a record of the number of referrals made to the Police and whether the referrals were accepted or referred back to the prison to be dealt with internally by way of adjudication. Prisons will be asked to upload the data collected during the pandemic retrospectively once the ‘Tracker’ tool is re-launched.</p><p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service continues to review and engage with prisons on crime committed. This enables national and local trends, and areas of concern to be identified – allowing work on reduction to take place.</p><p>The Crime in Prison Board, chaired by HMPPS, with attendance from the National Police Chief’s Council and Crown Prosecution service, sits quarterly to progress delivery objectives and resolve cross-agency challenges. This ensures all criminal justice partners are working towards the same goals and that justice is being pursued for our staff and other victims of crime.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 06/07/2021 16:37:15 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1303865

registered interest
date	18/03/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that vulnerable women leaving prison are offered effective support.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	171601
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2021 answer text <p>We are committed to doing all we can to address the issues around female offending. It is vital that we do so to better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation. This includes supporting women when they are leaving prison.</p><p>In June 2018, the Government published the Female Offender Strategy. This set out a programme of work to improve outcomes for female offenders and make society safer by tackling the underlying causes of offending and reoffending. We have begun work on delivering the first of five Residential Women’s centres, a key commitment in our Strategy. These will provide a robust community alternative for women who would otherwise receive a short custodial sentence, offering safe residential accommodation and holistic support to address the often-complex needs that underlie their offending behaviour.</p><p>The Concordat on Women in or at risk of contact with the Criminal Justice System was a commitment in the Female Offender Strategy and was published on 23 January 2021. The Concordat contains an action plan that the signatory Government departments have agreed to deliver to work together more closely at a national level to identify and respond to the often multiple and complex needs of women. The Concordat strongly promotes the idea of and need for greater collaboration at local levels, including through the adoption of whole system approaches.</p><p>We are working across Government with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Welsh Government and Other Government Departments, to address the barriers offenders face in securing suitable accommodation.</p><p>We are investing more than £20m in supporting prison leavers at risk of homelessness into temporary accommodation. Individuals released from prison will be provided up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation and will be supported into long-term settled accommodation before the end of that 12-week period. Initially launching in five national probation regions, the service will support around 3,000 offenders in its first year and will be commencing in Summer. It will be in operation during the next financial year 2021-22, with a view to scaling up and rolling out nationally.</p><p>The service will take account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs and accommodation provision will be dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Offender Managers, working together with local partners, will be responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers with complex needs receive appropriate support and are provided with housing beyond the 12 weeks emergency accommodation.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 170642 170643 question first answered 26/03/2021 13:03:38 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1303286

registered interest
date	17/03/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that women are not released from prison into homelessness.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	170642
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2021 answer text <p>We are committed to doing all we can to address the issues around female offending. It is vital that we do so to better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation. This includes supporting women when they are leaving prison.</p><p>In June 2018, the Government published the Female Offender Strategy. This set out a programme of work to improve outcomes for female offenders and make society safer by tackling the underlying causes of offending and reoffending. We have begun work on delivering the first of five Residential Women’s centres, a key commitment in our Strategy. These will provide a robust community alternative for women who would otherwise receive a short custodial sentence, offering safe residential accommodation and holistic support to address the often-complex needs that underlie their offending behaviour.</p><p>The Concordat on Women in or at risk of contact with the Criminal Justice System was a commitment in the Female Offender Strategy and was published on 23 January 2021. The Concordat contains an action plan that the signatory Government departments have agreed to deliver to work together more closely at a national level to identify and respond to the often multiple and complex needs of women. The Concordat strongly promotes the idea of and need for greater collaboration at local levels, including through the adoption of whole system approaches.</p><p>We are working across Government with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Welsh Government and Other Government Departments, to address the barriers offenders face in securing suitable accommodation.</p><p>We are investing more than £20m in supporting prison leavers at risk of homelessness into temporary accommodation. Individuals released from prison will be provided up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation and will be supported into long-term settled accommodation before the end of that 12-week period. Initially launching in five national probation regions, the service will support around 3,000 offenders in its first year and will be commencing in Summer. It will be in operation during the next financial year 2021-22, with a view to scaling up and rolling out nationally.</p><p>The service will take account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs and accommodation provision will be dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Offender Managers, working together with local partners, will be responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers with complex needs receive appropriate support and are provided with housing beyond the 12 weeks emergency accommodation.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 170643 171601 question first answered 26/03/2021 13:03:38 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1303287

registered interest
date	17/03/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Minister for Women and Equalities and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on support for women leaving prison.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	170643
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2021 answer text <p>We are committed to doing all we can to address the issues around female offending. It is vital that we do so to better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation. This includes supporting women when they are leaving prison.</p><p>In June 2018, the Government published the Female Offender Strategy. This set out a programme of work to improve outcomes for female offenders and make society safer by tackling the underlying causes of offending and reoffending. We have begun work on delivering the first of five Residential Women’s centres, a key commitment in our Strategy. These will provide a robust community alternative for women who would otherwise receive a short custodial sentence, offering safe residential accommodation and holistic support to address the often-complex needs that underlie their offending behaviour.</p><p>The Concordat on Women in or at risk of contact with the Criminal Justice System was a commitment in the Female Offender Strategy and was published on 23 January 2021. The Concordat contains an action plan that the signatory Government departments have agreed to deliver to work together more closely at a national level to identify and respond to the often multiple and complex needs of women. The Concordat strongly promotes the idea of and need for greater collaboration at local levels, including through the adoption of whole system approaches.</p><p>We are working across Government with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Welsh Government and Other Government Departments, to address the barriers offenders face in securing suitable accommodation.</p><p>We are investing more than £20m in supporting prison leavers at risk of homelessness into temporary accommodation. Individuals released from prison will be provided up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation and will be supported into long-term settled accommodation before the end of that 12-week period. Initially launching in five national probation regions, the service will support around 3,000 offenders in its first year and will be commencing in Summer. It will be in operation during the next financial year 2021-22, with a view to scaling up and rolling out nationally.</p><p>The service will take account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs and accommodation provision will be dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Offender Managers, working together with local partners, will be responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers with complex needs receive appropriate support and are provided with housing beyond the 12 weeks emergency accommodation.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 170642 171601 question first answered 26/03/2021 13:03:38 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1248715

registered interest
date	04/11/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Barristers: Northern Ireland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on access to justice of barristers registered with the Bar of Northern Ireland and who are based in Great Britain reportedly being precluded from claiming travel and accommodation expenses in connection with Northern Ireland court cases.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	111519
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2020 answer text <p>Under the framework established by the Legal Services Act 2007, the legal services sector in England and Wales is independent of government, and lawyers are regulated by their own independent regulators. Similarly, the Government is not responsible for the regulation of legal services in Northern Ireland. The Code of Conduct of the Bar Council of Northern Ireland sets out how barristers practicing in Northern Ireland should calculate their fees and expenses for a case.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 10/11/2020 17:27:28 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1221371

registered interest
date	07/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has held discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on tackling domestic abuse throughout the UK.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	70399
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice, alongside our partners on this agenda at the Home Office, continue to have a regular dialogue with the devolved administrations about the progress of the Domestic Abuse Bill.</p><p>The measures in the Bill relate to devolved matters in Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, with the agreement of the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice, the Bill as introduced on 3 March 2020 includes measures extending the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the criminal courts in Scotland and Northern Ireland to certain violent and sexual offences. I welcome the fact that the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly have approved a legislative consent motion in respect of these provisions in the Bill insofar as they apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland on 17 and 23 June respectively.</p><p>The matters to which the provisions of the Bill relate are not within the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales. Nonetheless, there has also been extensive engagement with the Welsh Government, particularly over the remit of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner in Wales.</p><p>In addition, the Ministry of Justice recently published the report of its panel of experts looking into how the family courts manage cases involving domestic abuse and other serious offences. This report covered both England and Wales and we continue engagement with the Welsh Government about a proposed implementation plan.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 14/07/2020 11:09:44 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon