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90936

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Crime: Victims
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that a victim of crime who is under 18 years of age and who has no legal guardian or person with parental responsibility can gain access to the Crown Prosecution Service Victims' Right to Review Scheme; and by what means such a victim would gain such access.
	tabling member constituency	Wigan
	tabling member printed	Lisa Nandy
	uin	208464
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>For the purposes of the scheme, the definition of a victim is that set out in the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime as “any person who has made an allegation to the police, or had an allegation made on his or her behalf, that they have been directly subjected to criminal conduct under the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS).”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Victims of crime who are under 18 may therefore directly request a review under the CPS Victims’ Right to Review Scheme without the intervention of a parent or legal guardian.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The scheme is easy to access for all victims. Information about the scheme and contact details of the office to which a referral can be made is given to victims by the police or CPS when the decision not to prosecute is communicated. This communication will be made suitable to the age and understanding of the victim.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Access to the scheme is by post, telephone or email. There is no prescribed form or format and all communication is with trained staff.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where a request is received directly from a victim aged under 18, enquiries are made with the child and where necessary, with the police officer in charge of the victim’s case, to establish that appropriate adult support is available.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 14/10/2014 14:38:37 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4082 label Biography information for Lisa Nandy

91082

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Magistrates' Courts: Fines
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2014, Official Report, column 844W, on courts: fines, what offences were committed by those who were fined the maximum in magistrates' courts in the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	208581
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p><strong>We are toughening up sentencing across the board. The number of offences for which the maximum available fine was imposed in the magistrates' courts has increased steadily since 2010. Financial penalties set at the right level can be an effective way of punishing criminals and deterring them from further offending.</strong></p><p><strong>The offences for which the maximum available fine was imposed in the magistrates’ courts from 2009 to 2013 are listed in the table below. </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 14/10/2014 09:24:32 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name Offence types 2009-2013.xls title Financial penalties 2009-13
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

91054

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Homophobia
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) charged and (b) convicted of homophobic hate crimes in the UK in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Ashfield
	tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
	uin	208536
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>All forms of hate crime are deplorable and it’s important that victims are protected and have the confidence to come forward. The Government is driving forward work to tackle hostility and hate crime. We have toughened up sentencing and are working closely with the police and other agencies to increase reporting, improve support and prevent these terrible crimes happening in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' court for offences relating to acts intended to stir up religious hatred or hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, under Sections 29B to 29G of the Public Order Act 1986, in England &amp; Wales, from 2009-2013 (latest data available) can be viewed in table 1. The data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on court proceedings do not specifically identify whether the stirring up hatred offence prosecuted was on grounds of religious hatred or sexual orientation.</p><p> </p><p>The number of offenders found guilty at all courts for offences relating to acts intended to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, under Sections 29B to 29G of the Public Order Act 1986, in England &amp; Wales, from 2009-2013 (latest data available) can be viewed in table 2.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 14/10/2014 09:48:33 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208536 - table.xls title Statistics for 2009-2013
	tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

91084

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders convicted of a single offence of possession of class A drugs received (a) a discharge, (b) a fine, (c) a community order, (d) a suspended prison sentence and (e) an immediate prison sentence in the most recent year for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	208577
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts.</p><p> </p><p>Simple cautions are a non-statutory disposal available to the police to dispose of any offence committed by an adult and designed for dealing with low level, mainly first time offending.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice issues guidance on the process to be followed by the police when they are administering simple cautions for adult offenders. The latest guidance, issued in November 2013 following the Simple Cautions Review, states that the use of a simple caution for possession of class A drugs should only be given in exceptional cases following authorisation by a senior police officer. These will be cases where there were exceptional circumstances which would mean that it was not in the public interest to prosecute.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of cautions for certain serious offences.</p><p> </p><p>The number and proportion of offenders that were sentenced at all courts of a single offence of possession for class A, B and C drugs by sentence outcome in 2013, England and Wales can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people cautioned for possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (latest data available) is accessible through the Ministry of Justice website and can be viewed through the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls</a>. Under the heading “Drug Offences” there are links to tables containing information relation to possession of class A, class B and class C drugs, including the number of cautions, from 2009-2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208710 208715 208720 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:44:22 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 208577, 208720, 208715, 208710 table.xls title Number of offenders sentenced
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

91070

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Licensing Act 2003
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2014, Official Report, column 386W, on licensing laws, how much was raised in fines on those convicted of offences contrary to sections 141, 142, 146, 147A, 149 (1, 3, 4, 7a and 7b), 151, 152 and 153 of the Licensing Act 2003 in each of the last four years.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
	uin	208488
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Fines imposed in individual cases are entirely a matter for the independent courts within the limits set by Parliament and following any relevant sentencing guidelines. The law requires that the amount of any fine must reflect both the seriousness of the offence and the known financial circumstances of the offender.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service takes the issue of fine enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on fine defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. The courts have a range of powers to enforce payment of fines, including the use of bailiffs to seize goods, and deductions from earnings or benefits. Over recent years we have overseen improvements to the collection of financial penalties. There was a total of £290m collected against fines and related impositions in 2013/14 which was a record high and 2% more than the previous year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government takes the offence of sale of alcohol to minors (s 146 and s 147A of the Licensing Act 2003) very seriously and for this reason in April 2012 raised the maximum fine for the offence of persistently selling alcohol to a person under the age of 18 to £20,000 (under s 147A) in cases where alcohol has been sold twice within a period of three months from the same premises.</p><p> </p><p>The number of offenders convicted and sentenced to the maximum custody or fine, by selected offences under the Licensing Act 2003, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to identify how much has been collected against fines imposed for specific offences without carrying out a manual search of all fine account records held by Her Majesty's Courts &amp; Tribunals Service. This information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208446 208448 209021 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:27:11 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 209021 208446 208448 208448 - table.xls title Offenders conivted and sentenced
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

91074

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Licensing Act 2003
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of an offence under sections 136, 137, 156 and 157 of the Licensing Act 2003 in each of the last four years; how many of those people fined, were fined the maximum amount stipulated in that Act for those offences; how many of those people imprisoned were imprisoned for the maximum sentence stipulated in that Act for those offences; and how much money overall was raised in fines from those convicted in each such year.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
	uin	208446
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Fines imposed in individual cases are entirely a matter for the independent courts within the limits set by Parliament and following any relevant sentencing guidelines. The law requires that the amount of any fine must reflect both the seriousness of the offence and the known financial circumstances of the offender.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service takes the issue of fine enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on fine defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. The courts have a range of powers to enforce payment of fines, including the use of bailiffs to seize goods, and deductions from earnings or benefits. Over recent years we have overseen improvements to the collection of financial penalties. There was a total of £290m collected against fines and related impositions in 2013/14 which was a record high and 2% more than the previous year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government takes the offence of sale of alcohol to minors (s 146 and s 147A of the Licensing Act 2003) very seriously and for this reason in April 2012 raised the maximum fine for the offence of persistently selling alcohol to a person under the age of 18 to £20,000 (under s 147A) in cases where alcohol has been sold twice within a period of three months from the same premises.</p><p> </p><p>The number of offenders convicted and sentenced to the maximum custody or fine, by selected offences under the Licensing Act 2003, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to identify how much has been collected against fines imposed for specific offences without carrying out a manual search of all fine account records held by Her Majesty's Courts &amp; Tribunals Service. This information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208448 208488 209021 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:27:10 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 209021 208446 208448 208448 - table.xls title Offenders conivted and sentenced
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

91076

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Licensing Act 2003
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of an offence under sections 138, 140, 143, 144, 145, 148, 150(1&2) and 158 of the Licensing Act 2003 in each of the last four years; how many people who were fined were fined the maximum amount stipulated in that Act for those offences; and how much overall was raised in fines from those convicted in each year.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
	tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
	uin	208448
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>Fines imposed in individual cases are entirely a matter for the independent courts within the limits set by Parliament and following any relevant sentencing guidelines. The law requires that the amount of any fine must reflect both the seriousness of the offence and the known financial circumstances of the offender.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service takes the issue of fine enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on fine defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. The courts have a range of powers to enforce payment of fines, including the use of bailiffs to seize goods, and deductions from earnings or benefits. Over recent years we have overseen improvements to the collection of financial penalties. There was a total of £290m collected against fines and related impositions in 2013/14 which was a record high and 2% more than the previous year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government takes the offence of sale of alcohol to minors (s 146 and s 147A of the Licensing Act 2003) very seriously and for this reason in April 2012 raised the maximum fine for the offence of persistently selling alcohol to a person under the age of 18 to £20,000 (under s 147A) in cases where alcohol has been sold twice within a period of three months from the same premises.</p><p> </p><p>The number of offenders convicted and sentenced to the maximum custody or fine, by selected offences under the Licensing Act 2003, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to identify how much has been collected against fines imposed for specific offences without carrying out a manual search of all fine account records held by Her Majesty's Courts &amp; Tribunals Service. This information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning grouped question UIN 208446 208488 209021 question first answered 14/10/2014 13:27:11 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning attachment 1 file name 209021 208446 208448 208448 - table.xls title Offenders conivted and sentenced
	tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

91071

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Magistrates' Courts: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the sale price was of magistrates' court buildings sold in 2014; and how long each was not used for court business before it was sold.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	208529
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously and reducing holding costs. Five Magistrates’ Courts have been sold in 2014 as part of the MoJ’s Court Estate Reform Programme which is expected to save the taxpayer £152m by 2015 while ensuring the courts continue to operate effectively.</p><p> </p><p>When disposing of surplus property assets the Department always seeks to achieve best value for taxpayers’ money.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows details of Magistrates’ Court buildings that have been sold in 2014, the date each Court closed and the date they were sold. In accordance with central Government guidance, the Department is required to dispose of its surplus property assets as expeditiously as possible – within six months of being declared surplus for housing and within three years for all other properties. As the following table demonstrates, this has been achieved with each of the Magistrates’ Courts sold in 2014.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Court Name</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sale</strong><strong> Price</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Date of closure</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Date of Sale</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Melton Mowbray Magistrates’/County Court ¹</p></td><td><p> </p><p>£147,000</p></td><td><p> </p><p>29/07/2011</p></td><td><p> </p><p>16/01/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tower Bridge</p><p>Magistrates’ Court ²</p></td><td><p> </p><p>£15,500,000</p></td><td><p> </p><p>01/06/2013</p></td><td><p> </p><p>17/03/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p><p>Southport Magistrates’ Court ¹</p></td><td><p> </p><p>£304,000</p></td><td><p> </p><p>30/09/2011</p></td><td><p> </p><p>06/05/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p><p>Knowsley Magistrates’ Court ¹</p></td><td><p> </p><p>£250,000</p></td><td><p> </p><p>25/11/2011</p></td><td><p> </p><p>27/05/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Batley and Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court ¹</p></td><td><p> </p><p>£300,000</p></td><td><p> </p><p>30/03/2012</p></td><td><p> </p><p>26/06/2014</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Footnotes</p><p> </p><p>¹ Used for administrative purposes following operational closure until space could be found at alternative locations to facilitate this work.</p><p> </p><p>² Joint sale with MOPAC (Police).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 14/10/2014 14:33:33 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies