<p>I am in regular contact with the Irish Government and discuss a range of issues
of economic and political importance, including legacy issues such as the Smithwick
Tribunal.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he intends to reply to the letter
to him dated 17 September 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with
regard to Mrs M Lawson.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on the closure
of courts in the Vale of Clwyd; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such
closures on staff numbers and levels of service.
<p>HM Courts & Tribunals Service keeps the use of its estate under review in order
to make the best use of its resources for users and taxpayers alike.</p><p> </p><p>The
decision to close Rhyl County Court and move its work to Prestatyn Magistrates’ Court
was announced by the Lord Chancellor in December 2010. The closure required enabling
work at Prestatyn Magistrates' Court to accommodate the additional work, which has
not yet been finalised. The court will not close until this work has been concluded.
The effects on staff and levels of service were considered in response to the consultation
and will form part of any closure implementation plan.</p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals against disability living
allowance there have been since 2010; and how many such appeals resulted in a reversal
of the original decision.
<p>The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM
Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice,
hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ decisions on a range of benefits,
including disability living allowance (DLA).</p><p> </p><p>Information on the number
of DLA appeals received by the Tribunal and the number found in favour of the appellant
is published by Ministry of Justice in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. Reports for
DLA appeals dating back to 2010 can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.</p><p>
</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates there are in each
local authority area; what the gender and ethnic composition is of magistrates in
each such area; and what recruitment of magistrates there has been in each such area
in the last five years.
<p>Each magistrate in England and Wales is assigned to a local justice area. I have
therefore interpreted the reference to ‘local authority area’ in the question to mean
local justice area.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1 provides the number of magistrates in each
local justice area along with their gender and ethnic breakdown.</p><p> </p><p>The
number of magistrates recruited in each local justice area is dictated by the business
needs of the magistrates’ courts. Due in part to falling crime levels, the workload
of the magistrates’ court has reduced in recent years. Table 2 provides the number
of magistrates recruited in each local justice area in the last five years.</p><p>
</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions in (a) 2013 and (b)
2014 commanding officers have requested legal advice following allegations of (i)
sexual assault, (ii) exposure, (iii) voyeurism, (iv) sexual activity in a public lavatory
and (v) other forms of sexual misconduct; and if he will make a statement.
<p>The information requested is given below. No allegations of sexual activity in
a public lavatory resulted in a request for legal advice from a Commanding Officer.</p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Offence</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p><p><strong>until
24 October</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sexual Assault</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td><p>48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exposure</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Voyeurism</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other
Sexual Misconduct</p></td><td><p>61</p></td><td><p>29</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>135</p></td><td><p>81</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault,
(b) exposure, (c) voyeurism, (d) sexual activity in a public lavatory, (e) rape and
(f) other forms of sexual misconduct have been recorded by the Crime Statistics and
Analysis Cell in each month since April 2014 relating to the (i) Army, (ii) Navy,
(iii) RAF and (iv) reservists; and if he will make a statement.
<p>The table shows the number of allegations of rape, sexual assault, exposure, voyeurism,
and other forms of sexual misconduct, recorded by the Service police in each month
since April 2014 up to 24 October 2014, broken down by Service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April 2014</p></td><td><p>May
2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August 2014</p></td><td><p>September
2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="8"><p><strong>Number
Of Rape Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British Army</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Navy</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Sexual Assault (By Penetration) Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Sexual Assault (No Penetration) Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Navy</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number of Exposure Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Voyeurism Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Other Sexual Offences Under The Sexual Offences Act
2003 Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:
The table only details investigations where the appropriate Service police have jurisdiction
and investigative lead.</p><p>The allegation recorded against each Service is that
of the victim.</p><p> </p><p>No such allegations have been reported to the Service
police in respect of sexual activity in public lavatory or from any of the Reserve
Forces for the period detailed in the above tables.</p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service leavers resident in Northern
Ireland have received further and higher educational support under the Service Leavers
Scheme funded by his Department.
<p>No service leavers who reside in Northern Ireland have benefitted from the Scheme
as Northern Ireland was classified as an overseas location.</p><p> </p><p>However,
I am pleased to say that action is in hand to amend the legislation governing the
Scheme to extend provision to Northern Ireland service leavers. We anticipate this
coming into effect from September 2015.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to address the
issues raised with him by the First Minsiter of Northern Ireland concerning the transfer
of the former St Lucia barracks in Omagh to the Northern Ireland Executive.
<p>The majority of St Lucia Barracks has been transferred to the Office of First Minister/Deputy
First Minister as part of the Hillsborough agreement. The remainder is in the process
of being transferred.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason Northern Ireland is defined
as an overseas location for the purposes of offering further and higher educational
support under the Service Leavers Scheme.
<p>No service leavers who reside in Northern Ireland have benefitted from the Scheme
as Northern Ireland was classified as an overseas location.</p><p> </p><p>However,
I am pleased to say that action is in hand to amend the legislation governing the
Scheme to extend provision to Northern Ireland service leavers. We anticipate this
coming into effect from September 2015.</p>