Migration: Marriages
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations are being undertaken into the migration status of those married by Reverend Brian Shipsides. [100267]
Damian Green: Each case will be considered for enforcement action with a view to revoking the immigration benefit received as a result of a sham marriage and removing offenders from the United Kingdom.
McKinsey and Company
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department paid to McKinsey and Company in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement. [100577]
Damian Green: The Home Office including its executive agencies had no expenditure with McKinsey in financial years 2010-11 or 2011-12.
Members: Correspondence
Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 14 November 2011, 15 December 2011 and 12 January 2012 regarding a constituent, Mr S. Judd. [96131]
James Brokenshire [holding answer, 23 February 2012]: I refer my hon. Friend to the letter of the Minister of State for Crime Prevention and Anti-Social Behaviour Reduction, my noble Friend Lord Henley, of 12 March 2012.
A copy will be placed in the House Library.
Procurement
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of contracts issued by (a) her Department and (b) agencies for which she is responsible were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises in the latest period for which figures are available. [100365]
20 Mar 2012 : Column 665W
Damian Green [holding answer 19 March 2012]:From April 2011 to January 2012, the Home Office and its Executive agencies have awarded 10% of total contracts let to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Remploy
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions her Department has had with Remploy on the procurement of goods. [100273]
Damian Green: The Home Office has held discussions with Remploy in relation to the procurement of specialist CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) equipment by the Home Office on behalf of the Police Service in England and Wales.
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has procured any goods from Remploy factories; and what the value of any such procurement was. [100274]
Damian Green: Since 2004, the Home Office has procured goods to the value of £37 million from Remploy factories.
Smuggling: Tobacco
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in the UK Border Agency were assigned to implementing the tackling tobacco smuggling strategy in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and what estimate she has made of the expenditure incurred on salaries for full-time equivalent staff allocated to the tackling tobacco smuggling strategy in 2012-13. [100545]
Damian Green: Information on the number of staff assigned to implementing the tackling tobacco smuggling strategy in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12 and the estimated expenditure on the tackling tobacco smuggling strategy is not available.
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the expenditure incurred by her Department on salaries for full-time equivalent staff allocated to the tackling tobacco smuggling strategy in 2009-10. [100546]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency deployed an estimated 1,504 full-time equivalent staff to the tobacco strategy in 2009-10. Further and more detailed information on expenditure is not available.
Theft: Agriculture
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what support police are providing to farmers to prevent the theft of farming equipment; [100446]
(2) what discussions she has had with farming representatives to discuss the theft of farming equipment since May 2010. [100447]
20 Mar 2012 : Column 666W
James Brokenshire: The police work closely with rural communities and businesses through a number of local schemes, such as Farmwatch, to help to prevent the theft of farming equipment. At a national level, the Plant and Agricultural National Intelligence Unit co-ordinates the provision of police advice and intelligence on agricultural theft across the UK.
Home Office Ministers have met a range of farming representatives to discuss crime issues, and in November 2011 the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert), set out the Government's commitment to tackle rural crime at the Association of Chief Police Officers' Seminar on Rural Crime.
Cabinet Office
Alcoholic Drinks: Pricing
Mr Brady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had on minimum pricing for alcohol with (i) members of the beverage alcohol manufacturing industry, (ii) supermarkets, (iii) pubs and other members of the on-trade and (iv) members of health and other alcohol-related non-governmental organisations communities since September 2011. [100561]
Mr Maude: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-external-organisations
Details of meetings by officials are not held centrally.
Government Departments: Procurement
John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the Efficiency and Reform Group has issued tendering guidance to other Government departments on taking past contract performance of suppliers into account. [101162]
Mr Maude: The Government are undertaking an ambitious programme of reform to revolutionise public sector procurement, ending the short-sighted and risk averse approach taken in the past in order to secure a fairer deal for taxpayers.
The Public Contracts Regulations 2006 allow a public body to take into account the "skills, efficiency, experience and reliability" of a potential contractor, and we expect these factors to be considered for all central Government contracts. It is a matter for individual Departments to decide how best to achieve this in a way that ensures the general obligations of fairness and equal and objective treatment, required under the EU directive, still apply.
Information Commissioner
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many appeals his Department has made to an information tribunal contesting a decision notice of the Information Commissioner in the last 12 months. [100293]
20 Mar 2012 : Column 667W
McKinsey and Company
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department paid to McKinsey and Company in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [100586]
Mr Maude: As part of my Department's transparency programme, details of contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder
http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk
and payments of over £25,000 are on
http://www.data.gov.uk
Official Visits: Minister without Portfolio
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) which countries the Minister without Portfolio has visited since May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such visit; [100719]
(2) how many times the Minister without Portfolio has visited Pakistan since May 2010 in an official capacity; what the cost of each such visit was; and under what budget headings such expenditure was made; [100720]
(3) what gifts the Minister without Portfolio has (a) received and (b) given since May 2010. [100725]
Mr Maude: Details of overseas ministerial visits and gifts valued at more than £140 are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-external-organisations
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what expenditure the Minister without Portfolio has incurred on entertainment in an official capacity since May 2010. [100724]
Mr Maude: The information requested has been provided in the following table.
| Event | Cost (£) | |
Remploy
Ian Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what discussions his Department has had with Remploy on the procurement of goods. [100275]
Mr Maude: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-external-organisations
20 Mar 2012 : Column 668W
Ian Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department has procured any goods from Remploy factories; and what the value of any such procurements was. [100282]
Mr Maude: As part of my Department's transparency programme, details of contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder
http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk
and payments of over £25,000 are on
http://www.data.gov.uk
Official Visits: Minister without Portfolio
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which constituencies the Minister without Portfolio has visited in her Ministerial capacity since May 2010; and what the cost of each such visit was. [100721]
Mr Maude: Details of visits by the Minister without portfolio and the cost to the public purse have been placed in the following table where the information is available. Information on the cost of visits prior to March 2011 is not available without incurring disproportionate cost.
| Constituency | Event | Cost (£) |
|
To meet Holy Father at an Inter-faith event in Twickenham during the Papal visit. |
||
|
Corporate Social Responsibility and Big Society Visit to Harehills and Morrisons |
||
Justice
Corruption: Private Sector
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the extent to which the UK has implemented the provisions of EU Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA of 22 July 2003; and what assessment he has made of its effectiveness in tackling corruption. [101201]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The provisions of EU Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA of 22 July 2003 on combating corruption in the private sector have been implemented in UK law.
The Government have not made any assessment of the effectiveness of the Framework Decision.
20 Mar 2012 : Column 669W
Courts: Teesside
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with (a) magistrates and (b) members of the judiciary on the effects of budget reductions on HM Courts and Tribunals Service in Teesside. [100435]
Mr Djanogly: HMCTS regularly meets nationally and regionally with magistrates representative bodies and members of the judiciary to discuss any issues that may arise relating to the effective and efficient running of the courts and tribunals.
Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press Inquiry
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations his Department has received from the US Department of Justice on the Leveson Inquiry. [100355]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice has received no representations from the US Department of Justice on the Leveson Inquiry.
Employment Tribunals Service
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employment tribunal cases concerned complaints in relation to service provision change in TUPE transfers; and how many appeals were granted by the Employment Appeal Tribunal concerning complaints in relation to service provision change in TUPE transfers in the last 10 years. [101126]
Mr Djanogly: Insofar as claims to the employment tribunals are concerned, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not collate information centrally on complaints or appeals relating to TUPE transfers that are specifically about service provision change.
HMCTS does, however, collate and publish on a quarterly and annual basis statistical data on the volume of employment tribunal receipts and disposals for jurisdictional complaints relating to the transfer of undertaking (failure to inform and consult). These data are available via the justice website.
Equivalent data relating to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) are not published in the quarterly and annual statistical products. But, in relation to the EAT, HMCTS is able to collate data on appeals relating to TUPE, and since 2006-07 in relation to service provision change specifically.
The table shows the number of successful appeals (i.e. where the outcome was either ‘Allowed’ or ‘Allowed-and-Remitted’) in the last full 10 financial years, plus the current financial year, where the main topic of the appeal is "Transfer of Undertakings"; and also for the last five full financial years and the current financial year where the main topic/sub-topic is "Transfer of Undertakings—Service Provision Change".
These data are provided from management information, and are not quality assured in the way that HMCTS official statistics are.
20 Mar 2012 : Column 670W
| Successful Appeals | ||
| Financial year | Transfer of Undertakings | Transfer of Undertakings—Service Provision Change |
| n/a = Not available (1) To 15 March 2012. | ||
The EAT does not record the employment tribunal jurisdiction of each appeal it receives. However, it does record the topic (i.e. the subject) of the main point of law appealed. This means that the EAT cannot identify appeals which arose from an employment tribunal (ET) claim where the jurisdiction in the ET was:
"service provision change in TUPE transfers"
but the grounds of appeal related to (for example) ET practice and procedures. Such appeals are therefore excluded from the table above. It would only be possible to add such information following a manual trawl of all relevant tribunal files (which in any case are destroyed after three years), and only at disproportionate cost. Before 2006-07 only the broad area of law (topic) was recorded, however from that year they were recorded in greater detail (topic and sub-topic).
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many redundancy claims alleging failure to inform and consult concerned the issue of whether or not an employer should have consulted the appropriate representatives where he or she was dismissing (a) more than 20 people based at one establishment and (b) fewer than 20 people based at one establishment in the last five years. [101127]
Mr Djanogly: An application by an employee, their representative or trade union may be made to an employment tribunal for a protective award as a result of an employer's failure to consult over a redundancy situation. Statistical data are published quarterly and annually by HM Courts and Tribunals Service on the number of receipts and disposals in redundancy claims where there was an alleged failure to inform and consult.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not collate information centrally about how many employees are based at relevant establishments wherever such applications are made. To the extent that such information is held, it could only be collated by trawling individual tribunal files manually where the case is still live, or by checking individual judgments on the Public Register where the case is dormant. Accordingly, it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Ian Murray:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many discrimination claims before employment tribunals in the last five years were for (a) direct discrimination, (b) associative discrimination, (c)
20 Mar 2012 : Column 671W
discrimination by perception,
(d)
indirect discrimination,
(e)
harassment or harassment by a third party and
(f)
victimisation. [101128]
Mr Djanogly: HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not collate centrally any of the information sought. It could be collated only by trawling individual tribunal files manually. Accordingly, it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Statistical data is published annually and quarterly, including on volumes of jurisdictional discrimination complaints received and disposed of, the manner of those disposals and (where the claimant was successful and compensation awarded) the level of compensation awarded under particular heads of discrimination. That information is available via the Justice website.
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many equal pay claims before employment tribunals in the last five years were multiple claims. [101130]
Mr Djanogly: Table 1 as follows provides the number of equal pay claims accepted by the employment tribunal in the last five years which were multiple claims.
| Table 1 | |
| Financial year | Claims accepted—multiples |
| Source: ET Database | |
Information Commissioner
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many appeals his Department has made to an information tribunal contesting a decision notice of the Information Commissioner in the last 12 months. [100311]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: Between 14 March 2011 and 14 March 2012 the Ministry of Justice has appealed one decision of the Information Commissioner to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights).
Lost Property
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. [100902]
Mr Blunt: Information about property lost or stolen from the Ministry of Justice is collated centrally on a quarterly basis. Therefore details since 1 January 2012 are not yet available.
The following items have been lost/stolen between 1 April-31 December 2011:
16 desktop computers;
23 BlackBerry devices;
56 RSA secure ID tokens;
14 BeCrypt encryption tokens;
28 laptop computers; and
23 items of removable media.
20 Mar 2012 : Column 672W
Losses or theft of other equipment, such as mobile telephones and the cost of replacing individual items are not recorded centrally. This information is recorded locally and can be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Details of loss or theft tram Prison service stores are not included in the figures above. This information is held locally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The central record of this information does not differentiate which items have been lost and which have been stolen.
Magistrates: Translation Services
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2012, Official Report, columns 534-5W, on magistrates: translation services, for what reason the full information requested was not supplied in that answer; and when he expects that his Department will announce what information it intends to publish. [100008]
Mr Blunt: The Chief Statistician of the Ministry of Justice intends to publish these data as Official Statistics which will be produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. It is his intention to release data by the end of May 2012. A publication date will be placed on the MoJ website once an exact date has been confirmed by the Chief Statistician.
McKinsey and Company
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department paid to McKinsey and Company in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [100575]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice has spent the following with McKinsey and Co. Inc. United Kingdom:
| £ | |
Prisons: Crimes of Violence
Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases of (a) arson and (b) assault there were by prison establishment in each of the last 10 years. [100929]
Mr Blunt: The numbers of assault incidents by prison establishment are published in the annual Safety in Custody Statistics bulletin. Available figures, covering the period up to 2010 are shown in the following table. The figures for 2011 are due to be published in July 2012.
Fire incidents are monitored and recorded locally in each prison. This information is held on central systems but data on arson by establishment have not yet been compiled for reporting. A new system for monitoring health and safety incidents, including those related to fire, was introduced in 2010. This will improve the range of central reporting available.
20 Mar 2012 : Column 673W
20 Mar 2012 : Column 674W
| Table 1: Assaults by prison | ||||||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
20 Mar 2012 : Column 675W
20 Mar 2012 : Column 676W
20 Mar 2012 : Column 677W
20 Mar 2012 : Column 678W
| n/a = not applicable—prison not open ‘—’ indicates a figure less than six (1) Numbers less than six were not provided before 2009 so figures shown do not sum to the total. Figures for 2009 have been revised. (2) A new key performance indicator for serious assaults was introduced in 2003-04 and as a result reporting of all assault incidents improved. Reported incidents before 2005 are therefore not directly comparable with later figures. (3) As the numbers of assault incidents in each prison are relatively small, rises or falls from one year to the next are not a good indicator of underlying trends. (4) This table should be read in conjunction with table 16 which outlines some of the major changes to prisons. In addition to these changes some prisons may have opened new wings/ house blocks or closed others for refurbishment. Such changes often explain large increases or decreases from one year to the next at a prison. Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level. | ||||||||||