Alex Davies-Jones

Our ambition is world-class fisheries management to achieve sustainable fisheries, safeguarding stocks and the environment for the long-term. We also support the development of traceable supply chains, where businesses and users can ascertain the legality and sustainability of their products.

We have not made an assessment of the MSC’s certification and verification process and it would not be appropriate to do so. However, the Environmental Audit Committee’s ‘Sustainable Seas’ report of 2019 offers a balanced and insightful enquiry into the Marine Stewardship Council. The recommendation that the report makes with regards to a transparent and independently evaluated review is important, not least to ensure public confidence in the MSC. Transparent and effective reviews of the MSC will also ensure that it is constantly keeping up with the best available fisheries governance.

The Welsh Government has kept us informed of its Local Authority Enforcement Project and we are looking into whether any lessons can be learnt to inform better training of local authority inspectors in England.

Meanwhile, Defra has published statutory guidance notes for local authorities to support the enforcement of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) which govern activities such as dog breeding and pet sales.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-activities-licensing-guidance-for-local-authorities

The 2018 Regulations require that all local authority inspectors must be suitably qualified and the procedural guidance notes define how inspectors can meet this criterion. Such criteria includes any person holding a Level 3 certificate or equivalent granted by a body, recognised and regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation which oversees the training and assessment of persons in inspecting and licensing animal activities businesses, confirming the passing of an independent examination.

We also helped facilitate the establishment of the Local Government Animal Welfare Group (LGAWG) and its website which provides information for local authority teams as well as other animal welfare enforcers such as the police and the RSPCA. This Group seeks to raise the profile of animal welfare enforcement as well as sharing best practice and providing advice for those working with animals. Supported by Defra, the Local Government Association and the Animal Health & Welfare Board England, the LGAWG provides up to date information and news.

During the COVID-19 restrictions, my department has engaged with local authority representatives about their undertaking of inspections. Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) local authorities have powers to vary licences and this includes extending them without needing to inspect the premises. Therefore, local authorities were able to make decisions on a case by case basis relating to inspecting premises licensed under the 2018 Regulations in a safe way.

The Defra Contracts with Brakes and Bidfood delivered 4.7 million food boxes to the doorsteps of the clinically extremely vulnerable in England between 27 March and 1 August 2020. The contract contained Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to cover on-time, in-full and zero defect delivery. KPIs were monitored on a daily and weekly basis. Brakes and Bidfood delivered the service in accordance with these KPIs and therefore service credits were not required.

The police do not normally enforce animal welfare legislation except in relation to serious organised crimes, such as dog fighting. Consequently, the police are not usually issued with guidance on animal welfare crimes. Local authorities enforce certain animal welfare laws such as those relating to the licensing of particular animal-related activities. To assist them in this responsibility, we have provided them with the necessary guidance such as that which accompanies The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. A copy of the associated guidance can be found on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-activities-licensing-guidance-for-local-authorities.

The Government is committed to animal welfare. Whilst the Government has not made a formal assessment of existing research into the link between those who commit domestic abuse offences and those who commit animal welfare offences, as a reflection of the seriousness with which we take cruelty against our animals we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill, which seeks to increase the maximum custodial penalty for animal cruelty from six months to five years. Committee stage of the Bill in the House of Commons took place on 3 February.

The Government shares the British public’s high regard for animal welfare and, after the transition period, the Government plans to retain current regulations banning the import of fur from domestic cats and dogs, and has laid secondary legislation to retain the ban on commercial seal hunts. Legislation has prohibited farming of animals for their fur since 2000 in England and Wales, and 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Once the UK assumes an independent seat on international bodies such as CITES and OIE we will have an opportunity to promote our high standards in these international fora.

Once our future relationship with the EU has been established there will be an opportunity for the Government to consider further the steps it could take in relation to fur imports.

On 3 December, the Government launched an eight-week consultation on the ban of live animal exports for fattening or slaughter. The Government is also consulting on proposals to further improve animal welfare in transport more generally, such as reduced maximum journey times, animals being given more space and headroom during transport, stricter rules on transporting animals in extreme temperatures and tighter rules for transporting live animals by sea.

On 12 December, the Government launched proposals to ban keeping primates as pets in England, inviting the public to have their say on the issue over the next eight weeks. Findings from a recent call for evidence found that these animals' complex needs cannot be met in a home environment. Under these new plans, it will be an offence to keep a primate as a pet in England. Only those keeping primates to zoo level standards will be permitted to keep primates.

The Government is in the process of refining proposals for the manifesto commitments on the introduction of laws on animal sentience, a ban on the import of hunting trophies and tackling puppy smuggling, and will be publishing further detail in the coming weeks. We are still considering the best legislative vehicle to bring forward these reforms in the near future. We will be engaging with stakeholders and other Government departments as necessary.

Our manifesto commitment to introduce mandatory cat microchipping will be brought forward via secondary legislation in the coming months. The Government continues to support the passage of the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill in Parliament to deliver our manifesto commitment to increase the maximum available penalty for the worst animal cruelty offences from six months to five years.

The Government is committed to improving the welfare of cats and has a manifesto commitment to introduce compulsory microchipping of cats. In October 2019 Defra published a call for evidence on compulsory microchipping for cats, which attracted over 3,000 responses. We will be publishing a summary of the responses alongside the launch of a public consultation shortly.

The Secretary of State has had no such discussions or recent consultations.

However, this Government remains committed to high standards of animal welfare. We are in the process of developing a range of important animal welfare and animal-related measures to strengthen our position as a world leader in this field. This includes delivering our manifesto commitments to introduce new laws on animal sentience, to ban live exports, restrict the imports of trophies from endangered species and ban keeping primates as pets.

We are currently considering the best legislative vehicle to bring forward these reforms in the near future. We will be engaging with stakeholders and other Government departments as necessary.

The Secretary of State has had no such discussions or recent consultations.

However, this Government remains committed to high standards of animal welfare. We are in the process of developing a range of important animal welfare and animal-related measures to strengthen our position as a world leader in this field. This includes delivering our manifesto commitments to introduce new laws on animal sentience, to ban live exports, restrict the imports of trophies from endangered species and ban keeping primates as pets.

We are currently considering the best legislative vehicle to bring forward these reforms in the near future. We will be engaging with stakeholders and other Government departments as necessary.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport on 29 October 2020, PQ UIN 107106.

An assessment of the effect of celebrations surrounding Bonfire Night (5^th of November) on air quality is made annually as part of the Air Pollution in the UK report. The assessment is based on measurements from the national monitoring network which monitors concentrations of air pollutants in near real-time on the UK-AIR website. The latest report (for 2019) can be accessed at the following URL: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/index. In the latest report, the effects of Bonfire Night celebrations are dealt with under section 6.1.3 Localised Particulate Pollution Episodes (pages 106 – 108).

Our manifesto is clear that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. The EU Withdrawal Act will transfer all existing EU food safety provisions, including existing import requirements, onto the UK statute book.

We are already engaging with the agricultural sector as part of our trade discussions. We have not ruled out additional groups, and there is clear scope to review, re-task and reinforce what we have.

The Secretary of State regularly discusses a wide range of issues with Cabinet colleagues, and the Government will continue to work closely with the National Farmers’ Union and other relevant stakeholders across the food chain to understand the concerns about the impact of new trade deals. The Government has in place a range of stakeholder groups to feed into our policy development on trade. These include the Strategic Trade Advisory Group, the Agri-Food Expert Trade Advisory Group and various supply chain groups.

Defra has developed the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group, which allows officials in Defra and the Devolved Administrations to monitor UK agricultural markets, to share the latest stakeholder information and to provide warning of atypical market movements. It will help prepare the evidence base for the cause and possible range of interventions that may be needed in specific markets.

Our manifesto is clear that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. The EU Withdrawal Act will transfer all existing EU food safety provisions, including existing import requirements, onto the UK statute book.

We are already engaging with the agricultural sector as part of our trade discussions. We have not ruled out additional groups, and there is clear scope to review, re-task and reinforce what we have.

The Secretary of State regularly discusses a wide range of issues with Cabinet colleagues, and the Government will continue to work closely with the National Farmers’ Union and other relevant stakeholders across the food chain to understand the concerns about the impact of new trade deals. The Government has in place a range of stakeholder groups to feed into our policy development on trade. These include the Strategic Trade Advisory Group, the Agri-Food Expert Trade Advisory Group and various supply chain groups.

Defra has developed the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group, which allows officials in Defra and the Devolved Administrations to monitor UK agricultural markets, to share the latest stakeholder information and to provide warning of atypical market movements. It will help prepare the evidence base for the cause and possible range of interventions that may be needed in specific markets.

Our manifesto is clear that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. The EU Withdrawal Act will transfer all existing EU food safety provisions, including existing import requirements, onto the UK statute book.

We are already engaging with the agricultural sector as part of our trade discussions. We have not ruled out additional groups, and there is clear scope to review, re-task and reinforce what we have.

The Secretary of State regularly discusses a wide range of issues with Cabinet colleagues, and the Government will continue to work closely with the National Farmers’ Union and other relevant stakeholders across the food chain to understand the concerns about the impact of new trade deals. The Government has in place a range of stakeholder groups to feed into our policy development on trade. These include the Strategic Trade Advisory Group, the Agri-Food Expert Trade Advisory Group and various supply chain groups.

Defra has developed the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group, which allows officials in Defra and the Devolved Administrations to monitor UK agricultural markets, to share the latest stakeholder information and to provide warning of atypical market movements. It will help prepare the evidence base for the cause and possible range of interventions that may be needed in specific markets.

We welcome applications to set up Kickstart roles from employers from public, private and voluntary sectors, of all sizes and from both established and new enterprises. All employers applying to the scheme will be subject to checks to verify that they are legitimate organisations and can appropriately support any Kickstart participant taking a role with them.

All offers of personal protective equipment (PPE) from suppliers received the same eight stage assurance process which selected suppliers based on the product type, clinical acceptability, price, forecasted delivery dates, volume and financial standing. Approximately 400 officials from a number of Government departments managed this process which included negotiating with suppliers.

Three contracts with a total value of £276.5 million have been awarded to P14 Medical Limited for the supply of PPE. The Contract Award Notices and contracts have been published at the following links:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4b73ab6f-61a1-4bcc-be05-c61a036ec4ed

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2e4153e4-1bd2-47f2-bcce-14afa977362b

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/990396f9-0c69-45e5-b0c2-a04c921894a6?origin=SearchResults&p=1

All offers of personal protective equipment from suppliers received the same eight stage assurance process which selected suppliers based on the product type, clinical acceptability, price, forecasted delivery dates, volume and financial standing. Approximately 400 officials from a number of Government departments managed this process, which included negotiating with suppliers.

No service credits have been applied.

Service credits are not used in the contracts the Department has awarded to personal protective equipment suppliers.

Public Health England has not awarded any service level credits to the contractor working on the Isolation Assurance Service.

Vaccination deployment programmes are led by the health and social care services in each nation - NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS Wales, NHS Scotland and Health and Social Care Northern Ireland.

The Government is working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure an aligned approach to COVID-19 vaccine deployment across the United Kingdom. We have procured vaccines on behalf of all parts of the country and the Government is working with the devolved administrations to ensure they are deployed efficiently and equitably across the UK.

The ketogenic diet is a form of low carbohydrate diet. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) is undertaking a risk assessment on lower carbohydrate diets compared to current Government advice for adults with type 2 diabetes. This report is due to be published later this year.

The SACN published its report on Carbohydrates and Health in July 2015 and concluded that the United Kingdom recommendation for total carbohydrates should be maintained at approximately 50% of total dietary energy.

The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services. Ensuring equal access to sexual and reproductive health services for both men and women will be a key theme of the new sexual and reproductive health strategy.

Development of the strategy was paused at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However work is now underway and we plan to publish this in 2021.

The Government Equalities Office has responsibility for the period poverty taskforce. The Department of Health and Social Care, along with other Government departments, is committed to tackling period poverty. To support this, NHS England announced in March 2019 that it will offer period products to every hospital patient who needs them.

In England general practices are responsible for inviting eligible trans men to participate in National Health Service cervical screening at the appropriate intervals and for notifying them of their results in line with NHS Cervical Screening Programme guidance. Invitations are sent out using the current call and recall information technology system.

Health England has developed guidance for trans and non-binary individuals explaining who will be invited to participate in cervical screening as well as breast screening, bowel cancer screening and abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. It includes important information about the four screening programmes and how to access additional support and advice and can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-population-screening-information-for-transgender-people

It is important therefore that individuals ensure that their general practitioner records are up to date, in order to ensure they are offered appropriate screening.

In England general practices are responsible for inviting eligible trans men to participate in National Health Service cervical screening at the appropriate intervals and for notifying them of their results in line with NHS Cervical Screening Programme guidance. Invitations are sent out using the current call and recall information technology system.

Health England has developed guidance for trans and non-binary individuals explaining who will be invited to participate in cervical screening as well as breast screening, bowel cancer screening and abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. It includes important information about the four screening programmes and how to access additional support and advice and can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-population-screening-information-for-transgender-people

It is important therefore that individuals ensure that their general practitioner records are up to date, in order to ensure they are offered appropriate screening.

Information is not available in format requested. It is not possible to specify that a concussion took place as the result of a sporting event or practice from the data collected.

Such considerations are already taken into account by Ministers in relation to their existing responsibilities. For example, the Government has a clear commitment to leave our environment in a better state for future generations.

A full list of Ministerial Responsibilities is published online: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938090/List-of-Ministerial-Responsibilities.pdf.

We keep staffing levels on the national non-National Health Service tracing service under constant review. As NHS Test and Trace became more locally targeted we reduced the number of non-NHS call handlers working for Serco and Sitel in the national service from 18,000 full time equivalents (FTEs) to 12,000 FTEs and then to 10,000 FTEs - Serco and Sitel providing 5,000 each. However, we have recently increased the numbers again to 7,000 FTEs for each supplier due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.

At each stage the Department has given the suppliers good notice of our intentions and the suppliers have acted in accordance with the terms of contractual arrangements and relevant notice period. All staff working on the service have been provided with training on handling difficult situations they may face during a call and they have also been made aware of wellbeing and support mechanisms available to them.

We keep staffing levels on the national non-National Health Service tracing service under constant review. As NHS Test and Trace became more locally targeted we reduced the number of non-NHS call handlers working for Serco and Sitel in the national service from 18,000 full time equivalents (FTEs) to 12,000 FTEs and then to 10,000 FTEs - Serco and Sitel providing 5,000 each. However, we have recently increased the numbers again to 7,000 FTEs for each supplier due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.

At each stage the Department has given the suppliers good notice of our intentions and the suppliers have acted in accordance with the terms of contractual arrangements and relevant notice period. All staff working on the service have been provided with training on handling difficult situations they may face during a call and they have also been made aware of wellbeing and support mechanisms available to them.

A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a cause code of firework injury for each year from 2015-16 to 2019-20 is shown in the following table:

Activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Notes:

A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

Cause Code

A supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects. Only the first external cause code which is coded within the episode is counted in HES. Recording of external cause is not mandatory and recording practice varies over time and regionally, care should be used when interpreting this data.

W39 - Firework injury

Assessing growth through time (admitted patient care)

HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.

It should be noted that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

The Department does not publish data in the format requested.

The Department does not publish data in the format requested.

The Department does not publish data in the format requested.

Since the introduction of the Coronavirus Act 2020 there have been five instances where the Department as data controller have reported a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

A Data Protection Impact Assessment is currently in development for the National Health Service Test and Trace programme as a whole. It will continue to evolve and be kept under constant review as the programme develops. The NHS Test and Trace programme is committed to the highest ethical and data governance standards and we will continue to publish privacy information for the public setting out clearly the bases on which NHS Test and Trace is collecting personal data and the purposes for which it will be used.

In England, there are 49,068 full time equivalent (FTE) consultants employed in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups, up by 34.1% (12,475 FTE) since 2010.

It is the responsibility of National Health Service trusts to have staffing arrangements in place that deliver safe and effective care. This includes recruiting the appropriate professionals needed to support these levels and meet local needs.

The number of post-registration specialty training places that are available each year is set by Health Education England, based on its assessment of service gaps and predicted workforce needs.

Decisions about the NHS workforce in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are a matter for the devolved administrations of those countries.

Overall, there are 49,068 full time equivalent (FTE) consultants employed in National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England, up by 34.1% (12,475 FTE) since 2010.

It is the responsibility of NHS trusts to have staffing arrangements in place that deliver safe and effective care. This includes recruiting the appropriate professionals needed to support these levels and meet local needs.

HMT takes care to pay due regard to the equality impacts of its policy decisions relating to the Covid-19 outbreak, including the equality impacts of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, in line with all legal requirements and the Government’s commitment to promoting equality.

The Home office does not collect data on the number of police cautions issued for anti-social behaviour and has not estimated what proportion of time police officers spend dealing with anti-social behaviour incidents

It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to respond to individual crimes and local priorities

To help ensure that the police have the resources they need to do so we have given them the biggest funding increase in a decade and are recruiting 20,000 additional officers by March 2023, which provides extra resource to protect the public and keep us safe.

The Home Office collects information on the number of incidents of Anti-social behaviour recorded by the police in England and Wales. This is published annually by the Office for National Statistics in Table P9 of its Police Force Area tables. The latest available data for 2019/20 including trends back to 2007/08 can be found here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/policeforceareadatatables

Information below Police Force Area level is not held centrally.

Data is currently only collected by the Home Office from police forces on a quarterly basis, so it is not possible to provide monthly breakdowns.

The Home office does not currently collect data on the number of Criminal Behaviour Orders issued.

The Home Office collects information on the number of incidents of Anti-social behaviour recorded by the police in England and Wales. This is published annually by the Office for National Statistics in Table P9 of its Police Force Area tables. The latest available data for 2019/20 including trends back to 2007/08 can be found here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/policeforceareadatatables

Information below Police Force Area level is not held centrally.

Data is currently only collected by the Home Office from police forces on a quarterly basis, so it is not possible to provide monthly breakdowns.

The Home office does not currently collect data on the number of Criminal Behaviour Orders issued.

The Home Office collects information on the number of incidents of Anti-social behaviour recorded by the police in England and Wales. This is published annually by the Office for National Statistics in Table P9 of its Police Force Area tables. The latest available data for 2019/20 including trends back to 2007/08 can be found here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/policeforceareadatatables

Information below Police Force Area level is not held centrally.

Data is currently only collected by the Home Office from police forces on a quarterly basis, so it is not possible to provide monthly breakdowns.

The Home office does not currently collect data on the number of Criminal Behaviour Orders issued.

The Home Office collects information from police forces in England on Wales on offences covered by the notifiable offence list. This is generally restricted to indictable offences, that are heard before a crown court, and triable either way offences, that commence in a magistrates court but may be heard in a crown court. Animal welfare crimes are not covered by the notifiable offence list.

Whilst pet thefts are covered by the notifiable offence list it is not possible to separately identify these crimes from others in the wider offence category of theft offences.

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

We have announced a provisional police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion for 2021/22. This is a total increase of up to £636 million for the policing system which will enable police to cut crime and tackle offences including relating to animal welfare crimes.

The Home Office publishes data on the number of officers per 100,00 people, for England and Wales annually in Table H4 of the accompanying tables of the “Police workforce, England and Wales” statistical bulletin, which is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2020

The Home Office have announced a provisional police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion for 2021/22. This is a total increase of up to £636 million for the policing system which will enable police to cut crime and tackle offences including relating to animal cruelty.

For the latest data on prosecutions and conviction relating to animal cruelty, please see Parliamentary Question answer 138105, tabled on 14 January 2021.

The £2.74 email charge is levied to fund the commercial contract. The UK government believes it is right those who use and benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution towards meeting its costs. Those who use the services are predominantly from outside the UK, with GOV.UK providing the main source of information and advice, free of charge.

The Home Office uses SITEL UK Ltd for the provision of Contact Centre Services (UK and International) including overseas customer email enquiries. Further details of the financial arrangement in place between the Home Office and SITEL UK Ltd including revenue generated by email enquiries, is not available due to it being commercially sensitive.

The Home Office publishes the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, including the number resolved through a police caution. This data is published on a quarterly basis and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Pursuant to the answer of 15^th December 2020, the temporary regional intake unit in Cardiff has been in operation since April 2020, as part of the Home Office response to the COVID pandemic.

There are no processing capacity limits on the additional temporary locations introduced to register asylum claims.

The Home Office aims to ensure all locations are sufficiently resourced to provide timely appointments to register asylum claims. Capacity is based upon demand and workforce availability at these temporary locations which enables them to cope with fluctuations in levels of asylum intake.

Asylum claims registered at these temporary regional locations are processed in accordance with policy, fulfilling the UKs statutory obligations in relation to registering asylum claims in a Covid safe environment.

These are temporary arrangements which will be kept under review to align with HMG guidance. These changes do not represent a new operating model - they are contingency measures put in place during the COVID-19 epidemic in order to ensure that asylum seekers are able to safely register their claims.

The Home Office are unable to state what estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of opening the temporary Asylum Operations Regional Intake Unit in Cardiff. Where possible we have reduced costs by retributing resources from within the Home Office and Other Governmental Departments. To obtain this information would require the interrogation of information held under multiple cost centres and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office are able to provide the total asylum costing for 2019/2020 and can be found at asy_04:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-protection-data-november-2020

The £2.74 email charge is levied to fund the commercial contract, as the UK government believes it is right those who use and benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution towards meeting the costs of the immigration system.

Those who use the services are predominantly from outside the UK. Our web site gov.uk is the main source of information and advice and is free of charge.

Further details of the financial arrangement in place between the Home Office and SITEL UK Ltd for the provision of Contact Centre Services (UK and International) is not available due to it being commercially sensitive.

The Home Office is unable to state how many and what proportion of asylum decision makers left their jobs within the first 12 months of employment in the Asylum Operations Regional Intake Unit in Cardiff. The temporary regional intake unit in Cardiff has been in operation since April 2020, as part of the Home Office response to the COVID pandemic.

In line with Government restrictions on travel and to continue to meet commitments during the COVID 19 restrictions, the Home Office temporarily introduced additional locations to register asylum claims in Glasgow, Belfast, Liverpool, Leeds, Solihull and Cardiff, which began taking appointments on 19 April 2020.

Asylum Operations has over recent years made good progress on increasing the number of decision makers and support staff. There are recruitment strategies in place to maintain staffing at the required levels to allow us to manage asylum intake and reduce the overall time to make initial asylum decisions. These include rolling recruitment campaigns, a staff retention strategy to ensure it retains its highly skilled asylum decision makers, and the further expansion of digital processes to increase case working flexibility. Recruitment has however been impacted by COVID-19, we are working to return staffing numbers back to pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible and with campaigns due to go live imminently.

Rape and sexual assault are devastating crimes and we want victims to have the confidence to report them, knowing they will get the support they need and that everything will be done to bring offenders to justice.

The Ministry of Justice has committed £32 million over three years from 2019 to 2022 to rape support centres across England and Wales to provide emotional and practical support to victims, which may include counselling and therapy. The Home Office is also providing £200,000 in 2020/21 to specialist sexual violence support services through its National Sexual Violence Support Fund.

We understand the importance of accessing therapy after going through a traumatic experience. Earlier this year the CPS launched a public consultation on guidance for pre-trial therapy. The updated guidance will provide prosecutors, the police and therapists with practical support in helping victims through this part of the justice process.

The Government is also conducting an end-to-end review of the criminal justice response to rape, which includes considering the role of support services in victims’ engagement throughout the criminal justice system.

The UK signed the Istanbul Convention in 2012, signalling its strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.

The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 requires Ministers to publish annual reports on their progress towards being able to ratify the Convention. The third such report was published on 31 October 2019.

We will shortly be publishing this year’s report on our progress, which will set out our compliance position and the steps we are taking towards ratification.

The UK signed the Istanbul Convention in 2012, signalling its strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.

The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 requires Ministers to publish annual reports on their progress towards being able to ratify the Convention. The third such report was published on 31 October 2019.

We will shortly be publishing this year’s report on our progress, which will set out our compliance position and the steps we are taking towards ratification.

The UK signed the Istanbul Convention in 2012, signalling its strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.

The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 requires Ministers to publish annual reports on their progress towards being able to ratify the Convention. The third such report was published on 31 October 2019.

We will shortly be publishing this year’s report on our progress, which will set out our compliance position and the steps we are taking towards ratification.

It is important that all survivors of domestic abuse have access to appropriate support services according to their needs, and a range of funding exists to ensure the provision of such services.

The Home Office has provided £120,000 of funding each year since 2016 for the National LGBT Domestic Abuse helpline, which provides emotional and practical support for LGBT+ people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse. We have provided additional funding to bolster the helpline during COVID-19.

To enable us to better understand the complex landscape for community-based support for all victims, including those who are LGBT+, the Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner has agreed to undertake an in-depth exploration of the current community-based support landscape over 2020/21.

The Government will then work with the Commissioner to understand the needs identified and develop options on how best to address them.

There are two types of caution available for children aged 10-17: a youth caution and a youth conditional caution. These can be used as an alternative to prosecution for any offence admitted by a child where there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction, but it is not in the public interest to prosecute. A youth conditional caution has conditions attached - where there is no reasonable excuse for non-compliance with conditions, criminal proceedings may be brought.

The table below shows the aggregated number of both types of youth caution where the principal offence (where there is more than one offence, the principal offence is the more serious) was a sexual offence. 8,552 cautions were issued to children in the year ending March 2019, meaning that cautions where the principal offence was a sexual offence made up around 2% of all cautions issued to children in that year.

This information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2018-to-2019 in the document "Youth Justice Statistics: 2018 to 2019: supplementary tables", chapter 1, table 1.12.

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales to provide extra protection to people from sexual exploitation. The sentences available to the courts for offences under the Act are significant and reflect the seriousness of the offending.

The Home Office also publishes the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, including the number resolved through a police caution. This data is published quarterly and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Any discrepancies between the two sets of data are due to differences in recording practices.

[1] In the year ending March 2016 the offence groups used as the reason for giving a youth caution were updated to match the groups used in crime statistics. Therefore, data broken down by offence group from the year ending March 2016 onwards are not directly comparable with previous data.

The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 placed new restrictions on the use of Cautions for Indictable only offences (such as Rape) for offenders over 18. This restricted their use to exceptional circumstances, and only with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on police cautions issued for rape offences, up to December 2018, in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx

Using the data tool above, type ‘rape’ in the ‘Offence’ filter. Select all options (19C-H, using ‘Select Multiple Items’ tickbox) in order to see police cautions for all rape offences. Number of cautions issued can be identified for each year from 2008 to 2018 in Row 23.

The figures relate to defendants for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

The Out of Court Disposals framework is currently being reformed following the announcement of the Lord Chancellor in the Sentencing White Paper in September 2020:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/918187/a-smarter-approach-to-sentencing.pdf. Legislation will be brought forward in due course.

Whilst we do not hold data relating to claims awaiting hearing, the outstanding caseload in the Employment Tribunal for each quarter since 2017 until June 2020 can be found in these published statistics. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2020

In the answer to question 123733 we set out the proportion of the additional Covid-related funding announced in September 2020 which could be directly attributed to each of the major jurisdictions as well as spend which benefits multiple jurisdictions. The majority of Covid recovery spend is for costs such as additional cleaning of the court estate, the provision of additional safety and security works, the provision of technology to enable remote hearings which have been critical to Tribunals this year, and the provision of some additional court rooms (often referred to as ‘Nightingale Courts’). Much of this spend will be of direct benefit to Tribunals but cannot be directly attributed to it. Very little of the spend is directly attributable to a single tribunal, and so I am unable to provide a further breakdown.

We are also investing record amounts which will also improve our resilience going forward, including £153m investment in 20/21 to improve court and tribunal buildings – the biggest single investment in court estate maintenance for more than 20 years.

The Government wants to ensure that victims of sexual offences are treated with dignity and respect in court.

Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 provides critical protection for complainants in sex offence cases, by restricting the introduction of a complainant’s sexual history by the defence in sexual offence cases.

In 2017, we carefully looked at how the law was working in practice and found that the law was operating as Parliament intended, while striking the balance between the need to protect complainants and ensure defendants receive a fair trial.

As part of the End to End Review of the Criminal Justice’s system response to rape we are working to ensure disclosure is proportionate, taking into account the increasing digital nature of evidence.

The Government will publish its initial findings and recommendations for action in due course and we are committed to continuing work with partners from across the criminal justice system after that to improve the system in the longer term.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions and convictions made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in England and Wales, up to December 2019 in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool, available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938554/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

Offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 relating to the use of inhumane animal traps are included within the offences ‘Causing, permitting or failing to prevent unnecessary suffering’ and ‘Carrying out, permitting, causing to be carried out or failing to prevent prohibited procedure on protected animal’. It is not possible to disaggregate the requested offence from within these general offences. Offences specifically related to inhumane animal traps may be held on court record but can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Using the data tool linked above, enter the following Home Office offence codes into the ‘Offence code’ filter, in order to isolate data on prosecutions associated with each offence:

• 108/29 - Causing, permitting or failing to prevent unnecessary suffering,
• 108/30 - Carrying out, permitting, causing to be carried out or failing to prevent prohibited prohibited procedure on protected animal.

In order to identify breakdowns across England and Wales, use the ‘Police Force Area’ filter and select either all areas of Wales, or all of England.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions and convictions made under Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in England and Wales, up to December 2019 in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool, available here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938554/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

Offences contrary to Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act include:

• Causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal
• Aiding and abetting the causing of unnecessary suffering to a protected animal
• Responsible person failing to prevent the causing of unnecessary suffering to an animal

These are collectively housed under the Home Office offence code 108/29. In the data tool above, enter ‘10829’ into the ‘Offence code’ filter in order to see prosecutions under this offence, in Row 31, each year since 2013.

A jurisdictional breakdown of forecast expenditure in relation to the additional covid-19-related funding for HM Courts & Tribunals Service announced on 6 September 2020 is provided below.

The financial forecast is provisional, as at 30th November, and reflects latest projections of judicial demand and supply, physical court room capacity and current recovery trajectories. This forecast remains subject to change during the recovery phase, as resources are deployed in line with HMCTS recovery priorities.

*Multi-jurisdiction includes services accounted for at a national basis, for which a jurisdiction is not identifiable in the financial system – examples include resources working across jurisdictions to manage priorities and demand, corporate services, telephone conferencing.

The Government recognises that the decline in the number of rape and serious sexual offences being charged and prosecuted in England and Wales is a cause for significant concern.
As such an end-to-end review of the criminal justice response to rape and serious sexual offences was commissioned in March 2019 by the National Criminal Justice Board (CJB). A sub-group of the CJB made up of experts and operational partners from across the criminal justice system is driving forward the review

To answer your questions in turn:
a) The review has established a Stakeholder Reference Group, which is made up of victim organisations, and is consulted to ensure the review considers the victim experience of the whole criminal justice system. The review team has met with this group three times, in May 2019, February 2020 and April 2020. Members of the Group have also been engaged by the Review team separately to discuss specific elements of the review.
b) The review has commissioned a Literature Review of research currently in the public domain that studies the end to end progression of rape cases in England and Wales, including findings relevant to the role of juries and courts
c) Five expert interviews were undertaken with barristers as part of a wider suite of qualitative and quantitative work which included 23 focus groups and in-depth interviews and 691 surveys with police officers, specialist victims support services including Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs), barristers, HMCTS and CPS prosecutors.

In March 2019 the National Criminal Justice Board (CJB) commissioned a review to consider the decline in the number of rape and serious sexual offences being charged and prosecuted in England and Wales. A sub-group of the CJB is driving forward the review and continues to gather and analyse detailed views from key groups and agencies across the criminal justice system.

The review is currently focussed on understanding how the system’s response to rape cases can be improved from the time a report is made to when a case reaches court, as such barriers to reporting fall outside of the scope.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of rape and sexual violence have access to high-quality support services to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the effects of crime. These services are available to all, provided by specialist local organisations at a physical location, free of charge and regardless of whether a person reported the crime to police.