Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many staff are employed in the Law Officers' Departments headquarter buildings.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The table below shows the recorded number of staff employed in the Law Officers' Departments’ who work in the main headquarters buildings:
Department | Building | Staff Headcount (1) |
Attorney General’s Office | 20 Victoria Street, London | 37 |
Treasury Solicitor’s Department | One Kemble Street, London | 872 |
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate | One Kemble Street, London | 23 |
Serious Fraud Office | 2-4 Cockspur Street, London | 350 |
Crown Prosecution Service (2) | Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London | 945 |
(1) The data provided only covers permanent staff and those employed on fixed term contracts.
(2) The CPS also has two additional regional headquarters buildings in Wakefield and York.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many desks are in the Law Officers' Departments' main building; how many such desks are (a) owned and (b) leased by the Law Officers' Departments; and what the cost is per desk of leasing.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The AGO has 57 desks used by AGO staff in its main building in 20 Victoria Street, London. All of these desks are owned by the AGO.
The main building of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is Rose Court in London. In that building there are 936 desks. All of these are owned by the CPS.
The Serious Fraud office are based exclusively in 2-4 Cockspur Street, London. They own 491 desks outright and none are leased.
The Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol) main building is located at One Kemble Street in London; HMCPSI is a sub-lessee of this accommodation. There are 938 desks within the building:
TSol owns all of the desks and TSol staff use 856 of these. A total of 82 desks are leased. HMCPSI use 28 desks and a further 54 desks are used by London Continental Railways (LCR), another sub lessee of this accommodation.
The cost to HMCPSI per desk is £3105.61 and to LCR is £2840.74.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions of offences under the Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981 there have been in each year between 2009-10 and 2013-14.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) indicate the number of offences charged, in which a prosecution was commenced at a magistrates’ court, rather than the identifying the number of people prosecuted.
During each of the last five years the number of offences charged by way of the Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981 is as follows:
| 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 |
Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981 {1(1) and 4}: Make / cause / permit display of indecent matter | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System |
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There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, when the Crown Prosection Service last (a) issued and (b) reviewed guidelines for prosecutions under the Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981; and whether a further review of those guidelines is planned.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The CPS issued legal guidelines in relation to Obscene Publications in June 2001. The legal guidance was last reviewed in July 2011 and, at that time, guidance was added for the offence under section 1 of the Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981. There is currently no intention to further review those guidelines.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if he will seek a review of the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to prosecute the Metropolitan Police officers accused of starting sexual relationships with environmental activists.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will review any cases referred to it by the police in accordance with the two stage test that is set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Where there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest, such cases will be prosecuted.
The CPS has been working with officers conducting the Operation Herne investigation into the conduct of a number of officers.
On 21 August 2014 the Crown Prosecution Service issued a statement containing the reasons it gave for not prosecuting officers considered under Operation Aubusson, a subset of Operation Herne which is available at:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/charging_decision_concerning_mps_special_demonstration_squad/
Since that date one person has requested that the case be re-reviewed under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme and that process is under way.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what reasons the Crown Prosecution Service gave for its decision not to prosecute undercover police officers accused of starting sexual relationships with environmental activists.
Answered by Jeremy Wright - Shadow Attorney General
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will review any cases referred to it by the police in accordance with the two stage test that is set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Where there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest, such cases will be prosecuted.
The CPS has been working with officers conducting the Operation Herne investigation into the conduct of a number of officers.
On 21 August 2014 the Crown Prosecution Service issued a statement containing the reasons it gave for not prosecuting officers considered under Operation Aubusson, a subset of Operation Herne which is available at:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/charging_decision_concerning_mps_special_demonstration_squad/
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2014, Official Report, column 540W, on pornography: internet, how many prosecutions there have been under section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 since 2005 in which a person has been charged in connection with the distribution of R18 equivalent material on a website which allowed under-18s to see such material.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service do not specify the type of material which is the subject of a charge under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (publishing or having an obscene article for gain). To obtain details of individual cases would require a manual review, which could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have taken place under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 for the offence of providing unrestricted access to hardcore pornography online, as set out in the 2005 Crown Prosecution Service guidelines, disaggregated by year.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)indicate the number of offences charged, in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates' courts under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain), rather than identifying the number of people prosecuted.
Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 creates the offence of publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain.
The table below shows, in each of the last 8 years, for which figures are available, the number of offences, charged by way of Section 2 of the OPA 1959, and which reached a first hearing at magistrates' courts, in England and Wales.
Financial Year | Obscene Publications Act 1959 { 2 } |
2005-2006 | 111 |
2006-2007 | 105 |
2007-2008 | 111 |
2008-2009 | 152 |
2009-2010 | 82 |
2010-2011 | 71 |
2011-2012 | 76 |
2012-2013 | 34 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |