Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will indicate what constraints there are on publication of case papers, inquiries or other documents relating to the Birmingham Pub Bombings on 21 November 1974.
Answered by James Brokenshire
While the investigation by West Midlands Police into this appalling and devastating crime remains open it would not be appropriate for the police to grant access to their files.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 17 March 2014 to Question 191665, if his Department will respond in writing to the final report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism dated 28 February 2014 by the Human Rights Council expert meeting on 22 September 2014 concerning the use of armed drones.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We have no plans to respond in writing to the report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism dated 28 February 2014. However, the United Kingdom was represented at the UN Human Rights Council expert meeting on 22 September, where we once again set out our position on the legality of Remotely Piloted Air Systems.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were imprisoned for contempt of court before each division of the legal system in each month since May 2013.
Answered by Mike Penning
The table below sets out the number of people who were received into custody for contempt of court between May 2013 and March 2014 (the latest available figures). Contempt of court covers a wide variety of conduct which undermines or has the potential to undermine the course of justice.
Receptions into prison (1) for contempt of court, May 2013-March 2014, England and Wales
May-13 Jun-13 Jul-13 Aug-13 Sep-13 Oct-13
Contempt of Court 11 8 13 14 7 12
Nov-13 Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14
7 6 8 7 8
(1) This excludes imprisonment in court cells and police cells
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what visits by UK police officers in an official capacity to St Helena have taken place since May 2010; what the purpose and cost was of each such visit; and whether the full costs of each visit were met by her Department.
Answered by Mike Penning
Under Section 26 of the Police Act (1996), the Home Office has authorised three deployments of UK police officers to St Helena to provide advice to the St Helena Police: two in 2010 and a third in 2013. The Home Office does not hold details on the costs of these deployments which are a matter for the relevant UK police force facilitating the visit, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the authorities in St Helena.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the opening of the airport on St Helena does not lead to the development of child sex tourism in that territory.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
Safeguarding children in St Helena is a critical priority for the St Helena Government and the UK. Whilst Territory Governments have the principal responsibility for ensure the safeguarding of children in the Overseas Territories, the UK provides practical assistance and support. DFID and the FCO have been supporting child safeguarding initiatives in the OT’s for the last nine years, most recently through the Safeguarding Children in the Overseas Territories (SCOT) programme (2013-2016), which followed on from an earlier SCOT programme (2009-2013) and a regional Child Protection Programme (CPP, 2005-2008). This new programme will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of the problem including how to detect, prevent and address child abuse.
Following recent further allegations relating to child abuse in St Helena, the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs agreed to establish an independent panel of experts to investigate these specific allegations and related matters. In response to these allegations the island’s Executive Council said: “We have taken great steps on St Helena to protect our children and vulnerable people against abuse of any kind. We know that there are concerns, as there are in any community, but solid progress has been made in improving our safeguarding capabilities. We know there is still more to do, and we will continue to strive for further improvements
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information the Governor of St Helena has received about allegations of child abuse and police corruption in that territory since May 2010; when that information was received; and what steps the Governor took in response to that information.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
The Governor and the elected government of St Helena take very seriously any allegations of child abuse and police corruption. All allegations are investigated and where evidence is available those responsible are dealt with according to the law. There have been numerous successful prosecutions over the period in question with substantial sentences awarded to those convicted of an offence.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department has received about allegations of child abuse and police corruption on St Helena since May 2010; when that information was received; and what steps his Department took in response to that information.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
Safeguarding children in St Helena is a critical priority for the St Helena Government and the UK. There have been a number of allegations in recent years about child safety and police corruption. In response there have been several investigations and reviews into St Helena – including from independent police forces and from child safety NGO. These have resulted in detailed action plans from the St Helena Government and police service to improve their ability to protect children.
Last week, we received further allegations of a conspiracy to cover up child abuse on St Helena from former employees of the St Helena Government. We take such allegations extremely seriously. In response, the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs agreed to establish an independent panel of experts to investigate these specific allegations and related matters. We hope to be able to announce further details shortly.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to tackle offences of child abuse on St Helena.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
Territory Governments have the principal responsibility for ensure the safeguarding of children in the Overseas Territories, for which the UK provides practical assistance and support. DFID and the FCO have been supporting child safeguarding initiatives in the OT’s for the last nine years, most recently through the Safeguarding Children in the Overseas Territories (SCOT) programme (2013-2016), which followed on from an earlier SCOT programme (2009-2013) and a regional Child Protection Programme (CPP, 2005-2008). Although tangible progress was made in earlier programmes to raise awareness and build capacity, the new programme will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of the problem including how to detect, prevent and address child abuse.
In St Helena, the SCOT programme has helped encourage revised and updated legislation to protect children, established professional protocols and procedures for those involved in child services, improved the provision of training for St Helena officials, and helped to promote local ownership of the safeguarding agenda. Support has been provided to St Helena through a Lucy Faithfull Foundation review (2013) and technical expertise to take forward a robust child safeguarding action plan arising from review recommendations.
The FCO and DFID have been working closely with the UK police who have investigated reports into child sex abuse of St Helena and continue to do so.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which overseas counterparts have complained to the Government about matters relating to adoption, care proceedings or other matters relating to child protection in the UK; and what the substance of those complaints was.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Data on the overall number of contacts from equivalent Departments overseas are not collated centrally within the Department for Education.
Over the past year, however, Government officials have held positive discussions, covering a wide range of international child safeguarding issues, with representatives from a number of European nations including Poland, the Slovak Republic, and the Czech Republic.
Asked by: John Hemming (Liberal Democrat - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to implement a universal credit sanctions scheme to replace the current jobseeker's allowance and other sanctions scheme.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In 2012 revised sanctions regimes introduced into Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance moved us towards the Universal Credit system, with the same value of sanction across all benefits and the same duration of sanctions at medium and high levels.
We continue to monitor sanctions closely and consider opportunities for continuous improvement.