Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Dines Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We now come to questions to the Attorney General, and I congratulate Michael Ellis on his appointment.

[Miss Sarah Dines (Derbyshire Dales) (Con)]

What recent assessment he has made of the performance of the CPS complex casework units. [R]

[The Attorney General (Michael Ellis)]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The Crown Prosecution Service complex casework units undertake some of the most complex and serious casework handled by the CPS. A recent report published by the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has found that CPS complex casework units are staffed by highly dedicated, skilled and professional teams who deliver high-quality casework, often in demanding circumstances and at short notice.

[Miss Dines [V]]

I thank the Attorney General for his answer. What is the Crown Prosecution Service doing to tackle serious crimes such as drug dealing in my Derbyshire constituency?

[The Attorney General]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. The CPS East Midlands complex casework unit recently worked on an operation called Operation Trent, which concerned prosecutions against a criminal gang for drug-related activities during 2017 and 2018. A total of 26 people were convicted, and the two main defendants were sentenced in February this year. They got sentences of 20 years and 19 years, and the majority of the other defendants in that big case received custodial sentences of between 13 years and five years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Dines Excerpts

Thursday 24th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Miss Sarah Dines (Derbyshire Dales) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on delivering support for the culture and heritage sector through the culture recovery fund.

[The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Oliver Dowden)]

Arts and heritage are the heart and soul our communities across the whole nation. That is why we announced the unprecedented £1.57 billion culture recovery fund to help countless organisations to weather this covid storm. We have already saved 135 grassroots music venues from imminent collapse. Arts Council England and other DCMS arms-length bodies are currently assessing thousands of applications from other organisations, and successful applicants will be informed from October.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

On that basis, she’s behind you—Sarah Dines!

[Miss Dines]

Will the Secretary of State consider utilising leftover funds from the culture recovery fund to create an emergency fund that historic house wedding venues, like many in the Derbyshire Dales constituency, will be eligible to apply to for emergency assistance in these difficult times?

[Oliver Dowden]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Our wonderful country houses are a real pillar of our cultural life. Indeed, I had a wonderful visit to Knebworth House in Hertfordshire, and I know what a central role they play not just as cultural institutions but as venues. As she will know, the Government have provided extensive support across the economy through furlough, business loans and VAT relief that will have benefited them, but of course we will continue to look at other proposals.