Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the process is for the (a) liquidation, (b) declamation and (c) possession of a residential building by the Crown.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
An interest in a freehold property owned by a company in liquidation will be dealt with by the appointed liquidator, who will decide how best to deal with the property interest to achieve the best outcome for creditors.
Where the property interest is onerous, for example it is not readily saleable or may give rise to a liability, the liquidator may seek to disclaim it.
Once disclaimed the freehold property interest, in the absence of any other owner or a vesting order, may pass to the Crown Estate according to the legal principle of escheat.
The Crown Estate does not usually seek to take possession of property subject to escheat and does not assume the responsibilities ordinarily attributable to a property owner. It therefore does not manage or insure properties subject to escheat.
The Crown Estate is not bound to dispose of property subject to escheat, or to dispose of such property to any particular purchaser. Normal policy is to dispose of such property to an appropriate purchaser where it is possible to do so.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what guidance her Department has issued on the prosecution of pro-Hamas demonstrators.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
On 13 October, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published further prosecution guidance on protests and demonstrations in light of the Middle East conflict. This compliments the already extensive prosecution guidance on hate crime and offences committed during protests.
A link to the CPS statement can be found here:
https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/cps-prosecution-guidance-protests-and-demonstrations-light-middle-east-conflict
The CPS provided additional prosecutors to offer advice and assistance to policing in real-time, including in the Met command centre, during recent protests. The CPS continues to work closely with its operational partners to ensure a coordinated and consistent response.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether she is taking steps to reduce the time spent by police officers collecting information which must be redacted before it is shared with the Crown Prosecution Service to comply with data protection law.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The recently published revised Disclosure guidelines for 2022 includes a new annex on data protection and redaction which provides clear, practical advice on data protection and redaction. The annex supports investigators in making more refined decisions about what material is necessary to provide to the CPS unredacted, and to make proportionate decisions regarding when personal information must be redacted. The redaction annex was developed with the support of the Information Commissioner’s Office, and robustly complies with data protection law. |