The comments made by Karl Turner, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East, on Twitter on 15 June 2023.
We now know that he was telling lies. He knew he was lying but ploughed on. Rishi Sunak and others were too weak to stop him spewing the lies out. That’s the reality of this and the PM needs to take some responsibility now.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training was provided to the people who assessed bids for legal aid duty solicitor contracts in administering and assessing such contracts.
Mr Shailesh Vara
13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.
The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.
The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps his Department took to ensure accuracy of the £2 billion quoted as the cost to insurers of whiplash claims; and if his Department will conduct its own estimate of that cost.
Dominic Raab
The Government received and analysed data from numerous sources when formulating the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. The quoted figures were arrived at by combining published industry estimates along with data from government and other sources.
Government data, compiled by the Compensation Recovery Unit at the Department for Work and Pensions, indicates that claims volumes remain at historically high levels, some 50% higher than in 2006. Over the same period accident rates have fallen by around 26%. This is clear evidence that the system is in need of further reform, which is why on 25 November, in his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced tough new measures to control costs and reduce the number of unnecessary whiplash claims.
The Government will consult on the detail of the new reform package in due course and the consultation document will be accompanied by an impact assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Attorney General, if he will place in the Library the number of cases of (a) rape, (b) domestic violence, (c) child abuse and (d) human trafficking referred by each police force in England and Wales to each regional division of the Crown Prosecution Service in (i) 2014 and (ii) 2015.
Jeremy Wright
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the numbers of suspects referred by the police to each CPS business area of cases flagged as involving allegations of rape, domestic violence, child abuse and human trafficking. The attached tables show the volumes of referrals for 2013/14 and 2014/15. The tables are accompanied by a number of caveats and explanatory notes which should be observed when reviewing the data. Data for 2015/16 will be published later this year and will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault, (b) voyeurism, (c) sexual activity in a public lavatory and (d) exposure have been dealt with summarily by a commanding officer in each year since 2009.
Mark Lancaster
Commanding Officers do not have the power to deal by summary hearing with the offences of sexual assault, voyeurism, sexual activity in a public lavatory or exposure. These charges can only be dealt with by Court Martial or Service Civilian Court.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the electrification of the Hull to Selby rail line; and what his provisional timeline is for those works to be completed.
Paul Maynard
The government is currently considering the case for electrification of the line between Selby and Hull in light of the intention by Hull First Trains to invest in a new bi-mode fleet. The government will announce its decision in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the procurement process for legal aid duty solicitor contracts; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Shailesh Vara
13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.
The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.
The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what the evidential basis is of the statement that a claimant culture exists in England and Wales in relation to whiplash claims.
Dominic Raab
The Government received and analysed data from numerous sources when formulating the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. The quoted figures were arrived at by combining published industry estimates along with data from government and other sources.
Government data, compiled by the Compensation Recovery Unit at the Department for Work and Pensions, indicates that claims volumes remain at historically high levels, some 50% higher than in 2006. Over the same period accident rates have fallen by around 26%. This is clear evidence that the system is in need of further reform, which is why on 25 November, in his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced tough new measures to control costs and reduce the number of unnecessary whiplash claims.
The Government will consult on the detail of the new reform package in due course and the consultation document will be accompanied by an impact assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Attorney General, how many directors of companies were disqualified as a result of a criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.
Jeremy Wright
In 2014-15, seven individuals were disqualified from acting as company directors following investigations by the Serious Fraud Office; and one was disqualified in 2013-14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33374, what the conviction rate was for each offence in each year since 2009.
Mark Lancaster
The Service Prosecuting Authority is responsible for prosecutions for the offences of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence when reported and referred to the Royal Military Police. Information on conviction rates for the last three years has been published and can be found at the following link:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-04-11/33351/
For information for each year since 2009, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.