Select Committee on Home Affairs Written Evidence


Replies from the Home Office to Written Questions from the Home Affairs Committee on the Home Office Departmental Report 2003

  Unless otherwise indicated, page references are to the Home Office Departmental Report 2003 (Cm 5908).

GENERAL POINTS

1.   Why was the Home Office Targets Delivery Report published in February 2003 rather than in autumn 2002?

  The Department wished to give a coherent account of likely activities, to deliver its new targets, presented in the context of latest published outturn against the old SR2000 targets. The new targets came into force on 1 April 2003. Activities to deliver the new targets were identified in the run-up to the new target year. Only in February 2003 was there a sufficiently robust indication of activities, across the breadth of the Department's portfolio, to allow publication of a single document which would give a coherent account.

2.   According to a Written Answer, the cost of publishing the Annual Report 2001 was £8,053,766 (HC Deb 3.6.03, 92W). Was this figure a mistake? What was the cost of producing the Annual Report 2003?

  We can confirm that the cost of printing and publishing Annual Reports in 2000-01,2001-02 and 2002-03 came to £80,538; £48,379 and £34,252 respectively.

  Figures include design and printing costs but exclude staff time involved within the Department. Compiling these would involve disproportionate cost.

  The £8,053,766 figure cited for 2000-01 is an error, reflecting a misplaced decimal. Cost figures for the 2001 and 2002 Annual Reports can also be found in Written Answers 23 July 2002, 1080W.

AIM 1 (CRIME)

Figures

3.   Why are vehicle crime and domestic burglary measured using the British Crime Survey but robbery is measured by police recorded crime (p 3, SR2002 Public Service Agreement Technical Notes)?

  The British Crime Survey (BCS) is used to measure vehicle crime and domestic burglary nationally but, because robbery is less common, the numbers of robbery victims in the sample are too few to provide statistically reliable measures of national trends. In addition the robbery target itself relates only to the ten Street Crime Initiative areas which are not specifically identified in the BCS.

  Police recorded crime provides a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes, are an important indicator of police workload, and can be used for local crime pattern analysis. For the crime types it covers, the BCS can provide a better reflection of the true extent of crime because it includes crimes that are not reported to the police. The BCS count also gives a better indication of trends in crime over time because it is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police, and in police recording practices.

4.   How many applications for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders were refused (p 52)? Is there a figure for the number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders granted since November 2002?

  The latest available information on the number of applications for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) covers the period up to 30 November 2002. Out of a total of 814 applications for ASBOs since their introduction in England and Wales on 1 April 1999, 785 have been granted and 29 (3.5%) refused.

  The figure for the number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders granted from 1 December 2002 to 30 March 2003 will be available on 9 July.

5.   The cost of crime was estimated to be £60 billion in 2000 (p 42) and in its replies to the Select Committee's written questions on the Departmental Annual Report 2001-02, the Home Office stated that it remained committed to seeing the cost of crime driven down. On the basis of the graph on p 16 it would appear that the cost of crime is increasing. What estimate has the Home Office made of the costs of crime in 2001-02 and 2002-03?

  The latest cost of crime figures, for 2001-02, are 5% below the 1999 baseline and on-target (see page 16). We continue to place high importance on reducing the impact of crime in our activities across the Group. We are planning a significant update to our estimates of the total cost of crime and this will incorporate 2002-03 BCS data. The revised estimates will be published in a report probably early next year.

Resources

6.   Table 1 (p 169) shows planned resource spending on Aim 1 for 2003-04 to 2005-06 to be considerably below outturn for 2002-03. Are the figures for 2003-04 to 2005-06 in Table 1 robust? How is this reduction to be achieved?

  The apparent reduction between 2002-03 and 2003-04 is caused by a technical change determined by HM Treasury. In 2002-03 civilian support staff in the Metropolitan Police transferred from the Metropolitan Police Civil Staff Superannuation Scheme to the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. This required a transfer of £1.69 billion pounds from the Treasury to the Home Office and on to the Metropolitan Police who in turn passed it to the Cabinet Office. The transfer had the effect of inflating our outturn figure for 2002-03 by £1.69 billion.

  The figures for 2003-04 are firm and include provision transferred from Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the National Assembly for Wales as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2003-04. Comparable transfers are expected to take place in respect of 2004-05 and 2005-06, so the figures in the table understate the likely provision for those years.

7.   More specifically, Table 2 shows planned resource spending on the police for 2003-04 to 2005-06 to be considerably below outturn for 2002-03. Are the figures for 2003-04 to 2005-06 robust? How is this reduction to be achieved?

  As stated in answer to question six, the apparent reduction between 2002-03 and 2003-04 is caused by a technical change determined by HM Treasury.

8.   Table 2 also shows planned resource spending on the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) for 2003-04 to be considerably below outturn for 2002-03. Are the figures for 2003-04 in line with the Home Office's latest and best estimates? Is it the Home Office's intention for the CRB to become self-financing by the end of 2003-04? Will the CRB be expected to repay any of the costs incurred in setting it up?

  On 5 June, the Home Secretary announced (Official Report col 27-29WS) that in the short term, that is for 2003-04 and 2004-05, the costs of the CRB would continue to be met through a combination of fee receipts and contributions from the Home Office, the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills. As we move towards full cost recovery it has been necessary to increase Disclosure fees. From 1 July the fee for a Standard Disclosure will be £24 and that for an Enhanced disclosure will be £29. Volunteers will continue to receive free Disclosures.

  As a result of this increase in fees, the net resource requirement for the CRB in 2003-04 will be £18.8 million, of which the Departments of Health and Education will each contribute £7.4 million. The CRB is expected to become self-financing from 2005-06. There are currently no plans to recover through Disclosure fees the costs incurred in setting up the CRB, but we will keep the matter under review.

9.   How much has the Criminal Records Bureau cost the tax-payer to date?

  The CRB's start up costs/operating deficits since 2000-01 are as follows:
2000-01£4,645k[1]
2001-02£26,071k[2]
2002-03 (estimate)£41,300k  

TARGETS

10.   Are baseline figures available for the youth crime target (p 134)? If not, when will the baseline figures be available?

  Baseline figures for the youth crime target will be provided by the new Home Office Crime and Justice Survey and will be available in January 2004, based on survey interviews conducted during 2003. The figures will be published in a Home Office Statistical Bulletin that will present the key results from the 2002-03 survey.

  The survey will subsequently provide a measure of progress in meeting the target, by providing a year-on-year measure of levels of youth offending.

11.   What is the level of robbery in the worst areas and the level in the best areas? Has the difference between the best and the worst areas increased or decreased in 2002-03?

  The PSA target on robbery applies to the police forces in the 10 areas covered by the Street Crime Initiative. The 10 areas were included in the Initiative, on the basis of the volume of robbery within them (together they accounted for 83% of recorded robbery in 2001-02), not on the basis of local force performance. Based on the latest published statistics, the attached table sets out comparisons of robbery levels in the 10 forces comparing the nine month period April to December 2001 with the same period in 2002. For each period, the table ranks the forces according to their volume of robbery in England and Wales. It shows that robbery fell by 15% in the 10 forces April to December 2002 compared with the same period in 2001. It also shows, comparing the same periods, that robbery fell in the Metropolitan Police Service by 22%, although the Service continues to have the highest volume of robbery in England and Wales.
SCI Force
Robbery Apr 01 to
Dec 01
Robbery Apr 02 to
Dec 02
% difference between 9 months 01 and
9 months 02
Volume difference between 9 months 01 and 9 months 02
VolumeRank for all forces in E&W VolumeRank for all
forces in
E&W
MPS40,0551 31,2481-22% -8,807
West Midlands9,8082 7,6813-22% -2,127
GMP7,9333 8,13823% 205
West Yorkshire3,8554 3,7054-4% -150
Avon and Somerset
3,333
52,7635 -17%-570
Merseyside2,2236 2,29763% 74
Thames Valley2,0997 1,8168-13% -283
Nottinghamshire1,8978 2,07779% 180
South Yorkshire1,3939 1,642918% 249
Lancashire1,20610 1,08912-10% -117
Total73,802 62,456-15% -11,346

12.   In SR2000 the PSA target was to produce a reduction in the level of recorded robbery in principal cities by 14% against a baseline of 1999-2000 whereas in the SR2002 PSA it is to reduce robbery in the 10 Street Crime Initiative areas by 14% from 1999-2000 to 2005. What is the reason for, and effect of, the change in the PSA target covering robbery in cities?

  The SR2000 target for robbery was based on the cumulative estimated impact of five police forces (the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Merseyside) each achieving their Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI) on robbery. On 17 March 2002, the Street Crime Initiative was announced following continued rises in robbery and, in the summer of 2002, the PSA was extended to a further five forces (Avon and Somerset, Thames Valley, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and Lancashire). The purpose of the change was to apply the PSA to the areas with the vast majority of robbery in England and Wales: the ten forces together accounted for 83% of recorded robbery in 2001-02. The achievement of the revised PSA will deliver a greater reduction in robbery than would otherwise have been the case.

13.   New PSA 2 (SR2002) requires improvement in the performance of all police forces, and significant reduction in the performance gap between the best and worst performing forces, and a significant increase in the proportion of time spent on frontline duties. Is the Home Office able to outline what "significant" means in each of these instances? When will the baseline be established and when will the first results be available?

  Policing performance in the 43 local police forces in England and Wales will be evaluated using the Policing Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF). This will assess policing performance in six "domains" (reducing crime, investigating crime, promoting public safety, providing assistance, citizen focus and resource usage).

  The target for significantly reducing the performance gap between the best and worst performing forces will be met if, in 2005-06, no forces performance is x% worse, in any domain, than the average for its Most Similar Forces (MSF) in 2002-03, as set out in the performance monitors (the graphical illustration of police performance—the first set of which was published in February 2003). The determination of this percentage change (x) is in progress. The MSF groupings need to be revised following the publication of 2001 census data. We expect to finalise the definition in the autumn, following the publication of a new set of performance monitors, when we will have a clear idea of the performance gaps which need to be closed. This will be in time for inclusion in a revision of the National Policing Plan in November. Results will be published annually—as part of the performance monitors publication.

  We expect to finalise shortly a detailed definition of what constitutes "frontline policing". There are important ramifications in this in policy and operational terms. A measure for this element of the PSA 2 target is being developed which will be based on an Activity Analysis element of the Activity Based Costing model for the police. This will demonstrate the proportion of police time, which is expended on frontline policing. We anticipate that data will be available from forces by November this year, allowing baselines to be determined—against which improvements can be measured during the remainder of the target period.

14.   What work is being done to improve the rate of early retirement on the grounds of ill-health from the police service? Has the Police Standards Unit done any work on this, and if so, what has been the impact?

  We published in the National Policing Plan in November targets for forces to reduce ill-health retirement to 6.5 medical retirements per 1,000 police strength by 2005-06.

  Arrangements for improvement in the management of ill-health were included in the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) Agreement reached in May 2002. Guidance, agreed by both Sides of the PNB, on the key areas of managing ill-health retirement was issued to forces in March 2003 to come into effect on 1 July. Where necessary the agreed best practice has been supported through changes to the Police Pensions Regulations in Police Pensions. The Amendment Regulations (Statutory Instrument 2003/535) came into force on 1 April 2003.

  The Strategy for a Healthy Police was launched last October, and took full effect on 1 April 2003, The Strategy has been supported by £15 million worth of funding over the next three financial years at £5 million per year. Much of the money allocated in the first year has been spent on fast-track treatment with the aim that sicknesses will not escalate to the point where they render police officers or staff permanently unfit for duty.

  Attendance management procedures have also been addressed so that the Police (Efficiency) Regulations 1999 as amended from 1 April 2003 encourage an attendance culture within which sickness absence management demonstrates a supportive attitude towards officers and in terms of the efficiency of the organisation. Secretary of State guidance was issued in March.

  The PNB Agreement also included agreement that regional boards of medical referees will replace the current system of single medical referees appointed by the Home Office. This will be an important step towards achieving the more robust appeals system that is needed to underpin a fair and transparent system of medical retirement. It is intended to award the contract in July 2003 and the new system is scheduled to commence from September 2003.

  The Police Standards Unit does not undertake any work on this as it is being driven forward by the Police Personnel Unit

AIM 2 (ORGANISED AND INTERNATIONAL CRIME)

Targets

15.   Can the Home Office update the figures given in response to the Home Affairs Committee's written question 3 on the Annual Report 2001-02 providing the average time in days from charge or laying of information to completion for adult defendants?

  The table below shows the average time in days for adult defendants from charge or laying of information to completion from February 1999 to March 2003. Recent figures are on the same basis as those provided as part of last year's report.
All adult defendants
Feb 9984
Jun 9967
Oct 9972
Feb 0066
Jun 0069
Sep 0060
Dec 0064
Mar 0162
Jun 0164
Sep 0162
Dec 0159
Mar 0262
Jun 0264
Sep 0262
Dec 0262
Mar 0362

  Source: The Department for Constitutional Affairs Time Intervals Survey

16. New PSA 4 (SR 2002) target is for improvement in the level of public confidence in the Criminal Justice System. The SR2002 Public Sector Agreement Technical Notes state that the Department is working to identify the best way of measuring performance. When will this measure be available and when will the first results come out?

  The measure will be available very shortly. It has taken considerable time to develop, not least because neither confidence nor satisfaction lend themselves easily to measurement. We hope that the Technical Note can be issued soon. The first results from the measure will be available in July 2004.

Miscellaneous

17.   How many cases has the Assets Recovery Agency pursued since it came into operation? How much has been recovered and where has this money gone?

  Since the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) commenced operations on 24 February 2003, 47 cases have been referred to ARA to consider civil recovery or taxation action; 24 of these are under active investigation, relating to assets estimated to be in excess of £12 million. Four applications have been made to the High Court in civil recovery cases (three for interim receiving orders or freezing orders, and one for an investigation order), all of which have been successful. ARA investigators are also working closely with law enforcement colleagues in two criminal confiscation cases, relating to assets in excess of £2 million. In the short time the Agency has been operational, no money has yet been recovered.

18.   When will the recommendations of the Wheeler Report on airport security be fully implemented (p 139)?

  The Government is acting on all of Sir John Wheeler's recommendations. Priority is being given to those that will most quickly improve security on the ground, and to leading significant work on multi agency threat and risk assessments at airports. Sir John's recommendations amounted to a substantial programme of work, some of which requires further policy decisions and wider consultation. These will take a little more time to complete in full. We expect most of the recommendations to be completed or well on the way to full implementation by around the end of the year.

AIM 3 (CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM)

Resources

19.   Table 1 (p 169) shows planned resource spending on Aim 3 for 2003-04 to 2005-06 to be considerably below outturn for 2002-03. Are the figures for 2003-04 to 2005-06, particularly for criminal injuries compensation, robust? How is the reduction to be achieved?

  Recorded resource expenditure on criminal injuries compensation rose during 2002-03 largely because of a provision of £170 million was taken out to meet the cost in future years of residual claims lodged (before 1.4.96) under the former common law damages scheme. In addition, funding was increased by £25 million in year to meet the higher than expected costs of claims arising under that former scheme. From 2003-04 onwards the costs of residual old scheme cases will be met from the provision of £170 million, thus reducing the call on resources which will now only have to meet the costs of the tariff-based scheme (effective for all claims lodged on or after 1April 1996).

20.   In 2002-03 how much of the Criminal Justice Reserve was spent, and on what? How much of the Reserve will be spent in 2003-04 and on what?

  In 2002-03 total spending from the CJS Reserve is estimated as £207.7 million ( Final figures remain to be confirmed by Departments). A further £225 million is planned to be spent from the CJS Reserve in 2003-04.

  The following table shows what the CJS Reserve was spent on in 2002-03.
Departments £000'sInitiative ResourceCapital Total
(HO) CJITICT5,498 12,80018,298
(HO) CJSPerformance Management 538105643
CJSSupport to Local CJ Boards 251251
CJSCriminal Justice Units 176138314
ACJSC Beds, Herts, Suffolk &
  Surrey
Case Tracking Pilot23 23
ACJSC CheshireVictim/Witness Research Project 3232
ACJSC NottinghamshireJoint Criminal Justice Plan 3030
ACJSC Greater ManchesterMOD Project Worker 2828
(HO) HMPSAttrition400 400
(HO) NPS—Local BoardsAttrition 1,2851,285
(HO) JVWUWitness Support 1,1001,100
(HO) JVWUVictim personal statements 7070
(HO) HMPSMagistrates Courts extended sitting 893893
(HO) NPS/Local BoardsMagistrates Courts extended sitting 3939
(HO) JVWUMagistrates Courts extended sitting 1313
(HO) YJBMagistrates Courts extended sitting 5858
(HO) PCRG (CRCSG)Magistrates Courts extended sitting 505505
(HO) CPG—JVUVulnerable/Intimidated witnesses 33
(HO) NPS—Local BoardsPersistent Offenders 463463
(HO) CPG—JGATPersistent Offenders 1964,2814,477
(HO) HMPSStreet Crime Initiative 25,20022,00047,200
(HO) YJBStreet Crime Initiative 600600
(HO) CPG—EMTStreet Crime Initiative 9,5069,506
(HO) PCRG (CRCSG)Street Crime Initiative 3,40014,80018,200
CPSAttrition8,700 8,700
CPSCrown Court Sitting days 5,0005,000
CPSYouth Court Time targets 4,0004,000
CPSVictim Personal Statements 5,0005,000
CPSDirect Communication with Victims 3,8003,800
CPSUnified Fee Scheme 1,0001,000
CPSMagistrates Courts Extended Sitting 240240
CPSCasework Directorate 1,0001,000
CPSCross Border Crime 1,8001,800
CPSCPS Support in Years 2 & 3 15,00015,000
CPSVulnerable & Intimidated Witnesses 6,5507007,250
CPSStreet Crime Initiative 6,1006,100
LCD (now DCA)Attrition 11,10011,100
LCDCrown Court Sitting Days 6,3406,340
LCDCase Progression Officers 5,0005,000
LCDYouth Court Time Targets 3,5003,500
LCDFine Enforcement 283283
LCDVictim Personal Statements 3,6003,600
LCDAuld Implementation 500500
LCDMagistrates Courts Extended Sitting 812812
LCDICT4,7004,700
LCDVulnerable/Intimidated Witnesses 1,0001,000
LCDStreet Crime Initiative 4,2503,3007,550
Grand Total144,882 62,824207,706

  The following table shows proposed CJS Reserve allocations for 2003-04.
Initiatives (£000's)Resource CapitalTotal
Attrition81,7009,000 90,700
Crime reduction programme0 40,00040,000
Crown Court sitting days11,340 011,340
Vulnerable & intimitated witnesses 10,100010,100
Persistent offenders1,000 5,1806,180
CJS performance2,090 2002,290
CJS accommodation700 170870
Case Progression Officers5,000 05,000
Casework Directorate1,500 01,500
Cross border crime3,000 03,000
Witness support5000 500
Victim personal statements8,700 08,700
Direct communication with victims3,200 03,200
CJS IT20013,120 13,320
National/local funding2,300 02,300
Youth Court time targets7,500 07,500
Fine enforcement2,000 02,000
Auld implementation500 0500
Unified fee scheme1,000 01,000
CPS support15,0000 15,000
TOTAL PROPOSED157,330 67,670225,000

21.   How much will the DNA database cost (p 144)?

  The DNA Expansion Programme will spend £183 million between April 2000 and March 2004. (This covers the full costs of expanding the database to cover the whole known active criminal population, including the costs of employing additional scene of crime investigators to collect samples from scenes that may contain DNA, and IT upgrades for the database). The cost of processing samples taken from individuals and scenes of crime during the same period, to extract DNA which can be added to the database, is estimated to be £116 million.

Targets

22.   The Annual Report states at p 66 that the reasons for the slippage against target ("Narrowing the Justice Gap") between March 2000 and September 2001 were difficult to pinpoint, as are the reasons for its subsequent reversal. What difficulties does this pose in formulating a strategy to meet the target of bringing 1.2 million offences to court each year?

  A better understanding of the reasons for the slippage and subsequent reversal should indeed contribute to improving performance, and we are continuing to seek it. But the strategy we have already formulated to meet the target (set out in the document "Narrowing the Justice Gap: Framework" produced in October 2002, and in subsequent associated guidance) is based on widespread and substantial evidence and experience, in particular: research conducted by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on each stage of the criminal justice process up to charging; studies by PA Consulting of why crimes that have been prosecuted fail to result in a conviction, and of cracked and ineffective trials in the Crown Court; the lessons of the Street Crime Initiative and of the delivery of the Persistent Young Offender pledge, and Home Office research on persistent offenders. All of this leads us to expect that the strategy of tackling weaknesses in the criminal justice process, targeting types of offender, and targeting types of crime will lead to more offences being brought to justice.

23.   How great a variation is there in the "Justice Gap" between criminal justice areas? What are the reasons for the variations?

  One way in which "justice gap" performance can be compared between areas is by comparing offences brought to justice as a proportion of recorded crime. For the year ending September 2002, offences brought to justice as a proportion of recorded crime by criminal justice area ranged between 12% and 45.9% (national average 18%). Some of this variation is thought to be due to differences in the relative incidence of types of crime between areas. Some of it is likely to relate to varying success in addressing the weaknesses referred to in the previous answer. We are currently analysing the justice gap performance of some CJS areas where there has been a recent decline in performance, which should shed more light on the reasons for variation between areas.

24.   A "substantial investment" is being made in IT over the next few years to improve working and provide better services (p 73). How dependent is the Home Office on IT for improvements and meeting targets?

  As is now true across most organisations, IT plays an important part within the Home Office and the Services it funds in securing delivery improvement and meeting targets. As is also true elsewhere, this contribution needs to be seen alongside other factors such as having access to a well managed and appropriately skilled workforce and working with our partners both at national and local levels. The specific role played by IT varies across the piece and it is often difficult to quantify its impact on specific targets—not least because funding for targets is often not separately identified and because getting value from IT investment often depends on broader changes (eg to working practices).

  Some examples of how IT plays into and supports improvement and target delivery are given below:

    —  POLICE: key projects, being taken forward in partnership by the Police Information Technology Organisation, include:

    —  Airwave, the new radio system for the police service. This will, by provided enhanced  and secure communications improve the efficiency and safety of police officers. As such it will contribute to reduced crime (PSA 1) and enhanced police effectiveness (PSA 2);

    —  Custody & Case Preparation applications, two software products that will support the processing of criminal cases from the point of custody, making better use of the information available locally throughout forces, via its shared availability nationally, contributing directly to PSAs 1 and 3 and indirectly to PSA 4;

    —  National Management Information System (NMIS), a software product to collect, store and use Police Forces management information at a national level. This contributes, in particular to PSAs 1, 2 and 10.

    —  PRISONS: QUANTUM has delivered a major refresh of the Service's basic IT infrastructure. The service is now developing a programme of IT enabled business change which will consist of a number of specific projects intended to enhance delivery capability. Priorities include the:

    —  Replacement of existing prisoner information system, to ensure that the best use is made of capacity and that prisoners are housed in conditions consistent with their escape risk (PSA 5); This in turn will allow the Service to play a full part in CJIT plans to join up the entire CJS electronically by means of a "virtual case record exchange" system;

    —  Introduction of an IT-based Offender Assessment system ("OASys") to support reduced re-offending by better assessing prisoner rehabilitation needs (PSA 5) and facilitate joint working with the Probation Service (indirectly supporting PSA 4); Roll out started in April. Replacement of the existing finance and personnel systems with a single ORACLE package which will enable better use of human and financial resources, supporting prioritisation and value for money (PSA 10);

    —  PROBATION: the updating and phased replacement of the present NPSISS case-management systems with one that is more capable and user-friendly, increasing effectiveness and help secure greater public protection and reductions in re-offending (PSA 5) through enhanced interpretability with other CJS agencies (indirectly supporting PSA 4);

    —  OTHER CJS: in addition to spend by Home Office agencies, that undertaken by other CJS partners, within the £1.2 billion total over the next three years, will support delivery of targets for which the Home Office shares responsibility. For example: better IT support in Courts and linked case management systems to other CJS agencies will help reduce ineffective trials (PSA 3) and, by helping reduce delay, improve confidence (PSA 4). A national benefits model is being developed which will identify the linkages between PSA targets, key problems in the CJS (such as unnecessary adjournments) and their root causes (such as witness non-attendance), and the information flows which can impact on them. Work is being carried out to align detailed IT plans with relevant delivery plans both nationally and locally;

    —  ND: Many of IND's difficulties in coping with the spiralling volume of casework stemmed from its reliance on paper files. The Directorate's Case Information Database (CID), rolled out in 2001-02, provides a single, high quality, case information database producing robust, reliable and timely management information. This allowed management to drive up performance throughout the business and in particular meeting the target for consideration of initial asylum decisions within two months. Other benefits include the facilitation of continuous process improvement and the establishment of an IT infrastructure as a platform for continued modernisation.

  The CID Enhancement Programme, began in mid 2002, underpins much of IND's delivery plan for PSA 7. This includes the implementation of critical business projects which will deliver improvements in border control and screening, initial decision making, induction centres and asylum support cost reduction, appeals and removals and managed migration. The Programme also supports the introduction of Application Registration Cards and cash payments to asylum seekers. The project is due for completion at the end of June by which time CID will have been successfully rolled-out to over 10,000 IND staff.

25.   What are the reasons for the 11% increase in cases going to the Criminal Cases Review Commission? Has the number of cases continued at this high level? How will the Commission achieve its target to reduce the number of cases awaiting review? Will extra resources be provided to the Commission?

  The probability is that the increase in applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is due to the combination of the greater awareness of the Commission and the higher prison population. The number of applications to the Commission in 2002-03 at 932 was 11.75% more than for 2001-02. Despite this, over the year the CCRC achieved a 7.8% reduction in the number of cases awaiting a decision. Corporate planning had assumed 828 applications for the year and had allowed for staff numbers to decline in line with the projected decrease in case accumulation (in order to avoid the necessity for future redundancies). The increased level of applications has led the Commission to recommence recruitment. The Home Office had authorised a higher number of staff than the CCRC chose to employ and provided sufficient funding for this.

26.   Why is the detection rate for crime not a PSA target?

  Our overall objective for criminal justice (expressed in PSA 3) is to improve the ability of the process as a whole to deliver justice to victims. Detecting crime is the first stage in this process, but it is not an end in itself—we need to ensure that more offences are detected, charged and brought to justice. This requires both an improvement in the detection rate, and close co-operation between the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that offences charged can be successfully prosecuted.

  PSA3 is to improve the delivery of justice by increasing the number of crimes for which an offender is brought to justice to 1.2 million by 2005-06 with an improvement in all CJS areas, a greater increase in the worse performing areas and a reduction in the proportion of ineffective trials. Achieving this target requires contributions from the police, Crown Prosecution Service and the Courts. The police will contribute in a range of ways including improving their detection rates.

  PSA2 is to improve the performance of all police forces, and significantly reduce the performance gap between the best and worst performing forces; and significantly increase the proportion of time spent on front line duties. Improving the detection rate is one of the monitors used to measure police performance for PSA2.

AIM 4 (PRISON AND PROBATION SERVICES)

Targets

27.   Can the Home Office prove the effectiveness of its current programmes to reduce re-offending?

  Yes, using a few different types of evidence:

    —  Evaluation of several programmes including drug treatment programmes[3]currently in use have shown reduced reoffending with some offenders in both prison and community[4]settings in the UK. For example "thinking" skills programmes in prison produced 3 to 14 percentage point reduction in reconviction[5]and Sex Offender Treatment Programmes showed 0.1 to 12 percentage point reduction[6]after two years. Other programmes are currently being evaluated with results expected in 2003-04;

    —  Studies of the international literature on What Works in reducing reoffending[7]support current programmes and interventions in UK Corrections.

28.   How many young people in custody completed 30 hours of purposeful activity per week in 2002-03?

  2,019 (70%) of young people in custody completed 30 hours of purposeful activity during 2002-03 using the Youth Justice Board's definition which includes personal development and recreational activities in addition to education and training. [This figure includes lower reported levels of 33% during the first three quarters of 2002-03 as the data collected from the Prison Service for these three quarters was based on a much narrower definition of purposeful activity covering only education and training.]

29.   How many a) suicides and b) attempted suicides have occurred in prisons over the past year, and of these, how many occurred in "safe cells"?

  There were 105 self-inflicted deaths during 2002-03, five of which occurred in safer cells. Research had demonstrated a problem with under-reporting of prisoner self-harm (by about a third), so a new, more reliable method for recording and reporting such incidents was introduced from 1 December 2002. There were 8,980 incidents of self-harm in 2002-03, of which 299 occurred in safer cells during the four month period December 2002 to March 2003. Of the 8,980, 354 were serious incidents of self-harm occurring between December 2002 to March 2003, of which 11 were in safer cells.

30.   In the Annual Report 2001-02 the Home Office predicted, with caveats, that "we are on course to exceed the 2004 target [on juvenile re-offending] ahead of time". What is the Home Office's current prediction for juvenile and adult offenders? Why did the Home Office not include a prediction in the Annual Report for 2003?

  The juvenile one-year reconviction rate for the January-March 2001 cohort showed 22.5% fewer offenders were reconvicted than predicted. This is the second year in which the target rate has been exceeded. We remain on course to exceed the target. The two-year reconviction rate for adult offenders sentenced to prison or community penalties for the first quarter of 1999 shows 3.2% fewer offenders were reconvicted than predicted.

Future Delivery

31.   What recent improvements have been seen in Young Offenders Institutions, in particular in Feltham Young Offenders Institution?

  Additional funding from the Youth Justice Board has meant a significant improvement in both the quality and quantity of provision. This has resulted in the recruitment of additional qualified teachers and managers, and the introduction of Learning Support Assistants in establishments holding juveniles. Across the juvenile estate level 2 accreditations in literacy and numeracy saw a yearly increase of 23% during 2002-03. Basic skills accreditations were 3,898, and 2,237 key work skills were achieved, the level of assaults decreased by 8% during 2002-03, compared with 2001-02.

  Feltham B (18-20 site) has delivered considerable improvements to the provision for young offenders over the past year. Specific improvements for 2002-03 (unless specified), include:

    —  24.3% increase in of prisoners Voluntary Drug testing compacts and a 6% reduction in positive Mandatory Drug Test results;?

    —  Average of 27 hours purposeful activity against a target of 20 hours from March 2003;?

    —  A 37% reduction in assaults;

    —  Self-harm procedures in the establishment received a rating of Good from the Prison Service Standards Audit Unit; 627 key work skills were achieved for the year against a target set of 125.

32.   To what extent have rises in the prison population over the past year eroded prisoner rehabilitation such as the attainment of qualifications?

  Although there are no indications yet that the number of prisoners is significantly affecting the provision of rehabilitative interventions in prisons, it is inevitable that at times of high population pressure, such provision may be disrupted. During 2002-03 prisons achieved, and in many cases far exceeded their targets, delivering over 41,500 basic skills qualifications against a target of 28,800 and 89,00 work skills against a target of 45,000. Employment and Offending Behaviour Programmes targets were also met.

33.   How is the Prison Service coping with continued levels of overcrowding?

  Despite increased levels of population, the Prison Service continues to provide positive regimes that focus on the reduction of reoffending.

  We are providing additional capacity. Funding has been made available for 2,820 additional prison places to be built at existing prisons. Two new prisons will also be opened at Ashford and Peterborough. Together with building programmes in progress, these will increase the total useable capacity of the Prison Service estate from 74,156 (as at 18 June 2003) to around 78,700 by 2006.

  The Prison Service continues to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity over the coming years, and as part of the Government's prison modernisation strategy. This is based on a combination of expanding capacity in existing prisons that we want to keep in the long term, and a programme to build new concept large multi-functional prisons.

34.   What steps have been taken to improve conditions at prisons which have recently been the subject of highly critical inspection reports from HM Chief Inspector of Prisons? (in particular Wandsworth and Pentonville)

  The Director-General acknowledges the Chief Inspector's recommendation on reducing the Operational Capacity of HMP Wandsworth, however, given the current prison population, the only alternative would be to hold prisoners in police cells. This would, for those held in police cells, provide an impoverished regime below that available at Wandsworth and would divert resources away form policing and be expensive.

  Although when fully overcrowded Wandsworth offers less than either the Prison Service or the Chief Inspector would like it does provide prisoners with the basic requirements of a decent and, as the Chief Inspector acknowledges, safe environment.

  Since the inspection in January, new staff arrangements have been introduced at Wandsworth and this is already having a significant effect on access to association, phones and showers. New workshops have since opened thus increasing time out of cell.

  The problems facing Pentonville at the time of the inspection in September 2002 have been acknowledged by the Chief Inspector. However, Pentonville's regime over the past six months has consistently met its targets on purposeful activity and education. The prison completed the highest number of offending behaviour accreditations of any prison and prisoners now have daily access to showers. Pentonville is a safe and decent prison coping professionally and compassionately with the huge numbers of prisoners passing through the gates every day.

  As with all reports from HM Chief Inspector the Prison Service produces an action plan based on her recommendations. These action plans are cleared by Home Office Ministers and are subject to rigorous monitoring.

35.   The Home Office's aim set out at p 79 is to provide healthcare for prisoners equivalent to that of the general population. How far below NHS standards is the prison healthcare system and what changes does the Home Office plan to make? Has the Home Office a date by which it plans to achieve parity?

  Acute care aside, prison health services have historically operated more or less independently of the NHS, leading to concerns in the 1990s about growing isolation and the emergence of a significant shortfall in standards of care relative to the NHS. In response to these concerns, a formal partnership between the Prison Service and the NHS was established in 2000. Two new joint units, a Prison Health Policy Unit and a Prison Healthcare Task Force, were appointed to lead and manage a programme of work designed to modernise prison health services, step up NHS engagement with the prison population and introduce much better performance monitoring arrangements. Principal priorities included developing better mental health services (including the development of NHS funded in-reach teams), supporting improvements in primary care services, developing the prison health workforce and improving the prison health care estate. This was accompanied by new investment to tackle, amongst other issues, substance misuse, mental health problems and communicable disease. This work programme is continuing but the two joint units were merged into one, Prison Health, from December 2002.

  As a natural development of the Prison Service/NHS partnership and in support of the established objective of broad equivalence with wider NHS services, financial responsibility for prison health was transferred from the Home Office to the Department of Health (in England) and the Welsh Assembly Government from 1 April 2003. A Development Network of prisons and PCTs is being established to provide a test-bed for the transfer at operational level. This is likely to lead to some PCTs assuming effective commissioning responsibility for prison health services in their localities from April 2004. By April 2006 responsibility for commissioning prison health services in England will be fully devolved to NHS Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), thus effectively mainstreaming this activity within the NHS.

36.   In February Martin Narey was appointed first Commissioner for Correctional Services. Why was this position created? How does the new Board, which Mr Narey chairs, operate? What matters come before the Board? What sentencing issues, investment strategy, allocation of resources and staff matters come before it? What is its relationship to the Group Executive Board of the Home Office?

  Martin Narey was appointed as the first Commissioner for Correctional Services with the task of setting the strategic direction for the correctional services and ensuring the effective, joint working of the Prison and Probation Services and the Youth Justice Board.

  Mr Narey chairs a monthly Programme Board which reviews the progress of each of the three core agencies (HM Prison Service, the National Probation Service, and the Youth Justice Board) on delivery of initiatives to meet the PSA target to reduce re-offending by 5%, and which supports effective interaction between these core agencies and other agencies with a key role in helping re-integrate offenders successfully into society. The Board collegiately supports the Commissioner in his role advising Ministers on delivery of the PSA target to reduce re-offending. The Board reports monthly to the Group Executive Board on its action and progress on delivering the target.

  Issues considered recently by the Board have included achieving more effective partnership between prisons and Drug Action Teams in providing through-the-gate provision for offenders, work on tackling difficulties in ensuring prisoners have stable accommodation in which to be resettled, and work by Home Office researchers on developing better estimates of the potential impact of initiatives already in place on reconviction rates. Sentencing issues, investment strategy, allocation of resources and staff matters are considered by the Board where these affect the ability to deliver the PSA target, but these issues are dealt with primarily through existing structures, which take into account the plans for meeting the PSA target.

37.   In May Martin Narey said, in an interview with The Times newspaper, that the merger of the Prison and National Probation Services "may be a possibility" (20.05.03). At what stage is this proposal? What would be the reasons for such a merger?

  Martin Narey said merger was a possibility but explicitly not a proposal, and had not been discussed with ministers.

Resources

38.   In the three years 2000-01 to 2002-03 the average increase in resources for Aim 4 was 11%, but in 2003-04 to 2005-06 it is 4% (Table 1, p 169). How will the Home Office be able to maintain and carry through its plans within the SR2002 settlement?

  The system of funding probation services changed with the creation of the National Probation Service in April 2001. Prior to that date the Home Office provided a large part, but not all, of probation funding. Adjusting for this means the Aim 4 resource spending increase in the first period (three years to 2002-03) was just over 8% pa while in the second period (three years to 2005-06) it is planned to be just under 5% pa. In both periods the increase in resource spending on a comparable basis is in excess of actual and anticipated rates of inflation. This reflects planning for increased numbers held in custody, expansion of the work of the Youth Justice Board, increased workloads for the probation services, the introduction of new court community-based disposals and the costs of training new probation officers to provide them.

39.   Why is there a 22% increase in funding for the Probation service in 2005-06 on 2004-05 (Table 2, p 170)?

  The forecast increase of 22% for Probation from 2004-05 to 2005-06 is £149 million of which £20 million relates to anticipated inflation pressures and £129 million to the cost of implementing the Criminal Justice Bill currently before Parliament, primarily the introduction of "Custody Plus".

Accounting Matters

40.   What is the accounting treatment of prisons constructed under PFI? Are they on or off balance sheet?

  The Prison Service has entered into a number of PFI contracts which include the provision of buildings and services. The accounting treatment of these contracts has been accounted for in accordance with "Technical Note No.1 (Revised)" as required by the Resource and Accounting Manual. The Asset is recorded as fixed assets and the liability to pay for it is accounted for as a finance lease. Assets arising from these prisons constructed under PFI contracts are, therefore, on balance sheet.

AIM 5 (DRUG ABUSE AND CRIME)

Figures

41.   What proportion of Afghanistan's poppy production does the Home Office estimate has been eliminated to date (p 85)? How sustainable is this?

  The Afghan authorities believe that 17,300 hectares of opium poppy have been destroyed to date. A long-term strategy to reduce Afghan poppy cultivation has been drawn up, with the goal of eliminating production by 2013. The UK Government will be releasing £70 million over the next three years specifically to fund drug control activities in support of the Afghan authorities' efforts.

42.   On the basis of the total public expenditure figures in Table 1 (p 169) why will spending on Aim 5 fall in 2003-04 and then more than double in 2004-05?

  The resource figures for drugs given in Tables 1 and 2 of the Annual Report (pages 169 and 170) did not reflect the full spending review settlement. There were one or two aspects of the detailed division of the settlement between Home Office aims and policy areas which were not completely resolved by the deadline for producing data to be published in the annual report, and hence this figure is not accurate.

  The Aim 5 plan figures for 2003-04 to 2005-06 should be as follows:
2003-04:£181.7 million
2004-05:£264.9 million
2005-06:£336.9 million



  Overall Home Office spending figures are correspondingly higher (ie by £91.8/£49.5/£2.4 million).

  The increasing profile for drugs expenditure over the three years reflects the importance the Government places on taking action to tackle drug abuse, in particular measures to tackle drugs related crime.

Targets

43.   Have any targets been set for Drug Action Teams on treatment waiting times? If they have, what are they?

  Yes. As follows:
2002-032004
In-patient detox4 weeks 2 weeks
Community prescribing6 weeks
Structured counselling 2 weeks
Specialist GPs4 weeks 2 weeks
Daycare4 weeks3 weeks
Residential rehabilitation4 weeks 3 weeks

44.   What percentage of GPs offer drug treatment through a shared care scheme on basis of data available in May 2003 (p 151)?

  23% of GPs are involved with shared care nationally (in England).

45.   In new PSA 5 (SR 2002) will the repeat offending target in PSA 2000—to reduce the levels of repeat offending amongst problem drug-misusing offenders by 25% by 2005, and by 50% by 2008—be measured? If not, why not?

  Reductions in drug-related crime is a broader, more meaningful measure than repeat offending. The old target was measured using the "NEW-ADAM" survey, which no longer exists. It would, in principle, be possible to measure the old target with the new Arrestee Survey. However, the two statistics would not be directly comparable given the different bases for sampling in the two surveys.

46.   In new PSA 5 (SR 2002) will the drug treatment target in PSA 2000—to increase participation of problem drug users in drug treatment programmes by 55% by 2004, and by 100% by 2008—be measured? If not, why not?

  This will be measured annually through the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) against projections set in the delivery plan. The next set of full data for 2001-02 and 2002-03 will be available in September 2003. Interim data for 2001-02 on those presenting for treatment indicate that we remain broadly on track.

47.   The Annual Report states at p 88 that "the range of outcomes [of drug treatment] is greater within the same treatment modes that between them". What does this mean and what effect will it have on Home Office policy and programmes?

  It means that outcomes within individual types of treatment (for instance methodone maintenance or residential rehab), vary more than between different treatment types. The Home Office is working with the Department of Health and the National Treatment Agency to improve the quality and standard of treatment including the development of improved guidance, workforce training and operational frameworks (such as models of care) in order to bring improvement and consistency to treatment programmes. The treatment PSA now includes the retention and successful completion of treatment as a measure.

AIM 6 (ASYLUM)

Figures

48.   How much will the new detection technology cost (p 94)?

  The Immigration Service was allocated £9 million for the introduction of detection technology equipment. This has funded the introduction of gamma scanners, passive millimetric wave equipment and heartbeat detectors.

49.   At which supplementary estimate will the agreed budget for Aim 6 be clarified (p 100)? Why was the budget not agreed in time for the main estimates for 2003-04?

  We expect the agreed Aim 6 budget to be reflected in the Winter Supplementary estimates. Discussions with Treasury on a costed delivery plan for immigration and asylum had not been concluded by the time the Main Estimates were prepared.

Targets

50.   When does the Home Office intend to determine and publish the proportion of asylum applications which are to be decided within six months (p 100)?

  The six months target is the joint responsibility of the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Once agreement on the target has been reached it will be published by the autumn.

AIM 7 (COMMUNITY RELATIONS)

Figures

51.   Why have the Machinery of Government changes made comparisons with previous years' figures impossible (p 103)? What is the extra resource funding being spent on?

  The annual report flagged that such comparisons would not be meaningful. Resource figures before 2001-02 includes expenditure of 5 Units that subsequently moved to other Government Departments under the 2001 Machinery of Government changes. Therefore, comparing previous years' expenditure to that of 2001-02 is not comparing like with like.

  Comparing extra resource funding in 2002-03, to 2001-02:

    —  £10 million was spent on increased provision to voluntary and community sector organisations,

    —  £5 million was set aside as provisions by the Commission for Racial Equality for their pension scheme for the employees of Racial Equality Councils (RECs) who hold CRE funded posts, and for dilapidation costs at their previous London accommodation,

    —  the remainder was spent on the staffing, running costs and programme expenditure of the Coroners' Review, Regions and Renewal Unit, Entitlement Card Unit, and the Community Cohesion Unit.

Policy

52.   According to p 110, the Government will "increase the role of the voluntary and community sector in delivering public services". Which services, and to what extent, would the Government like to see the voluntary sector deliver?

  The Government aims to increase the contribution of the voluntary and community sector to the delivery of public services by 5% by 2006. We have identified the following service areas as having the greatest capacity for an expanded voluntary and community sector role:

    —  health and social care;

    —  education and learning;

    —  crime and social cohesion;

    —  children, young people and families;

    —  local government; and

    —  regeneration and renewal.

  The Home Office's Active Community Unit is currently working with colleagues across Government to achieve the aim.

53.   What responses were received to the consultation paper on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud? Would any scheme envisaged be entirely self-financing?

  We have received over 4,000 individual responses to the consultation paper and details of the responses received will be published. The consultation paper discussed developing a scheme based on driving licences and passports both of which are self-financing systems. No decision has yet been taken on whether to proceed with a scheme or whether it would be entirely self-financing. The consultation paper suggested that cards could be made available at a reduced fee for pensioners and those in receipt of key benefits.

54.   According to an article in The Times (3.6.03) 5,029 responses to the consultation collected by the campaign group Stand were recorded as a single vote. Is this the case?

  5,031 emails have been received via the Stand website in response to the Government's consultation exercise on entitlement cards. They will be counted in the same way as other inspired samples or surveys of opinion which by their nature cannot be representative of the population as a whole. Another example is the response to an ITV Teletext survey which showed 2:1 support for a card scheme.

HOME OFFICE ORGANISATION

55.   In March it was reported in the press that the Home Office was offering early retirement packages to a number of its most senior civil servants. Why was this move felt to be necessary?

  The Home Office decided that in order to be best placed to meet its demanding delivery agenda, its senior management needed to be refreshed with new skills and experience. In particular, we had identified that we needed more staff who were able to manage programmes and operational units as well as develop policy. We examined the our staffing profile against the sorts of jobs which were likely to arise in the future and concluded that there were a number of staff, for whom it would become increasingly difficult to find posts—many of these were close to retirement. 24 staff in the SCS will be leaving during the current financial year. We have already set about replacing them using a recruitment exercise to bring in talent from outside the Department as well as promoting staff from within. 40 staff at grades just below SCS are being replaced in a similar exercise.

FIGURES

56.   Please explain the one-off "technical changes" to the accounts in 2002-03 in more detail (p 115). How much of the extra £4.7 billion enhanced the Home Office's spending power? How much of the extra spending went to meet asylum pressures and how much to meet street crime pressures?

  The 2002-03 provisional resource outturn, at £12.9 billion, was £3 billion higher than projected in the 2001-02 Annual Report. The majority of this increase reflected "technical" changes that did not increase Home Office spending power:

    —  £1.69 billion for Metropolitan Police civil staff pensions (see answer to Qs 6 and 7 for more detail);

    —  £170 million due to a provision for old Criminal Injuries cases (see answer to Q19 for more detail).

  Changes that did enhance Home Office spending power included £785 million from the DEL Reserve with respect to asylum and £180 million was provided as part of the package of measures announced in the 2002 Budget to deal with street crime, provide extra prison places and boost our counter-terrorism efforts (see Written Answers 1 May 2002 columns 822-3W) .

  The £4.7 billion figure refers to Local Authority support for the police, provided as part of existing funding structures. It is additional to the funding the Home Office provided.

NEW HOME OFFICE HEADQUARTERS

57.   How much will the new building cost? Will the building be on or off the balance sheet? What estimate has the Home Office made of the costs of moving? When will the new building be ready? Once the move has been completed what is the estimate that the Home Office has made of the costs and benefits?

  The cost of the new building in 2 Marsham Street is £311 million NPV at time of financial close. At contract signature (March 2003) the NAO gave the view that the building would be off balance sheet.

  The majority of the costs of moving, mainly staff from QAG to 2MS, are in the contract with Queen Anne's Gate Property (AGP) and thus are included in the £311 million figure above. There are additional costs of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) moves and these are currently estimated at £2.2 million

  The new building will be ready for occupation in early 2005.

  The estimated costs of payments to AGP will be approximately £31m per annum, assessed as being in line with market rates for the area. The benefits that will be derived from the new Home Office building fully support the delivery agenda within the Home Office. These benefits include:

    —  flexibility within the building to allow the team structures to change with minimum disruption;

    —  provision of facilities within the building (cafes, restaurant, meeting rooms, study booths, atrium areas, knowledge centre etc) that give the staff the choice of how they work effectively;

    —  the ability to help recruit retain and motivate the staff we need to succeed; and

    —  a modern flexible ICT infrastructure that supports more effective knowledge and information management.

58.   Has illegal timber been used in the construction at Marsham Street, as alleged by Greenpeace protesters who recently demonstrated at the site? If so, how was this allowed to happen?

  No timber has been supplied so far for use in the new Home Office building. The developer (AGP) has informed us that timber has been purchased by their sub-contractors for their use during construction and performing their obligations under the construction contract. This timber comprises 217m3 of which 46% are softwoods from France, and the remainder plywood 30% from Indonesia, 23% Brazil and 1% Finland. In addition 2,917 pieces of sawn softwood have been sourced from forests in Austria. All this timber has been legally imported with UK Customs clearance.

  The timber from Austria and Finland had PEFC (Pan European Forestry Certification—European Ecologic Norms). The timber from France came from a forest with a sustainable forest management programme. Plywood from Indonesia and Brazil was legally imported but the developer has not yet been able to supply information about the exact sources within these countries. The plywood from Finland was a trial purchase of sustainable plywood sources made by the developer's sub-contractors seeking an alternative to tropical sources.

  On 6 June the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued a clarification to Departments that it was policy to monitor the sourcing of timber purchased and used by contractors in the construction process, as well as timber purchased for use in the new building. The contract will in future be administered to include monitoring of the legal and sustainable sources of such timber.

  Arrangements are in place to ensure that all future timber purchases whether for use in the construction process or for use in the new building will be shown to be obtained from legal and sustainable sources. The developer has informed us that it intends that no further plywood for use in 2 Marsham Street will be sourced from Indonesia.

TARGETS

59.   How are the efficiency gains recorded at p 117 measured and verified? What proportion of the savings were cashable and what proportion was non-cashable? What happens to the cash saved?

  POLICE EXPENDITURE: The 43 local police authorities have individual targets to improve efficiency by 2% per year. The target relates to their net revenue expenditure and includes, as its basis, income derived from grants by the Home Office, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and grants by local authorities. Delivery of the target is monitored by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

  The target is assessed on the basis both of improvements in efficiency (including cash-releasing savings) and of maintained quality of service. Actual performance against the plan, and police performance, are verified by HMIC with support from external auditors.

  Over 1999-2000 to 2001-02 the percentage of cashable gains was 46% (non-cashable gains 54%). The estimated figures for 2002-03 (subject to performance assessment) indicates that cashable gains are likely to be 42% (non-cashable gains 58%).

  Non-cashable gains are recycled into new initiatives while cashable gains can either be used to recycle into growth or used to support the overall budget.

  PRISON SERVICE: efficiency gains are captured through the Efficiency Programme which comprised a wide variety of projects. The projects reported to the Efficiency Programme Steering Group consisting of five Directors.

  In the majority of cases, the project approach ensured that achievements were self-verifying, such as a count of the reduced number of specialist prison officers employed and the cost of providing the same service for less. In the remaining projects, outcomes were verified through, for example, sampling outcomes at a selection of establishments or using related indicators.

  Of the total £49.3 million efficiency savings achieved in 2002-03, 42% (£20.8 million) was cashable and 58% (£28.5 million) was non-cashable. Cashable savings are used to meet unfunded pressures such as the provision of police cells, funding of the full year costs of the first Pay Review Body recommendations and funding local early retirements.

  PROBATION SERVICE: The efficiency gains recorded by the National Probation Service (NPS) were provided by returns made from local probation boards. The returns identified the amount saved and how the saving was made. The cashable element was not recorded.

  Savings made in the NPS were used to meet inflation pressures and for re-investment in improved services. The allocations to boards, for 2002-03, were made net of the anticipated savings, meaning that the Department could be sure that its local efficiency targets were met.

60.   What are the efficiency savings for the non-Agency part of the Home Office?

  Collated data for efficiency gains arising from better procurement are not yet available for 2002-03; in 2001-02, improved procurement yielded gains of £34 million in the non-Agency Home Office. Whereas information about other VfM gains in the non-Agency Home Office has not been collated centrally hitherto, a reporting system is now being developed to support delivery of the new PSA target to improve VfM and to allow performance to be reported to Parliament.

INSPECTION

61.   How would a single system of inspection across the criminal justice system operate (p 116)? What would the advantages be of such a system?

  A single system of inspection is just one of the new models for CJS inspection that we are currently considering. We have identified a need—following a commitment in the 2002 spending review and White Paper `Justice for All'—for a new system of inspection to address the identified weaknesses in the current arrangements. Namely that the direct and indirect costs of inspection are increasing, that there is duplication across the system and there is insufficient machinery geared to developing a cross CJS inspection strategy and implementing recommendations made to more than one agency.

  Following a comprehensive review of inspection from a trilateral team of officials and inspectors, a new system of inspection is being considered by the National Criminal Justice Board to address these weaknesses and introduce a tough new inspection regime. It is likely that the model for a single inspectorate will be discounted because such a system will be large and unwieldy. The preferred model being proposed will rationalise the five CJS inspectorates and strengthen cross CJS inspection.

  The advantages of the new model of CJS Inspection being considered by the National Criminal Justice Board are:

    —  Retention of the strengths of existing agency inspection.

    —  Reduction in the volume of inspection.

    —  Increased clarity about appropriate allocation of resources between single, thematic and cross CJS inspection.

    —  A clearer distinction between the role of inspection and that of oversight, strategic leadership and development.

    —  A reduction in the bureaucratic burden on front line agencies.

ACCOUNTING MATTERS: GENERAL TREATMENT

62.   What was the justification for reclassifying £580 million Probation Service grant in 2001-02 as administration costs (p 5, Resource Accounts 2001-02)?

  The Home Office resource accounts 2001-02 include the National Probation Service (NPS) £580m grants to fund operations. The NPS was established 1 April 2001, it is the first year the NPS has been consolidated into the Home Office resource accounts.

  Most Prison Service expenditure scores as administration costs.

63.   How much was the ex gratia payment over £100,000 to a member of the public in 2001-02? What was it for?

  An ex-gratia of £100,000 was made to a Crown Court Official who was injured by an escaping prisoner.

64.   What are the targets agreed with the National Audit Office on the faster closing schedule for the accounts (p 160)?

  The agreed HO timetable with the NAO:

    —  28 July Draft annual report, statement of internal controls, and statement of Accounting Officer's responsibilities

    —  1 August Draft consolidated accounts

    —  6 October Accounts to Principal Finance Officer

    —  7 November Audit committee

    —  30 Jan NAO final management letter.

June 2003


1   CRB start up costs for this year not shown as a separate line in Home Office annual report. Back

2   The figure of £31,100k which appears in the Home Office annual report includes the full cost of police set up costs which were capitalised in the CRB accounts and are being written off over five years. The figure shown here is the one included in the CRB's audited accounts. Back

3   Martin, C and Player, E. (2000) Drug treatment in prison: an evaluation of the RAPt treatment programme. Winchester: Waterside Press. Back

4   Raynor, P. and Vanstone, M. (2001) Straight thinking on probation: evidence-based practice and the culture of curiosity in Bernfeld, GA, Farrington, DF and Leschied, AW (Eds) Offender Rehabilitation in Practice: Implementing and evaluating effective programs. England: John Wiley & Sons. Back

5   Friendship, C., Blud, L. Erikson, M. and Travers, R. (2002) An evaluation of cognitive behavioural treatment for prisoners. Home Office Research Findings 161. Back

6   National Audit Office Report. January 2002. Back

7   McGuire, James (2002) Integrating findings from research reviews in McGuire, J. (Ed) Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment: Effective programmes and policies to reduced re-offending. England: John Wiley & Sons. Back


 
previous page contents next page

House of Commons home page Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries index

© Parliamentary copyright 2003
Prepared 25 November 2003