---

6 Dec 2004 : Column 389W—continued

Transport Fuels (Renewables Obligation)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to introduce a renewables obligation for transport fuels. [202106]

Mr. Jamieson: The Government are considering whether an obligation might be an appropriate mechanism to support the introduction of renewable road fuels into the long term, but no decision has yet been taken. The pre-Budget report announced that we will undertake a feasibility study and consultative process with stakeholders to inform our judgment.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 11 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Pauline Clear. [201350]

Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 2 December. I am sorry for the delay in replying.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on manning levels at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. [200149]

Paul Goggins: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority currently has some 452 staff. 328 of these are employees of the Scottish Executive on special
 
6 Dec 2004 : Column 390W
 
assignment to the Authority in its Glasgow office: 124 are employees of the Home Office on secondment to the Authority in its London office.

Drink-Driving

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reduce the drink-drive blood alcohol limit to 50mg. [201499]

Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.

The Government have no plans at present to lower the drink-drive legal limit.

We feel that it would be more effective to maintain our emphasis on enforcement and education through publicity. This approach, backed by strong penalties which are among the toughest in Europe, has led to a significant reduction in drink-drive fatalities since the 1970s and given this country one of the best overall road safety records in the EU.

We are taking further steps to deal with drink driving in the new Road Safety Bill.

Fines

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to link the level of a fine to a defendant's income. [201017]

Paul Goggins: Fines are currently imposed on the basis of the seriousness of the offence and the offender's ability to pay. The Government have accepted the recommendation made in the Carter Report, "Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime", that a "day fines" system should be introduced. This would offer a more transparent link with ability to pay so that fines should bear more equally on offenders of differing means.

Gateway Zero Reviews

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice his Department has received from the Office of Government Commerce on the timing of Gateway Zero reviews. [200011]

Paul Goggins: The Office of Government Commerce was fully consulted and the time scale of the Gateway Zero review was agreed with them.

National Offender Management Service

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what risk assessment has been carried out on co-ordination and integration across the sub-programmes of the National Offender Management Service; [199787]

(2) what risk assessment has been carried out on the scale and scope of the change programme of the National Offender Management Service. [199786]

Paul Goggins: As part of the setting up of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), a comprehensive risk management strategy has been established, providing for the assessment, monitoring and managing of risks across the Change Programme. Risk assessments have been carried out at detail and strategic level across the
 
6 Dec 2004 : Column 391W
 
Programme. The results have been agreed with the NOMS Directors and reported to the NOMS Board and to other governance bodies within the Home Office.

The assessments cover all aspects of the Programme, including policy, implementation, people and process issues. The result of any risk assessment is a risk register, which contains not only the risk, with scores for probability and impact, but importantly the counter measures which have been identified to mitigate the risks. The registers are continually updated as the Programme evolves and the risks change.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training staff will receive in respect of the National Offender Monitoring Information Project. [199984]

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Management Information System (NOMIS) Project formally started on 1 June 2004. The first phase is a 12 month detailed design and pilot which covers the business changes necessary to implement new IT support facilities for the prisons and probation services. This will enable them to meet the new sentencing provisions under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Targeted training is a vital component of the programme and a training strategy and plan for all potential users of NOMIS will be one of the key outputs of this phase.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the National Offender Management Service business case will be published. [199993]

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Manager Service detailed business case is currently being prepared. In keeping with normal practice across the Government it is not intended to publish the results.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a business case existed prior to the announcement of the National Offender Management Service in January. [199995]

Paul Goggins: The case for establishment of the National Offender Management Service was outlined in Patrick Carter's independent report "Managing Offenders-Reducing Crime".

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who was consulted and what advice his Department has received on the preparation of the business case for the National Offender Management Service. [199996]

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Management Service business case is being prepared according to the Home Office standards and the experience gained from preparing business cases for other Change Programmes.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the terms of reference are for the National Offender Management Information Project. [199997]

Paul Goggins: The terms of reference for the National Offender Management Information Project are: to design a shared offender database as recommended in the Carter Review "Managing Offenders and Reducing Crime"; to develop IT functionality in order to meet the specific operational needs of the Prisons and Probation Services; and to support interfaces to other criminal
 
6 Dec 2004 : Column 392W
 
justice organisations such as the police and courts, as part of a more joined up approach to reducing re-offending.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants are employed on the National Offender Management Information Project, broken down by grade. [200001]

Paul Goggins: From the Prison Service, there are currently 17 civil servants directly engaged on the National Offender Management Information System Project working alongside suppliers. These comprise one senior civil servant (Project Director), one senior manager B (G6 equivalent), two senior manager D (G7 equivalent), four manager E (SEO equivalent), three manager G/F (HEO equivalent), six principal/senior officers (EO equivalent). In addition, there are seven assistant chief officers or senior probation officers engaged either on a full or part-time basis from the probation service.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated cost of the National Offender Management Information Project is for the (a) current financial year and (b) next three financial years. [200002]

Paul Goggins: The cost of the project in 2004–05 is £7.9 million. This covers expenditure on staff, supplier costs, equipment and licensing charges for the pilot phase. This phase will determine the build, implementation and support costs over the life of the project when the scope and requirements have been confirmed and the technical solution finally agreed.

---