| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1612W—continued
Probation Service
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what mechanisms the future arrangements for the governance of the probation service will protect the employment rights and status of staff. [205314]
Paul Goggins: Any changes in the future governance of the probation service will take full account of the need to comply with employment protection provisions, both contractual and legislative. Any proposals will also be the subject of full consultation with the recognised trade unions.
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) the Probation Pay and Rewards Review and (b) the joint agreement on workload prioritisation will be implemented prior to further organisational changes for the Probation Service in England and Wales. [205316]
Paul Goggins: I remain committed to the implementation, in 2005, of a negotiated, affordable, modernised pay and reward structure for he National Probation Service (NPS).
The workload measurement tool (WMT) is currently being piloted with the possibility of a third metropolitan area joining the pilot. Decisions about the implementation of the workload measurement tool across the NPS will not be taken without determining that the tool is 'fit for purpose" in relation to the requirements of orders imposed under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The project will also be the subject of a full financial appraisal and a detailed business case will need to be established. This current phase of work is scheduled for completion by April 2005.
The Probation Boards' Association and the NPS' trade unions are all represented on the WMT's Project Board and are aware of the time scales associated with the project.
Research and Development
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) his Department's expenditure and (b) the expenditure of each agency for which his Department is responsible on research and development relating to UK university departments and research centres was in each year between 2001–02 and 2003–04. [206995]
Fiona Mactaggart:
It is not possible to provide the information requested in respect of the core Home Office and its agencies. While it is possible to provide total expenditure on third party suppliers an analysis by supplier or category of supplier cannot be provided without additional investigation and at disproportionate cost.
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1613W
The Home Office currently sponsors the following agencies:
Only the core Home Office and Passport Service have recorded expenditure on R and D within the period covered by the question and these figures have been provided in response to separate questions.
Sentencing
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the punishments available for those found to have perverted the course of justice. [207343]
Paul Goggins: Perverting the course of justice is a common law offence, so there is no set maximum or minimum penalty available to the court. Common law offences are ones which are not embodied in statute; they consist of rules of law based upon common custom and usage, and on judicial judgments.
In 2003, 1,391 persons were found guilty of perverting the course of justice. 608 (43.7 per cent.) received a custodial sentence and the average sentence length was 8.8 months. Further information is given in the table.
(81)Excluding life sentences (one imposed on a male in 2003) Figures relate to persons where the offence was their principal offence.
Source:
RDS-NOMS
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will re-examine the arrangements for (a) detention and (b) treatment of offenders with mental health problems. [213356]
Paul Goggins: The Government are doing a great deal to ensure that offenders with mental health problems are not sent to prison inappropriately. The operation of court diversion schemes and the development of wider sentencing options, coupled with the further development of other mental health services, are closing gaps in community care and reducing the number of such offenders who reach the courts.
Mental health services within prisons are improving significantly as a result of new investment that has been put into the development of NHS mental health in-reach
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1614W
services. The NHS Plan (2000) commitments for 2004 have been successfully met. No prisoner with a serious mental illness now leaves prison without a care plan, and 300 additional staff have been employed. NHS mental health in-reach investment will reach £20 million a year by 2005–06 so that in-reach type services are available to every prison in England and Wales, currently 94 in-reach teams are in operation.
There is a firm commitment to ensure that people who are too ill to remain in prison are transferred to hospital. Tighter regular monitoring has been introduced to identify prisoners who have been waiting unacceptably long periods for transfer to hospital. A protocol has been issued setting out what must be done when a prisoner has been waiting for a hospital place for more than three months following acceptance by the NHS. Both have brought about an improvement. 721 prisoners were transferred to hospital in 2003, an increase of 12 per cent. on the 2002 figure of 644. The Prison Service, the joint Prison Health team, the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIHME), and the commissioners and providers of NHS hospital services are working together to establish a national waiting time limit for transfers between custodial settings and hospitals.
The Mental Health Bill includes provisions to enable more flexible use to be made of mental health services for offenders. Community disposals are permitted for offenders who can safely be treated without detention and secure beds are released for those who need them. Public protection has also been improved by the development of assessment and treatment services for dangerous offenders with severe personality disorders.
Sexual Violence (Legal Advice)
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many specialist sexual violence legal advice lines are funded by his Department in (a) England and Wales and (b) the North East; [215687]
(2) if he will increase the number of specialist sexual violence legal advice lines funded by his Department in England and Wales. [215688]
Paul Goggins: At present the Home Office does not fund any specialist sexual violence legal advice lines.
However, an additional £4 million funding over two years from the new Victims Fund is being used to support the development of services for victims of sexual offending. Ministers have recently approved funding in 2004–05 for 45 organisations in the voluntary and community and statutory sectors providing services to victims of sexual violence. Some of the successful applicants provide specialist telephone helpline services. All successful applicants have been notified and a list of grants awarded from the Victims Fund will be published in due course.
Targets
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to improve the level of public confidence in the criminal justice system. [219111]
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1615W
Paul Goggins: Public confidence in the criminal justice system (CJS) is assessed using questions in the British crime survey. Latest data shows that the proportion of people who believe the CJS is effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice has increased to 42 per cent. (year to September 2004) from a baseline of 39 per cent. (2002–03).
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |