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21 May 2007 : Column 1142W—continued
Employment Tribunals Service
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what plans she has to review the rules governing employment tribunals. [138501]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Ministry of Justice has no plans to review the rules governing employment tribunals. However, there may be changes to the rules consequential upon the outcome of the current review by the Department for Trade and Industry of the Dispute Resolution Regulations 2004. The Department for Trade and Industry continues to keep the rules under review on an ongoing basis.
Family Courts
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will assess the effectiveness of the family court system. [137403]
Ms Harman: The family justice system is constantly under consideration and review. HMICA and Ofsted are planning later this year to inspect aspects of the family justice system looking in particular at the experience of users in the family courts, including the service delivered by CAFCASS.
The Government have also recently commissioned a research project to establish whether there is a genuine issue behind anecdotal evidence (put forward during the parliamentary passage of the Children and Adoption Act 2006) that some non-resident parents are awarded minimal contact with their children without good reason. A final report is expected in early 2008.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when she expects to make an announcement on family courts openness. [137634]
Ms Harman: The “Confidence and confidentiality: Improving transparency and privacy in family courts” consultation paper was published on 11 July 2006 and put forward a number of proposals with the aim of improving public confidence in the family courts, and safeguarding the privacy of those involved in proceedings.
We hope to publish a second consultation paper outlining a package of recommendations shortly.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) how many enforcement orders under the Children and Adoption Act 2004 have been made by courts in England and Wales in each month since June 2006; [137635]
(2) how many contact order warning notices under section 3 of the Children and Adoption Act 2004 have been made by courts in England and Wales in each month since June 2006. [137636]
Ms Harman: The Children and Adoption Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 21 June 2006. Both the attachment of warning notices to contact orders and the making of enforcement orders where contact orders are not complied with are dependent upon the implementation of Part 1 of the Act.
The Government expect that provisions in Part 1 of the Children and Adoption Act 2006 in relation to family assistance orders and risk assessments will be implemented from October 2007. The Government will be making a written ministerial statement shortly outlining the timetable for implementation of the remaining provisions of Part 1 of the Act, including those relating to warning notices and enforcement orders.
Fines: Victim Support Schemes
Mr. Malins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what sanctions there are for use against members of the judiciary who decline to impose the surcharge on defendants ordered to pay a fine. [136784]
Ms Harman: Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Judicial Discipline (Prescribed Procedures) Regulations 2006, and the Complaints (Magistrates) Rules 2006, allegations of judicial misconduct may be investigated. After the prescribed procedures have been followed, the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice may be of the view that such conduct amounts to misconduct, and they may, in accordance with s108 of the Constitutional Reform Act, advise, warn, reprimand, suspend or remove the Judicial Office Holder from office.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what estimate she has made of the effect of the introduction of the victim surcharge on the fines collection rate. [137633]
Ms Harman: It is estimated that there will be little or no impact on the fines collection rate following the introduction of the victims surcharge.
Jury Service: Mental Health
Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the timetable is for the public consultation on the mental health criteria for jury duty referred to in the report of the Social Exclusion Unit of June 2004. [137709]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The subject matter of this consultation has proved problematic. The principal difficulty lies in devising a test that would allow those mentally disordered persons who are capable of undertaking jury service to serve, while excluding those who are incapable of serving, and yet be clear, easily understood and readily operable in practice. We remain committed to this consultation but it is not possible to give a specific timetable.
National Offender Management Service: Manpower
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many offender managers employed by the National Offender Management Service are working with offenders in (a) the community and (b) custody; what the ratio is of offender managers to offenders in each case; and what plans she has to increase the number of offender managers in each category over the next four years. [137482]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The latest published figures indicate that there are over 6,200 offender managers in post across the 42 probation areas. The total caseload is over 170,000 in the community with an additional 59,000 in custody. Most offender managers will have a mixed caseload of community and custodial cases. A detailed breakdown cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Caseload sizes vary depending upon the nature of the cases being supervised. An offender manager responsible primarily for complex, high risk cases will have a much smaller caseload than an offender manager primarily responsible for less complex, low risk cases. The range of caseload sizes within a probation area may therefore be a wide one, perhaps from under 20 to over 80.
The number of offender managers appointed is a matter for probation boards to decide from within their overall allocation of resources. Decisions have yet to be made about resource allocations to probation boards for 2008-09 onward.
Parliamentary Papers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what (a) procedures are set in train and (b) sanctions are available in circumstances where a Minister does not lay a paper before Parliament within the timetable set in statute. [137853]
Mr. Straw: I have been asked to reply.
Departments' procedures for ensuring adherence to statutory obligations, including failure to lay a paper before Parliament within a statutory timetable, and the statutory sanctions available would depend on the nature of the obligation and the terms of the relevant Act.
Ministers remain accountable to Parliament for the decisions and actions of their Departments, including adherence to statutory obligations.
I should also draw the hon. Members attention to Mr. Speaker's statement on 14 May 2007, Official Report, column 400.
Pentonville Prison: Corruption
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what discussions she has had with (a) the Director General of the Prison Service and (b) the governor at HM Prison Pentonville on the leaking of the second report into corruption amongst prison staff at the establishment; and if she will make a statement. [137717]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There are 14 separate investigations of individual members of staff at Pentonville. They are not listed in any particular order and so it is not clear to which investigation the hon. Member is referring. I am unaware of any leak, as is the governor, and it follows that I have had no discussions with the director general or the governor.
Police Custody
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners have been detained in police cells since the end of Operation Safeguard; what the cost has been of detaining those inmates; and if she will make a statement. [137719]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Operation Safeguard continues to be in use.
Prison Service: Finance
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will make a statement on the financial performance and management of HM Prison Service during 2006-07. [137721]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The financial performance of HM Prison Service for 2006-07 will be reported in its Annual Report and Accounts that are due to be laid before the House and published ahead of the summer parliamentary recess. These accounts are currently being audited by the National Audit Office; it would not therefore be appropriate to offer further comment at this point in time.
Prison Service: Homophobia
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) what the legal costs were of cases arising following homophobic incidents within HM Prison Service in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement; [137724]
(2) what the cost was of awards at each prison establishment made as a consequence of homophobic incidents within HM Prison Service against (a) governors, (b) staff and (c) inmates in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [137725]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information is not collated in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Ian Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners held in UK prisons are non-UK citizens. [138107]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Figures on the numbers of foreign national prisoners in all prison establishments in England and Wales at the end of March 2007, the latest date for which figures are available, can be found in the following table.
Corresponding figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland can be obtained from the Scottish Executive and the Northern Irish Prison Service respectively.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to errors with data and processing. Because the detailed population breakdowns have been scaled and also rounded to the nearest whole number, individual components may not sum to the totals.
| Prisoners held in all prison establishments in England and Wales 31 March 2007 | |
| Numbers of foreign nationals | |
Prisoners: Mentally Ill
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) how many inmates in prisons in the UK were diagnosed with a mental health problem in each of the last 15 years; [138189]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of inmates in prisons who have mental health problems; and what plans there are to relocate them to more appropriate facilities. [138246]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally.
A survey, “Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales” (Office for National Statistics, 1998), showed that 90 per cent. of prisoners have at least one significant mental health problem, including personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence. A copy is available in the Library.
Prisoners who are assessed under the Mental Health Act as being too severely mentally ill for prison are transferred to hospital. The Department and Home Office issued joint guidance in October 2005 to mental health trusts and prisons in order to improve this
process. In 2006, 961 prisoners, with mental illness too severe for prison, were transferred to hospital, 33 per cent. more than in 2002.
We are also addressing the length of waits for these transfers. A survey taken by the Department for the quarter ending December 2006, showed that 38 prisoners recommended for transfer were waiting over 12 weeks for a transfer to hospital. This situation is improving, as 62 such prisoners were waiting at June 2005 and 44 at June 2006.
Prisons
Mr. Howard:
To ask the Minister of State, Ministry for Justice pursuant to her answer of 7 November 2006,
Official Report, column 1425W, on prisons, how many prison places have been provided under contracts signed by this Administration; and if she will make a statement. [118823]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Since May 1997, over 20,000 prison places have been delivered, of which 5,397 were provided by the private sector under agreements reached post May 1997.
The following table shows the number of prison places provided through the PFI initiative:
| Location | Date of contract | Certified Normal Accommodation—pre May 1997 | CNA— post May 1997 | Overcrowding—post May 1997 | Total under current Administration | Total Op Cap( 1) |
| (1) Op Cap as at 26 January 2007. (2) 308 place houseblocks currently under construction—places available in phases from April 2007. (3) HMP Ashfield transfers to the Youth Justice Board in April 2007. Note: The “Certified Normal Accommodation” is the uncrowded capacity of the establishment. Operational capacity is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. It is determined by operational managers on the basis of operational judgment and experience. Within the private prison estate the CNA is built into the contract and defined as available prisoner places. When the prison exceeds the CNA up to a pre-agreed level (Operational Capacity) these extra places are defined as ‘Additional Prisoner Places’ and is achieved by overcrowding. | ||||||
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