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18 Jun 2007 : Column 1583W—continued
Police Custody
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) what the cost has been of Operation Safeguard in 2007; how many police force invoices have been (a) received and (b) paid; and how many more police force invoices she expects to receive; [142746]
(2) how much has been paid so far under Operation Safeguard to keep court cell accommodation available for prisoners; for what period these payments have been made; and how many prisoners were accommodated in court cells during that period; [142747]
(3) for how many nights court cell accommodation has been available under Operation Safeguard for prisoners; how many cells were available on those nights; and how many prisoner-nights have been spent in court cells in 2007; [142748]
(4) for how many nights court cell accommodation made available under Operation Safeguard her Department has not already paid; [142749]
(5) when she expects Operation Safeguard to end; and what estimate she has made of the likely final cost of (a) police and (b) court cell accommodation under Operation Safeguard. [142750]
Mr. Hanson: Use of court cells does not form part of Operation Safeguard, which is an agreement with the police to hold prisoners overnight in police cells.
81 invoices for the use of police cells under Operation Safeguard since October 2006 have been received. To date, 54 of these have been paid to the value of £6,681,300. As different police forces may submit monthly, bi-monthly or consolidate invoices, the number expected is not known.
Since the beginning of 2007 current data shows that court cells have been used on 373 occasions (as at 13 June 2007) over 16 nights. This does not correspond precisely to the number of prisoners: one occasion means one prisoner night in a court cell.
To date, one invoice to the value of £120,000 (excluding VAT) has been paid to cover the contingency of having places available in court cells between 17 January and 6 February. 12 prisoner nights were spent in court cells during this period.
Use of police cells to hold prisoners and of court cells to hold prisoners as a last resort will continue until operational capacity in prisons has increased to a level where all prisoners can be accommodated safely. NOMS is increasing prison capacity and has announced 8,000 new places by 2012.
We estimate that it costs around £385 per place per night to hold a prisoner in a police cell, and around £300 for every place in a court cell (this cost is incurred whether the cell is used or not).
Prison Service: Industrial Disputes
Colin Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what steps she has taken to ensure the Joint Industrial Relations Procedure Agreement process is followed regarding the dispute with the Prison Officers Association on the issuing of batons; and whether she intends to forward the dispute to an ACAS appointed arbitrator. [143356]
Mr. Sutcliffe: A Consent Order was signed by both the Prison Service and the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) on 3 May 2007 clarifying the disputes process under the Joint Industrial Relations Procedural Agreement. The POA wrote to the Prison Service on 8 June asking that it review its position on a number of disputes (including the issuing of extendable batons) in light of this order. This review is currently taking place and I will write to the hon. Member on its completion.
Residence Orders
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) how many and what percentage of sole residency orders were given to the (a) mother and (b) father in each region in England and Wales in each year since 1997; [142655]
(2) how many and what percentage of joint residency orders were given in each region in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [142656]
Ms Harman: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information is available on the overall number of residence orders made under section 8 of the Children Act 1989, but the courts in England and Wales do not collect information about who the order is made in favour of from each case record.
The number of residence orders made in all types of court in England and Wales for the years 1997 to 2005 is as follows.
| Residence orders | |
The numbers of residence orders made broken down by region are only available for the years 2003 to 2005. They are as follows:
| Area | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
Road Traffic Offences: Foreigners
Chris Grayling: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many motoring offences were committed by overseas registered vehicles in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of fines levied in relation to such offences remain outstanding. [142094]
Ms Harman: The information is not collected centrally.
Sentencing: Appeals
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many sentences handed down by each judge in England and Wales were successfully appealed against in each of the last five years. [142705]
Ms Harman: Information on the number of sentences handed down by each judge in England and Wales which have been successfully appealed against in each of the last five years is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many and what percentage of sentences successfully appealed against by (a) the Attorney-General and (b) the convicted person were (i) increased and (ii) reduced in each of the last five years. [142706]
Ms Harman: The information requested is in the following table.
Trials
Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many trials have been abandoned on technical grounds in each of the last five years, broken down by category of offence; and what the estimated cost to the public purse was of those abandoned trials and the investigations which preceded them. [142303]
Ms Harman: This information is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Young Offender Institutions: Crimes of Violence
Colin Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what steps she is taking to ensure that prison officers in juvenile offender institutions are protected from assaults with pool cues and other implements which could be used as weapons. [143353]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service takes prisoner and staff safety seriously and every prison is required to have in place a violence reduction strategy which requires establishments to do all they can to minimise violence. Additionally, Prison Officers in juvenile offender institutions are given the same defensive training in control and restraint techniques as officers in non-juvenile establishments who face similar risks.
Colin Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what (a) training to officers in (i) juvenile offender institutions and (ii) prisons for adults and (b) equipment is provided to deal with assaults using weapons. [143354]
Mr. Sutcliffe: All prison officers employed in public sector prisons receive the same control and restraint training (and are required to complete annual refresher training) to prepare them for all types of incident, regardless of which type of establishment they are posted to. Personal protective equipment is available wherever the risk dictates, again regardless of the type of establishment. All prison officers are trained in its use.
Colin Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what factors were taken into account in deciding that prison officers officed in the juvenile estate should not be given access to extendable batons and other protective equipment. [143355]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Extendable batons were issued in 2005 to all staff who carried the outdated wooden stave. Officers in juvenile establishments have never carried staves and at the time of the introduction of batons consideration was not given to widening their use. A review is planned later this year to consider what evidence there may be for extending the use of batons to other parts of the estate.
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