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Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans his Department has for the provision of aid to the people of Gaza. [145768]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: On 19 June my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Hilary Benn), the former Secretary of State for International Development, announced a contribution of £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for immediate humanitarian needs in Gaza and the West Bank. ICRC has delivered medical supplies, repatriated bodies, evacuated medical cases and helped the Palestinian Red Crescent to deliver blood supplies in Gaza. It has also helped the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to deliver food aid.

UNRWA provides food aid to 850,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza, along with other essential services. With ICRC, UNRWA is assisting the 250 people trapped at the Erez crossing. DFID has provided £15.6 million through UNRWA this year for its operations in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Through the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM), the European Union is providing fuel to ensure the continued operation of electricity, water and sanitation services in Gaza, supporting front line health services and providing allowances for Government workers, pensioners and other needy Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. DFID has provided £15 million through the TIM so far.

The European Community (EC) is providing €9.8 million through the World Health Organisation, €6 million for UNRWA’s food programme, and €9 million through the World Food Programme for the West Bank and Gaza. This is in addition to the European Community’s contribution to UNRWA’s core fund of €66 million this year. The UK contributes about 17 per cent. of EC assistance.

The key humanitarian issue in Gaza at this time is access. 104 containers of UNRWA supplies await transit to Gaza through the Kami crossing. Without regular and reliable access for aid supplies and privately traded goods it will not be possible for Gaza’s 1.3 million people to meet their basic needs.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial assistance has been provided to support Palestine in each year since 1995. [145770]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: Figures for DFID support to the Palestinian people since 1995 are as follows:


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£

2006-07

30,211,000

2005-06

30,043,000

2004-05

34,794,000

2003-04

40,487,000

2002-03

33,873,000

2001-02

38,737,000

2000-01

26,764,000

1999-2000

20,727,000

1998-99

8,516,000

1997-98

16,133,000

1996-97

14,288,000

1995-96

10,147,000


These figures include contributions through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which supports Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Justice

Chelmsford Prison

Mr. Burns: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners are resident in Chelmsford prison. [145966]

Mr. Sutcliffe: At unlock on 25 June, the prisoner population at Chelmsford prison was 687.

Data Protection: Enforcement

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) what the maximum penalty is that the Information Commissioner can impose on a direct mailing company that is in breach of section 11 of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if she will make a statement; [146133]

(2) how much was spent by the Information Commissioner on prosecuting direct mailers in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [146134]

Vera Baird: The Information Commissioner does not have the power to impose a penalty on a direct mailing company for breach of section 11 of the Data Protection Act 1998. Section 11 of the Act gives a right for an individual to give notice in writing for an organisation to cease processing their personal data for the purpose of marketing. If the organisation concerned fails to comply, the individual can seek enforcement at court. An individual can ask the Commissioner’s Office to make an assessment of processing, but this does not result in punitive action. Failure to comply with an enforcement order is a criminal offence and could result in prosecution.

Departments: Wales

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what ministerial visits have been made to prisons in Wales; and what the date of each such visit was. [146273]


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Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table details the ministerial visits to prisons in Wales since 1 May 1997, according to available records. There are plans to visit Cardiff and Parc prisons in July 2007.

Ministerial visits to prisons in Wales since 1 May 1997
Minister Prison visited Date

Ron Davies

Cardiff

6 August 1997

George Howarth

Usk/Prescoed

29 January 1998

Alun Michael

Cardiff

31 January 1998

Joyce Quinn

Cardiff

3 April 1998

Joyce Quinn

Parc(1)

3 April 1998

Lord Williams of Mostyn

Cardiff

26 August 1998

Lord Williams of Mostyn

Parc(1)

14 September 1998

George Howarth

Cardiff

26 January 1999

Lord Williams of Mostyn

Cardiff

4 June 1999

Paul Boateng

Parc(1)

23 September 1999

Lord Rooker of Perry Vale

Cardiff

17 September 2001

Beverly Hughes

Parc(1)

22 June 2001

Paul Goggins

Cardiff

17 June 2004

Paul Goggins

Usk/Prescoed

2 March 2005

Baroness Scotland

Cardiff

12 January 2006

(1) Contracted prison.

Lawyers: Wales

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many law firms in Wales have (a) signed and (b) not signed new contracts with the Legal Services Commission. [146269]

Vera Baird: The Unified Contract for civil work was issued to 200 solicitors’ offices in Wales. 196 contracts have been returned signed. 29 contracts were issued to not-for-profit organisations in Wales and all have been returned signed.

Peterborough Prison: Reoffenders

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what procedures have been put in place to undertake risk assessments in respect of those prisoners released early from HMP Peterborough and the likelihood of their reoffending; and if she will make a statement. [146322]

Mr. Hanson: The suitability of each prisoner for release under End of Custody Licence (ECL) will be assessed according to set criteria rather than individual risk assessment. All prisoners who are potentially eligible will be screened against these criteria. We will not release:


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Prison Population

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to the statement of 19 June 2007, Official Report, column 1241, on prison population, how many prisoners will be released from prisons in (a) Wales and (b) England where the prisoner’s last known address was in Wales. [146304]

Mr. Hanson: End of custody licence prisoner numbers are not broken down by area or by last known address.

Prisoners Release

Robert Neill: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what measures will be put in place to monitor those prisoners who will be released early from prison. [146056]

Mr. Hanson: Prisoners who are subject to supervision on release (all prisoners serving 12 months or more and prisoners under 22 years of age) will be required to meet their probation officer after release on the end of custody licence (ECL) and to have regular contact after that in line with their supervision programme.

All prisoners released under the end of custody licence will be liable to recall if they are reported to have broken the terms of licence.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many foreign national prisoners were imprisoned at the latest available date, broken down by (a) European Union nationals, (b) non-European Union nationals and (c) other nationals; and what percentage of all prisoners are foreign nationals. [146123]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The requested information is contained in the following table.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.


28 Jun 2007 : Column 858W
Population in prison by nationality: England and Wales: 30 April 2007
Nationality Total Percentage

Population in prison by nationality

All nationalities

80,261

100

UK nationals

68,124

85

Foreign nationals

11,231

14

Not recorded

905

1

Foreign national population in prison

All foreign nationals

11,231

100

European Union nationals

2,441

22

Non-European Union nationals

8,790

78

Sources:
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and so although shown to the last individual, the figure may not be accurate to that level.

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