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16 July 2007 : Column 148W—continued
Prisoners Release: Reoffenders
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners who were released under the end of custody licence on 29 June 2007 and 2 July 2007 have subsequently been rearrested for further suspected offences. [149330]
Mr. Hanson: Nine offenders out of 1,390 (0.65 per cent.) released under the end of custody licence on 29 June and 2 July have subsequently been identified to the Ministry of Justice as having been arrested for further offending.
Prisoners Release: Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were released from each of the prisons in Wales before completing their full sentences in each week since 1 January 2007. [149601]
Mr. Hanson: Under the Criminal Justice Act 1991, those sentenced to determinate sentences of four years or more are eligible for parole halfway through their sentence. If parole is not granted then release occurs at the two-thirds point of the sentence (or at a subsequent parole review if earlier). Numbers of prisoners recommended for parole are shown at table 10.4 of the offender management caseload statistics 2005, a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House. Prisoners sentenced to determinate terms of under four years under the 1991 Act are generally released automatically at the halfway point of their sentence. The home detention curfew scheme has been in operation since January 1999. Subject to meeting the eligibility criteria and passing a careful risk assessment, prisoners serving sentences of between three months and less than four years may be released up to four and a half months (135 days) early from prison subject to an electronically monitored curfew normally between 7 pm and 7 am. Information on the numbers of prisoners released under home detention curfew (HDC), can be found in tables 10.3 in the offender management caseload statistics 2005.
The end of custody licence was introduced on 29 June 2007. Eligible prisoners serving between four weeks and less than four years may be released under licence from prison up to 18 days before their automatic release date.
Figures showing the numbers of prisoners released on (i) home detention curfew (January to June 2007) and (ii) end of custody licence (between 29 June and 5 July only) and (iii) releases on parole (January to June 2007) from prison establishments in Wales are in the following tables
| (i) HDC | ||||
| Cardiff | Swansea | Usk/Frescoed | Parc | |
| (ii) Parole—releases January to June 2007 | ||||
| Cardiff | Swansea | Usk/Prescoed | Parc | |
| (iii) ECL | ||||
| Cardiff | Swansea | Usk/Prescoed | Parc | |
This information is not readily available on a weekly basis.
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.
Prisoners: Females
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he will respond to the proposals made in the Corston review. [150140]
Mr. Hanson: The Government have given a broad welcome to the report. The 43 recommendations which it makes are wide-ranging and propose action by a number of different Government Departments and organisations. We are carefully exploring the recommendations with all the Departments and agencies concerned and will develop a detailed response by late autumn.
Prisons: Overcrowding
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to address overcrowding in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [149551]
Mr. Hanson: The Ministry of Justice is dealing with pressures on the prison estate by building more capacity. A new capacity-building programme which will deliver 8,000 new prison places by 2012 was announced in July 2006 and a further 1,500 places were announced on 19 June 2007.
In parallel, we will ensure that courts have tough community sentences at their disposal to deal with less serious, non-violent offenders.
On 19 June the Government announced the introduction of a presumption in favour of release on license for prisoners serving between four weeks and four years for the final 18 days of their sentence. This is a temporary measure to deal with immediate pressure on the prison estate.
Prisons: Screening
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what (a) assessment he has made of and (b) research he has commissioned into the health and safety impact of the use of body orifice scanning machines in prison. [149687]
Mr. Hanson: The manufacturer has stated that the body orifice security scanner operates within the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection guidelines. A compliance certificate was also issued.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the possibility of the use of body orifice scanning machines in prisons and young offender institutions following the trial in one prison; and if he will make a statement. [149688]
Mr. Hanson: The trial of the body orifice security scanner has been extended to the remainder of the high security prisons. A decision on whether to roll it out to all prisons and young offender institutions will be made at the end of the trial, once the results have been evaluated.
Sexual Offences: Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many probation officers are involved in the monitoring of sex offenders in each police force area in Wales. [149454]
Mr. Hanson: As this is an operational matter we do not collect this information centrally. My officials are establishing whether these data are available from the four probation areas in Wales and I will write to the hon. Lady as soon as I know.
Terrorism: Greater London
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many victims of the bombings on 7 July 2005 have had their compensation claims paid in full. [149736]
Maria Eagle: As at 6 July 2007, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) had received 614 applications in respect of the 7 July bombings, 50 of these since 1 January 2007. They had finalised 496 cases, of which 401 have been paid in full, 51 were rejected by CICA and 44 are ‘on offer’ to the claimant. In addition, another 57 cases have received interim awards. CICA are proactively seeking to settle the outstanding cases as quickly as possible by getting the necessary information from applicants, the police and medical and other authorities.
Of the 118 outstanding cases, 25 are cases where claimants have exercised their right of appeal against the initial offer of compensation from CICA.
Victim Support Schemes: Fines
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make a statement on the operation of victim surcharges; and what representations he has had from the magistracy on the effectiveness of surcharges, with particular reference to their effect on the level of fine defaulting. [149324]
Maria Eagle: An internal audit on the victims surcharge process within the courts is due to commence in August 2007. This will be followed in early 2008, by a further internal audit on the amount of victims surcharge being collected and allocated to the Victims Fund. A formal evaluation of the effect of the victims surcharge on the payment rate has not been undertaken. However the current year to date payment rate is 95 per cent. compared to 83 per cent. at the same period last year.
The Office for Criminal Justice Reform is currently analysing the representations it has received on the victims surcharge. I will write to the hon. Member shortly with the details he requests and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
Young Offender Institutions: Re-offenders
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the rate of re-offending was of people held in each young offender institution in each of the last five years. [147798]
Mr. Hanson: Offenders held in young offender institutions can be aged between 15 and 21. We do not currently calculate re-offending rates for this age band.
The most recent juvenile re-offending rates for those aged 15 to 17 who were discharged from custody were published in “Re-offending of juveniles: results from the 2004 cohort”. This covers juvenile offenders who were released from all kinds of custody, including Secure Training Centres (STCs) and Local Authority Secure Children’s Homes (LASCHs), in the first quarters of 2000 and 2004, in England and Wales. 77.8 per cent. of 15 to 17-year-old juveniles released from custody in the 2004 cohort re-offended during the following 12 months. The figure for the 2000 cohort was 78.2 per cent. The actual re-offending rate is the percentage of offenders who re-offended during a one year follow-up period and who subsequently received a pre-court disposal or were convicted in court. This is discussed further in the Statistical Bulletin which can be found at;
For those aged 18 to 20, the most recent re-offending rates for offenders discharged from custody were published in “Re-offending of adults: results from the 2004 cohort”. This covers offenders who were released from all prisons in the first quarter of 2004, for England and Wales. 74.8 per cent. of offenders aged 18 to 20 in the 2004 cohort re-offended during the 24-month follow-up period. The figures for previous years were 74.8 per cent. in 2003, 77.9 per cent. in 2002 and 77.4 per cent. in 2000. For this age group, the actual re-offending rate is the percentage of offenders who re-offended during a two year follow-up period and who were subsequently convicted in court. This is discussed further in the Statistical Bulletin which can be found at;
The datasets used to provide these figures do not contain information about the institutions from which the juveniles and young offenders were released and therefore separate figures for YOIs are not available. Furthermore, juveniles and young offenders may be moved between institutions while serving their sentences so it is difficult to relate their re-offending to any particular institution.
Juvenile re-offending rates for years other than 2000 and 2004 are not available. Re-offending rates for 18 to 20-year-olds are not available for 2001.
Young Offenders: Police Cautions
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what advice the Department offered to those authorities issuing conditional cautions to ensure that a responsible adult is always present when a caution is being issued to a minor. [149658]
Mr. Hanson:
The conditional caution scheme brought in by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 does not apply to those aged under 18. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill currently before Parliament does contain a proposal to extend conditional cautions to those aged 16-17. The proposal, at Clause 53 and Schedule 11 of the Bill, includes a commitment to
prepare a Code of Practice for what will be called the youth conditional caution. That code will include details of the safeguards that should be observed when dealing with young people including ensuring that the existing appropriate adult process is used.
Leader of the House
Members: Pay
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Leader of the House how many hon. Members have sought a reduced parliamentary salary since 1997. [149737]
Helen Goodman: Figures before 2003 are not available. Since 2003 two Members have sought a reduced salary.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Leader of the House what the procedure is in circumstances where an hon. Member wishes to take (a) a reduced and (b) no parliamentary salary. [149738]
Helen Goodman: Any hon. Member who wishes to take a reduced salary or no parliamentary salary can write to the Department of Finance and Administration with their instructions.
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