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24 Oct 2007 : Column 360W—continued
Governance of Britain
8. Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received on ‘The Governance of Britain’, Cm 7170. [160190]
Mr. Wills: I have had a number of meetings with individuals and stakeholders and my Department has received correspondence from a variety of interested parties following the publication of the Green Paper “The Governance of Britain”.
Family Courts
10. Mr. David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what conclusions he has drawn from his review of the rules relating to the privacy of family court proceedings. [160195]
Bridget Prentice: Having considered the responses to the 2006 consultation, the Government decided that it should focus on improving the quality and amount of information flowing out of the courts, rather than on who is allowed into the courts. We subsequently issued another consultation paper on 20 June 2007 announcing this approach. The paper also considered whether the rules on disclosure of information from family proceedings should be simplified and whether the identities of children should be protected following the conclusion of proceedings.
The consultation closed on 1 October. We received over 100 responses and are now considering them carefully. This is a complex and difficult area, and we will publish our response once we have had an opportunity to reflect fully on what people have said.
Wiltshire Coroner
12. Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people are employed by the Wiltshire coroner; and how many military inquests are outstanding at that court. [160197]
Bridget Prentice: The Wiltshire coroner employs one deputy coroner and one assistant deputy coroner. He has two administrative staff employed by Wiltshire county council and, from the end of the month, seven coroner's officers employed by Wiltshire Constabulary, The number of military inquests currently outstanding within the Wiltshire coroner district is 43. The full details will be set out in a written ministerial statement to both Houses on Tuesday.
Armley Prison: Prisoners on Remand
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners in HMP Armley prison are (a) on remand for offences related to (i) fine defaulting, (ii) violence, (iii) damage to property, (iv) trafficking and (v) possession of prohibited drugs and (b) foreign nationals. [159848]
Mr. Hanson:
Data for the number on remand for the detailed offences is not available. The following table shows remand population at Armley by offence group.
| Prisoners on remand at Armley (Leeds) prison, 30 June 2007 | |
| All on remand | |
At the end of June 2007 there were 78 foreign national prisoners at the prison (including sentenced).
It is not possible to be remanded in custody for fine default so the figure for this category is zero.
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.
Criminal Defence Service: First Assist Insurance
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Legal Services Commission remains in contract with First Assist for services relating to the delivery of CDS Direct. [159677]
Maria Eagle: The LSC is in contract with First Assist Ltd. until end October 2007 for the delivery of CDS Direct. After this, CDS Direct will be provided by Bostalls, O’ Garras solicitors and the Johnson Partnership solicitors who were all successful in an open competitive tendering process. First Assist’s contract with the LSC for the provision of Defence Solicitor Call Centre work will continue until it expires, currently on 31 March 2009.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of the Legal Services Commission’s contract with First Assist with services related to the delivery of CDS Direct was in each of the last six months. [159678]
Maria Eagle: LSC contract with First Assist for April to September 2007 are as follows. These costs include: advisers, supervisors, call costs and VAT.
| £ | |
Democracy: Conferences
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the total cost to the public purse was of the speed dating youth conference held on 9 October (a) venue hire and (b) payments to external firms; and how many members of the public attended. [159907]
Bridget Prentice: The cost for the venue hire including meals and refreshments was £15,156,12. We are awaiting invoices from schools and youth groups for their travel costs; hence we do not have this information. 143 young people (113 from secondary schools and further education establishments and 30 from primary schools) and over 100 adults from schools, youth groups and youth organisations attended the event.
Driving Offences: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many drivers in the Peterborough constituency lost their licences through disqualification under the penalty points system in the last five years for which data are available; [160217]
(2) how many drivers in Peterborough constituency were given endorsements for speeding offences in the last five years for which figures are available. [160218]
Maria Eagle: Information held by my Department on driving licence disqualifications and endorsements is available at police force area level only and as such the Peterborough constituency cannot be identified within the geographical area covered by the Cambridgeshire police force.
Education: Prisons
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the impact of attaining (a) a level 2 qualification, (b) a level 3 qualification and (c) a degree in prison has on reoffending rates. [155665]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has not made any formal assessment of the impact of attaining qualifications in prison on re-offending rates.
Research sponsored by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and carried out by the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (“Rapid Evidence Assessment of Interventions that Promote Employment for Offenders”, 2005), found that interventions focused on offenders’ skills and employment can make a significant difference to the employment rates of offenders, contributing to a reduction in re-offending.
Human Rights
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2007, Official Report, column 188W, on Departments: publicity, (1) whether the public awareness campaign on human rights will include increasing awareness of the Human Rights Act 1998; [159881]
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the plans for the public awareness campaign on human rights. [159882]
Mr. Wills: In his Review of the Implementation of the Human Rights Act published in July 2006, my predecessor, Lord Falconer, committed the Government to
“lead a drive to ensure that the public as well as the wider public sector are better informed about the benefits which the Human Rights Act. has given ordinary people, and to debunk many of the myths which have grown up around the Convention rights”.
A copy of the report is already in the Library. On 12 May 2007, he wrote to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, reporting the activities undertaken by Ministers in connection with that campaign. I am placing a copy of that letter in the Library.
Legal Services Commission: First Assist Insurance
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what services are being delivered under the contract between the Legal Services Commission and First Assist. [160070]
Maria Eagle: The Legal Services Commission has a contract with First Assist for the delivery of the defence solicitor call centre (DSCC), which processes requests to see a duty solicitor at police stations. From 14 January 2008 it will process all requests for legal advice at police stations.
Under the contract, First Assist have agreed to work with the LSC to run the Criminal Defence Service Direct pilot which provides legal advice by telephone in straight forward cases at police stations until 31 October 2007.
Under its DSCC contract, First Assist is also delivering community legal service direct telephone services for the Legal Services Commission, through which it provides advice about debt, education, benefits and tax credits, employment and housing problems.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the end date is of the contract between the Legal Services Commission and First Assist. [160071]
Maria Eagle: The current contract between the Legal Services Commission and First Assist for the defence solicitor call centre ends on 31 March 2009.
Life Imprisonment
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners are on whole life tariffs; [160135]
(2) how many prisoners have been sentenced to life imprisonment on a whole life tariff in each year since 1997. [160136]
Mr. Hanson: As at 30 September 2007, the number of prisoners with a whole life tariff was 35. There have been 19 prisoners given a whole life tariff since 1997. Details are set out in the table as follows.
| Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole-life tariff | |
Parliament: Duration
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the merits of the introduction of fixed-term parliaments. [160191]
Bridget Prentice: The Government has not made any recent assessments of the merits of introducing fixed term parliaments.
However, the Government are currently taking forward a wide-ranging constitutional debate.
Prison Accommodation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2007, Official Report, column 1160W, on prison accommodation, whether any modular temporary prison units will be withdrawn in the next five years. [160566]
Mr. Hanson: The condition surveys mentioned in the answer of 17 October 2007 are currently being undertaken to establish the condition of modular temporary units provided in the years 2002-03 and 2003-04 and a forecast of each one’s remaining life. Until a report on these surveys is received, a prediction cannot be given but early indications are that none will need replacing before 2010.
Prison Sentences
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sentenced receptions there were in prisons in England and Wales for offences related to (a) violence against persons (b) sexual offences, (c) burglary, (d) robbery, (e) theft, (f) fraud and forgery, (g) criminal damage, (h) motoring offences, (i) drug offences and (j) other offences in each of the last five years. [159846]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of sentenced prisoner receptions in England and Wales by main offence group over the last five years for which figures are available:
| Offence group | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
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