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15 Nov 2007 : Column 354W—continued


Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what expenditure was incurred for maintenance and repair of prisoner accommodation in 2006-07. [164782]

Maria Eagle: National Offender Management Service (NOMS) information on major maintenance is recorded under project headings and to identify work that was carried out solely on prisoner accommodation could be done only at disproportionate cost.

In the year 2006-07, £70 million was spent on major maintenance projects across the custodial estate and a further £105.5 million on major refurbishment projects. Prison establishments also have limited allocations of funding for local maintenance and repairs.

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance his Department has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on plea bargaining. [163736]

The Solicitor-General: I have been asked to reply.

The Attorney-General issued guidelines on the acceptance of pleas and the prosecutor's role in the sentencing exercise in October 2005; these can be found on


15 Nov 2007 : Column 355W

These guidelines superceded earlier guidance on the acceptance of pleas issued by the Attorney-General in December 2000.

Sexual Offences

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of vice-related offences in England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many of these have been (i) UK citizens, (ii) EU foreign nationals and (iii) non-EU foreign nationals. [163675]


15 Nov 2007 : Column 356W

Maria Eagle: There is no specific definition of a ‘vice’-related offence, however there are a number of offences which can, in some cases, relate to vice. Information on the number of people proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for these offences in England and Wales from 2001 to 2005 are provided in the following table.

Information on the nationality of those proceeded against is not held by my Department, and data for 2006 will be available shortly.

Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for selected sexual offences, England and Wales 2001-2005( 1, 2)
Offence description Principal statute Proceeded against Found guilty
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Kerb-crawling.

Sexual Offences Act 1985 Sec 1

916

1,053

956

841

717

775

891

834

760

635

Placing an advertisement relating to prostitution.

Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S.46.

6

586

420

410

435

5

549

396

376

408

Common prostitute loitering or soliciting for the purpose of prostitution.

Street Offences Act 1959 Sec l

3,129

2,909

2,956

2,002

1,376

2,841

2,668

2,627

1,735

1,116

Other offences(3)

147

178

134

162

162

104

133

97

106

97

Total

4,198

4,726

4,466

3,415

2,690

3,725

4,241

3,954

2,977

2,256

(1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Includes offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 Secs 2-4, 9, 22-24, 27-29, 30, 31, 33A, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 Sec 5(1), the sexual Offences Act 1985 Sec 2, the sexual Offences Act 2003 SS 14, 47-50, 52, 53, 55, 57-58, 62 and the Vagrancy Act 1824 Sec 3 and 4.

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Business: Copeland

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many business support staff were employed by statutory agencies operating within the Copeland area in the last period for which figures are available. [163046]

Mr. Timms: Data are only available for West Cumbria Development Agency (WCDA) staff, which was the main organisation providing support in the Copeland area. According to WCDA, there were 14 people (mainly part-time) who worked on business support for WCDA. Two full-time equivalent staff ran the start-up programme.

In addition staff at Activ8 Solutions Ltd, the Business Link supplier in Cumbria, will have provided support to businesses in Copeland. The Business Link employed around 50 staff, and approximately eight of these will be attributable to the Copeland area.

Chocolate: Standards

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will bring forward measures to ensure that all chocolate manufacturers adopt minimum standards for transparency, independent inspections, fairer pricing and child welfare in their cocoa supply chains; and if he will make a statement. [162605]

Mr. Thomas: In its contacts with the industry the Government will encourage chocolate manufacturers to respond voluntarily to the growing public concern about sourcing and standards in their supply chains. The actions of consumers will also help shape manufacturers' decisions in this regard.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has regular stakeholder meetings with representatives of the food sector, including the confectionery industry.

Departmental NDPBs

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the (a) budget and (b) remit is of each non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department; who the chairman is of each; and to what salary, including bonuses and expenses, each chairman is entitled. [163614]

Mr. Thomas: Details of the budgets, remits and chairmen's salaries of the Department's non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are published in the Public Bodies Directory 2007 and relate to the position as at 31 March 2007. The Report can be found at:


15 Nov 2007 : Column 357W

Information on Chairmen's bonuses should be contained in each NDPB's annual report and accounts, which are normally available on the body's website. Alterations to the Department's public bodies announced during the machinery of Government changes in June 2007 are as follows:

Departments: Disabled Access

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 691W, which buildings occupied by his Department (a) are and (b) are not part of the HQ estate and which buildings not part of the HQ estate (i) are and (ii) are not fully accessible to disabled people. [163915]

Mr. Thomas: Buildings occupied by my Department and which are part of the BERR HQ estate are as follows:

Building Location

1 Victoria Street

London

Kingsgate house

London

Westfield House

London

St. Mary's House

Sheffield

Atholl House

Aberdeen

Tay House

Glasgow

Amberley House

Gloucester

Newtown House

Nottingham


All buildings occupied by my Department’s executive agencies (Companies House and The Insolvency Service) and which are not part of the BERR HQ estate are shown in the following tables. All are fully accessible to disabled people.

Companies House Location

Crown Way

Cardiff

The Access Building

Nantgarw


15 Nov 2007 : Column 358W

Insolvency Service Location

21 Bloomsbury Street

London

83 Hagley Road

Birmingham

Ladywood House

Birmingham

Newfield House

Blackpool

Richmond House

Bournemouth

69/70 Middle Pavement

Brighton

100 Victoria Street

Bristol

Abbeygate House

Cambridge

Marlowe House

Canterbury

Companies House

Cardiff

Prince Regent House

Chatham

Windsor House

Chester

Sunley House

Croydon

Ladywell House

Edinburgh

Senate Court

Exeter

Southgate House

Gloucester

Anchor House

Hull

St. Clare House

Ipswich

1 City Walk

Leeds

Wellington House

Leicester

Cunard Building

Liverpool

Boulton House

Manchester

City Tower

Manchester

Melbourne House

Newcastle

Copthall House

Newcastle Under Lyme

Sol House

Northampton

Emmanuel House

Norwich

The Frontage

Nottingham

Cobourg House

Plymouth

Apex Plaza

Reading

Trident House

St. Albans

City Plaza

Sheffield

Waterside House

Southampton

Central House

Southend

St. Marks House

Stockton

Sun Alliance House

Swansea

Exchange House

Watford


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