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20 Nov 2007 : Column 728W—continued
NOMS checks invoices received by police forces. In cases where overpayment has occurred, credit notes are issued by police forces to NOMS.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of Operation Safeguard has been in each month since October 2006. [166670]
Mr. Hanson: To date, around £28,700,000 has been invoiced by police forces in England and Wales for housing prisoners under Operation Safeguard between October 2006 and November 2007. As different police forces may submit monthly, bi-monthly or consolidated invoices in arrears that may cover more than one month, the cost of Operation Safeguard in each month is not centrally held.
Police Custody: Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions (a) convicted and (b) remand prisoners were held in Welsh police cells for more than one night; and how many nights each prisoner concerned spent in police cells. [166180]
Mr. Hanson: Figures for the number of occasions convicted and remanded prisoners have been held in police cells under Operation Safeguard are not held separately.
Information on the number of nights individual prisoners have spent in police cells under Operation Safeguard is not held centrally.
Prison Officers: Dismissal
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) disciplinary proceedings, (b) criminal charges and (c) prosecutions followed the dismissals of prison officers from Welsh prisons in each year since 1998; and what the outcome was of those proceedings. [166182]
Mr. Hanson: Staff can be dismissed from the Prison Service if their performance, attendance or conduct falls below the required standard. Disciplinary proceedings cease once a member of staff has been dismissed from service. The Prison Service does not maintain records of criminal charges or prosecutions that are instigated against former employees.
Prisoners Transfers
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what criteria are used to decide upon the transfer between prisons of inmates requiring high security conditions. [165998]
Mr. Hanson: A number of factors are taken into consideration in deciding the transfer of prisoners requiring high security conditions. These include: whether the prisoner was on remand or sentenced; the possible need for vulnerable prisoner accommodation; the need of the prisoner to be able to address offending behaviour work and other targets set in the sentence plan; and the possible impact of the good order or discipline of the receiving prison.
Prisoners: Repatriation
Mrs. Ellman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many British prisoners who have been transferred
to the UK from other countries under international agreements have subsequently (a) been pardoned and (b) had their sentences reduced by the UK authorities. [166283]
Mr. Hanson: No prisoner transferred to the United Kingdom under international prisoner transfer agreements has subsequently been pardoned by the UK authorities. A small number of prisoners transferred to the UK have had their sentences adapted where the sentence imposed in the other jurisdiction exceeded the maximum sentence available to the courts in the UK for the same offence. In these cases, the sentences were adapted to that maximum sentence. The number of prisoners who have had their sentences adapted in this way is not centrally recorded.
Prisons: Children in Care
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of inmates in (a) secure training centres, (b) youth offender institutions and (c) prisons were in local authority care as children in the most recent year for which data is available. [163056]
Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
We do not have figures for the care status of young people in secure training centres. Figures are collected of the care status of young people in young offender institutions and prisons where that is known, but we are aware that establishments are not always informed whether young people coming into custody have looked after status. On 31 March 2007, 120 young people in young offender institutions or prisons were reported as being looked after by local authorities.
Prisons: Construction
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the estimated cost is of constructing (a) the 8,000 new prison places announced by the former Home Secretary and (b) the further 1,500 new prison places announced by the former Lord Chancellor; and with respect to how many of these places planning permission has been obtained. [166690]
Mr. Hanson: Estimated capital costs for the 8,000 place programme are around £1.5 billion and new money is being made available to provide an additional 1,500 places.
Planning permission has been sought and approved for 32 of the sites where additional prison places are being built.
Truancy: Fines
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of fines expected to be handed out to 17-year-olds who truant in the first year of implementation of such a policy. [163649]
Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
We set out our proposals to raise the minimum age at which young people can leave education and training to 18, in the “Raising Expectations: staying in education
and training post-16” Green Paper in March and the subsequent policy document on 5 November. If a young person drops out of education or training altogether, the focus will be on providing help, support and guidance to help them re-engage in learning as soon as possible. There will then be a series of administrative procedures that would be followed before a court process would be reached, where a fine could be imposed. It is difficult to assess exact numbers, but we would expect only a few young people would reach this stage.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
EU Reform Treaty
10. Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the UK's timetable for ratification of the EU reform treaty. [165627]
Mr. Jim Murphy: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said
“The Government will recommend that there is sufficient time for debate on the Floor of the House so that the Bill is examined in the fullest detail and all points of view can be heard”.
Once the Bill has been approved by Parliament, the Government will ratify the treaty.
13. Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his most recent assessment is of whether the Government's red lines have been secured in the EU reform treaty; and if he will make a statement. [165630]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The former Prime Minister the right hon. Tony Blair set out the UK Government's red lines ahead of the June European Council.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has placed a document in the Library of the House setting out how the Government's red lines are protected in the draft reform treaty, with commentary explaining each provision in detail.
14. Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the ratification of the EU reform treaty. [165631]
Mr. Jim Murphy: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said:
“The Government will recommend that there is sufficient time for debate on the Floor of the House so that the Bill is examined in the fullest detail and all points of view can be heard”.
Once the Bill has been approved by Parliament, the Government will ratify the treaty.
20. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects the UK to ratify the EU Reform Treaty. [165637]
Mr. Jim Murphy: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said:
“The Government will recommend that there is sufficient time for debate on the Floor of the House so that the Bill is examined in the fullest detail and all points of view can be heard".
Once the Bill has been approved by Parliament, the Government will ratify the Treaty.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
11. Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution his Department is making in negotiations on international agreements to limit carbon dioxide emissions from aviation and shipping. [165628]
David Miliband: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is working with Government and EU partners on the essential elements of a comprehensive agreement on a post-2012 framework to address climate change. Aviation and maritime emissions is one of those elements. To maximise our chances of securing the comprehensive agreement the world needs, the FCO is working in key countries to promote support for new negotiations on a global successor to commitments agreed in Kyoto in 1997.
Iran
16. Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on Iran's nuclear programme. [165633]
Dr. Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Iran's nuclear programme with EU Foreign Ministers at the meeting of the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 15 October. Since then he has held discussions on the issue with the French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Belgian and Finnish Foreign Ministers and with Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy.
EU Migration Policy
17. Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to renegotiate EU migration policy. [165634]
Mr. Jim Murphy: EU member states first agreed to enhance co-operation on EU migration policy at the treaty of Maastricht and this was developed further under the Amsterdam treaty. At this time we obtained the ability to opt-in where in our national interest and we will continue to retain that.
Pakistan
18. Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs If he will make a statement on the political situation in Pakistan. [165635]
Dr. Howells: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given today by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the General Affairs and External Relations Council last issued a statement on Pakistan; and whether it plans to do so in the near future. [164304]
Dr. Howells: The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council last referred to Pakistan in a statement on Afghanistan on 12 December 2006. The specific text is available at:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/press Data/en/gena/92123.pdf (paragraph 10, page 16).
The EU last issued a statement on the current situation in Pakistan on 6 November.
Future statements are a matter for the Council to decide.
Darfur
19. Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in establishing a UN peacekeeping force for Darfur. [165636]
Dr. Howells: The UN-African Union hybrid force (UNAMID) is due to assume authority from AMIS, the current African Union Mission in Sudan, no later than 31 December 2007, as mandated in UN Security Council Resolution 1769 of 31 July 2007. Work to manage the transition began in Sudan in early September and we are pressing UN and AU to deploy rapidly.
21. Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made towards the deployment of the UN-African Union hybrid force in Darfur; and if he will make a statement. [165638]
Dr. Howells: The UN-African Union hybrid force (UNAMID) is due to assume authority from AMIS, the current African Union Mission in Sudan, no later than 31 December 2007, as mandated in UN Security Council Resolution 1769 of 31 July 2007. Work to manage the transition began in Sudan in early September and we are pressing UN and AU to deploy rapidly.
Abduction: Dubai
22. Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to assist Ms Grace Ciliberto of Wickford, Essex in the case of the abduction of her son in Dubai. [165639]
Dr. Howells: Our staff in London and at our embassy in Dubai have provided consular assistance to Mrs. Ciliberto since September 2003. The case has been the subject of legal proceedings in both the UK and the UAE. The embassy have liaised with Mrs. Ciliberto and her lawyers regularly. They have also put her in touch with the City of Hope foundation, who assist women and children in Mrs. Ciliberto's position.
Middle East
23. Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the UK's role in the middle east peace process. [165640]
Dr. Howells:
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced to the House on 14 November that the UK would deliver a comprehensive and ambitious economic recovery package, worth up to £243 million over three years, dependent on tangible
progress towards peace. We expect the Annapolis meeting later this month to be substantive and to produce concrete results. We are working closely with the US, EU and regional counterparts to this end.
Burma
24. Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political situation in Burma. [165641]
Dr. Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made a statement on Burma on 14 November. We welcome Professor Gambari’s report on his recent visit to Burma and look forward to his early return. We support Aung San Suu Kyi’s statement and her call for a
‘meaningful and time-bound dialogue’
with the regime. These signs of progress are welcome, but much remains to be done to secure real political change.
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