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3 Dec 2007 : Column 858W—continued


Departmental Domestic Visits

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what visits (a) he and (b) the Minister of State with responsibility for prisons have undertaken to (i) prisons, (ii) young offender institutions and (iii) secure training centres since 28 June 2007. [170008]

Mr. Hanson: Details of the prisons, young offender institutions and secure training centres visited by Ministry of Justice Ministers since 28 June 2007 are set out as follows.


3 Dec 2007 : Column 859W
Visits to prisons, young offender institutions and secure training centres since 28 June 2007
Visit

Jack Straw

12 July 2007

HMP Belmarsh

14 September 2007

HMP Preston

14 September 2007

HMYOI and RC Lancaster Farms

4 October 2007

HMYOI Thorn Cross

4 October 2007

HMP Manchester

David Hanson

28 June 2007

HMP Wandsworth

5 July 2007

HMP and YOI Chelmsford

12 July 2007

HMP and YOI East Sutton Park

31 July 2007

HMP Coldingley

1 August 2007

HMP Lowdham Grange

7 August 2007

HMP Acklington

7 August 2007

HMP and YOI Castington

10 September 2007

HMP Birmingham

18 September 2007

HMP and YOI Hindley

20 September 2007

Rainsbrook STC

3 October 2007

HMP Cardiff

3 October 2007

HMP Parc

29 October 2007

HMP and YOI Holloway

1 November 2007

Oakhill Secure Training Centre

16 November 2007

HMP Liverpool

29 November 2007

HMP Pentonville

Lord Hunt

5 July 2007

HMP Birmingham

10 September 2007

HMP Low Newton

12 July 2007

Rainsbrook STC

19 November 2007

HMP Gloucester

Maria Eagle

26 July 2007

HMP Pentonville

5 September 2007

HMP Norwich

5 September 2007

HMP Wayland

6 September 2007

HMYOI Stoke Heath

10 September 2007

HMP Whitemoor

13 November 2007

HMP and YOI Holloway

Key:
HMP—Her Majesty’s Prison'
HMYOI—Her Majesty’s Young Offender Institution
HMRC—Her Majesty’s Remand Centre
STC—Secure Training Centre

Departmental Official Hospitality

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what entertainment or hospitality members of the Department’s management board have received in each of the last three financial years; and if he will make a statement. [164742]


3 Dec 2007 : Column 860W

Maria Eagle: Paragraph 4.3.5 of the Civil Service Management Code sets out the rules on the registration of hospitality. The Government are committed to publishing an annual list of hospitality received by members of departmental boards. The first list for 2007 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current calendar year.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how his Department plans to handle complaints about the management of compensation claims of miners when the original claimant has died but a surviving family member wishes to pursue the complaint on their behalf. [170558]

Bridget Prentice: Responsibility for dealing with complaints about solicitors is solely a matter for the Law Society rather than Government, since the legal profession is independent.

I understand from the Law Society that:

Information Commissioner: Complaints

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many complaints the Information Commissioner has processed in the last 12 months; what was the average amount of time taken by the Information Commissioner to process these complaints; how many of these complaints have taken over (a) six months, (b) 12 months and (c) 24 months to be processed; and if he will make a statement. [169019]

Mr. Wills: The ICO is the UK’s independent authority set up to promote access to official information and to protect personal information.

The ICO receives complaints under the Data Protection Act (DPA), the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).

Figures are available until the end of October 2007 as set out in the table as follows.


3 Dec 2007 : Column 861W

3 Dec 2007 : Column 862W
Total complaints completed Average completion time (days) Completed cases taking over 6 months Completed cases taking over 12 months Completed cases taking over 24 months

DPA and PECR

12,092

46

346

38

6

FOI and EIR

1,564

176

527

335

56


Issuance of Penalty Notices for Disorder

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) with reference to the answers of (a) 16 January 2007, Official Report, columns 1027-28W, (b) 22 May 2007, Official Report, column 1252W, and (c) 26 November 2007, Official Report, column 111W, on the issuance of penalty notices for disorder for 10 to 15-year-olds, what factors have contributed to the length of time it has taken to publish the evaluation of the pilot project; and when the evaluation report was first given to Ministers; [170085]

(2) how many penalty notices for disorder have been issued to 10 to 15-year-olds in the six pilot police force areas, broken down by (a) police force area and (b) offences committed; and how many such penalty notices were (i) paid in full within the 21 day suspended enforcement period, (ii) paid in full outside the 21 day suspended enforcement period, (iii) registered as fines, (iv) contested in court and (v) cancelled; [170086]

(3) what plans he has to extend the use of penalty notices for disorder to persons under the age of 16 years. [170087]

Mr. Hanson: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 26 November 2007, Official Report, column 112W, the evaluation report will be published as soon as possible. The report is going through validation and until that has been completed, it cannot be published. Also, as that process has not been completed, the report has not yet been seen by Ministers. The report will contain details of the number of notices issued and other details such as payment rates but until it is published, I am not in a position to provide that information. No decision has been made about extending the use of penalty notices for under-16s.

Medical Treatment

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2007, Official Report, column 820W, on consent to medical treatment, when he expects the Public Guardian to produce the first annual report on the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. [169470]

Bridget Prentice: The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (the MCA) is now fully in force and the new Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Court of Protection were formally launched on 1 October 2007.

The MCA gives the Public Guardian statutory functions and requires him to make an annual report to the Lord Chancellor about the discharge of those functions. The first annual report of the Office of the Public Guardian will be published in April 2008 covering the operation of the Agency and the Public Guardian’s statutory responsibilities.

The OPG is also responsible for management of policy surrounding Mental Capacity and is planning an initial review of the MCA a year after enactment.

Members: Correspondence

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to reply to the letter of 23 July from the hon. Member for Torbay concerning Mr. David Newby. [170142]

Mr. Hanson: I apologise for the delay. I have now written to the hon. Member.

Peterborough Prison

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were held at HM Prison Peterborough as at 31 October 2007; and if he will make a statement. [169583]

Mr. Hanson: At the end of October 2007 there were 967 prisoners in Peterborough prison. This consisted of 621 males and 346 females.

This figure is taken from the October 2007 Population in Custody report which is available at the following website

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.

Political Parties: Finance

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will ask the Electoral Commission to report on (a) the suitability of existing safeguards against anonymous donations and (b) the extent to which the Abrahams’ case is an isolated incident. [170782]

Mr. Straw: The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) contains a range of requirements to ensure that the source of donations is declared.

I announced on 25 November that I was seeking advice on the matters raised by The Mail on Sunday report of that date.

The Electoral Commission announced on 26 November that they had launched a formal investigation into whether there has been any failure to comply with the provisions of PPERA in connection with a number of donations made to the Labour party. The Commission has now referred matters to the Metropolitan Police Service. It is not therefore appropriate for the Government to comment on this matter.


3 Dec 2007 : Column 863W

Prison Sentences

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of those convicted of burglary received a custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years in (a) England and Wales and (b) North West Cambridgeshire. [169251]


3 Dec 2007 : Column 864W

Mr. Hanson: The following table gives the proportion of offenders that received a custodial sentence for burglary from 1995 to 2005. The figures are given for England and Wales and for Cambridgeshire Criminal Justice Area (CJA) as data for areas within CJAs are not available. They cover burglary in a dwelling and other burglaries.

England and Wales Cambridgeshire
Sentenced Immediate custody Proportion (Percentage) Sentenced Immediate custody Proportion (Percentage)

1995

35,450

13,497

38

441

144

33

1996

32,388

13,503

42

318

131

41

1997

31,656

14,338

45

394

167

42

1998

31,087

14,547

47

381

162

43

1999

29,329

14,345

49

406

145

36

2000

26,694

13,677

51

313

160

51

2001

24,665

12,476

51

310

153

49

2002

26,376

13,350

51

335

174

52

2003

25,360

11,820

47

340

189

56

2004

24,133

10,814

45

300

148

49

2005

22,652

9,550

42

238

119

50


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