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17 Dec 2007 : Column 1103W—continued
Informers
Mr. Bellingham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what training is required for the management of informants; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of training provided by HM Prison
Service for such management; what legislation governs the provision of such training; and if he will make a statement. [173678]
Mr. Hanson: HM Prison Service provides training for staff involved in the management of informants. This is role specific for a handler, controller or authorising officer. The legislation does not require staff to be trained. I have not evaluated the training but HM Prison Service is considering the possibility of obtaining an independent assessment of informant management training.
Law: Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he is considering the merits of establishing a separate legal system for Wales; and if he will make a statement. [174216]
Mr. Wills: The Government are committed to enhancing the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales by transferring powers through either framework powers in Westminster Bills or Orders in Council as provided for in the Government of Wales Act 2006. But there is a single legal jurisdiction in England and Wales, and the Government have no plans to change that.
Legal Services Commission: Information and Communications Technology
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations his Department has received from legal service practitioners on the effectiveness of the Legal Services Commission's new IT system for online reporting of case outcomes and solicitors' claims for costs; and if he will make a statement. [173464]
Maria Eagle: My Department has not received any direct representation from legal aid practitioners on this issue since the Legal Services Commission took the decision to close LSC online until further notice. However, the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham) has asked three parliamentary questions which were answered on 3 December 2007, Official Report, column 1260W, and two hon. Members have written on behalf of legal aid solicitors in their constituencies.
Non-Departmental Public Bodies: Archives
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on the archiving of papers of quangos that have been wound up. [174385]
Mr. Wills: I am replying as the Minister responsible for The National Archives. The Government's policy on the archiving of records of quangos and other short-lived public record bodies when their work is finished is set out in The National Archives' guidance document, “Discontinued and Transferred Functions”. A copy of this is available on the National Archives website:
Offender Assessment System: Expenditure
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on the offender assessment system for the Probation Service in England and Wales in each financial year since 2003-04. [173801]
Maria Eagle: The expenditure on the offender assessment system OASys) for the National Probation Service for the period April 2001 to March 2004 was £19.6 million. The total spend for both National Probation Service and Her Majesty’s Prison Service in each financial year since 2001-02 is shown as follows:
| £ million | |
We cannot separate out prison and probation costs after 2004-05.
Offenders: Crimes of Violence
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders are awaiting trial for offences of (a) murder, (b) attempted murder and (c) sexual offences allegedly committed while on end of custody licence. [175082]
Mr. Hanson: For the period 29 June to 31 October 2007, NOMS has been notified of one offender who is currently awaiting trial for a sexual offence, allegedly committed while on end of custody licence.
Personal Injury Claims
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he intends to publish the results of the consultation on case track limits and the claims process for personal injury claims. [174588]
Bridget Prentice: We intend to publish the response to consultation early in the new year. We have received a large number of detailed responses which are currently being analysed. In addition, meetings have been taking place between officials and stakeholders to discuss in more detail some of the issues arising from the consultation.
Prevention of Corruption Act 1906
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) males and (b) females have been (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 in each year since 1997. [172524]
Maria Eagle: Data showing the number of males and females proceeded against and found guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, in England and Wales, from 1997 to 2006 are in the following table.
| Number of males and females proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts, under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906( 1) , England and Wales, 1997 to 2006( 2,3,4) | ||||||||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | ||||||
| Sex | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty |
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | ||||||
| Sex | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty |
| (1) The offence represented in the table is “Corrupt transactions with agents”, Section 1 of the 1906 Prevention of Corruption Act. (2) These data are on the principal offence basis. (3) 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. (4) The found guilty column may exceed those proceeded against, as it may be the case that the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in the preceding year and they were found guilty at the Crown Court in the following year, or the defendants were found guilty for a different offence to the original offence proceeded against; some of the defendants found guilty of the above offence were originally proceeded against under the offence of “Conspiracy to Defraud”, Section 12 of the Common Law and Criminal Justice Act 1987. | ||||||||||
Prison Accommodation
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much time is allocated to prison officers to conduct a cell search; and if he will make a statement. [175200]
Maria Eagle: The Prison Service national security framework requires prisons to develop local searching strategies, agreed by the governor and area manager. These define the frequency of cell searches conducted in a particular prison based on an assessment of local needs and considerations. The amount of time allocated to cell searches will therefore vary across the prison estate and this information could be collated centrally only at disproportionate cost.
Prison Service
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2007, Official Report, column 434W, on the Prison Service, whether Paul Baker is the assistant investigator on the investigation being run by Ron Tasker; and if he will make a statement. [173762]
Maria Eagle: Paul Baker was the assistant investigator working to Ron Tasker on his investigation.
Prison Service: Termination of Employment
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 14 May 2007, Official Report, column 554W, on Prison Service: termination of employment, how many of the appeals upheld in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07 were in the London area. [173727]
Mr. Hanson: The information previously provided was obtained from the Civil Service Appeal Board to ensure it was accurate. The board has been asked to confirm the location of the successful appeals and I will write to the hon. Gentleman on receipt of its response.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 14 May 2007, Official Report, column 552W, on Prison Service: termination of employment; what assessment he has made of the cost of collating this information at HM Prison Service area office level; whether information on the number of HM Prison Service employees dismissed for criminal activity in the last three years is collated in any form within HM Prison Service; and if he will make a statement. [173761]
Mr. Hanson: In order to provide this information, the HR Directorate would need to ask each area office to contact each of its establishments requesting a manual search of personnel records for each of the last three years. The figures would then need to be checked at area office level and collated centrally. No detailed assessment has been made of the cost of collating this information other than to confirm that it would exceed the current threshold set by the Cabinet Office.
The public-sector Prison Service maintains a central database of disciplinary outcomes, including those in which criminal activity has been found proven. This database is maintained from records provided to the HR Directorate at the conclusion of the internal disciplinary process.
Prisoners
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what proven or alleged offences offenders were recalled to prison from end of custody licence for reoffending between 29 June 2007 and 31 October 2007. [175081]
Mr. Hanson:
During the period 29 June to 31 October 2007, 11,132 offenders were released, of whom 119 were recalled from the end of custody licence scheme on allegation of reoffending. This represents 1.07 per cent.
being notified to NOMS as having been recalled for allegedly committing a further offence while on the scheme. They were alleged to have committed a total of 170 offences. A breakdown of these alleged offences is in the following table.
| Alleged offence type | Number of alleged offences |
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