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18 Dec 2007 : Column 1286W—continued
£5 million for a new research centre.
Justice
Departmental Aviation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent by his Department on international flights since it was established. [174361]
Mr. Hanson: Since 1999 the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500. Information for the last financial year was published on 25 July 2007. Details for the current financial year will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. From next year, the list will include details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Information in respect of flights taken by officials could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the anticipated efficiency saving in his Department is for each of the next three financial years; [174329]
(2) what steps he plans to take to ensure that his Department makes three per cent. value for money savings in each of the next three financial years; [174330]
(3) on what basis it is anticipated that his Department can make efficiency savings in the next three financial years. [174333]
Mr. Hanson: In line with the comprehensive spending review settlement announced on 9 October, the Ministry of Justice will deliver value for money cash releasing savings of at least 3 per cent. per annum over the next three years.
The Ministry of Justice value for money delivery agreement for comprehensive spending review 2007 (CSR07) to be published shortly will provide details of how these savings will be delivered.
Departmental Members' Interest
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of the declaration of interest made to the Permanent Secretary by the former Minister of State on 13 September 2007. [170277]
Mr. Straw: Information was provided to the Permanent Secretary in confidence solely for the purpose that he could advise my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) on any potential conflicts of interest arising from donations made to her deputy leadership campaign in relation to her role as Minister of State at the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
A list of donations can be found on the Electoral Commission website at:
Departmental Visits Abroad
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on overnight accommodation for Ministers overseas in the last year. [171325]
Maria Eagle: Details of the cost of overseas travel, including the cost of travel and accommodation are contained in the Overseas Travel by Cabinet Ministers list. The latest list for the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 was published on 25 July 2007. Details for the 2007-08 financial year will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. All travel is made in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
The costs incurred by the Ministry of Justice since its creation on 9 May 2007 have been £193.40.
Detention Centres: Children
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children under 16 are being detained in (a) prison awaiting trial and (b) an immigration detention centre awaiting a decision on their asylum status. [174157]
Mr. Hanson: At the end of October 2007, there were 35 under 16-year-olds held on untried remand in prison establishments in England and Wales.
Information on the number of people under the age of 16 being detained in an immigration detention centre awaiting a decision on their asylum status is not available. It is not possible to say which stage of the asylum process people are at when they are detained. The decision to detain is made on a case-by-case basis and may be appropriate in one or more of the following circumstances: to effect removal; to establish a person’s identity and claim; where a person presents a risk of abscond or where the application is capable of being considered quickly.
The aforementioned figure was drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, can be subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Fixed Penalty Notices
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of each category of fixed penalty notices have been (a) issued and (b) paid in each month since their introduction in each police force area. [172865]
Maria Eagle: Of the categories of fixed penalty notices collected by my Department, information is available for the following:
Data on the number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued and paid by police force area for each month from 2004 to 2006 are provided in tables, which have been placed in the Libraries of the House. The PND Scheme began in all 43 police forces in England and Wales in 2004.
Motoring offences fixed penalty notices data are submitted to my Department on a calendar year basis from police forces. The data does not contain a month by month breakdown.
Available annual information on motoring fixed penalty notices can be found in the Ministry of Justice Statistical publication “Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary tables”—tables 20(a) to 20(c) refer. Copies of the publication are available in the Libraries of the House. The publication going back to 1980 can be accessed from the Ministry of Justice website at:
Data are collected on the disposal (i.e. paid, fine registration certificate issued etc.) and published in the following year’s annual volume covering motoring offences.
Legal Aid Fund
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the anticipated change in budget to 2010-11 is for the Legal Aid Fund. [174332]
Maria Eagle: The annual cost of legal aid is expected to be approximately £2 billion in each of the years until 2010-11, broadly its current level.
Prison Service
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the performance of each (a) area office within HM Prison Service and (b) division within HM Prison Service headquarters in meeting correspondence management targets for the year ended March 2007; and if he will make a statement. [175198]
Maria Eagle: This information is not available for individual HQ groups and area offices. In 2006-07, reported data shows that 98 per cent. of public correspondence received by HM Prison Service area offices and HQ groups was responded to within the deadline of 20 working days.
Prison Service: Pay
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what payment scale is used to determine the remuneration of the previous Area Manager for London in his role of supporting the completion of the investigation by Ron Tasker; and if he will make a statement. [175194]
Maria Eagle:
Mr. Keith Munns, the previous area manager for London, was asked to undertake a number of continuing duties following his retirement in March this year. These included some further work on the Tasker investigation. Rates of remuneration in such circumstances are negotiated individually and reflect the level of the work involved. As Mr. Munns was
undertaking the same work that he would previously have been completing as an area manager his daily rate of pay was based on senior civil service pay.
Prisoners: Drugs
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people sentenced for drug related offences who were placed on a treatment programme (a) successfully completed the course, (b) remained drugs free for 12 months after completing the course and (c) went on to commit further offences in the latest period for which figures are available. [174735]
Mr. Hanson: This information is not available in the form requested. The total numbers completing drug treatment are given in the following table. Research suggests that those completing a drug treatment and testing order (now the drug rehabilitation requirement) have significantly lower reconviction rates (33 per cent.) than those who do not (91 per cent.). Research also suggests that prison drug treatment can reduce re-offending by around 10 per cent.
| 2006-07 | ||
| Number( 1) | ||
| (1 )Rounded to the nearest 10 (2) Treatment options for which completion figures are available. | ||
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people sentenced for drug related offences were subsequently placed on a treatment programme for their (a) physical needs and (b) psychological needs in the latest period for which figures are available. [174736]
Mr. Hanson: This is the only format for the information requested. The total numbers engaged in drug treatment are given in the following table.
| 2006-07 | ||
| Number | ||
| (1) Individuals engage in more than one type of treatment. (2) Counselling, assessment, referral, advice and throughcare. (3) Including juvenile substance misuse services. | ||
Prisoners: Education
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what statutory requirement exists for the prison service to offer throughcare programmes, including education and training for prisoners on short-term sentences. [175470]
Maria Eagle:
Rule 32 of the Prison Rules 1999 and rules 37 to 42 inclusive of the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000 place requirements on prisons to provide education and training opportunities for prisoners. These are general duties which apply to all
prisoners, and there are no specific statutory requirements for prisoners serving short sentences. The rules are available in the Library of the House.
Prisoners: Employment
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were employed in prison workshops in 2006-07. [175471]
Maria Eagle: The Prison Service does not keep central records of the cumulative number of prisoners employed in prison workshops but instead records the average weekly number of prisoners involved in workshops. Prison industry workshops, including industrial laundries, account for approximately 10,000 work places. There are also a number of prison workshops employing some 800 prisoners engaged in tasks such as repairing wheelchairs and bicycles and delivering Braille services.
Prisoners: Females
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what percentage of women prisoners were serving sentences for (a) serious, (b) violent and (c) drug-related offences in each of the last five years; and what percentage of those in prison for drug-related offences have a drug addiction in each year; [174257]
(2) what percentage of women prisoners convicted of serious offences were in prison for drugs-related offences in each of the last five years; and of these what percentage had a drug addiction. [174258]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the total number of sentenced women prisoners and the proportion of these for (a) serious and violent and (b) drug offences, in prison establishments in England and Wales as at 30 June 2002-06. Serious and violent offences are defined as violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
These figures are taken from table 8.2 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2006, which has recently been published at http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm These numbers relate to specific drug offences only (including the possession and supply of drugs) and not to other offences (such as those involving acquisitive crime) which may be related to drug issues of the offender.
Data are not held centrally on the number of prisoners with a drug addiction and are not routinely collected in the format requested.
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.
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