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22 Jan 2008 : Column 1954W—continued
Prison Service: Long Service Awards
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with (a) the Director General of the Prison Service and (b) ministerial colleagues on the award of a long service and good conduct medal for prison officers with at least (i) 15 years, (ii) 18 years and (iii) any longer period of continuous service and good conduct within the Prison Service; what his policy is on the award of such a medal to Prison Service officers; and if he will make a statement. [180581]
Mr. Hanson: The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice is currently in discussion with the director general of the Prison Service on the proposed Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for operational Prison Service staff. The Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service fully support the introduction of this medal through a submission to the Honours and Decorations Committee. The Prison Service recommended that the proposed medal be awarded after 20 years service, but final details of the eligibility criteria will be discussed with Cabinet Office officials if the medal is awarded.
Prisoners Release
Mr. Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convicted prisoners have been released early as a result of prison overcrowding. [180115]
Mr. Hanson: On 19 June 2007 my noble Friend Lord Falconer of Thoroton the then Lord Chancellor announced the introduction of a presumption in favour of release from custody on licence for prisoners serving between four weeks and four years for the final 18 days of their sentence subject to meeting strict eligibility criteria and providing a release address.
Between 29 June when the scheme began and 30 November 2007 (latest available figures) about 13,750 prisoners were released on ECL.
The total number of releases by offence group, sentence length, age, gender, ethnicity and prison establishment have been published on the Ministry of Justice website for the first week of the scheme, the remainder of July, and every subsequent month since then.
The monthly published figures can be found on separate links under the following main link: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/endofcustodylicence.htm
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.
Prisons
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the (a) expenditure and (b) income of prison industries in England and Wales was in each of the last 10 years; [180955]
(2) what the turnover of prison (a) industries and (b) farms was in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [180957]
Mr. Hanson: The following table sets out annual expenditure on raw materials and external income for the previous eight years (earlier data is unavailable). Expenditure on other costs is not available as the Prison Service did not record full activity costs until 2007-08. Costs do not correlate to the external income as most goods are generally manufactured for internal consumption. The estimated annual value of goods and services internally produced by prison industries and consumed within the Prison Service is around £30 million.
| £000 | ||
| Financial year | Expenditure by Industries and Farms on raw materials | HM Prison Service external income from Industries and Farms |
Prisons: Employment
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons in England and Wales offer employment opportunities under enhanced earnings schemes; and for how many prisoners. [180956]
Mr. Hanson: All prisons offer prisoners some type of employment and purposeful activity. The amount a prisoner earns is devolved to individual governors and is subject to minimum levels as set out in Annex B of Prison Service Order 4460. There is no central record kept of prisoner’s earnings and to provide the information would involve both the individual scrutiny of a significant number of documents and a large data collecting exercise—this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Secure Training Centres: Injuries
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what injuries were sustained by boys held in Hassockfield Secure Training Centre during physical control in care in each month in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007; [175249]
(2) what injuries were sustained by boys held in Oakhill Secure Training Centre during physical control in care in each month in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007; [175250]
(3) what injuries were sustained by boys held in Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre during physical control in care in each month in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007; [175251]
(4) what injuries were sustained by boys held in Medway Secure Training Centre during physical control in care in each month in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [175252]
Mr. Hanson: Information on injuries resulting from restraint, provided by the Youth Justice Board, is available from April 2007. The following tables show the number of injuries requiring minor treatment, sustained by boys during restraint incidents. None of the injuries required hospital treatment.
| Hassockfield | |
| Number | |
| Oakhill | |
| Number | |
| Rainsbrook | |
| Number | |
| Medway | |
| Number | |
| Note: Data provided by the YJB. 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 and can be subject to change over time. | |
Sentencing: Ethnic Groups
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many black and minority ethnic people have been given an indeterminate sentence for public protection. [180289]
Mr. Hanson: At the end of November 2007 there were 770 black and minority ethnic prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection in all prison establishments in England and Wales.
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.
Smuggling: Animals
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions were brought against illegal importers of animals into the UK in 2007; and what the conviction rates were in these cases. [177724]
Jonathan Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
Prosecutions and convictions brought against illegal importers of animals are reported annually to Parliament. Data collected during 2007 are still being collated and will be reported in the ‘Return of expenditure incurred and prosecutions taken under the Animal Health Act 1981 and incidences of disease in imported animals for the year 2007, which will be laid before Parliament by the end of March.
Voting Systems
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to his Written Ministerial Statement of 11 December 2007, Official Report, column 32WS, on review of voting systems, on what date in January he plans to publish the Government’s completed review of voting systems. [180991]
Mr. Wills: The Government have completed the review of the experience of the new voting systems introduced in the United Kingdom since 1997 and are making the review ready for publication later this month.
Young Offenders
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many juveniles had no fixed abode when they were received into prison in each of the last five years. [180291]
Mr. Hanson: Information on home addresses for young people (aged under 18) is mainly held in individual records and is not readily available.
The information would need to be retrieved manually and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Treasury
Bank Services
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to bring forward proposals for legislation on protection of bank depositors. [180742]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury, the Bank of England and Financial Services Authority published a discussion paper, “Banking Reform: Protecting Depositors”, in October 2007. Comments on that paper were requested by 5 December 2007. A consultation document outlining proposals for reforms to banking regulation and depositor protection will be published shortly, and will be followed by a 12-week consultation period after the Treasury Select Committee has published its report.
Child Benefit: Personal Records
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals in HM Revenue and Customs have been formally disciplined over the recent loss of two child benefit payment discs. [180248]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC does not comment on specific internal disciplinary proceedings.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals in HM Revenue and Customs have been dismissed following the recent loss of two child benefit payment discs containing 25 million personal records. [180249]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC does not comment on specific internal disciplinary proceedings.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many reports have been received to date of fraudulent activity on bank accounts belonging to people whose details were included on the two compact discs lost by HM Revenue and Customs in 2007. [180950]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC are in regular contact with the banks, financial institutions and other law enforcement agencies in order to identify any fraudulent activity relating to the data loss as soon as possible should it occur. None of them have reported any incidents of fraudulent activity attributable to the loss of the two discs that would lead them to suspect that the information has fallen into the wrong hands.
Consultants, Government departments
Mr. Walker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contracts his Department has with external consultants; what the total value including all VAT and disbursements of these contracts are for the current financial year; how long each contract lasts; and what the forecast total value is of each contract. [163707]
Angela Eagle: The total spend on external consultants for the current financial year (1 April to 31 October 2007) in the Treasury is £2,577,500.
HM Treasury has the following current contracts for consultancy:
| Contract | Expiry |
|
Project Support for the Thoresen Review of Generic Financial Advice: 3 contracts | |
| (1) Contract period is not defined by a specific date | |
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