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28 Feb 2008 : Column 1926W—continued
Internet: Suicide
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Australian Government on legislative changes to make the operation of internet sites about suicide more difficult. [189056]
Maria Eagle: Officials in the Ministry of Justice have discussed with their Australian counterparts the effectiveness of legislation introduced there to combat suicide websites—the Criminal Code Amendment (Suicide Related Material Offences) Act 2005. I understand that since the legislation came into force in January 2006 there have been no prosecutions.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will establish an independent body to review complaints about internet sites operated from outside the UK which encourage suicide. [189057]
Maria Eagle: The Internet Watch Foundation considers complaints about websites where the content is criminally racist, obscene or contains indecent photographs of children. No UK body would have the authority to take action on complaints about internet sites hosted abroad, nor are we convinced of the need for a separate regulatory body in respect of websites that, whilst considered harmful or offensive, are not necessarily illegal.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken with internet service providers to reduce the numbers of sites about suicide; and whether he has pursued the idea of a kite mark for internet sites. [189058]
Maria Eagle: The Government have worked with the internet industry, through the Department of Health's suicide prevention strategy and otherwise, to discourage them from hosting sites which may encourage suicide. Typically, indeed largely because of the responsible approach taken by UK internet service providers, such sites tend to be hosted abroad. Work on developing a kite mark standard for internet filtering software is being taken forward through the Home Secretary’s task force for child protection on the internet.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many completed inquests suicide was found to have been assisted by internet sites in each of the last five years; and in how many such cases the suicide was committed by someone under the age of 18. [189060]
Maria Eagle: Information collected by the Ministry of Justice relates solely to the number of verdicts of suicide returned; no information is collected regarding the circumstances of each case or the age of the deceased. The total number of verdicts of suicide returned at inquests by coroners in England and Wales in each of the last five years for which data are available is as follows:
| Total number of verdicts of suicide returned by coroners in England and Wales 2002-06 | |
| Number | |
| Note: Statistics for 2007 are not yet available. | |
Prisoners on Remand: Northern Ireland
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many defendants remanded in custody pending trial in Northern Ireland have subsequently been acquitted or not found guilty in each of the last five years. [189155]
Mr. Hanson: The custody or bail status of defendants may change during the period pending trial in the Crown court.
The information sought was not centrally recorded prior to the introduction of a new IT system in October 2006. Consequently, it is not possible to provide the requested information prior to this without incurring disproportionate cost.
The following table details, for Crown court cases dealt with in Northern Ireland between October 2006 and September 2007, the number of defendants who were found not guilty on all charges and who had been remanded in custody at some stage pending trial.
| Crown court cases dealt with 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2007 | |
| Number | |
|
Number of defendants in custody at some stage pending trial who were subsequently found not guilty on all charges | |
Prisoners Release: End of Custody Licence
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been released early from HMP Peterborough under the End of Custody Licence scheme in each month since the scheme’s inception. [190029]
Mr. Hanson: The End of Custody Licence was introduced on 29 June 2007. Eligible prisoners serving between four weeks and four years may be released under licence from prison up to up to 18 days before their automatic release date.
The following table shows the number of prisoners that have been released early from HMP Peterborough under the End of Custody Licence scheme in each month since the scheme began on 29 June 2007.
| Period of Release | Number of Releases |
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:
Data on releases up to the end of January 2008 will be published on 29 February 2008 according to the schedule of MoJ statistical publications
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.
Prisoners: Young People
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people under the age of 18 years are being held in adult prisons. [187451]
Mr. Hanson: Juvenile prisoners are usually held in designated juvenile units and prisons. In exceptional individual circumstances juveniles may be held separately within an adult prison for a short period.
Prisons: Education
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of education in each prison in each of the last three years. [189443]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 27 February 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested with regards to public prisons could not be produced within the deadline. I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
It will not be possible to give figures for the cost of education within contracted prisons. The cost of education in these establishments is subsumed within the overall cost per place that the Ministry of Justice pays to the contractor.
Re-offenders: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders are believed to have re-offended while on probation in Bexley in each of the last five years. [189385]
Mr. Hanson: The National Statistics relating to re-offending do not presently include a local authority level breakdown. Figures for proven re-offending within two years by adults released from prison or starting a community sentence have been published for 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The most recent data was published in the 2007 report, “Re-offending of adults: Results from the 2004 cohort” which is available online at:
We have developed more timely area-based management information on a different basis from the National Statistics. These show for each of the 42 probation areas, the proportion of those on the probation caseload who re-offend within three months and are convicted within six months of the end of every quarter. These experimental statistics are circulated to probation areas four times a year.
From April 2008 onwards, we will be providing further management information on re-offending at the level of local area agreements.
Secure Training Centres: Restraint Techniques
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 18 February 2008, Official Report, columns 201-02W, on secure training centres: restraint techniques, for what reasons the populations of all the institutions listed in the Answer of 28 January 2008, Offi cial Report, column 150W, on secure training centres were not provided; and if he will provide these figures. [190021]
Mr. Hanson: The previous reply gave details of the end-of-month population of the secure training centres. I am sorry that data on young offender institutions and secure children’s homes were not included.
The following table shows the end-of-month population for the period April-November 2007 for all establishments in the under-18 secure estate. This information has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board.
| Establishment | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November |
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