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Departmental Travel

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of travel undertaken by officials of his Department and its predecessor was in each year for which figures are available. [187585]

Maria Eagle: The spend on travel undertaken by officials is not separately identifiable in the Department’s accounts.

The Department’s annual accounts show travel, subsistence, and hospitality in one line, and where it may be possible to separate the travel and subsistence element, to distinguish the travel element from this figure may be provided only at disproportionate costs.

The Department has published rules for official travel in its staff handbook, and all travel is undertaken in accordance with the guidelines set out in the civil service management code.

All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and ‘Travel by Ministers’, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much his Department and its agencies spent on first-class travel in the last 12 months for which figures are available, broken down by staff grade; [187663]

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(2) how much his Department and its agencies spent on (a) first and (b) other class travel by Eurostar in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [187745]

Maria Eagle: It is not possible to list the costs spent on first class travel by the Department in the last 12 months as the expenditure is not separately identifiable within the Department’s accounts and may be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Travel by Eurostar is not separately identifiable, as the Department does not book travel with Eurostar directly as a supplier. Central guidance states that all Departmental travel should be booked via our booking agent, and although we get itemised bills, these are coded to a general travel and subsistence expense code. The identification of Eurostar bookings may be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the ‘Ministerial Code’ and ‘Travel by Ministers’, copies of which are available in the Library of the House for the reference of Members. All official travel by civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the civil service management code, a copy of which is also available in the Library of the House for the reference of Members.

Written Questions

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many written Questions to his Department had not received an answer as at 25 February 2008 for (a) between two and four, (b) between four and six, (c) between six and eight and (d) more than eight weeks; and how many in each category were tabled for named day answer. [193389]

Maria Eagle: The information requested are in the following tables and include parliamentary questions tabled this session.

Ordinary w ritten q uestions
	Answered	Percentage
On time	773	74.98
Up to 2 weeks	124	12.03
2 to 4 weeks	62	6.01
4 to 6 weeks	43	4.17
6 to 8 weeks	20	1.94
Over 8 weeks	9	0.87

Named d ay q uestions
	Answered	Percentage
On time	249	74.10
Up to 2 weeks	65	19.35
2 to 4 weeks	20	5.95
4 to 6 weeks	1	0.3
6 to 8 weeks	1	0.3
Over 8 weeks	0	0.0

Magistrates Courts: Leeds

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the inquiry into the resulting and warrant processes at Leeds magistrates court will report; and if he will make a statement. [193218]

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Mr. Straw: In my statement to the House on 29 November, I committed to publishing the joint inspectorate report and to making a statement to Parliament. The report was published on 11 March accompanied by a written ministerial statement.

Prisoners: Repatriation

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the average cost of repatriating foreign prisoners held in UK prisons in the last 12 months, broken down by country of origin. [192693]

Mr. Straw: In 2007, foreign prisoners held in England an Wales were repatriated under prisoner transfer agreements to the following countries to continue serving their sentence:

	Number
Belgium	10
Cyprus	2
Dutch Antilles	5
France	3
Germany	2
Ireland	5
Italy	1
Lithuania	1
Norway	2
The Netherlands	75
Poland	1
Spain	2
Switzerland	1
Turkey	1

In each case the flight and escort cost of transferring the prisoner from the United Kingdom to the receiving state was met by that state.

The repatriation of prisoners from Scotland is a matter for Scottish Ministers and the repatriation of prisoners from Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Prisons: Contracts

Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the value of the initial contract awarded to each contracted-out prison currently in operation was; and what the operational cost of each contracted-out prison was in each of the last five years. [188238]

Maria Eagle: Information on the value over the life of the contract and the expenditure for each contracted prison is provided in the following table. Information on expenditure has previously been published on the prison service website in the annual accounts 2002-03, National Offender Management Service website in the office for contracted prisons statement of performance for 2004-05 and 2005-06 and the pre-audited financial information for contracted and commercial service level agreement prisons 2006-07. Information for 2003-04 was previously provided in a written ministerial statement.

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			Expenditure (£)
Prison	Date of award of contract	Value over the life of the contract( 1) (£ million)	2006-07	2005-06	2004-05	2003-04	2002-03
Altcourse (DCMF)	20 December 1995	247 over 25 years	33,836,207	31,782,463	31,220,612	32,739,936	32,154,593
Ashfield (DCMF)	1 July 1998	121 over 25 years	19,984,049	19,808,188	16,706,138	13,662,084	9,820,999
Bronzefield(2) (DCMF)	20 December 2002	219 over 25 years	21,170,132	20,065,025	(3)—	(3)—	(3)—
Doncaster (MO)	20 June 2000	140 over 10 years	21,455,301	20,367,274	19,230,566	19,097,051	19,252,815
Dovegate (DCMF)	27 September 1999	240 over 25 years	23,238,361	23,234,391	23,060,909	23,584,223	24,511,442
Forest Bank (DCMF)	6 July 1998	197 over 25 years	23,277,701	22,736,186	21,887,576	21,783,463	20,821,813
Lowdham Grange (DCMF)	7 November 1996	137 over 25 years	13,741,280	13,094,659	12,941,163	13,004,116	13,159,649
Parc (DCMF)	4 January 1996	266 over 25 years	36,939,202	33,539,477	32,365,812	32,529,421	31,322,995
Peterborough(4 )(DCMF)	14 February 2003	291 over 25 years	26,308,125	(3)—	(3)—	(3)—	(3)—
Rye Hill (DCMF)	23 July 1999	154 over 25 years	14,746,072	14,722,833	14,401,669	14,935,111	14,103266
Wolds (MO)	5 January 2003	45 over 10 years	8,070,803	6,861,220	7,097,441	6,776,755	8,504,900
(1) The value over the life of the contract is based on the net present value (NPV) calculated for the winning bidder at the award of the contract. The NPV is a standard method used for the financial appraisal of long-term projects and is calculated in accordance with the HM Treasury Green Book. This information has previously been published. There is no direct relationship between the annual value of the contract shown and the NPV for the whole life of the contract. (2) HMP Bronzefield did not open until June 2004. Part year information was excluded from the analysis. (3) Not open. (4) HMP Peterborough did not open until March 2005. Part year information was excluded from the analysis. Note: Expenditure figures have different elements included reflecting different management and financing arrangements for: Manage Only (MO) establishments, the expenditure figures include: Payment to contractors Controller Team based at establishment Design, Construct, Manage and Finance (DCMF) expenditure figures include: As aforementioned for Manage Only Adjustment for the capital repayment element in contractual payments.

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