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25 Mar 2008 : Column 50W—continued
Valuation Office: Cole Layer Trumble
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Cole Layer Trumble/Tyler Technologies are providing advice or support to the Valuation Office Agency. [192323]
Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 8 January 2008, Official Report, column 507W.
Valuation Office: Documents
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether data for which the Valuation Office Agency is responsible are (a) stored and (b) processed overseas. [192325]
Jane Kennedy: The VOA does not process or store information for which it is responsible overseas.
Valuation Office: Pay
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to equalise the pay and conditions of equivalent grades of staff in the Valuation Office Agency and the Rent Service once the organisations have merged. [193384]
Jane Kennedy: The Valuation Office Agency and the Rent Service are managing the Transfer of Functions as a joint programme. As part of this, the Valuation Office Agency is undertaking a detailed review of the differences in Terms and Conditions (including pay) between the two organisations to establish a future strategy for aligning these.
Voluntary Work
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2008, Official Report, column 1490W, on voluntary work, what funding his Department has provided for the Volunteers Group in 2007-08. [195916]
Angela Eagle: During 2007-08, HM Treasury made provision of resources to support the HM Treasury Volunteers Group in a number of ways, including a flexible budget to support the administration of the group and relevant staff events; a significant proportion of one full-time member of staff; and the provision of extensive special leave allowances to allow all members of HM Treasury staff to take paid special leave to volunteer in the community for the public good.
The results of this investment have been clear, for example in 2007, HM Treasury won an award for its exceptional support of the School Governor’s One Stop Shop (a small, successful charity that recruits volunteers to become governors in schools across England).
Welfare Tax Credits: Fraud
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the number of fraudulent claims for tax credits made in each year since 2003, broken down by the region in which claimants gave addresses. [194491]
Jane Kennedy: This information is not held in the format requested. However, I refer the hon. Member to the Child and Working Tax Credit Error and Fraud Statistics available on HMRC’s website at:
and to the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Standard Report in the 2006-07 HMRC accounts, which is available on the HMRC website at:
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was obtained from tax credit fraud by (a) individuals and (b) criminal gangs who were prosecuted in each year since 2003. [194499]
Jane Kennedy: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Welfare Tax Credits: Telephone Services
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average cost per minute of calls made to tax credit hotlines from (a) mobile telephones and (b) landlines is; and if he will make a statement. [194472]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested cannot be provided as the cost of calls made to the Tax Credits Helpline, and indeed other HMRC Helplines which use 0845 non geographic numbers, is dependent on several factors. Calls are charged to the customer based on the tariff arrangements they have with their service provider, the device they use for the call and the location from which they call.
Justice
Children: Abuse
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were charged with crimes involving violence against children in each of the last five years; and of those how many (a) pleaded reasonable chastisement as a defence, (b) were prosecuted successfully and (c) were found not guilty. [194164]
Maria Eagle: My Department does not hold information on “crimes involving violence against children” as we do not hold information on victims, unless specified within either the statute or offence description. There is also no specific offence that relates to “crimes involving violence against children.”
My Department does not hold data where the defendant has “pleaded reasonable chastisement as a defence” as this level of detail is not held by the court proceedings database.
Information on charging is not held by my Department.
Domestic Violence: Staffordshire
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were for offences involving domestic violence in (i) Tamworth constituency and (ii) Staffordshire in each year since 2000. [195454]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice cannot separately identify domestic violence offences from other offences of assault and violence against the person. As a result no data relating to prosecutions and convictions can be supplied.
Driving Offences: Prosecutions
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many drivers of vehicles carrying scrap metal were prosecuted for (a) dangerous driving, (b) careless driving and (c) causing death by dangerous driving in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [195725]
Maria Eagle: Breaches of road traffic legislations can be dealt with by written warnings (including formal cautions), fixed penalty notices and court proceedings.
Information collected centrally and held by my Department on motoring offences does not distinguish between the characteristics of the vehicles involved.
Drugs: Sentencing
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted, (c) fined and (d) imprisoned for dealing crystal meth in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [195447]
Maria Eagle: Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against, found guilty, fined and imprisoned for supplying or offering to supply and having possession with intent to supply amphetamines or class B drugs in England and Wales from 2002 to 2006 are in the following table.
Prior to 18 January 2007 the possession with intent to supply and the supply of crystal meth “Methylamphetamine” were included with other class B drug offences. From that date Methylamphetamine was reclassified from a class B drug to a class A drug.
Data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
| Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty, fined and imprisoned for selected offences( 1) relating to crystal meth, England and Wales, 2002 to 2006( 2, 3) | ||||
| Proceeded against | Found guilty | Fined | Immediate custody | |
| (1) The following offences and statutes have been used: Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug (or being concerned in): Amphetamine—Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 4(3) [Class ‘B' Drug]. Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug(or being concerned in): Other Class ‘B'—Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 4(3) [Class ‘B’ Drug]. Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Amphetamine—Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 5(3) [Class ‘B’ Drug]. Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Other Class ‘B’—Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sec 5(3) [Class ‘B’ Drug]. (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. | ||||
Fatal Accident Injury System
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2008, Official Report, column 1433W, on the fatal accident injury system, what progress has been made on discussions between his Department and the Scottish Executive on the operation of the Fatal Accident Inquiry system in Scotland as it applies to armed forces personnel based in Scotland, who are killed in action overseas. [196164]
Bridget Prentice: Contacts between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive continue on this sensitive and complex issue. The UK Government are committed to ensuring that the death of every serviceman or woman overseas is subject to an independent inquiry. They are also committed to ensuring that the needs of bereaved service families are attended to sensitively and that where possible families do not have to travel excessive distances to attend inquests, including families based in Scotland.
My right hon. Friend will have noted the Scottish Executive's announcement on 7 March of a review by Lord Cullen of the overall working of the Fatal Accident Inquiry system which will have a bearing on this issue. In the meantime the UK Government will continue to work with coroners and families to ensure that inquests in England are held in the most appropriate place for those concerned.
Magistrates Courts: Leeds
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 11 March 2008, Official Report, columns 12-14WS, on Leeds Magistrates' court, how many outstanding cases remain of the 555 defendants whose warrants have been withdrawn by officials at Leeds Magistrates' court; what the status of those cases is; and when he expects all of these cases to be resolved. [195780]
Maria Eagle: The warrants of the 555 defendants that were withdrawn still remain outstanding. The withdrawn cases are being reviewed by a multi-agency Criminal Justice System team in Leeds, in accordance with the guidance previously issued by the Office of Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) for the management of warrants and a view will be taken on which cases need to be brought back before the court, as soon as practicable. A practice direction is also being considered by the senior presiding judge to make the position clear that warrants will only be withdrawn by a properly constituted court in the future.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 11 March 2008, Official Report, column s 12-14WS, on Leeds Magistrates' court, what the 62 offences were the results of which have been found and verified; and how many serious offences have yet to be found and verified. [195781]
Maria Eagle: The following table identifies the 62 offences where the results have been found and verified by the Inspectorate. In all of these cases the result could be found from other court records (e.g. those from the Crown court). Checks continue in relation to all outstanding offences where an adjudication is missing, including 1568 recordable offences.
| Offence | Number |
|
Possession of a class B drug amphetamine with intent to supply | |
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