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26 Mar 2008 : Column 227W—continued
Drugs: Sentencing
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what changes were made to the sentencing guidelines for (a) magistrates and (b) Crown courts on drug offences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [196120]
Mr. Hanson: Magistrates Courts Sentencing Guidelines, produced by the Magistrates Association with the support of the Lord Chancellor, cover the main offences dealt with in those courts, including drugs offences. The guidelines were revised in September 2000 and January 2004 and are currently under review by the Sentencing Guidelines Council.
The Court of Appeal provided guidelines on: supply and dealing in Class A drugs in the cases of R v. Diahit (1999) 2 Cr App R (S) 142, R v. Twisse (2001) 2 Cr App R (S) 37, and R v. Afonso and others (2004) EWCA Crim 2342; the importation of controlled drugs in the case of R v. Mashootlahi (2001) 1 Cr App R (S) 330; Class B drugs—amphetamine in the case of R v. Wijs and others (1999) 1 Cr App R (S) 181; cannabis (prior to its classification as a Class C drug) in the case of R v. Ronchetti (1998) 2 Cr App R (S) 100; possession with intent to supply—LSD in the case of R v. Hurley (1998) 1 Cr App R (S) 29; purity analysis of Class A drugs in the case of R v. Morris (2001) 1 Cr App R (S) 297; and cultivating cannabis in the case of R v. Herridge (2005) EWCA Crim 1410. In December 2004, the Council issued guidelines on seriousness, “Overarching principles: seriousness, and Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea”, which apply in all cases. The latter guideline was revised in July 2007. The Sentencing Advisory Panel is currently undertaking research and background work on drug offences, which is the first stage in the process of producing sentencing guidelines.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) webmail users and (b) server users in the criminal justice system use Secure eMail; and how many emails were sent across the system in each month since February 2004. [195609]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is as follows.
There are 5,070 web mail users (as of February 2008).
There are 9,731 server users known to the CJSM Directory (as of February 2008).
Emails sent in each month since February 2004
Figures for the number of messages sent across the service since February 2004 are not available. However, the figures from November 2004 to February 2008 are as follows:
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
The number of emails sent across the service has steadily increased over the period since 2004. The same is true for the web mail users and server users.
Judges: Transport
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent between April and November 2007 on vehicles contracted by the Government Car and Despatch Agency to transfer high court judges between their official residences and the courts. [195936]
Mr. Straw: The amount spent between April and November 2007 on vehicles contracted by the Government Car and Despatch Agency for use in the transfer of high court judges between their official residences and the courts was £289,000. This figure contains a small element of costs associated with other official visits related to the high court judges’ time out on circuit, including inspection visits to prisons, sites of crime and some official public functions and not just those between the lodgings and courts.
Legal Aid: Northern Ireland
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to increase access to criminal legal aid in Northern Ireland. [195498]
Mr. Hanson: In Northern Ireland the judiciary are responsible for determining applications for criminal legal aid applying the statutory tests of whether the applicant has insufficient means and the interests of justice.
In 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 97 per cent. of defendants who applied were granted criminal legal aid. There is therefore no
evidence to suggest that there is a need to increase access to criminal legal aid.
Legal Services Commission: Recovery of Costs
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Legal Services Commission received by way of (a) recovered costs and (b) interest on statutory charges in each year since 1997. [195956]
Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Guildford (Anne Milton) on 25 January 2008, Official Report, column 2206W.
National Offender Management Service: Expenditure
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of the National Offender Management Service was in 2006-07. [196147]
Mr. Hanson: The cost of the National Offender Management Service in 2006-07 was £4.3 billion resource and £0.4 billion capital expenditure. This includes expenditure on public and private prisons, 42 probation boards and the Youth Justice Board, as well as central policy and administrative functions. The capital expenditure was mainly on the prisons estate.
National Offender Management Service: Probation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders are directly managed or supervised by staff of the National Offender Management Service. [196146]
Mr. Hanson: At 30 June 2007 there were a total of 254,762 offenders in prison or being supervised in the community by the Probation Service in England and Wales. The number of offenders supervised by the Probation Service in the community (either under court orders or under post release licence) was 175,028. The number detained in prison was 79,734.
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.
National Offender Management Service: Standards
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of the National Offender Management Service management board received box A markings in their latest performance and development reviews; who was responsible for the award of these markings; and if he will make a statement. [196097]
Mr. Hanson:
The members of the National Offender Management Service management board are all Senior Civil Servants (SCS). As such, they do not receive box markings. Under current arrangements, members of the SCS are assessed by their line manager and a judgment is made of how well individuals have performed relative to their peers. All SCS are ranked in tranches. Three members of the NOMS management
board received the highest tranche marking in the latest performance and development review.
Prison Service: Public Appointments
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recruitment process was used to fill the post of Deputy Director General of HM Prison Service following the retirement of Peter Atherton; where the post was advertised; how many applications were received; what selection criteria were used; and who comprised the selection panel. [195957]
Maria Eagle: The role of Deputy to the Director General of the Prison Service was re-introduced following the publication of the Prison Service Review in October 1997. The functions of this role are carried out by an existing member of the Prison Service Management Board. It is not, therefore, a separately advertised post.
Prisoners
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were held in prisons over 50 miles from their homes in the last 12 months. [195549]
Mr. Straw: As of September 2007, the latest date for which information is available, there were approximately 33,150 prisoners held over 50 miles from their home address.
Where no home address is listed for a prisoner the committal court has been used as a proxy address.
In the previous five years the level of prisoners in this circumstance is in the following table.
| Snapshot of prisoners held over 50 miles from their homes (to neares t 100) | |
The increase by September 2007 reflects increased pressure of numbers on the prison estate. Everyone involved is working hard to bring the level down.
Prisoners Transfers
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much his Department spent on prison transfers in each of the last 10 financial years; and if he will make a statement; [196135]
(2) how many prisoners have been transferred between prisons during their sentence since April 2007; and if he will make a statement. [196136]
Mr. Hanson: Details of expenditure on inter-prison transfer services by the inter-prison transfer contractor for each financial year since 2001-02 are set out in the following table. Data are not available for financial years 1997-98 to 2000-01.
| Financial year | Cost (£) |
The following table shows the number of inter-prison transfers under the inter-prison transfer contract in each month since April 2007. A breakdown of the number of transfers of sentenced and unsentenced prisoners under the inter-prison transfer contract is not held separately.
| Inter-prison Transfers | |
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