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31 Mar 2008 : Column 558W—continued
Departmental Sustainable Development
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when his Department plans to publish its sustainable operations policy statement. [195888]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice published its sustainable development action plan on 14 March 2008. It sets out the vision for sustainable development in the Ministry of Justice, how sustainable development will be incorporated into the operations and policy making of the department, the key commitments and how the plan will be delivered.
A copy of the report is available on the Ministry of Justice website at:
Offenders: Education
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on providing education and skills for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [196138]
Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
Since the transfer of responsibility for offender learning and skills from the Home Office in 2001, the Department for Innovation, Universities and its predecessors, have spent the following on education and training in prisons.
| Financial year | Total spend (£ million) |
The Learning and Skills Council also spent a further £30 million in European Social Funding for the two calendar years 2006 and 2007, and established a £13.9 million budget from EQUAL funding for the period December 2006 to March 2008 to meet additional provision for offenders both in custody and in the community.
The majority of education for offenders serving community sentences is funded and provided through the general education system available to all learners, although a further £10 million was provided in financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06 to support additional Skills for Life provision for offenders in the community.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding has been provided for education and skills enhancement for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences for 2008-09, broken down by funding source; and if he will make a statement. [196139]
Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
We can protect the public by helping offenders become more productive members of society, and it is clear that an important way of doing that is to tackle the low skills and worklessness that can be major obstacle to an offender living free of crime. Thus the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills devotes significant resources to providing education and training in prisons and for offenders in the community.
In financial year 2006-07 we provided a total of £156 million to support offender learning including funding for Prison libraries and salaries for Heads of Learning and Skills in prisons, the majority of which was routed through the Learning and Skills Council as new offender learning planning and delivery arrangements were introduced across England from August 2006.
The Learning and Skills Council also spent a further £30 million in European Social Funding for the two calendar years 2006 and 2007, and established a £13.9 million budget from EQUAL funding for the period December 2006 to March 2008 to meet additional provision for offenders both in custody and in the community.
Prison Accommodation
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions his Department has had with the Ministry of Defence on using space at the Military Corrective Training Centre at Colchester to accommodate civilian prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [196763]
Mr. Hanson: The Government have no plans to accommodate civilian prisoners at the Military Corrective Training Centre at Colchester.
Prison Accommodation: Dorchester Prison
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) remand and (b) convicted prisoners were accommodated at HMP Dorchester on the first Friday of each month for the last 12 months for which figures are available. [196403]
Mr. Hanson: Monthly prison population figures are published for the population as at the end of the month. The following table shows the population in HMP Dorchester as at the end of each month in 2007. For completeness the table shows the total population broken down into (a) untried remand; (b) convicted (broken into convicted unsentenced remand and immediate custodial sentenced); (c) fine defaulters and non-criminal prisoners.
| 2007 | |||||
| Untried remand | Convicted unsentenced remand | Sentenced (excl. fine defaulters) | Fine defaulters and non- criminals | Total population | |
These figures are taken from the F1032 tables which were made available to the House of Commons Library at time of issue.
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 Rights
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of prisoners in each prison in England and Wales were on the (a) basic, (b) standard and (c) enhanced privilege level of incentives and earned privileges scheme in each of the last five years. [196291]
Maria Eagle: The data for the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme (IEPS) is recorded on the Prison Service management information system (PSIMON). PSIMON is independent of the system recording population data, this is why there is a shortfall against the published population data. The information is only used to provide indicators for monitoring, and at a national level, the operation of the system.
The variation between the totals of reported IEP levels and the population summary is due to the two sets of data being recorded at different times. There may also be an element of misreporting.
Copies of the requested data have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Sentencing
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many and what percentage of people convicted of a third class A drug trafficking offence under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 received the mandatory sentence established by the Act in each of the last seven years, broken down by age group; and what the average sentence of those convicted of a third class A drug trafficking offence under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 was in each of the last seven years; [197744]
(2) how many and what percentage of people convicted of a third domestic burglary offence under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 received the mandatory sentence established by the Act in each of the last seven years, broken down by age group; and what the average sentence of those convicted of a third domestic burglary offence under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 was in each of the last seven years. [197745]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of persons sentenced to immediate custody under the Powers of Criminal Courts (sentencing) Act (2000, 2000-2006), by age and offence.
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