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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1866W—continued
Fixed Penalties: Young People
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many police forces have issued fixed penalty notices for disorder to persons under the age of 16 under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. [199731]
Mr. Hanson: Seven police forces in six areas have issued penalty notices for disorder to under 16s during the pilots.
Forced Marriage
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of reported victims of forced marriage were aged (a) below 18, (b) 18 to 24 and (c) over 24 years in the latest period for which figures are available. [198005]
Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.
In 2007, the forced marriage unit dealt with 168 overseas assistance cases. Of these cases, where age is known, 37 per cent. involved victims under 18, 49 per cent. involved victims aged 18 to 24 and 14 per cent. involved victims over 24.
Homicide: Sentencing
Chris Huhne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of people convicted of murder under (a) the Murder (Abolition of Death
Penalty) Act 1965 and (b) Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 received the mandatory sentence established by the Act under which they were convicted in each of the last seven years, broken down by age group; and what the average sentence of those convicted of murder under either Act was in each of the last seven years. [197746]
Mr. Hanson: The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 provides that the only mandatory sentence for a person convicted of murder is imprisonment for life. The number of such sentences by age group is given in the following table.
The average sentence in terms of time served upon completion of the minimum tariff as established by the court at the time of sentencing is decided by a parole board in each case. We do not collect data on the minimum tariff but Table 10.5 in the Ministry of Justice statistical bulletin, 'Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2006' shows the number of first releases from prison on life licence for mandatory lifers and average time served. Between 2000 and 2006 the mean time served has been between 13 and 15 years.
| Age band | Total sentenced | |
Information Commissioner: Pensions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the rate of employer contributions is to the pension scheme of which employees at the Office of the Information Commissioner are members. [198610]
Mr. Wills: The average accruing superannuation liability charges (ASLCs), which is the pension contribution payable by the Office of the Information Commissioner as an employer, is currently 19.4 per cent. of pensionable pay for the year commencing 1 April 2008. The principal civil service pension scheme (PCSPS) actuary has conducted a full valuation of the scheme liabilities as at 31 March 2007 and, as a result, this contribution will reduce to 18.9 per cent. for the year commencing 1 April 2009.
Internet: Data Protection
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what assessment has been made of the adequacy of safeguards for internet users who have their online activities monitored by internet service providers; [194856]
(2) what consideration he has given to introducing legislation that would require an opt-in for internet users before internet service providers are allowed to collect information about which websites an individual visits. [194857]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
The Office of the Information Commissioner made a statement on 3 March 2008 that it was in discussion with one company about the nature of its service and the way it uses information about ISP customers. My Department will consider the continued relevance of the current safeguards and legislation in the light of the outcome of those discussions.
Life Imprisonment: Prisoners’ Release
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2008, Official Report, column 485W, on life imprisonment: prisoners’ release, how many prisoners sentenced to life since 1997 have been subsequently released from custody. [199672]
Maria Eagle: To provide the information requested would still require manual checking of individual records which could be carried out only at disproportionate cost. Data migration for the Department’s new database is currently under way and will be subject to data quality assurance. Once the information that the hon. Member has requested is available, I will write to him.
Magistrates
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates have experience of (a) skilled, (b) semi-skilled and (c) unskilled manual work. [197324]
Mr. Straw: Occupations of magistrates are recorded in the categories listed in the following table. The table shows how many magistrates are recorded in each category as of March 2008. This information is recorded on appointment, it therefore does not necessarily show their current occupation.
| Category | Number of magistrates | Percentage |
Offensive Weapons: Sentencing
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of people convicted of possession of a knife in a public place under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 received the maximum sentence of four years in prison established by the Act in each month since its inception, broken down by age group; and what the average sentence was of those convicted of possession of a knife in a public place under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 in each month since it came into force. [197742]
Mr. Straw: The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 came into effect in February 2007 and doubled the maximum sentence for people convicted of possession of a knife in a public place from two to four years.
Annual statistics for 2007 will be published in the autumn.
Police Custody
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many police cells in England and Wales assigned to Operation Safeguard were being paid for by his Department but not used in each of the last 52 weeks for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was in each of those weeks. [180634]
Mr. Straw: Police cells are made available through Operation Safeguard under an agreement between ACPO and the National Offender Management Service.
The following table shows the number of places available under Safeguard and the numbers not used from the week ending 1 April 2007 to the week ending 23 March 2008. The average number of places available and not used are also shown.
Police forces invoice for the total number of cells made available and the Ministry of Justice does not separate costs relating to used and unused cells.
Police cells were used to hold prisoners regularly from 1982 until 1993 and from 1994 to 1995, and use peaked when more than 1,000 prisoners a night were being regularly held in police cells in 1988 and in 1990-92 (based on end of month data).
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