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6 May 2008 : Column 787W—continued
Legal Opinion: Standards
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what mechanisms are in place to improve the transparency of law firms' no-win no-fee offers. [203304]
Bridget Prentice: The regulation of agreements between solicitors and their clients is a matter for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Under the SRA's Code of Conduct, solicitors are required to provide clients with the information necessary to make appropriate decisions about if, and how, their matter should proceed. Clients should also be given the best information possible about the likely costs and other charges both at the outset and, when appropriate, as the matter progresses. Where the code is not complied with the SRA can, and do, take regulatory action.
Members
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prevent hon. Members from also being (a) members of a devolved legislature and (b) local councillors. [203661]
Mr. Straw: The Government have no current plans to amend the eligibility criteria for membership of the House of Commons as set out in the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he will reply to the letter, dated 28 March 2008, transferred from the Cabinet Office, on parliamentary elections. [203393]
Bridget Prentice: I replied to the hon. Member on 23 April.
Mortgages: Repossesion Orders
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many mortgage possession orders were made in each county court in England in each year since 1997. [203142]
Bridget Prentice: Copies of a table, showing the number of mortgage possession orders (including suspended orders) made in all county courts of England since 1997, have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
These figures do not indicate how many properties have actually been repossessed, since not all the orders will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession.
The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, county courts' jurisdictions are not coterminous with administrative or constituency boundaries, and therefore a single court's repossession actions could relate to properties in a number of different constituencies or local authority areas.
Offenders: Deportation
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign national prisoners were (a) released from prison and (b) removed from the UK in each of the last five years. [202234]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of adult and young adult foreign national discharges from determinate sentences on completion of sentence in each year between 2003 and 2007 from all prison establishments in England and Wales. Information on the numbers released from Scottish and Northern Irish prisons is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and the Northern Irish Prison Service. Data have been rounded to the nearest 100.
| Foreign national discharges from prison (England and Wales) | |
| Number | |
Data for 2007 have not been published, and as such are provisional.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly updated the Home Affairs Committee with the most robust and accurate information relating to the deportation and removal of foreign national prisoners. Copies of her letters to the Committee are available in the library of the House. She advised the Committee during her appearance of 15 January that over 4,200 foreign national prisoners had been removed or deported from the United Kingdom in 2007. Information prior to April 2006 is not available due to data quality issues. Foreign national prisoners removed or deported in 2007 may have been discharged from prison in previous years.
Police Custody
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which police authorities or chief constables have notified his Department that they will not provide it with police cells after a specified date; what the date is in each case; and how many police cells are currently provided to his Department by those authorities. [202668]
Mr. Straw: Police cells are made available through Operation Safeguard under an agreement between ACPO and the National Offender Management Service. Those forces that do not participate in Operation Safeguard provide cells as ad hoc lockouts. No police force has advised my Department that they will not make cells available to hold prisoners.
Prison Service: Emergencies
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what operational emergencies were declared by each prison in each of the last 12 months; and what the date of each was. [202367]
Mr. Straw: An operational emergency is determined and may be declared locally by a prison governor in response to specific operational circumstances arising in an individual establishment or nationally by the director-general or chief operating officer of the National Offender Management Service (formerly DG and DDG of HM Prison Service) in response to wider concerns within the service.
There have been four occurrences when a clear operational emergency has been declared by the DG/COO under these procedures in the last 12 months. Three of these involved bringing into immediate use additional places at individual establishments. One was a national issue, to facilitate immediate staffing of court cells.
A central record of operational emergencies declared locally is not maintained and an exercise to collate these figures would be at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his Department’s definition of operational emergency is in relation to prisons and young offender institutions; and what such operational emergencies have taken place in (a) the Prison Service and (b) privately-managed prisons in each of the last 36 months. [202510]
Mr. Straw: The specific circumstances constituting an operational emergency within HMPS are not explicitly defined.
An operational emergency is determined and may be declared locally by a prison governor in response to specific operational circumstances arising in an individual establishment or nationally by the director-general or chief operating officer of the National Offender Management Service (formerly DG and DDG of HM Prison Service) in response to wider concerns within the service.
Within the terms of the Joint Industrial Relations Procedural Agreement (in place with the Prison Officers Association) and the Voluntary Agreement in place with the Prison Governors Association) an operational emergency is specifically defined in the following terms:
“An occasion where staff will be required to act contrary to the terms of an agreement whether national or local, when events make such action necessary having been identified as a clear operational emergency. Management will aim to give as much notice as possible to the POA and such a situation can only be designated by the DG or DDG who will state the reasons for so doing in writing.”
There have been 10 recorded occasions when a clear operational emergency has been declared by the DG/DDG under these procedures in the last 36 months. Eight of these involved bringing into immediate use additional accommodation or places at individual establishments. Two were national issues,
one requiring immediate implementation of Prison Service Instruction 17/07—Maximising occupancy in the open estate, and one to facilitate immediate staffing of court cells.
A central record of operational emergencies declared locally is not maintained and an exercise to collate these figures would be at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners
Mr. Frank Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of the prison population was born in (a) Britain, (b) EU-15 countries, (c) EU A8 countries, (d) other EEA countries, (e) Africa, (f)
North America, (g) Central America, (h) South America, (i) the Middle East, (j) Asia and (k) Oceania in each year since 1997. [200419]
Mr. Straw: Data on prisoners’ country of birth are not available.
The following table gives figures and proportions for the numbers of prisoners by nationality held in all prisons in England and Wales from (a) Britain (b) EU 15 countries (c) EU A8 countries (d) other EEA countries (e) Africa (f) North America (g) and (h) Central and South America (i) Middle East (j) Asia and (k) Oceania with other categories in each year since 1997.
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