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12 May 2008 : Column 1386W—continued
Young Offender: Crimes of Violence
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many instances of prisoner-on-officer violence were recorded in each (a) secure training centre, (b) secure children's home and (c) young offender institution in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement; [204372]
(2) how many instances of prisoner-on-prisoner violence were recorded in each (a) secure training centre, (b) secure children's home and (c) young offender institution in each year since 2000, broken down by establishment; and if he will make a statement. [204374]
Mr. Hanson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 April 2008, Official Report, column 897W.
Young Offenders
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average number of hours per day spent in purposeful activity was by prisoners in (a) young offender institutions and (b) juvenile custodial institutions in each week of February and March 2008. [204259]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the average number of hours per day spent in purposeful activity by prisoners in (a) young offender institutions and (b) juvenile custodial institutions, for each week in February and March 2008.
| Week commencing | YO male | Juvenile male |
| Note: Data are provisional and subject to end year validation. | ||
Young Offenders: Education
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of the average number of hours of education undertaken by a prisoner in a young offender institution per week. [204263]
Mr. Hanson: The average number of hours spent in educational activity per week per prisoner in young offender and juvenile institutions during 2007-08 was 12.2 hours. Data are provisional and subject to end year validation, which may see an increase in educational activity undertaken by prisoners.
Communities and Local Government
Arson
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost of arson to the economy in each of the last five years. [204983]
Mr. Dhanda: Estimates for the cost of arson to the economy for the five years to 2004 are shown as follows. Work will commence this year to produce estimates for subsequent years. Around 60 per cent. of the estimated costs are directly attributable to the occurrence of arson fires, with the remainder due to measures taken in anticipation of arson fires, such as installing fire prevention measures.
| Total cost of deliberate fires, England and Wales, 2000-04 | ||
| £ million | ||
| Total cost (including costs in anticipation) | Total cost (excluding costs in anticipation) | |
| Source: CLG Economic cost of fire model | ||
Caravan Sites: Squatting
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers local authorities have to deal with the illegal use of caravans sited in holiday parks as permanent residences. [204008]
Mr. Iain Wright: When granting planning permission for the use of land as a site for caravans for holiday use, local authorities may impose conditions which prevent the caravans from being used at certain times of the year. The aim of such conditions is generally to ensure that the premises are only used by visitors and do not become part of the local housing stock.
Where a condition is breached, local authorities can serve a breach of condition notice to ensure that the conditions are complied with.
Children in Care
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of children’s homes were assessed as providing inadequate provision in each year from 1996-97 to 2007-08; and if she will make a statement. [201141]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
Since April 2007, children’s homes have been regulated by the Chief Inspector for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills; prior to that they were regulated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. Data on the outcome of inspections of individual homes are not held centrally by this Department.
We recognise that standards need to improve and are taking a number of steps to improve provision in children’s homes. The Children and Young Persons Bill, currently before Parliament, includes provisions to strengthen the Chief Inspector’s powers to address poor performance. In addition, we are taking forward work, through the Children’s Workforce Development Council, to develop a framework of skills which all those caring for children in residential homes will be expected to demonstrate. We will also be piloting a
social pedagogic approach in children’s homes, in order to support residential care staff in working more effectively with children in a group setting.
Community Relations
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2008, Official Report, column 2133W, on community relations, when she expects to publish guidance on tension monitoring. [203976]
Mr. Dhanda: I have today published DCLG’s guidance for local authorities on community cohesion contingency planning and tension monitoring. It is a web based tool and can be found on the DCLG website:
Departmental Domestic Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions she has visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [204400]
Mr. Dhanda: In the last 12 months, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government visited Scotland once and Wales once. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the ministerial code.
Departmental Freedom of Information
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many freedom of information requests made to her Department were (a) answered (i) within 20 days, (ii) within 40 days, (iii) within 60 days, (iv) after 60 days, (b) not answered and (c) answered citing an exemption in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a reason not to provide the requested information in each year since the Act came into force. [201720]
Mr. Dhanda: The Ministry of Justice has published two annual reports containing statistical information on freedom of information requests received by monitored bodies (including central Government Departments) in 2005 and 2006. These reports can be found at the following address:
The 2007 annual report is currently being drafted for publication in June 2008. However, statistics on requests received in each quarter of 2007 have been published and can be found via the MOJ website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomof informationquarterly.htm
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires public bodies to respond to written requests within 20 working days of receipt, but allows additional time for the consideration of the public interest in disclosing the requested information.
The published reports provide statistics on the number of requests for information other than routine or “normal course of business” requests received during each period where: an initial response was provided within 20 working
days; an initial response was given outside this time but a public interest test extension had been applied; an initial response was given outside this time and no public interest test extension was applied, and where no initial response had been given at the time the statistics were collected.
The 2006 annual report provides statistics on the duration of the public interest test extensions in that year. Corresponding statistics for 2007 will be available when the 2007 annual report is published.
Information requests where deadlines were extended beyond 40 days is not collected in the form requested; however Communities and Local Government answered 88 per cent. of resolvable requests “in time” (i.e. meeting the deadline or with a permitted extension) in 2007.
For 2005 and 2006, the reports show the number of requests received by the Department which were withheld, either in full or in part, where an FOI exemption or EIR exception was applied. For 2007, there were 103 such requests, based on aggregated quarterly statistics from 2007. Requests withheld solely under the exemption applicable to “information available by other means” are not included; statistics on these are not collected centrally because they are treated in the statistics as routine business.
Fire Prevention: Insurance
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with the Association of British Insurers on the use of Section 4.4 of the Technical Briefing on Fire Performance of Sandwich Panel Systems document (2003) by panel manufacturers. [204531]
Mr. Iain Wright: The purpose of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) Technical Briefing is to assist insurance surveyors and under-writers to assess the use of sandwich panels in the construction of buildings, with respect to potential economic loss in the event of a fire.
Current statutory provisions and supporting standards for fire protection in buildings are made only for the purposes of securing the health and safety of people in and around buildings, not to reduce economic loss, therefore no such discussions have taken place with the ABI.
Fire Services
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions fire and rescue services were required to evacuate residents from their homes in each year since 1994. [204838]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Fire Services: Aviation
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many aircraft incidents were attended by the fire service in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [204986]
Mr. Dhanda: The number of aircraft incidents attended by fire and rescue services since 1997-98 is set out as follows.
| Aircraft incidents attended by fire and rescue services in England, 1997-98 to 2006-07 | |
| Number | |
Fire Services: Injuries
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firefighters were injured in the course of operational incidents in fire and rescue services in England in each of the last 10 years. [204837]
Mr. Dhanda: The number of firefighters that were injured in operational incidents in fire and rescue services in England since 1998-99 is tabled as follows. Information prior to 1998-99 is not held centrally.
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