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13 May 2008 : Column 1504W—continued

Specialised Diplomas

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what provision will be made for young people in custody to new diploma courses; and if he will make a statement. [205010]

Jim Knight: Every young person aged 14 to 19 will have an entitlement to any of the first 14 Diploma lines from 2013. We have placed a duty on local authorities and the Learning and Skills Council from 2013 to ensure all young people are able to take up their entitlement.

At present young people in custody are required to continue their education in custody and will be covered by the entitlement. Proposals to improve education and training for young offenders will be included in the forthcoming Youth Crime Action Plan.


13 May 2008 : Column 1505W

Sure Start Programme: Consultants

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of those in his Department working on the Sure Start programme are consultants. [205420]

Beverley Hughes: There are no consultants working on the Sure Start programme in the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Justice

Children: Protection

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many special Children Act applications were issued by (a) Cambridgeshire county council, (b) Cumbria county council, (c) Kent county council and (d) Medway council in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08; [204719]

(2) how many special Children Act applications were issued by each local authority in Berkshire in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2007-08. [204721]

Bridget Prentice: The current information systems used in the family courts do not require the applicant type to be recorded specifically. Consequently to extract this information would require a manual trawl of case files and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The most reliable data on public law Children Act applications, particularly at local level, relate to orders made rather than applications issued. The numbers of care and supervision orders made in the family courts in Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Kent (including Medway) and Berkshire in the requested years are therefore provided in the following table.

National figures for 2006 suggest that between 70 per cent. and 75 per cent. of applications for care or supervision result in either a care order or a supervision order being made. Many of the remaining applications are likely to result in an order of a different type (e.g. ‘Section 8’ orders for residence or contact).

The data are compiled based on the location of the order-making court, rather than the local authority making the application, as data on the applicant's identity are not held centrally for all cases. These figures may therefore count orders obtained by other applicants besides the local authorities specified in the question.


13 May 2008 : Column 1506W
Children Act 1989: Care and supervision orders made in the family courts in specific areas
FY 2005-06 FY 2006-07 FY 2007-08
Court/area CHC FPC CHC FPC CHC FPC

Cambridge

34

20

31

Peterborough

58

87

101

Cambridgeshire

92

18

107

16

132

26

Carlisle

27

39

26

Cumbria

27

11

39

24

26

29

Canterbury

80

79

58

Medway

80

81

110

Kent

160

97

160

95

168

75

Milton Keynes

46

59

66

Oxford

46

48

62

Reading

78

77

116

Thames Valley

170

70

184

100

244

91

Notes:
1. CHC = County and High Court; FPC = Family proceedings court.
2. CHC data are collected at court level and do not necessarily reflect counties and their boundaries.
3. FPC data are not available at court level.
4. FPC data for Berkshire are not available as standalone figures. Figures displayed are for Thames Valley.
5. FPC orders made are recorded per child while CHC orders are recorded per order.

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of people (a) tried for and (b) convicted of domestic violence offences took part in domestic violence perpetrators’ programmes in the last 12 months; what targets there are for levels of participation in such programmes in each probation area; and if he will make a statement. [204637]

Mr. Hanson: There is no statutory offence of domestic violence. All 42 probation areas provide domestic violence programmes. The targets for offenders completing domestic violence programmes in 2008-09 are set out in the table as follows.


13 May 2008 : Column 1507W
Area Target

Avon and Somerset

80

Bedfordshire

10

Cambridgeshire

32

Cheshire

43

County Durham

20

Cumbria

10

Derbyshire

40

Devon and Cornwall

70

Dorset

20

Dyfed Powys

14

Essex

66

Gloucestershire

21

Greater Manchester

130

Gwent

12

Hampshire

100

Hertfordshire

25

Humberside

50

Kent

50

Lancashire

60

Leicestershire

30

Lincolnshire

42

London area

300

Merseyside

113

Norfolk

40

North Wales

20

North Yorkshire

30

Northamptonshire

30

Northumbria

65

Nottinghamshire

30

South Wales

20

South Yorkshire

72

Staffordshire

36

Suffolk

25

Surrey

22

Sussex

40

Teesside

35

Thames Valley

95

Warwickshire

4

West Mercia

15

West Midlands

25

West Yorkshire

175

Wiltshire

25


Driving Offences: Insurance

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people aged (a) under 25 years and (b) 25 years and over with a full UK driving licence in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK were convicted of driving without insurance in each year since 1997. [204911]

Maria Eagle: Information held centrally by my Department on convictions for motoring offences does not identify whether the offender held a UK or other driving licence (full or provisional). Possession of a licence can only be inferred through the nature of specific offences such as driving while disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence or failing to produce driving licence etc. Information is available at police force area level within England and Wales only.

Electoral Register: Information and Communications Technology

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the budget for the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors database is for each of the next three years. [203136]

Bridget Prentice: The total budget allocated to the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors (CORE) project during the current spending round is £11.7 million, which consists of £9.7 million capital and £2 million non-capital.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors’ database is intended to include electors in Northern Ireland. [203138]

Bridget Prentice: The legislation that sets out the scope of the Co-ordinated On-line Record of Electors (CORE) database allows for the inclusion of electors from Northern Ireland. A final decision on the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the CORE project will be made at the end of this year. In order to inform this decision a consultation with stakeholders will take place during the second part of this year.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what process his Department will use to determine who the keeper of the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors will be; and if he will invite bids from the public and private sector for this role. [203140]


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