Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 14 May 2008
Justice
Departmental Equality
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department met the civil service diversity targets set out on page 51 of Cabinet Office Annual Report 2007 by April 2008. [204713]
Mr. Straw: As a result of the establishment of the Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007, we are currently in the process of revising our diversity targets for all under-represented groups. The MoJ is currently working with the Cabinet Office to agree new civil service-wide diversity targets.
The timetable for setting the MoJ's targets will be determined by guidance from the Cabinet Office, which is due late summer 2008.
Information Commissioner
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases are awaiting investigation by the Information Commissioner. [204897]
Mr. Wills: The Information Commissioner is an independent body created by statute with responsibility for handling complaints made to him under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998. The Information Commissioner has provided the answer to this parliamentary question.
At 31 March 2008, the number of cases awaiting investigation by the Information Commissioner was 1,363 for freedom of information casework and 1,237 for data protection casework.
Additionally, due to the volume of cases referred to the Information Commissioner under data protection, there were 2,250 cases awaiting classification as at 31 March 2008. Of these cases, it is estimated that approximately 60 per cent. would be resolved within 30 calendar days and 85 per cent. within 90 calendar days.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of time between acceptance of a case for investigation by the Information Commissioner and the commencement of the investigation was in the last period for which figures are available. [204898]
Mr. Wills: The Information Commissioner is an independent body created by statute with responsibility for handling complaints made to him under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998. The Information Commissioner has provided the answer to this parliamentary question.
The Information Commissioner deals with two types of cases: those that come under that Freedom of
Information Act and those that come under the Data Protection Act. Between April 2007 and March 2008 the average length of time from receipt to commencement of investigation was 69 days for the Freedom of Information Act cases and 30 days for Data Protection Act cases. The average length of time to close an investigation once commenced, was 182 days from for Freedom of Information Act cases and 45 days for Data Protection Act cases.
Juries: Mental Health
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate the Government have made of the number of people who are not eligible for jury service for reasons related to their mental health. [205026]
Maria Eagle: In March and April 2008, the Jury Central Summoning Bureau summoned 62,559 people for jury service and disqualified 14,647 (23.4 per cent.). Of these, 1,524 were disqualified on grounds of mental health (2 per cent. of the total). These data are subject to the information supplied by the individual summoned.
Prison Service: Languages
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers are proficient in speaking (a) Urdu, (b) Farsi, (c) Arabic, (d) Gujarati, (e) Punjabi, (f) Bangla, (g) Tamil, (h) Hindi, (i) Russian, (j) Turkish, (k) Cantonese, (l) Mandarin, (m) Somali, (n) Vietnamese, (o) Polish, (p) Albanian and (q) other languages spoken by non-English speakers serving custodial sentences in England and Wales. [205120]
Maria Eagle: It is not a requirement for prison officers to disclose the information requested and therefore it is not held centrally. To obtain the information would require contacting each prisoner officer at a disproportionate cost.
Prisoners Release
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of prisoners serving determinate sentences were released early in each of the last five years. [205121]
Mr. Straw: Table 10.3 shows the numbers of prisoners released on home detention curfew and the proportion this represents of all prisoners potentially eligible for early release under this scheme, based on the latest published data. Table 10.4 shows the number of determinate sentenced prisoners recommended for parole by the Parole Board and the proportion this represents of all those considered, based on the latest published data.
| Table 1 0.3 : Releases on home detention curfew 2002-06 | |||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
Additionally, the end of custody licence scheme was introduced on 29 June 2007 and between then and 31 December 2007 there were 16,197 releases under the scheme.
Information about end of custody licence releases and recalls is published on a monthly basis on the Ministry of Justice website. The latest report was published on 30 April and refers to March as the reporting month:
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.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many anti-social behaviour orders were issued against (a) persons aged under 16, (b) persons aged 17 to 18, (c) persons aged 19 to 25 and (d) persons aged over 25 years in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007, broken down by police force area; and how many such orders have been breached; [203255]
(2) what recent estimate she has made of the rate of breach of anti-social behaviour orders; [203256]
(3) what recent estimate she has made of the extent to which anti-social behaviour orders are issued to persons with a diagnosed mental illness. [203257]
Mr. Coaker: The latest available information on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) is up to 31 December 2006 and was published on 8 May.
ASBO data are available broken down by age group 10-17 and adults aged 18 and over, year of issue and Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level. CJS areas are coterminous with police force areas and the information is shown in table 1 placed in the House Library. The number of ASBOs breached for the first time in each year is shown in table 3 placed in the House Library.
The Home Affairs Select Committee Report on Anti-Social Behaviour (2004-05) found that inappropriate issuing of ASBOs, for example to people with mental health problems, is not a major problem in practice. Legislation allows the terms of an ASBO to be varied or for the order itself to be discharged if circumstances warrant it.
Home Office published material and training events stress the need for a staged and incremental approach to tackling antisocial behaviour and for specialist
professionals to be involved in an assessment of people who have special needs. This advice is available to all antisocial behaviour practitioners, including those practitioners working in social services, in the form of a website, an extensive range of leaflets and the Respect Actionline, which provides professional advice by telephone.
We monitor the overall use of ASBOs on an ongoing basis and adjust policy in response. For example we recently made changes to the ASBO legislation in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 that juveniles’ ASBOs should be reviewed after one year. We will continue to build on and extend existing ASBO legislation as appropriate.
Crimes of Violence: Hertfordshire
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many crimes involving violence against a person were recorded in Stevenage constituency in each of the last five years; [200354]
(2) how many crimes involving violence against a person were recorded in Welwyn Hatfield constituency in each of the last five years. [200355]
Mr. Coaker: Statistics are not collected specifically on a constituency basis. The Home Office does publish statistics at Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area level. The number of offences of violence against the person for each of the last five years by CDRP is available on the Home Office website at:
Also available is a look-up table that identifies which constituencies are associated with CDRPs. In many instances, a CDRP may comprise more than one constituency. Conversely, some constituencies will come within two or more CDRPs, either wholly or partially. The look-up table is available at:
Copies of both the statistics table and the look-up table are available in the Library.
Forensic Science: Genetics
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of forensic reports arising from low template DNA (LTDNA) analyses have included caveats on the reliability of the results; whether she plans to establish national (a) standards and (b) guidelines on the (i) collection, (ii) handling and (iii) storage of evidence that might yield DNA material by (A) police and (B) forensic services; and if she will make a statement; [201980]
(2) if she will take steps to establish national (a) agreement, (b) standards and (c) guidelines on how low template DNA profiles should be interpreted; and if she will make a statement. [201984]
Meg Hillier: The Home Office does not hold data on the contents of forensic reports; therefore it is not possible to supply the information on the percentage of reports with caveats.
The independent Forensic Science Regulator is responsible for developing standards in this area; the Home Office does not plan to establish separate guidelines or standards.
The Regulator has recently issued his response to the recommendations in ‘A Review of the Science of Low Template DNA Analysis’ which considers collection, storage and interpretation.
Homicide: Cheshire
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many homicides there have been in Cheshire since 1998-99, broken down by method of killing. [204414]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 8 May 2008]: Available information relates to the number of homicides recorded by Cheshire police between 1998-99 and 2006-07 and is shown in the following table.
| Offences currently recorded as homicide( 1) by apparent method of killing: Cheshire police force area, combined data 1998-99 to 2006-07( 2, 3) | |
| Apparent method | Number of homicides |
| (1) As at 12 November 2007; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts or as further information becomes available. (2 )Data for 2007-08 are not yet published. (3 )Offences recorded during financial years 1998-99 to 2006-07 are included. This is not necessarily the same period in which the incident took place or any court decision was made. (4 )Includes knives and other sharp instruments. (5 )Includes asphyxiation. (6 )Includes shooting by crossbow. (7 )Excludes death by careless/dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking. | |
Human Trafficking
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Operation Pentameter 2 started and finished; how many police forces were involved; how many traffickers were (a) arrested and (b) charged with trafficking offences; how many trafficked persons were discovered; how many of these were (i) under 10 years old, (ii) children between 10 and 18 years and (iii) adults; and of the persons discovered, how many had been subjected to (A) sexual exploitation, (B) domestic servitude and (C) forced labour. [204742]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 12 May 2008]: Operation Pentameter 2 began on 3 October 2007.
The fourth stage of the operation is ongoing. Operational outcomes will be published once the evaluation of the intelligence obtained and conduct of the operation is complete.
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