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9 July 2008 : Column 1608W—continued
Coroners
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions a coroner acting under Rule 17 of the Coroners Rules (1984) has exercised his power to exclude the public from an inquest in each of the last five years. [216583]
Bridget Prentice: Rule 17 of the Coroners Rules 1984 allows coroners to exclude the public from an inquest or part of an inquest if they consider it would be in the national interest to do so. There is no requirement on coroners to record data about their use of Rule 17 and this information is not therefore held centrally. I would, however, expect these powers to be used infrequently.
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many public interest immunity certificates have been served upon coroners in England and Wales seeking non-disclosure of evidence on grounds of national security in each of the last five years. [216584]
Bridget Prentice: A public body may issue a public interest immunity (PII) certificate to a court when it is considered that disclosure of material would cause real damage to the public interest. This would include coroner’s courts but information about PII certificates issued to coroners is not held centrally. I would, however, expect the use of PII certificates in coroner’s courts to be limited.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received from bereaved families on the coroner's court procedures. [216842]
Bridget Prentice: The main aim of coroner reform is to deliver a better service for bereaved people. Since the draft Coroners Bill was published in 2006, extensive public consultation on our plans for reform has taken place and feedback from bereaved people and voluntary groups representing their interests has helped to improve several areas of policy.
As well as receiving over 150 responses to the public consultation exercise, a panel of people with recent experience of the coroners' system debated the draft Bill in the Palace of Westminster in November 2006. The event highlighted broad support for the proposals—for example, the introduction of an accessible appeals system for those who are unhappy with coroners' decisions. Panel members also made suggestions for improving the draft Charter for Bereaved People, which will be published alongside the Bill to show Members of Parliament how the reform proposals are intended to benefit bereaved families. I published a further version of the draft Charter for consultation on 18 June.
I also meet regularly with groups from the voluntary sector which have an interest in the coroners' system from the perspective of bereaved families, and I have welcomed the insights and positive suggestions they have offered.
Coroners: Northern Ireland
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many public interest immunity certificates have been served on coroners in Northern Ireland seeking non-disclosure of evidence on grounds of national security in each of the last five years. [216586]
Mr. Hanson: No Public Interest Immunity Certificates have been served on coroners since April 2006, when the new coroners service for Northern Ireland was established. Information on previous years is not available.
Criminal Cases Review Commission: Public Appointments
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) when he expects to announce the name of the new head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission; [216740]
(2) by what process the new head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission was chosen. [216741]
Maria Eagle: An announcement about the new chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission is expected to be made later in the summer when the recruitment process has been completed. The recruitment of the new chair followed the guidance laid down by The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and an independent assessor was provided by OCPA to ensure that the proper procedures are followed.
Departmental Buildings
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on which buildings occupied by his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies the lease will be due for renewal in the next four years. [214716]
Bridget Prentice: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
Departmental ICT
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the value of his Department's computer systems (a) was at the time of purchase and (b) is now. [214718]
Mr. Wills: The main IT systems for the Ministry of Justice's Headquarters and Her Majesty's Courts Service are provided under contracts with Atos Origin and Logica. The estimated total value of these contracts at time of signature in October 2006 was £500 million over seven years. Under these contracts, the Ministry procures services and does not own the assets.
EDS provide the majority of ICT services for the National Offender Management Service, which includes Her Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS), under the Quantum agreement, which is a private finance initiative contract. The value of this contract at the time of signature in 2000 was £200 million, and it runs until mid-2012. HMPS procures services under this contract, and does not take title to the assets.
The majority of National Probation Service ICT services are provided under a separate contract with Steria. The value of this contract at the time of signature in 2006 was £120 million. The contract runs until mid-2012.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many days of sick leave were taken by his Department's employees in each year since 1997; [216698]
(2) how many working days have been lost due to sickness amongst employees for which his Department and its predecessor were responsible for each year since 1997. [218032]
Mr. Wills:
The Ministry of Justice was created on 9 May 2007 bringing together the former Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and National Offender Management Service, including the Prison and Probation services and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was created on 12 June 2003, and included the previous Lord Chancellor's Department, which was in operation during the period from 1997 until 2003. Figures for the National Offender Management Service and HM Prison Service were the responsibility of the Home Office until the creation of the Ministry of Justice.
Prior to the creation of the Department for Constitutional Affairs different recording systems were employed for the collection of sick leave statistics. The cost of providing these figures would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
The following table shows the recorded sickness absence:
| 2003- 0 4 | 2004- 0 5 | 2005- 0 6 | 2006- 0 7 | 2007- 0 8 | |
|
National Offender Management Service and Office for Criminal Justice Reform |
Departmental Wastes
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to reduce the volume of waste produced by it and sent to landfill in each of the last two years. [215889]
Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice is currently implementing its waste management strategy, which works towards a standard of best waste management practice according to the waste hierarchy of reduce, reuse, recycle and disposal.
The waste management strategy clearly sets out information and policy of all aspects of waste activity including, Government policy requirements, legislation, commercial waste management practice, recycling and internal waste management procedures.
The strategy fully demonstrates how recycling and waste minimisation should be performed across the estate. In addition the strategy enables data on waste produced and recycled, so the Department can monitor and report on progress to the Sustainable Development Commission.
Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS)
In addition to the implementation of the waste management strategy, HMCS will develop individual regional sustainable development action plans throughout the estate, which will incorporate Waste Action.
Her Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS)
HM Prison Service is delivering a programme of implementing a waste management capability at public sector managed prisons. To-date, 87 prisons (68 per cent. of the public sector prison estate) have an operational waste management unit (WMU), separating out materials for re-use, recycling, composting and, for the residue, responsible disposal. Progress on this initiative over the past two years is set out in the following table:
| Total prison population (April) | Number of waste units | Coverage of prisons estate (percentage) | Total waste arisings (tonnes) | Total waste diverted from disposal (tonnes) | Average Recycling Rate (percentage) | Comment | |
Land Registry Act 2002
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases the office of the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry has examined under section 73(7) of the Land Registry Act 2002 in each year since entry into force of the Act. [216629]
Bridget Prentice: In the period from 2003 to 2008, the following number of cases have been examined by the office of the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry
| Number of cases examined | |
Legal Profession: Fees and Charges
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the Government's policy is on the practice of no-win no-fee offers made by law firms. [216843]
Bridget Prentice: Conditional fee or ‘no win no fee’ arrangements provide a mechanism for securing access to justice for individuals seeking legal redress. The Government believe that they play an important role in giving people wider access to justice and should continue to remain a funding option.
The Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority has a comprehensive regulatory framework for solicitors’ conduct including charging arrangements and costs agreements.
We are keen to ensure that no win no fee arrangements are giving people effective access to justice, and I informed the House on 25 June 2008, Official Report, column 24WS, in a written statement, that we have commissioned an independent feasibility and scoping study into the operation of ‘no win no fee’. The study will report in the autumn and will inform the feasibility of an evidence-based review.
Morning Star
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2008, Official Report, column 891W, on the Morning Star, which divisions of his Department receive the copies of the Morning Star. [217436]
Mr. Wills: The only directorate of the Ministry of Justice which receives the Morning Star is Private Office.
Offenders: Rehabilitation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the most effective interventions with regard to (a) reducing reoffending and (b) increasing offenders’ capacities to manage their lifestyles and associations with others in a law-abiding manner. [216578]
Mr. Hanson: There are a range of issues that are known to affect the likelihood of reoffending. These fall into seven areas, or pathways: accommodation, education, training and employment; health; drugs and alcohol; finance, benefit and debt; children and families; attitudes, thinking and behaviour. The evidence suggests that as there are multiple influences on offending, the most effective response is with a package of interventions.
Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice are currently carrying out a programme of cohort studies, which follow offenders on custodial and community sentences through the course of their sentence and beyond. These will add to our knowledge about what works in reducing reoffending but also more broadly about how interventions might work in combination to address the range of offenders’ needs.
Offensive Weapons: Sentencing
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of people convicted of carrying an offensive weapon under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 received (a) a fine and (b) a custodial sentence of (i) less than six months, (ii) six to 12 months, (iii) 12 to 18 months, (iv) 18 to 24 months, (v) two to three years and (vi) four years in each of the last 30 years. [217119]
Mr. Straw: The Prevention of Crime Act 1953 has been amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the figures given here represent individuals sentenced under the amended provisions and section 139A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Data are not stored electronically for the last 30 years and cannot be extracted in a timely manner so the data supplied cover the period for which they are available, 1996 to 2006.
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