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9 July 2008 : Column 1618W—continued
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of people from each age group convicted under section 1 of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 received (a) a fine and (b) a custodial sentence in each of the last five years. [217123]
Mr. Straw: The information is given in the following table.
| Persons sentenced( 1) under the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959( 2) , by age, 2002-06 | ||||||
| Total sentenced | Fine | Fine (percentage) | Immediate custody | Immediate custody (percentage) | ||
| (1) Principal offence. (2) Summary offences. Relating to offences in connection with offensive weapons. (3) No persons sentenced. Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: OMS, Analytical Services | ||||||
Offensive Weapons: Young People
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted for offences of selling knives to persons under (a) 18 and (b) 16-years-old in each of the last five years. [217153]
Mr. Straw: The number of persons found guilty of offences relating to selling knives to under 16-year-olds, in England and Wales, 2002 to 2006 can be viewed in the following table.
Prior to October 2007 it was not an offence to sell knives to 16 and 17-year-olds. This was amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.141A (1) added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.6(l) as amended by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. Therefore there were no convictions for the sale of knives to 16 and 17-year-olds in England and Wales for the period 2002 to 2006.
Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
| N umber of persons found guilty of offences relating to selling knives to under 16-year-olds, in England and Wales, 2002 - 06( 1, 2, 3) | |
| Found guilty | |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3 )Includes the following statute and corresponding offence description: Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.141A (1) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.6(l). Any person who sells to a person under age of 16 years a knife; knife blade, razor blade, axe and any other article which has a blade, that is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person. Source: CJEAU—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice | |
Political Parties: Finance
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what discussions he had with trades union representatives on the White Paper on party finance and expenditure prior to its publication; [215302]
(2) what representations his Department received from trades unions on the White Paper on party finance and expenditure prior to its publication. [215303]
Bridget Prentice: In his capacity as Secretary of State for Justice, the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) neither has had meetings with, nor received representations from, trade unions in relation to the White Paper party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom. In his capacity as his party's representative leading the cross-party talks on party funding my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor has discussed these issues with trade union representatives and many others on a number of occasions.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice over what period of time he plans to consult further with political parties on legislative or regulatory changes, further to the recommendations of the party finance and expenditure White Paper. [215326]
Bridget Prentice: Our proposals for reform are largely based on recommendations from the review of the funding of political parties by Sir Hayden Phillips, and the subsequent inter-party talks he conducted. The review conducted wide-ranging consultation with both political parties and the wider public. Since the talks ended the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) and I have continued discussions with interested parties.
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor said on 16 June 2008, Official Report, columns 691-704, we intend to introduce a Bill taking forward these proposals prior to summer recess. This will ensure that there will be opportunity for scrutiny and discussion of the Bill prior to its formal consideration in Parliament.
Prisoners Transfers
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the receiving or sending prison is responsible for making arrangements with the escort contractor on a prisoner's transfer transport between prisons; what guidelines are in place on the number of days a transfer is to be completed in; and if he will make a statement. [216416]
Maria Eagle: Arrangements for transferring prisoners between establishments are co-ordinated through the population management section of the National Offender Management Service. The escort service is provided under contract by GSL UK Ltd. Sending establishments are responsible for processing prisoners' requests to transfer which are considered by receiving establishments against their acceptance criteria and available spaces. Transfers agreed by Thursday of one week are routinely scheduled to take place the following week. However, population pressures across the prison estate may sometimes delay transfers.
Prisons: Drugs
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what harm reduction strategies in respect of Class A drug taking are in place in prisons in England and Wales. [216949]
Mr. Hanson: NOMS has in place a comprehensive drug treatment framework, based on the National Treatment Agency’s revised Models of Care that incorporates a harm reduction strategy for class A drug misusers within which:
Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare (CARAT) teams provide harm minimisation advice to drug users in prisons and prior to release;
substitution prescribing is a key element of the prisons Integrated Drug Treatment System which will reduce the harms caused by class A drug use, including injecting behaviour and the risk of overdose on release;
disinfecting tablets are freely available in the majority of prisons;
a Hepatitis B vaccination programme is running in over 100 prisons; and
working closely with the Drug Interventions Programme and Offender Managers to ensure continuity of treatment on release.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the availability of drugs in prisons. [216950]
Mr. Hanson: Trends of drug misuse in prisons are kept under regular review. The level of drug misuse in prisons, as measured by random mandatory drug testing, has reduced by 63 per cent. since the 1996-97 financial year.
David Blakey a former Inspector of Constabulary was asked to conduct a review of the effectiveness of measures to keep drugs out of prisons. His report, published on 7 July, makes 10 recommendations which the Government have accepted in full.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to reduce the availability of Class A drugs in prisons. [216951]
Mr. Hanson: A comprehensive range of measures is in place to prevent illegal drugs from entering prisons.
On 7 July 2008 the Government published David Blakey’s review into the effectiveness of the Prison Service’s measures for disrupting the supply of illegal drugs into prisons. He made 10 recommendations, ranging the introduction of mobile phone blocking technology, new technology for searching and improvements to intelligence gathering. The Government have accepted all of the recommendations.
Television: Licensing
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were found guilty of television licence evasion in Leicester in 2007. [216291]
Maria Eagle: Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
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