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National Offender Management Service: Performance Against Targets 2007-08
Performance Indicator	Annual Performance	Annual Target
Rehabilitation and Support
Accredited Programmes Completed for All Prisons and Probation (exclusive of SOTPs & DVs)(1)	21,998	20,595
Prisons	7,467	6,655
Probation	14,531	13,940
Sex Offender Treatment Programmes Completed for All Prisons and Probation	2,477	4,405
Prison	1,117	1,105
Probation	1,360	1,300
Probation Domestic Violence Programmes Completed	2,560	2,079
At least 75 per cent. of offenders move to settled accommodation on release	85.0%	75%
26 per cent. of discharged prisoners entering employment on release	27.8%	26%
To ensure that 7,185 prisoners complete a drug rehabilitation programme or Therapeutic Community annually	8,096	7,185
13,200 offenders under supervision achieve and sustain employment for four weeks	16,823	13,200
75 per cent. of offenders are retained in DRR/DTTO for 12 weeks	84.7%	75%
Reassurance and Confidence
85 per cent. of victims to be contacted within eight weeks of an offender receiving 12 months or more for a serious sexual or violent offence	95%	85%
Supporting the Courts
90 per cent. of Pre Sentence Reports (PSR’s) are completed to agreed timescales	95%	90%
At least 85 per cent. of prisoners from prison or police cells are delivered to court before the agreed time	85%	85%
Resource Use Strategy
Days lost due to sickness (Prison System) not to exceed 11 days per annum	11.7	11.0
Days lost due to sickness (Probation) not to exceed nine days per annum	12.1	9.00
At least 6.3 per cent. of the workforce in public prisons to be from ethnic minority groups (Prison System)	6.2%	6.3%
95 per cent. of race and ethnic monitoring data on staff and offenders returned on time using correct classification (Probation)	98%	95%
Notes: The NOMS targets are inclusive of both public and contracted prisons. (1)Data relate to total programme completions (before quality reviews) (2) MDT March data will be adjusted in June (three months’ lag time)

NOMS National Targets for Prisons 2007-08: Breakdown of Public and Contracted Prison Performance
Performance Indicator	Public	Contracted	Annual Performance
Public Protection
No escapes of Category A prisoners	0	0	0
Rate of escapes from prison and prison escorts to be lower than 0.05 per cent. of the average prison population	0.007%	0.01%	0.008%
Fewer than 1 in 20,000 escapes from contracted escorts			1:75,345
Safety, Decency and Respect
Rate of self-inflicted deaths (SIDs) in prison not to exceed 112.8 per 100,000 prison population.	116.9	11.8	106.7
1.8 per cent. of serious assaults per overall prison population
The percentage of prisoners held in accommodation units intended for fewer prisoners does not exceed 34.5 per cent. of the average population in private prisons and 24 per cent. in public prisons	25%	34.9%
Delivery of Justice
The rate of drug-misuse in prison is less than 10 per cent. - as measured by the random Mandatory Drug Testing (rMDT) programme (reported one month in arrears)	8.9%	10.0%	9.1%
At least 85 per cent. of prisoners from prison or police cells are delivered to court by the agreed time	85%	86%	85%
Rehabilitation and Support
[6,655] accredited offending behaviour programmes completed by prisoners	6,885	582	7,467
[1,105] accredited sex offender treatment programmes completed by prisoners	1,037	80	1,117
At least 75 per cent. of offenders move to settled accommodation on release	85%	81.8%	85.0%
26 per cent. of discharged prisoners entering employment on release	27.3%	25.9%	27.8%
To ensure that [7,185] prisoners complete a drug rehabilitation programme or Therapeutic Community annually	7,398	698	8,096
Resource Use Strategy
Days lost due to sickness (HMPS) not to exceed 11 days per annum	12	n/a	12
At least 6.3 per cent. of the workforce in public prisons to be from ethnic minority groups	6.2%	n/a	6.2%
Notes: Figures for public prisons exclude juvenile-only establishments and immigration centres, which are not the responsibility of NOMS.

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Appeals Tribunals

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Bridget Prentice): My right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has today published the eighth report by the president of Appeal Tribunals on the standards of decisions made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in cases which came before appeal tribunals. The major reasons given for Appeal Tribunals overturning or amending decisions were because new evidence was produced at the hearing or the tribunal took a different view of the same evidence.

In his report, the president acknowledges improvements by some of the Department for Work and Pensions’ agencies, particularly the Disability and Carers Service. He questions whether the current method of producing feedback via an annual report is sufficiently focused and of practical use and suggests a lower level of more direct feedback to agency decision-makers.

The Tribunals Service has in place a number of partnership agreements with Department for Work and Pensions’ agencies, who deal with benefits and make decisions on behalf of the Secretary of State, covering the interface as part of the end to end process of administering appeals. In addition to the agreements, regular meetings are held to review respective performance and discuss any issues to improve customer service.

This is the second report published by Ministry of Justice, as responsibility for Appeal Tribunals transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions from 1 April 2006.

Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses, the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office. Copies are also available on the internet at: www.tribunals.gov.uk

Office of the Public Guardian

The Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Jack Straw): The Office of the Public Guardian’s annual report and accounts for 2007-08 have been laid before Parliament today. This document gives full details of the agency’s performance and expenditure for the six months from its implementation on 1 October 2007 to the end of March 2008 and includes the Public Guardian’s annual report to the Lord Chancellor about the discharge of his functions pursuant to section 60 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Personal Injury Claims

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Bridget Prentice): The Government have today published the response to the consultation paper: “Case Track Limits and the Claims Process for Personal Injury Claims”. It summarises the responses received to the consultation paper and sets out the next steps.

Having carefully considered the responses the Government have decided to establish a new claims process which will apply to road traffic accident personal injury claims valued at between £1,000 and £10,000.
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Road traffic accident cases constitute approximately 75 per cent. of personal injury claims. This new streamlined procedure provides for early notification of a claim; promotes early admissions of liability and early settlements; and removes duplication of work from the process. It introduces fixed time periods and fixed recoverable costs.

The Government have concluded that there should be no change to the small claims limits, including those for personal injury and housing disrepair claims, but that the fast track limit should be increased to £25,000.

Copies of the response have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and can also be obtained free on the Ministry’s website at www.justice.gov.uk/publications/cp0807.htm

Copies are also available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office.

Homicide

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Maria Eagle): I am today announcing that as part of the review of the law on homicide, on Monday 28 July we will be publishing a consultation paper setting out proposals for reforms on:

partial defences to murder of diminished responsibility and provocation;

the law on complicity in relation to homicide; and

infanticide.

In December 2006 the Law Commission published its report on “Murder, Manslaughter and Infanticide” with wide-ranging recommendations for changes to the law. On 12 December 2007 I announced the second stage of the review of the law on homicide and emphasised the importance of conducting an open and transparent consultation on this important aspect of law.

Following discussions with key stakeholders both within and outside the criminal justice system we have now developed concrete proposals, including draft clauses, and we wish to put these for public consultation prior to introducing legislation.

Copies of the consultation document will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses on the date of publication. The consultation period will last 12 weeks—closing on 20 October.

Northern Ireland

Chief Electoral Officer

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Shaun Woodward): The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is responsible for the administration of elections in Northern Ireland. Section 14 of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962—as amended by Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006—provides that the Chief Electoral Officer must submit an annual report to the Secretary of State. The annual report of the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland for the year 2007-08 has been laid before Parliament today. Copies are available in the Vote Office.

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Youth Justice Agency

The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Paul Goggins): Copies of the new framework document for the Youth Justice Agency, an Executive Agency of the Northern Ireland Office, are available in the Vote Office.

This document has been reviewed and revised in line with Cabinet Office guidance on framework documents to ensure that it reflects current best practice in the management and corporate governance of agencies.

It has received formal Treasury approval.

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