| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 July 2008 : Column 1217W—continued
The numbers awaiting to start a programme on a given day during the year will vary depending on the sentences received, the resources available in the area concerned, matching demand, the individual’s circumstances e.g. further court appearance, their motivation, other domestic factors, and possibly an assessment as to whether the programme will meet their risks and needs. There can also be a lead in time while offenders prepare for the courses.
Offenders waiting for a place on a Domestic Violence programme are under the supervision of their offender manager from the day of sentence. The offender manager will monitor the risk posed by the offender and actively manage it.
The Home Office has funded a project to ensure perpetrator programmes delivered outside the criminal justice system will also be subject to agreed national standards.
The Healthy Relationships Programme is now delivered in six establishments. Garth prison has just started delivering the programme. There is an ongoing assessment of prisoners’ participation in the programme. As the numbers completing the programme increase further, analysis will be undertaken.
A process study has been commissioned to look at the delivery of the Healthy Relationships Programme and the Community Domestic Violence and Integrated Domestic Abuse Programmes which will include an examination of the data collected and interviews with staff and programme participants.
Drugs: Misuse
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions for ketamine (a) use and (b) dealing there have been (i) in Forest of Dean constituency, (ii) in Gloucestershire and (iii) nationally in the last three years. [220307]
Maria Eagle: The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences relating to supply of or possession with intent to supply ketamine in Gloucestershire police force area and England and Wales for the years 2004 to 2006 can be viewed in the following table.
There is no offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 for the use of ketamine. It is not possible to identify defendants in the Forest of Dean, convicted for dealing in ketamine as location of offence information is not collected centrally as part of court data.
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.
Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
| N umber of defendants found guilty at magistrates' courts for offences relating to supply of or possession with intent to supply ketamine in Gloucestershire police force area and England and Wales for the years 2004 to 2006( 1, 2, 3) | ||
| Gloucestershire police force area | England and Wales | |
| 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence description: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 S.4(2)(a), 4(2)(b), 4(3)(c ) Supply Ketamine—class C controlled drug Offer to supply Ketamine—class C controlled drug Being concerned in the supply of Ketamine—class C controlled drug Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 S.5(3) Possess Ketamine with intent to supply - class C controlled drug 3 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. Source: CJEAU—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice. | ||
Electoral Commission: Public Appointments
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to carry out a consultation on the proposal to appoint electoral commissioners who have recent party political experience. [220475]
Bridget Prentice:
The Government White Paper, “Party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom” (CM7329), committed the Government to implement the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s recommendation to allow the appointment of a minority of Commissioners with recent experience of political
life. The Committee’s report took into account research and evidence from interested parties, including the Electoral Commission themselves.
Sir Hayden Phillips’ “Review of the Funding of Political Parties” and the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee also endorsed this recommendation, which the Government intend to implement through the Political Parties and Elections Bill which was introduced to Parliament on 17 July. The passage of the Bill through Parliament will present a further opportunity for Members to consider this proposal.
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to appoint electoral commissioners with recent party political experience. [220478]
Bridget Prentice: The White Paper “Party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom” (CM7329) committed to legislating to implement the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s recommendation to allow the appointment of a minority of Commissioners with recent experience of political life. The Political Parties and Elections Bill, introduced on 17 July, includes a measure to give effect to this commitment.
Fines: Surcharges
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice to how many (a) community and (b) custodial sentences a victim's surcharge was applied in 2006-07. [221686]
Maria Eagle: None. Powers to levy a surcharge on all criminal sentences and on certain fixed penalty notices were provided in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, the money to be ring-fenced to fund non-financial support services for victims and witnesses. As of 1 April 2007, the victims surcharge has been levied on sentences which include a fine, at a fixed rate of £15. We intend to extend its application to other disposals when that becomes feasible.
Fish Supplies
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much fish was procured by his Department and at what cost in each of the last five years, broken down by species; and what amount and value of such fish met the Marine Stewardship Council standard in each such year, broken down by species. [217900]
Maria Eagle: As the only procurer of food within the Ministry of Justice estate, the only data available are from Her Majesty's Prison Service/National Offender Management Service (NOMS). This is shown in the following tables.
Price and spend data are commercially in confidence and so will not be released.
Fish is procured by NOMS supply chain from a variety of sources and figures relating to Marine Stewardship Council Standard are based on available data and cannot be guaranteed.
Catering services to meet other parts of the Ministry of Justice requirements are contracted out and provided
by commercial suppliers. Such data are not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
| HMPS/NOMS procurement of fish by volume and varieties | |||||
| Volume bought (kg) | |||||
| Fish species | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| Volume meeting Marine Stewardship Council standard | |||||
| MSC (percentage that met MSC standard) | |||||
| Fish species | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| n/a = data not available. Data are only available for 40 per cent. of the total amount offish ordered by value. (1) Estimate | |||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |