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21 Oct 2008 : Column 220W—continued


Driving Offences

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cars have been confiscated from uninsured drivers in (a) Wales and (b) each region of England in (i) each of the last 10 years and (ii) 2008. [227072]

Mr. Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.

This information is not collected centrally.

First-tier Tribunal

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the new practice directions for the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal will be published. [227567]

Bridget Prentice: The final drafts of the Practice Directions to be made by the Senior President of Tribunals for the jurisdictions within the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal was sent to the Lord Chancellor for his approval by 17 October 2008. Subject to the Lord Chancellor’s approval they will then be published on the Tribunal Procedure Committee’s website.

Foston Hall Prison and Young Offender Institution

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are taken to maintain the support offered to young women within the Toscana Unit at HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Foston Hall after transfer to another institution or release; and if he will make a statement on the report of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on the work of the unit. [227744]

Mr. Hanson: The report is very positive, referring to a stable and supportive environment. Like other juvenile secure facilities, the Toscana Unit is working with youth offending teams to ensure as much continuity as possible in the support provided to the young people throughout their sentence. That aim is underpinned by the National Standards for Youth Justice Services 2004 and by best practice guidance in the new allocations operations manual for young people which is about to be issued.

Freedom of Information

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he is making in his consideration of the extension of the applicability of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to include private companies delivering public services, with specific reference to the transport sector. [228004]

Mr. Straw: The Government are continuing to assess the issues relating to designating additional public authorities under the Act; this includes bodies in the transport sector. We will publish our response in due course.

Prisoners Release

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners convicted of knife or gun-related offences served their full sentence in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type of crime. [227286]

Mr. Straw: It is not possible to identify those crimes in which a gun or a knife was used as these will be charged according to the generic offence, for example, murder, manslaughter, wounding, etc. The only statistics available are those for specific weapons related offences, which are largely for possession. The following table shows the number of persons sentenced to immediate custody for indictable offences relating to weapons.

All offenders sentenced to custody serve their full sentence as prescribed by law. A custodial sentence comprises two parts. The first part is spent in custody and the second part is served on licence in the community. In addition, some offenders subject to determinate sentences may benefit from the home detention curfew (HDC), early removal scheme (ERS) or end of custody licence (ECL) scheme, which provide for release earlier than the statutory release date of the sentence under certain circumstances. Certain violent offenders are presumed unsuitable for HDC unless there are exceptional circumstances and are ineligible for ECL. In addition, certain categories of prisoner are currently excluded from ERS, for example, extended sentence prisoners
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and those subject to sex offender registration. None of these schemes apply to prisoners serving an indeterminate
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sentence. These sentences do not have a statutory release date and release is determined by the Parole Board.


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21 Oct 2008 : Column 224W
Persons sentenced( 1) to immediate custody for offences relating to weapons
Offence class 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Wounding etc.

Possession of firearms etc., with intent to endanger life

122

133

123

66

43

46

46

36

31

31

37

Using etc. firearms or imitation firearms with intent to resist arrest etc.

11

8

7

9

5

5

3

8

6

9

6

Other wounding, etc

Possession of offensive weapons without lawful authority or reasonable excuse

401

509

585

554

595

634

787

760

817

829

788

Possessing firearm or imitation firearm at time of committing or being arrested for an offence

12

13

28

23

36

38

46

50

36

39

52

Possessing firearm or imitation firearm with intent to commit indictable offence

48

34

46

49

61

66

59

44

60

30

36

Possession of a firearm or imitation firearm, with intent to cause fear of violence

68

60

67

135

142

195

209

253

252

256

211

Having an article with a blade or point in a public place

56

372

550

534

499

589

766

755

803

965

1,065

Having an article with a blade or point on school premises

—

3

—

2

7

3

7

6

12

5

13

Possession of offensive weapons without lawful authority or reasonable excuse on school premises

1

4

5

3

6

3

5

4

4

3

3

Firearms Act

Possessing etc. firearms or ammunition without firearm certificate

180

167

110

85

55

61

55

97

92

63

74

Trading in firearms without being registered as a firearms dealer

—

1

1

—

—

1

—

—

1

—

1

Selling firearm to person without a certificate

1

4

1

1

1

—

1

—

—

2

—

Repairing, testing etc. firearm for person without a certificate

—

1

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

2

—

Shortening a shotgun or other smooth bore gun

10

9

4

4

—

—

4

—

—

1

—

Conversion of firearms

2

2

—

1

—

1

2

7

5

—

1

Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition

108

107

171

138

143

131

176

216

252

242

212

Carrying loaded firearm in public place

31

31

32

17

20

17

31

37

33

29

23

Trespassing with firearm or imitation firearm in a building

1

—

—

2

—

4

—

—

2

1

2

Possession of firearms by persons previously convicted of crime

40

45

48

53

55

32

38

38

55

57

46

Failure to notify Police of deactivation, destruction or loss of firearms or ammunition

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

—

Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons designed for discharge of noxious liquid etc.

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

27

75

88

Possessing or distributing firearms disguised as other objects

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

—

—

Possessing or distributing other prohibited weapons

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

3

1

2

Knives Act

Unlawful marketing or selling of knives

—

—

—

—

1

—

—

1

—

—

—

Publication of any material likely to stimulate or encourage violent behaviour involving use of the knife as a weapon

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

2

All

All offences

1,092

1,503

1,779

1,676

1,669

1,826

2,235

2,312

2,492

2,641

2,662

(1) Principal offence
Notes:
1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems.
2. 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, Ministry of Justice
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