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27 Oct 2008 : Column 748W—continued
Driving Offences: Insurance
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average sentence imposed by magistrates’ courts for those found guilty of driving without car insurance was in the latest period for which information is available. [227783]
Maria Eagle: In 2006, the majority (94 per cent.) of offenders sentenced for ‘using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks’ received a fine.
The offence of driving without insurance is a summary offence. If the person committed a further offence while driving without insurance, such as causing injury to any person, they would be sentenced for the more serious crime.
Statistics for 2007 will be published at the end of November.
| Number of persons sentenced( 1) for the offence of using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks, by result, magistrates courts, 2006. England and Wales | |
| Number of persons | |
| Using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks | |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. Notes: 1. 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. 2. Only four people received immediate custody at the magistrates court, with so few people sentenced the average custodial sentence length should be treated with caution. Source: OMS Analytical Services | |
Law
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice under what circumstances the (a) existence and (b) content of a legal (i) practice direction and (ii) code of practice may not be placed in the public domain. [228118]
Mr. Straw: The Freedom of Information Act 2000 governs public access to official information. Requests for information are considered on a case by case basis. One or more of the exemptions identified in Part II of the Act might apply in some instances, including the provision to neither confirm nor deny whether a public authority holds the requested information.
Mentally Disturbed Offenders
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of convicted prisoners with severe psychiatric disorders in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [229468]
Mr. Hanson: No annual assessment is made of the number of convicted prisoners with severe psychiatric disorders. However, we are aware that there are a number of people in custody in England and Wales who experience mental health problems. The 1997 Office for National Statistics’ survey, for example, indicated that as many as 58 per cent. of male and 75 per cent. of female remand prisoners, and 39 per cent. of male and 62 per cent. of female sentenced prisoners met criteria for a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression. Rates of psychotic illness were also higher than in the general population.
Accurate identification of people needing mental health treatment and care is important at all stages in the care and offender pathway. This is why all prisoners are screened at reception for risks of mental ill health and previous history of psychiatric treatment. The Offender Assessment System (OASys) helps to ensure that any person judged to be at risk and/or of needing mental health treatment and care can be identified and referred, where appropriate, to the mental health in-reach team.
By 2005-06 nearly £20 million was being invested recurrently in mental health in-reach. There are now 102 MH in-reach teams and all prisons now have access to them: a total of 360 extra staff altogether. There are also new systems to monitor and support those at risk of harming themselves.
Prisoners Release: Re-offenders
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the alleged further offences committed by offenders on end of custody licence since 29 June 2007 were (a) murder, (b) attempted murder, (c) manslaughter and other homicide, (d) wounding and (e) other violence against the person. [229414]
Mr. Straw: As of 31 August 2008, 36,661 offenders have been placed on the end of custody licence scheme (ECL), of whom 1,244 have been recalled to custody, as notified to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) by 19 September 2008. During the same period, there have been 723 alleged further offences committed by 529 offenders during their period of ECL. 1 per cent. of offenders have allegedly re-offended during their period of ECL.
The following table gives a breakdown of those offenders notified to NOMS by 22 October 2008 as having allegedly committed a further offence of violence against the person during their period on ECL.
| Alleged further offence | Number of alleged further offences |
Aggregate data on ECL release and recall, which has been published monthly since the scheme began, can be found at:
Data for the month of September, including recalls notified to NOMS by the end of 17 October 2008, will be published on 31 October 2008.
Religion: Discrimination
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to remove the prohibition on Catholics or their spouses from succeeding to the throne. [230104]
Mr. Straw: To bring about changes to the law on succession would be a complex undertaking involving amendment or repeal of a number of items of related legislation, as well as requiring the consent of legislatures of member nations of the Commonwealth. We are prepared to consider the arguments in this complex area but have no immediate plans to legislate.
Repossession Orders: Hampshire
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many house repossession orders were laid before the courts in Hampshire in each of the last 12 months, broken down by county court. [229563]
Bridget Prentice: The tables show the numbers of mortgage and landlord possession claims issued and orders made in each county court in Hampshire over the 12 months to June 2008.
Court level statistics on mortgage and landlord repossession actions from 1987 to 2007 are available on the Ministry of Justice website at:
These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts, since not all the orders will have resulted in the issue and execution of warrants of possession.
The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. As county courts’ jurisdictions are not coterminous with the borough boundaries, any single court’s repossession actions are likely to relate to homes in a number of different boroughs.
| Table 1: mortgage possession claims issued in the county courts of Hampshire in the year to June 2008, broken down by count and month | ||||||||||
| Aldershot and Farnham | Basingstoke | Portsmouth | Southampton | Winchester | ||||||
| Claims issued | Orders made( 1) | Claims issued | Orders made( 1) | Claims issued | Orders made( 1) | Claims issued | Orders made( 1) | Claims issued | Orders made( 1) | |
| (1) Includes outright and suspended orders, the later being where the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of suspension, which usually requires the defendant to pay the current mortgage instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced. Notes: 1. Mortgage possession data include all types of lenders whether local authority or private. 2. The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. 3. Although orders made will be less than claims issued overall, in a given month it is possible for the former figure to exceed the latter as a result of time lags in the process (typically around eight weeks from claim issue to order). Source: Ministry of Justice | ||||||||||
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