Sentencing
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the reasons are for the time taken to respond to the consultation on sentencing guidelines; [234877]
(2) what plans he has to revise guidelines on the co-ordination of evidence emanating from police, local government authorities, the probation services and others, which demonstrates a particular pattern of behaviour for the purposes of sentencing in the event of a conviction for retail theft; [234878]
(3) if he will undertake a regular review of the sentencing guidelines for shop theft conviction. [234879]
Mr. Straw: The independent Sentencing Guidelines Council is responsible for producing, publishing and reviewing definitive guidelines on sentencing for criminal offences. I understand that the definitive guideline dealing with retail theft will issue soon.
Shoplifting: Compensation
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many cases court disposals have required full recompense to be made to the victims of retail theft in each of the last three years. [234873]
Mr. Straw: The available information is contained in the following table, which shows the number of compensation or restitution orders that have been imposed for shoplifting by criminal courts.
The information supplied is for the last three years for which data are available. 2007 data will be available in late November.
| Offenders ordered to pay compensation or restitution orders as criminal court disposals for retail theft( 1) , 2004-06 | |
| Number | |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) These figures refer only to actions taken in criminal courts. 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. | |
Young Offender Institutions: Per Capita Costs
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost of providing a place in (a) a young offender institution for 18 to 21 year olds, (b) a young offender institution for 15 to 17 year olds and (c) a secure training centre for under 15 year olds was in the latest year for which figures are available. [Official Report, 9 September 2009, Vol. 496, c. 15MC.] [236050]
Mr. Hanson: The average cost per annum of a place at a young offender institution (YOI) for 2007-08, as provided by the National Offender Management Service, was £32,799. There are a number of 'split site' young offender institutions which accommodate both 15 to 17-year-olds and 18 to 20-year-olds; and it is not possible, except at disproportionate cost, to split the overall costs between the two age groups.
The average cost a year of a place at a secure training centre (STC) for 2007-08, as provided by the Youth Justice Board (YJB), was £191,618. The age range for the young people in STCs is 12 to 17 years.
In comparing the two figures, account will need to be taken of variations in the methods of calculation. In particular, the YJB figure includes health care and education, whereas the YOI figure excludes those elements.
Young Offenders: Education
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what percentage of young offenders aged (a) under 16 years and (b) between 16 and 18 years returned to full or part-time education on release from custody in the last 12 months; [236044]
(2) how many young offenders aged between 18 and 21 were released from custodial sentences in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what percentage went into full or part-time employment on release. [236046]
Mr. Hanson:
Data that specifically identify the percentage of young offenders released to full-time or part-time education in the specified age groups are not available. However, the following figures show the percentage of young offenders released from custody into full or part
time education or training from young offender institutions (YOIs) in the 12 month period from October 2007 to September 2008:
| Percentage | |
|
YOI establishments holding both 15 to 17-year-olds and 18 to 21-year-olds |
Data for young offenders released from secure training centres (STC) and secure children’s homes (SCH) are not available. However, data are available for young offenders released from STCs, SCHs and YOIs and at the end of the community element of their custodial
sentence. During the 12 months period (July 2007-June 2008) 64.4 per cent. of young people of statutory school age were in full time education or training (for 25 hours and more). Of those above school age 64.5 per cent. were in suitable employment, training or education.
The number of young offenders aged between 18 and 21 who were released from custodial sentences and the percentage that entered employment in the 12 months period from October 2007 to September 2008(1) is shown in the following table.
Data of this nature are only available by entire establishment type, therefore some data relating to 18 to 21-year-olds are also included within those establishments that also hold 15 to 21-year-olds and it is not possible to separate out specific age ranges.
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much time per week young offenders aged (a) under 15 years old, (b) between 15 and 17 years old and (c) between 18 and 21 years old spent on (i) education and training and (ii) sporting activities. [236045]
Mr. Hanson: I refer the hon. Member to my previous answers on 5 November 2008, Official Report, columns 629-30W. Data of this nature are only available by establishment type. The average number of hours spent on education or training activities and physical education and recreational sports per prisoner per week for each young offender institution (YOI) during the period April to September 2008 (latest figures available(1)) is shown in the table. It is not possible to breakdown the figures to the two age bands at tables 1 and 2 for the split sites (see table 3).
Secure training centres (STCs) have structures in place to provide each young person with the opportunity to receive a minimum of 25 hours a week of taught lesson time or vocational training. Providers do all that they reasonably can to ensure that young people take up the opportunity. In addition to taught education young people in STCs receive an hours a day of offending behaviour programmes and a range of training in social and domestic skills.
For secure children’s homes (SCHs) the requirement is that they meet the Youth Justice Board's National Specification for Learning and Skills. This requires that young people are given the opportunity to receive 30 hours of timetabled activities based around a curriculum encompassing taught education, vocational work or offending behaviour work. In addition there is an expectation that young people engage in an hour a day of private study and 12 hours a week of activities such as hobbies or clubs.
Young people engage in sporting activities in STCs and SCHs as part of the school curriculum, as part of activities outside of the school day and as part of social activities. The levels of sporting activities engaged in by each young person are not recorded and collated so it is not possible to provide an average level of sporting activity.
(1) Data are provisional and subject to ongoing validation.
| Table 1: NOMS establishments holding 15 to 17-year-olds | ||
| Establishment | Average number of hours spent on education or training activities per prisoner per week | Average number of hours spent on sport or other physical activity per prisoner per week |
| Table 3: NOMS establishments holding both 15 to 17-year-olds and 18 to 21-year-olds | ||
| Establishment | Average number of hours spent on education or training activities per prisoner per week | Average number of hours spent on sport or other physical activity per prisoner per week |
Transport
Airwave Service
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what organisations for which his Department is responsible (a) use and (b) are planning to use Airwave handsets. [Official Report, 28 January 2009, Vol. 487, c. 1MC.] [234694]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport itself uses Airwave handsets. The following of the Department’s executive agencies and sponsored non-departmental bodies are also users of Airwave handsets:
Highways Agency
Marine and Coastguard Agency
British Transport Police.
The following two executive agencies have been made ‘approved sharers’ of Airwave by Ofcom, the radio spectrum regulator, but do not currently use Airwave handsets:
Government Car and Despatch Agency
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.
Aviation: Oxygen
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2008, Official Report, column 240W, on aircraft: oxygen, what consideration his Department gave to including in the Code of Practice on Access to Air Travel for Disabled Persons and Persons with Reduced Mobility a provision that air carriers should carry portable oxygen cylinders free of charge as medical equipment. [235440]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This matter was discussed by the working group which drafted the code of practice. As there is no specific obligation in the European regulation about the provision of oxygen, it was not considered appropriate to make a specific recommendation in the code about carriage of oxygen cylinders. Instead, the code reflects current guidance and practice in this area, in particular with regard to security considerations.
The code of practice makes clear that it cannot be an authoritative statement of the law since any question over the interpretation of the European law is ultimately a matter for the courts. The Department for Transport has, however, raised this matter with the European Commission in the context of other issues where interpretation of the Regulation is unclear and has led to practical difficulties or differences in practice among airlines.
Bus Services: Concessions
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pensioners in Enfield North constituency have received a free bus pass since April 2008. [235435]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is not responsible for issuing passes and so does not maintain records of how many applications individual authorities have received.
Enfield North is part of Greater London. Concessionary travel in London is administered by London Councils on behalf of the metropolitan boroughs. The last information held by the Department was that as of April this year, London had issued approximately 800,000 passes eligible for the statutory concession.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many pensioners have claimed free bus travel (a) in Crosby constituency and (b) England in each year since the inception of the scheme; [236695]
(2) how many disabled people have claimed free bus travel in (a) Crosby constituency and (b) England in each year since the inception of the entitlement. [236697]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is not responsible for issuing passes and so does not maintain records of how many passes individual authorities have issued.
Crosby is part of Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive, Merseytravel. The latest figures held by the Department is that as of June 2008 Merseytravel had issued approximately 272,000 concessionary passes to both elderly and eligible disabled people.
As of October 2008, approximately 7.2 million ITSO concessionary smartcard passes have been issued in England and approximately 900,000 London Freedom Passes have been re-stickered for national use.
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