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25 Nov 2008 : Column 1288W—continued
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 25 November 2008
Justice
Approved Premises
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of the Probation Services budget was spent on staffing in approved premises in the latest period for which figures are available. [239127]
Mr. Hanson: The total budget for approved premises in 2008-09 is £58.4 million, made up of £51.1 million for probation-run premises and £7.3 million for voluntary-run premises. This amounts to 6.3 per cent. of the total probation service budget. Staffing patterns and the associated costs differ from area to area; it would not be possible to determine the exact proportion for each area without incurring disproportionate cost.
Approved Premises: Coastal Areas
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many bail hostels there are in each of the principal seaside towns in England. [238311]
Mr. Hanson: The Bail Accommodation and Support Service provided by ClearSprings Ltd, under contract to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), to which I take this question to refer, does not provide hostels. It provides people on bail and on Home Detention Curfew with private, rented accommodation in small houses and flats with up to five people sharing. The numbers of houses currently provided in coastal towns in England and Wales, are shown in the following table:
| Number | |
Coldingley Prison: Employment
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements HM Prison Service staff make for the payment of tax and national insurance of prisoners participating in the Barbed project at HM Prison Coldingley. [239455]
Mr. Hanson: The Barbed project at Coldingley has now ended. But as a matter of general principle prisoners working inside prisons are at all times under prison rules and cannot be treated as employees. Therefore there is no requirement for Prison Service staff to arrange for tax and national insurance to be deducted.
CORE Electoral Database
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the CORE electoral database specification may be used for the introduction of individual electoral registration. [238810]
Mr. Wills: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him on 6 May 2008, Official Report, column 786W.
Any work that is carried out in respect of individual registration will be done on its own merits, and is not reliant on the progress of the CORE project.
A final decision as to the scope and specification of the CORE project will be made once an analysis of both the business and user requirements has been made. However, in accordance with good practice on the management of projects, any database that is developed will be, as far as is possible, capable of adapting to future requirements that may be anticipated.
Coroners Court: Stoke-on-Trent
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding his Department has allocated to the construction of a new coroners’ court in Stoke-on-Trent; and if he will make a statement. [239508]
Bridget Prentice: The funding and operation of the coroners service including the provision of courtroom accommodation is the responsibility of individual local authorities, in this case Stoke-on-Trent city council.
Cost Effectiveness
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assumptions his Department has made of the availability of increased funding for his Department in its financial plan for the Comprehensive Spending Review. [232967]
Maria Eagle: Departmental budgets were set out in the comprehensive spending review (CSR) in October last year. Further information about the Ministry of Justice’s financial and value for money plans can be found in the departmental annual report and the forthcoming autumn performance report. In addition to the CSR settlement, a total of £500 million resource and £500 million capital has also been provided over the CSR period to enhance prison capacity, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor (Jack Straw) announced on 5 December 2007.
Crime: Drugs
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of drugs offences in the East Midlands in each of the last six years. [238083]
Maria Eagle: The number of persons found guilty at all courts for drug offences in the East Midlands region, 2001 to 2006 can be viewed in the table.
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 at the end of November 2008.
Department for Constitutional Affairs Cemetery and Burials Advisory Group
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library copies of the minutes of the meetings of the Department for Constitutional Affairs Cemetery and Burials Advisory Group; and whether the Advisory Group continues to operate in his Department. [238690]
Bridget Prentice: The Burial and Cemeteries Advisory Group, chaired by the Ministry of Justice, was established in 2001 and met most recently on 31 October 2008. Approved copies of the minutes of the meetings are available on request from the Department. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Library.
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