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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1685W—continued
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 11 November 2008, Official Report, column 1032W, on political parties: finance, whether a candidate who withdraws their candidature and then
after a period of time is subsequently re-adopted, will be deemed not to have triggered when they are re-adopted. [239710]
Mr. Wills: At present, under section 90ZA of the Representation of the People Act 1983, the candidate expenditure limit regulates all expenses incurred ‘at any time’ and used after an individual becomes a candidate at the election.
Clause 11 of the Political Parties and Elections Bill amends the definition of election expenses in section 90ZA of the Representation of the People Act 1983. Under the amended section, all expenditure incurred by or on behalf of the candidate on matters listed in part 1 of schedule 4A of the Representation of the People Act 1983, which is used for the purposes of the candidate’s election, will be regulated, regardless of when that expenditure is used.
Therefore whether or not an individual has been formally adopted by a party does not determine whether any expenditure counts towards the candidate’s spending limit. The purpose for which the expenditure is used is the decisive factor—any expenditure which falls within the definition in 90ZA will be regulated by the candidate’s spending limit, and subsequent expenditure captured by the definition should be aggregated and reported in line with the statutory requirements.
It would not be possible to incur expenses, resign one’s ‘candidacy’ and then relaunch one's ‘candidacy’ at a later point in order to evade the spending restrictions. In this respect, the position is not affected by the amendments in clause 11 of the Political Parties and Elections Bill (Bill 165).
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether a website promoting a candidate that was paid for before the commencement of the trigger provisions would be deemed not to trigger that candidature provided no money was spent on the website under the proposed new trigger rules. [239712]
Mr. Wills: Clause 11(5) of the Political Parties and Elections Bill states that expenses incurred before commencement would not be subject to the amendments made by the clause. Therefore, expense on a website (or other material) would only trigger the expenditure limit if incurred after commencement, unless the expenses would be caught by the existing definition of election expenses.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 6 November 2008, Official Report, columns 752-53W, on political parties: finance, what types of expense used by or on behalf of the candidate would be deemed to be promoting a candidate's election. [239713]
Mr. Wills: The types of spending which the candidate spending limit regulates are set out in Part 1 of Schedule 4A to the Representation of the People Act 1983. Where expenditure is used on these matters for the purposes of the candidate's election, that expenditure would be regulated by the candidate expenditure limit.
Clause 12 (Election expenses: guidance by Commission) of the Political Parties and Elections Bill amends paragraph 14 of Schedule 4A to the 1983 Act and
provides that the Electoral Commission may prepare guidance, in the form of a code of practice, as to the cases or circumstances in which expenses are, or are not, to be regarded as falling within Part 1 of Schedule 4A. Officials from the Ministry of Justice are in discussion with the commission on the form that guidance might take.
Prison Sentences
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners serving sentences in HM prisons are beyond their original or adjusted tariff; how many of those maintain innocence of the crime of which they were convicted; what the (a) original and (b) adjusted tariff is in each case; and how long each such prisoner has been detained to date. [239566]
Mr. Hanson: On 24 November 2008, there were 3,949 indeterminate sentenced prisoners in custody recorded as being beyond their original or adjusted tariff.
These figures are taken from the Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD) within the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing.
No central record of prisoners maintaining their innocence is maintained. To establish how many post-tariff indeterminate sentenced prisoners continued to maintain their innocence and how long each such prisoner had been detained to date would require a manual checking of individual records, which could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
Prison Service: Uniforms
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance is given to prison officers on the wearing of political or religious badges or insignia. [238629]
Mr. Malik: Guidance is given to prison officers in regards to wearing political or religious badges or insignia through Prison Service Order (PSO) 8800 that governs corporate image and uniform policy.
Badges that are issued-by the Prison Service may be worn (e.g. Butler Trust Award pins, Long Service pin). Other badges or tie pins of this nature may be approved at the Governor’s discretion.
The PSO recommends that the following type of badges are not worn:
badges denoting a particular interest not directly related to the work of the Prison Service;
membership badges of clubs and societies etc. (apart from one badge from an officially recognised trade union or a recognised network);
political badges; and
badges or symbols denoting particular religious or other beliefs.
Prisoners Release
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were released having served in prison less than half their sentence in each of the last three years; what guidance his Department gives on the proportion of a sentence which shall be served in prison; and if he will make a statement. [238265]
Mr. Hanson: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation. I will write to the hon. Member once the information is available and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
Prisoners: Employment
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons run a social enterprise programme similar to that established at HMP Coldingley. [237295]
Mr. Hanson: No other prison runs a workshop similar to the Howard League workshop at Coldingley. The workshop was established by the Howard League to explore a particular model of prisoner employment. Constructive and meaningful employment and training for prisoners is found in a large number of prisons.
Prisons: Drugs
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison guards have been (a) suspended and (b) dismissed for bringing drugs into prisons in each of the last three years; and how many have been prosecuted for offences related to bringing drugs into prisons in each year. [238044]
Mr. Hanson: The requested information is not held centrally in a format that would enable us to answer the specific questions that have been asked. The National Offender Management Service are in the process of gathering this information and I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as it is available and place a copy of the letter in the House Library.
Prisons: Education
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average amount of time each week a prisoner spent on (a) education and (b) working was in each of the last five years. [239896]
Mr. Malik: The following table includes purposeful activity data extracted from National Offender Management Service information systems for each of the last five years for all prisoners in public and contracted sector establishments in England and Wales.
| Financial year | Average number of hours spent in work activities per prisoner per week | Average number of hours spent in educational activities per prisoner per week |
Prisons: Governing Bodies
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison governors currently in post held the same post (a) one year ago, (b) two years ago and (c) more than two years ago. [238454]
Mr. Malik: On 31 October 2008, the latest date for which figures are available, prison governors had been in post for the following periods:
Governors who were in their current post November 2007—86
Governors who were in their current post November 2006—54
Governors who were in their current post November 2005—23
There are 125 in charge governors of prisons and young offender institutions within the public sector Prison Service.
Prisons: Mental Health Services
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress has been made in forming a Joint Policy Board to oversee the links between mental health (a) commissioning and (b) provision and the needs of users involved with the police, courts, prisons and secure hospitals in Wales. [237166]
Mr. Hanson: The Welsh Assembly Government has responsibility for commissioning arrangements and provision of mental health services in Wales. I understand that the establishment of a Joint Policy Board for mental health commissioning along the lines indicated was put forward as a proposal in the paper, “A Well Being and Mental Health Service Fit for Wales”, which was published for consultation in April 2008. Following the consultation, the Welsh Assembly Government’s Minister for Health and Social Services issued a written statement on 29 September, which has given the Welsh Assembly view on this issue.
Prisons: Screening
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many body orifice security scanners have been (a) purchased and (b) installed in prisons in England and Wales since July 2008. [238450]
Mr. Malik: Two Body Orifice Security Scanners (BOSS Chairs) have been delivered to prisons since July 2008, and three establishments are currently awaiting delivery. A further 22 BOSS Chairs were already in operation. The National Offender Management Service is currently part way through a procurement exercise to purchase BOSS Chairs for the remainder of the prison estate, for delivery early next year.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons operate body orifice security scanners. [238451]
Mr. Malik: The following prisons currently use one or more Body Orifice Security Scanner:
HMP Belmarsh
HMP Brixton
HMP/YOI Chelmsford
HMP/YOI Doncaster
HMP Dovegate
HMP Frankland
HMP Full Sutton
HMP Lowdham Grange
HMP Long Lartin
HMP Manchester
HMP/YOI Pare
HMP Wakefield
HMP Wandsworth
HMP Whitemoor
HMP Woodhill
The National Offender Management Service is currently conducting a procurement exercise to purchase BOSS Chairs for the remainder of the prison estate, for delivery early next year.
Probation: Leicestershire
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the level of funding for the Leicestershire probation area in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12 compared with the most recently announced projections. [239814]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is seeking efficiency savings over the next three years as set out in the Department’s annual report for 2007-08.
Funding plans for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been agreed. As is the case across Government, the national probation service will need to make efficiency savings, in this case around 2.5 per cent. in the next financial year.
The National Offender Management Service is working to determine how the saving can be achieved in ways that protect front-line services. The aim is to remove overhead and administration and drive improvement in underperforming or expensive services.
Ultimately, the size and scope of any staffing reductions will rest with the 42 areas and trusts who manage probation business at the local level.
Probation: Yorkshire and the Humber
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the flat cash grant allocation for the Humberside probation area is for (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; [239993]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of probation service staff expected to leave Humberside probation area as a result of (a) natural wastage, (b) retirement and (c) redundancy in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12; [239994]
(3) what the estimated share of national savings from the probation service’s budget is which falls to the Humberside probation area in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; [239995]
(4) what estimate he has made of the reduction in future planned spending for the Humberside probation area in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [239996]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is seeking efficiency savings over the next three years as set out in the Department’s annual report for 2007-08.
Funding plans for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been agreed. As is the case across Government, the national probation service will need to make efficiency savings, in this case around 2.5 per cent. in the next financial year.
The National Offender Management Service is working to determine how the saving can be achieved in ways that protect front-line services. The aim is to remove overhead and administration and drive improvement in underperforming or expensive services.
Ultimately, the size and scope of any staffing reductions will rest with the 42 areas and trusts who manage probation business at the local level.
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