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15 Dec 2008 : Column 477W—continued
Judicial Appointments Ombudsman: Finance
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Judicial Appointments Ombudsman in the current three-year comprehensive spending review period. [241844]
Bridget Prentice: The office of the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Ombudsman has a resource budget allocation of £125,000 for the 2008-09 financial year. Funding plans for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been settled.
Misconduct in Public Office
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for the offence of misconduct in public office in each of the last 10 years. [241615]
Mr. Straw: The information requested is only contained on paper records. While analysing the information available to my Department, questions have arisen with regard to the quality and validity of the data, including that given in an answer to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 896W. The Office for Criminal Justice Reform is investigating this information, where possible, with the individual courts. I will write and place a copy of the letter in the Libraries of the House once these investigations are complete. If appropriate I will issue a correction statement.
Northern Ireland Court Service: Finance
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Northern Ireland Court Service in the current three year comprehensive spending review period. [241845]
Bridget Prentice: The Northern Ireland Court Service has a resource budget allocation of £133 million/£132 million/£132 million for the CSR 07 period covering the financial years 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11.
Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission: Finance
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission in the current three-year comprehensive spending review period. [241842]
Bridget Prentice: The Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission has a resource budget allocation of £65 million per annum for the CSR 07 period covering the financial years 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11.
Offenders: Foreigners
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) adult and (b) young offender prisoners whose nationality is unknown are being held in prison beyond the expiration of their sentence. [242064]
Maria Eagle: On Monday 8 December 2008, there were 543 prisoners being held beyond the expiration of their sentence under immigration powers. There is currently one male adult prisoner whose nationality is yet to be confirmed.
Political Parties: Finance
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 6 November 2008, Official Report, column 751W, on political parties: finance, whether it is proposed that expenditure incurred by an hon. Member outside a general election period funded by party funds which disparages an individual who is (a) an untriggered prospective parliamentary candidate and (b) a triggered parliamentary candidate for the same constituency should trigger the election expenses of the hon. Member for the purposes of the new rules. [241816]
Mr. Wills: Under the proposals contained in clause 11 (election expenses incurred for a person not yet a candidate) of the Political Parties and Elections Bill, 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 constitute election expenses regulated by the candidate spending limit. For the purposes of this clause, incumbent MPs are treated in exactly the same way as other candidates. Expenditure would only be regulated by the candidate expenditure limit where it meets these conditions.
Section 90ZA(6) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 makes clear that in that Part of that Act any reference (in whatever terms) to promoting or procuring a candidate’s election at the election includes doing so by prejudicing the electoral prospects of another candidate at the election.
Clause 11(4) of the Political Parties and Elections Bill inserts a new section 90ZA(5) into the 1983 Act, which provides that, in relation to election expenses, any reference in Part 2 of that Act to a candidate at an election, includes (where the context allows) a reference to a person who formally becomes a candidate at the election after the expenses are incurred.
Therefore, under the proposals contained in the Bill, expenditure which is used by candidates at the election, including spending which prejudices the electoral prospects of an individual who is or who later becomes a candidate at the election, will constitute an election expense, provided it is incurred on matters listed in Part 1 of Schedule 4A of the 1983 Act. It is immaterial whether such expenditure has been funded by party funds or other means.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the impact assessment produced for the new trigger rules for election spending, what estimate has been made of (a) the change in the number of candidates in general elections and (b) the likely number of (i) pre-trigger prospective candidates and (ii) triggered candidates that would be regulated by the new rules. [241837]
Mr. Wills: The final Impact Assessment for controls on candidate spending referred to the number of closely contested seats at the last general election, in 2005. That was on the basis that it might be inferred that a similar number of seats might be closely contested at a future general election and, as the Impact Assessment noted, it might be said that the proposals in clause 11 of the Bill would be:
“most likely to affect candidates in marginal seats, as that is where early campaigning tends to be focused.”
Because of the unique character of each election, It has not been possible to calculate the exact number of candidates that might be affected in future.
All candidates standing at a general election would be regulated by the new rules, which provide that all expenditure used 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 are used for the purposes of the candidate's election, are regulated by the candidate spending limit. The person's formal candidature status (whether adopted as a candidate or not) does not determine whether or not the expenditure is regulated. The purpose for which expenditure is used will be the key consideration.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 6 November 2008, Official Report, column 751W, on political parties: finance, whether it is proposed that money spent before a person becomes a triggered candidate shall count against the aggregate candidate spending limit if the goods or services purchased are used after the persons becomes a triggered candidate. [241838]
Mr. Wills: Clause 11 (election expenses incurred by a person not yet a candidate) 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 incurred. There is express provision in the Bill (in clause 11(5)) to make clear that the amendments made by that section do not apply to any expenses incurred before the commencement of that section
Therefore the status of an individual and the question of whether they have previously incurred election expenses by triggering the provisions in section 90ZA of the Representation of the People Act 1983 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.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) in what circumstances he envisages that hon. Members will trigger their own candidate spending limits prior to the calling of a general election under the proposed new trigger rules; [241839]
(2) whether it is his policy that spending by hon. Members on promoting themselves using funds other than the public purse, outside a general election period, should be considered to be promoting or initiating their candidature for the purposes of the new trigger rules on election spending. [241840]
Mr. Wills: Hon. Members of this House would be treated no differently than any other individuals campaigning for election as a candidate under section 90ZA of the Representation of the People Act 1983 as amended by clause 11 (election expenses incurred for a person not yet a candidate) of the Political Parties and Elections Bill.
Amended section 90ZA will provide that all expenditure (whether before or after the calling of a general election) incurred by or on behalf of a 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 by the candidate spending limit. Expenditure is therefore regulated if it meets these conditions. The source of the funds is immaterial.
Prisoners
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners currently serving sentences in Her Majesty's prisons are beyond their original or adjusted tariff; and of these, how many are maintaining innocence of the crime for which they were convicted. [241545]
Maria Eagle: On 8 December 2008, there were 3,867 indeterminate sentenced prisoners in custody recorded as being beyond their original or adjusted tariff.
This figure is 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 recording of prisoners maintaining innocence is maintained. To establish how many prisoners are beyond their original and adjusted tariff and maintaining their innocence would require a manual checking of individual records, which could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners On Remand
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are on remand in prisons in England and Wales, broken down by (a) offence and (b) sex. [243260]
Mr. Hanson: The following table gives figures for all prison establishments in England and Wales showing numbers on remand by (a) offence and (b) sex at end October 2008.
| Remand | |
These figures are taken from table 2 of the October 2008 Ministry of Justice monthly briefing to be found at the following website:
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prisons: Children
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children were born in prisons in each prison in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [242069]
Maria Eagle: Women in prison have a right to the same medical provision as women in the community and do not give birth in prison as a matter of course.
The number of babies born to women committed to prison service custody since November 2006, when the Prison Service began collecting the relevant information centrally, are as follows:
| Establishment | MBU p laces | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09( 1) |
| (1) April to November 2008. (2) No Mother and Baby Unit at these establishments. (3) Changed function to male juvenile establishment in 2007. | ||||
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