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10 Feb 2009 : Column 1907W—continued
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
SERCO
Mr. Flello: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value was of his Department's contracts held with SERCO in each year since his Department was established. [253252]
Mr. McFadden: Central records indicate that the value of contracts held with SERCO in each year since the Department was established is as follows:
| £ | |
Justice
Approved Premises: Merton
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans his Department has to establish bail hostels in (a) Wimbledon constituency and (b) the London Borough of Merton. [255951]
Mr. Hanson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him of 6 October 2008, Official Report, columns 151-152W.
No bail hostels are being established in the constituency of Wimbledon. The Bail Accommodation and Support Service provides private, rented accommodation in small houses and flats with up to five people sharing, not hostels. The Director of Offender Management for London has identified a need for one three-bedroom property in Merton and ClearSprings are seeking an appropriate property. When properties are identified ClearSprings consult the police, probation and local authority before proceeding. In Merton they have consulted in relation to a property that was considered but not proceeded with and have held meetings with council officials and councillors. It is my practice to write to the relevant Member of Parliament when first a property is being readied for use in his/her constituency. At 26 January 2009 ClearSprings were providing 176 properties in England and Wales.
Cannabis: Penalty Notices
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to issue guidance to police forces under section 6 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 on issuing penalty notices for disorder for cannabis possession. [254365]
Maria Eagle: Secretary of State guidance to forces on the issue of penalty notices for disorder for cannabis possession will be issued shortly. Additionally, the Association of Chief Police Officers has issued guidance on the escalation process of enforcement under which a penalty notice for disorder may be issued for a second possession offence.
Compensation
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many claims for compensation under the Human Rights Act 1998 have been brought against his Department (a) in total and (b) by prisoners since 2000. [255247]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at significant disproportionate cost requiring individual examination of thousands of files.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has paid out in compensation in respect of claims made under the Human Rights Act 1998 since 2000. [255393]
Mr. Wills:
The information requested is not held centrally. Given that issues relating to the Human Rights Act may be raised in any proceedings in any court or tribunal, the information could be obtained only by a
member of staff manually sifting through all files held in respect of proceedings brought against the Department (or its predecessors) during the last nine years, to identify whether any compensation paid was in respect of a claim involving the Human Rights Act. The cost of doing so would be disproportionate.
Coroners
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many and what proportion of inquests held into potential finds of treasure have been held within three months of the case being referred to the coroner in each year since the Treasure Act 1996 came into force; and if he will make a statement; [254535]
(2) what the average length of time was between (a) the referral of a case regarding potential treasure finds to a coroner and the commencement of the inquest, (b) the referral of a case regarding potential treasure finds to a coroner and the completion of the inquest and (c) the commencement of an inquest regarding potential treasure and the completion of the inquest was in each year since the Treasure Act 1996 came into force; and if he will make a statement. [254549]
Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice collects statistics on the number of finds under the Treasure Act 1996 reported to coroners in England and Wales during each calendar year, the number of treasure inquests concluded during the year and, of these, the number of verdicts of treasure returned. Information is not collected on the time taken to conduct treasure inquests.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the annual running cost of an office of a Coroner for Treasure; what proportion of such costs he expects to be incurred in relation to main funds; and if he will make a statement. [254548]
Bridget Prentice: We estimate that the total annual running cost of implementing an office of a coroner for treasure would be £324,000.
There is no provision in the Coroners and Justice Bill for a Coroner for Treasure.
Courts: Welsh Language
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much courts in Wales spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation between English and Welsh in each year since 2000. [254196]
Bridget Prentice: The information requested for translation costs is contained in the following table.
Translation between English and Welsh
These costs relate to the translation of the written word and include the cost of an internal translator's post.
| English/Welsh translation costs incurred in courts in Wales | ||
| £ | ||
| Translation cost | Salary of Translator | |
Records do not go back further than 2002. Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) came into existence in April 2005. The costs for the years preceding this date have been collated from pre-HMCS records and therefore exclude the translation cost incurred in Welsh magistrates courts committees.
Interpretation between English and Welsh
HMCS would only be able to identify spend on interpreters at a disproportionate cost as expenditure records are not kept at this level of detail.
Departmental Lobbying
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether Ministers in his Department received representations from (a) Lord Moonie, (b) Lord Taylor of Blackburn, (c) Lord Snape and (d) Lord Truscott in the last seven months. [255224]
Bridget Prentice: Ministers in the Ministry of Justice have not received any representations from these four peers in the last seven months.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to his Department’s procurement success review (1) how many roles within his Department will not be available via the redeployment pool; [254343]
(2) how long employees of his Department will have in which to make decisions on their re-employment under the procurement success review proposals; [254344]
(3) whether the new Director’s post will be advertised under the job matching process; [254345]
(4) who the members of the job matching panel will be; and what powers the panel will have; [254347]
(5) whether senior managers who are required to take jobs at a lower grade level as a result of reclassification will be entitled to maintain their current level of pay; and what information has been supplied to such managers on the matter; [254352]
(6) what information has been given to employees on the appeals procedure relating to the reclassification of grades; [254353]
(7) whether public interest transfer terms will apply in circumstances where a post is relocated as part of the review. [254354]
Mr. Malik: The availability of roles through the redeployment pool will not be known until the job matching process is complete. Posts not filled via job matching will be available to surplus procurement staff first.
Job descriptions for the new organisation were issued on 13 January 2009. Organisation charts and information about the matching process had previously been issued (on 9 January). Staff have until 4 February to submit their job matching forms.
The Director of Procurement post will be subject to the normal selection process for senior civil service posts.
The job matching panel will consist of two senior managers within procurement and a representative from human resources from within the National Offender Management Service or central Ministry of Justice Human Resources. There will also be a member of staff from the Ministry of Justice part of procurement who will work with the panel members to verify the process. Senior managers will be called on as appropriate where additional information is required for specialist roles. The panel will identify staff who match roles in the new organisation.
Should senior managers be required to fill posts at a lower level, they will have protection, in line with current policies, in respect of their pay at the higher level. Staff have been advised of this both in writing and verbally.
Where this has been asked staff have been advised that this should be raised through line management. It will then be handled in line with departmental human resources policy.
Public interest transfer terms will apply where jobs are relocated and staff need to move. Affordability will also be taken into account in making decisions about relocating staff. This has been advised to staff.
Economic Situation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions his Department has had with outside organisations to discuss policy on reducing the effect of the recession on matters within his Department's responsibility. [254060]
Maria Eagle: Ministers and officials within the Ministry of Justice have regular engagements with a range of organisations, including relevant Government Departments, on a number of issues relating to the economy.
Magistrates Courts: Powers
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish the redacted paragraphs of the Magistrates' Court Guidance - Search and Entry Powers (Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004). [255246]
Bridget Prentice: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 372W.
The Information Commissioner agreed with the proposed redactions when the guidance was first released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on 9 December 2008 and the Government have no plans to release the redacted parts.
Offences against Children
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions in cases of sexual offences against children under the age of 18 there were in each of the last three years. [253853]
Maria Eagle: The number of defendants found guilty at all courts in England and Wales of sexual offences against children under the age of 18 in England and Wales for the years 2005 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
Data provided are for those statutes where the age of the victim is specified.
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 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
| The number of persons found guilty of sexual offences against children under the age of 18 years in England and Wales, 2005 to 2007( 1, 2, 3) | |||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence 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. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The following sections of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 have been used for this table: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8(1) & (2), 8(1) & (3), 9(1)(a)(b)(c )(i) & (2), 9(1)(a)(b)(c )(ii) & (2), 9(1)(a)(b)(c )(ii) & (2) & (13), 9(a)(b)(c)(ii) & (3), 9(1)(a)(b)(c )(ii) & 9(2) & (13), 9(a)(b)(c)(i)(3) & 13, 9(a)(b)(c)(ii)(3) & 13, 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(i) & (3), 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(ii) & (3) 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(i) & 13, 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(ii) & 13, 10(1)(a),(b),(c )(i) (2) & (13), 10(1)(a),(b),(c )(ii) (2) & (13), 11(1)(a)(b)(c )(d)(ii) & (13), 12(1)(a)(b)(c )(i) & (2), 12(1)(a)(b)(c )(ii) & (2), 12(1)(a)(b)(c )(i) & (13), 12(1)(a)(b)(c )(ii) & (13), 14, 15, 16(1)(a)-(c )(e)(i)&(5), 16(1)(a)-(c )(e)(ii)&(5), 16(1)(a)-(d)(e) (i) & (2) to (5), 16(1)(a)-(d)(e) (ii) & (2) to (5), 17(1)(a)-(d)(e) (ii) 2 & (5), 17(1)(a)-(c )(e)(i)&(5), 17(1)(a)-(c )(e)(ii)&(5), 18(1)(a)-(e)(f)(ii) & (2) to (5), 18(1)(a)-(e)(f)(i) & (2) to (5), 18(l)(a)-(d)(f)(i)&(5), 18(1)(a)-(d)(f)(ii)&(5), 19(1)(a)-(c), (e)(i) & (5),19(1)(a)-(c) (e)(ii) & (5), 25(1)(a)-(d) (e)(i) & (5), 25(1)(a)-(d) (e) (ii) & (5), 25(1)(a)-(d)(e) (ii) (4)(a) & (6), 26(1)(a)-(d)(e)(i)(4)(a) & (6), 25(1)(a)-(d)(e)(i) & (4)(b), 25(1)(a)-(d)(e) (ii) & (4)(b), 26(1)(a)-(d)(e)(i) & (4)(b), 26(1)(a)-(d)(e)(ii) & (4)(b), 26(1)(a)-(d)(e)(ii) & (5), 47(1)(a)(b)(c)(i) & (4)(b), 47(1)(a)(b)(c)(ii) & (4)(b), 47(1)(a)(b)(c)(ii)(3) & (6), 47(1)(a)(b)(c)(i)(4)(a) & (6), 47(1)(a)(b)(c)(i) & (5)148(1)(a)(b)(i) & (2), 48(1)(a)(b)(ii) & (2), 50(1a)(b)(i) & (2), 50(1a) (b)(ii) & (2), 71 Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit Our ref: PQ 253853 (Table) | |||
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