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24 Mar 2009 : Column 315W—continued
Magistrates Courts: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the number of magistrates needed in order to meet the needs of the courts in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire in 2009; [265812]
(2) how many serving magistrates there are in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire. [265813]
Mr. Straw: In the current year 508 magistrates are needed fully to meet the needs of Hertfordshire, which includes the area of Hemel Hempstead. Currently there are 477 magistrates in Hertfordshire, the recruitment of the additional 31 is in progress.
Magistrates Courts: Northern Ireland
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the annual running costs were of Larne Magistrates Court in each of the last five years; [265160]
(2) how many people have been employed by the Northern Ireland Courts Service to work in Larne Magistrates Court in each of the last five years; [265161]
(3) how many cases have been brought before the small claims court in Larne in each of the last five years. [265162]
Bridget Prentice: The running costs for Larne magistrates court in each of the last five years are shown in the following table.
| Larne magistrates court | |
| Year ended 31 March | Running costs (£) |
| Note: Running costs comprise items such as contracted security services, buildings maintenance, rates, electricity, fuel and supplies. | |
The NI Court Service usually employs two members of staff to work at Larne courthouse.
The following table sets out the number of small claims cases listed at Larne courthouse in each of the last five years:
| Number of small claims cases | |
| (1) January to November. Provisional figures—full year validated figures are not yet available. | |
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the running costs of Strabane Magistrates Court have been in each of the last five years. [265163]
Bridget Prentice: The running costs for Strabane magistrates court in each of the last five years are set out in the following table.
| Strabane magistrates court | |
| Year ended 31 March | Running costs (£) |
| Note: Running costs comprise items such as contracted security services, buildings maintenance, rates, electricity, fuel and supplies. | |
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 29 January 2009, transferred from the Department of Health on 12 February 2009, on reform of the suicide law. [265574]
Bridget Prentice: The Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle) replied to the hon. Member on 4 March 2009. I have arranged for a further copy of this reply to be sent to the hon. Member.
National Offender Management Service
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the meaning is of the reference to reduced scope of proposed plans on page 36 of the NOMS Strategic and Business Plans 2009-10 to 2010-11. [264638]
Mr. Straw: NOMS reviewed its forward spending plans for the period to 2010-11 as part of a prudent efficiency programme. As a result, it was possible to reduce planned future spending in certain areas, freeing resources for other essential front line work with offenders.
Specifically, wider economic changes allowed lower assumptions for funding non-recoverable VAT and inflation increases. In addition:
Probation Services are working to accommodate volume growth within available budgets for the SR period. The overall reduction in probation budgets next year is 2.2 per cent. which has to be seen in the context of sustained investment in probation — budgets have increased by almost 70 per cent. in real terms since 1997.
Non-essential maintenance work in prisons was deferred.
Plans to refurbish some mothballed cells were cancelled because current and ongoing investment in the prison estate is bringing
supply and demand better into balance, delivering more fit-for-purpose accommodation and represents a much better value-for-money approach. The capacity programme is on target to increase total prison capacity to 96,000 places by 2014.
Prison Sentences
Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners are serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection in each prison in England and Wales. [265165]
Mr. Hanson: The following tables give the numbers of (a) male and (b) female prisoners in each prison establishment in England and Wales who were serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection on 20 February 2008. The tables also note the number of these offenders currently located in psychiatric hospitals, and include offenders who, as under 18s, were sentenced to detention for public protection.
These figures have been drawn from the NOMS IPP database, and, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
| Establishment | Male IPPs/DPPs |
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