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2 Apr 2009 : Column 1461W—continued
Justice
Care Proceedings
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many care orders were (a) sought and (b) granted in each month in 2008. [268599]
Bridget Prentice: The following table shows the number of care orders applied for, and the number of care orders made, in each month of 2008 in England and Wales.
The figures relate to the number of applications, or the number of orders, counted by child. This means that if an application, or order, relates to two children then it will be counted twice. The figures cover the Family Proceedings Courts and county courts, but exclude the small number of cases dealt with in the High Court. By way of illustration, in 2007 the High Court received 3.1 per cent. of all care order applications in England and Wales, and made 3.4 per cent. of all care orders.
Research undertaken on behalf of the Ministry of Justice has identified that some cases transferred from a Family Proceedings Court (FPC) to a county court have been incorrectly identified as new applications. This will inflate the number of reported applications.
| Number of care orders applied for, and number of care orders made, in county courts and Family Proceedings Courts in England and Wales during each month of 2008 | ||
| Applications made | Orders made | |
| (1 )These figures are provisional, subject to updates made on the FamilyMan database. Source: This information is taken from the HMCS FamilyMan database and manual returns sent in by FPCs. High Court activity is not counted. | ||
Crime: Economic Situation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the likely effect of the recession on (a) re-offending rates and (b) prison population levels over the next five years. [265828]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice’s Ministers and Corporate Management Board are supplied with regular statistical information on both the nature of the economic downturn and the historic level of demand for the Department’s business. However, it is not possible to produce specific forecasts of the impact of the economic downturn on either re-offending rates or the prison population and the behaviours which lead to crime. However, the Government are using a wide range of policy instruments with the aim of ensuring that the social impact of this recession is much better than that of the recession of the early eighties and early nineties.
Departmental Public Consultation
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Rights and Responsibilities Green Paper of 23 March 2009, what steps he plans to take to ensure that all sections of the UK will have a view as part of the consultation; and how long he expects the consultation to last. [268206]
Mr. Wills: The Government wish to ensure that people across the United Kingdom can participate in the consultation on the Green Paper, “Rights and Responsibilities: developing our constitutional framework”. People will be able to respond to the consultation in writing and online using the Ministry of Justice’s People, Power and Politics website
and through social networking websites. The consultation is also being promoted through Directgov.
The Government intend to hold regional deliberative events, conferences and seminars across the UK. There will also be academic research on key aspects of the proposals, a young person’s version of the Green Paper and there has been considerable interest from parties external to Government in holding events on rights and responsibilities.
Full consultation and debate about such a constitutional development will inevitably take some time. It is for this reason the Government have not at this stage set an end date for the consultation.
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the cost of its consultation on the proposals in the Rights and Responsibilities Green Paper; and how many officials of his Department he expects to work on the consultation. [268207]
Mr. Wills: The final cost of publishing the Green Paper, “Rights and Responsibilities: developing our constitutional framework” was £16,986.21. The Ministry of Justice’s website, “People, Power and Politics”
which will host the online debate, has been developed and will continue to be supported within existing departmental resources.
The Department is currently in the process of tendering for the delivery of regional consultation events for which costs have yet to be agreed. One of the key criteria that will need to be met by the successful bidder is to ensure value for money.
Responsibility for delivery of the consultation is held by the Constitution Directorate, part of the Democracy, Constitution and Law Group in the Ministry of Justice. Given the wide range of subjects addressed in the Green Paper, it is likely that different numbers of officials will need to be engaged with the consultation at different times, in addition to their other duties.
Haverigg Prison
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department has estimated the effect on the economy of (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency of the operation of HM Prison Haverigg in each year since 1997. [263702]
Mr. Hanson: The effect on the economy of Cumbria and Copeland constituency of the operation of HMP Haverigg has not been estimated.
However, the direct expenditure at HMP Haverigg, as published in the annual accounts of Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS), is as follows:
| Direct Expenditure HMP Haverigg (£ million) | |
This represents the expenditure accounted for at prison establishment level only.
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether there are plans to (a) increase the capacity and (b) extend the site of HM Prison Haverigg. [267943]
Mr. Hanson: 64 additional places were delivered at HMP Haverigg in 2007. There are currently no plans to further increase the capacity or extend the site of this prison.
Land Registry
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Land Registry received from sales of title (a) registers and (b) plans in each of the last three years. [265243]
Mr. Wills:
The following table reflects fee income received by Land Registry from sales of official copies of the register, title plan and copy documents in each of
the last three financial years. Income generated by on-line views of registers, title plans and documents is included. Data relating specifically to title registers and title plans are not available.
| £ | |
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many properties registered with the Land Registry changed ownership in each of the last 10 years; and what the (a) median and (b) mean price paid in such transactions was in each such year. [265245]
Mr. Wills: Land Registry is able to provide information on the total number of registered residential properties sold for full market value (FMV) in each of the last 10 years and the mean price paid in such transactions in each year. As these figures are extracted using Land Registry’s price paid data, no information is available for any properties that have changed hands by other means. This question has been answered on the basis of recorded sales figures in England and Wales. Land Registry does not hold the information requested on median price paid and could not produce it except at disproportionate cost.
The figures are reflected in the following table.
| Mean (£) | Total sales for FMV | |
Magistrates Courts: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on the refurbishment of magistrates' court buildings in each of the last three years. [266178]
Mr. Straw: Altogether in 2008-09 £47 million was spent by HMCS on maintenance at all courts, £27 million on projects to increase capacity and to rationalise the estate (and £75 million on major new builds). HMCS does not define ‘refurbishment projects’ as a specific programme of work. Among projects in magistrates courts from the maintenance and capacity programmes which could be claimed as ‘refurbishment’ have been:
| Spend on refurbishment (£ million) | |
Given the imprecision of the definition this list is not however exhaustive.
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