Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 23 April 2009
Justice
Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) have been registered as fines; and how many PNDs have been paid (a) within and (b) outside the 21-day suspended enforcement period. [264710]
Mr. Straw: The number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued to persons aged 16 and over in each police force area in England and Wales, paid within and outside the 21 day Suspended Enforcement Period (SEP) and registered as fines for non-payment, by type of offence from 2004 to 2007 (latest available) are shown in tables 1 to 9 and have been placed in the Libraries of the House. 21 days is the minimum period before which forces can register a fine against the recipient for not responding to a notice, so forces can accept payments after the SEP for administrative purposes. It is not possible to separately identify the payment rate of fines arising from unpaid PNDs, but the latest enforcement rate for all fines, including those from unpaid PNDs, is 85.2 per cent. for the period April to December 2008.
PNDs were implemented in all 43 forces in England and Wales in 2004.
PND data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Departmental ICT
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) printers and (b) multi-function devices with printing functions were in use in each division of his Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years; how many such devices had a function enabling two-sided printing; and if he will make a statement. [269613]
Maria Eagle: Multi-functional devices (MFDs) and printers with double-sided print capability offer potential cost savings to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and its agencies. There are also significant environmental and efficiency benefits to be gained through the reduction in volumes of paper used.
To deliver these benefits and reduce overall people to printer ratios, a programme to rollout MFD printers across the organisation is under way. So far, MFD printers with double-sided printing capability have been installed throughout our main headquarter sites and key regional offices.
In addition, a print optimisation project to rationalise the printer estate has been initiated. The intention is to reduce overall numbers of printers, enhance printing efficiency and sustainability. This includes replacing existing printers with double-sided printing devices and standardisation of print models.
As at March 2009, the following information has been provided from available central records for MOJ Headquarters, Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS), Tribunals Service and associated offices:
Approximately 1,300 printers (390 with double-sided printing capability)
HMCS (including Tribunals Service):
Approximately 13,200 printers (3,960 with double-sided printing capability)
Multifunctional devices (MFDs)—all with double-sided printing capability
99 at 10 London sites and five other regional sites.
Detailed information for years prior to the formation of the Ministry of Justice in 2007 is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
National Offender Management Service (NOMS, including HMPS)
2004: 16,567 printers (8,598 with double-sided printing capability)
2005: 17,185 printers (9,290 with double-sided printing capability)
2006: 13,875 printers (9,976 with double-sided printing capability)
2007: 10,397 printers (9,081 with double-sided printing capability)
2008: 10,762 printers (9,651 with double-sided printing capability)
This information is based on the potential of the printer to deliver double-sided printing.
EU Justice and Home Affairs
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he had with his EU counterparts at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 26 and 27 February 2009 on the implementation of the European e-justice action plan; and if he will make a statement. [269672]
Mr. Wills: My noble Friend, Lord Bach, attended the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 26 and 27 February 2009.
The Czech presidency gave member states a brief update on the state of play of the European e-Justice action plan. There was no substantive discussion. However the presidency did ask the Commission about the financing of e-Justice projects, particularly videoconferencing. The Commission reminded member states that there was already money available to fund e-Justice projects and undertook to present more details at the next Council.
The United Kingdom is actively involved in the development of the e-Justice portal which is the main project to be delivered through the action plan. Current plans show that the first version of the portal will be available in December 2009.
Fines: Surcharges
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was collected in victim surcharges in each court service region in 2008-09; and how such receipts have been distributed. [269505]
Maria Eagle: The victims surcharge has been levied on fines at a rate of £15 since April 2007. The table shows the victims surcharge receipts for April 2008 to January 2009 aligned as closely as possible to court service regions. Data covering receipts for February and March 2009 are not yet available.
| Victims surcharge receipts 1 April 2008 to 31 January 2009 | |
| Region | £ |
The Ministry of Justice included the receipts collected from the victims surcharge as an appropriation in aid. in its estimates for 2008-09. The funding contributed to direct services for victims and witnesses; the roll-out of independent domestic violence advisers; witness care units; enhanced services under Victim Support Plus; and the Victims Fund which provides grants to organisations supporting victims of sexual crimes, hate crime and homicide.
Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost in empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database as owned by HM Court Service was in each of the last five years. [262342]
Mr. Straw: The estimated cost for empty property business rates for vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by HM Courts Service (HMCS) in each of the last five years was:
| Financial year | Empty rates charge (£) |
| (1) Information for Crown and County Court. | |
Following the formation of HMCS on 1 April 2005, responsibility for rates payments for magistrates courts transferred from individual magistrates courts committees to HMCS. The charges recorded for the financial year
2005-06 therefore comprises vacant magistrates court properties, as well as vacant Crown and County court properties, awaiting either sale or sub-letting.
The significant increase in costs from 2007-08 is predominantly due to the vacation of the former Bristol magistrates court building, following the completion of a new PFI magistrates court in Bristol. This one property incurs empty rates charges of c. £233,000 per annum. The vacant property is currently being marketed for sale.
Prisons: Mobile Phones
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many illicit mobile telephones were found at each prison in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [268757]
Mr. Hanson: Prisons are asked to send mobile phones and SIM cards they find to a central unit for analysis. The numbers analysed are set out in the tables for each prison for each of the last 12 months.
The figures include items discovered within the prison perimeter and on entry to establishments. However, we believe that these figures may understate the actual number of finds, because they do not include items retained by the police for evidential purposes, and because in some instances prisons have not sent the items for analysis. NOMS is putting in place new procedures to ensure that we have a more comprehensive picture in future. While the numbers of phones detected indicates the scale of the challenge in tackling illicit mobile phones, it is also a reflection of prisons’ increasing success in finding them and better reporting. NOMS is developing new procedures to ensure that we have a comprehensive picture of mobile phones found in prisons.
NOMS is implementing a strategy to minimise the number of phones entering prisons, and to find or disrupt those that do enter. As part of the strategy, prisons are being provided with technologies to strengthen local security and searching strategies, in line with the recommendations in the Blakey report “Disrupting the Supply of Illicit Drugs into Prisons”, published in July 2008. This includes the roll out of “BOSS” chairs to all prisons, and the deployment of other detection and disruption technologies, including mobile phone signal blockers.
We have also strengthened the law, through the Offender Management Act 2007 (implemented in April 2008), which makes it a criminal offence with a punishment of up to two years’ imprisonment to bring an unauthorised mobile phone or component part into a prison.
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