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28 Apr 2009 : Column 1261W—continued

Prisons: Telephone Services

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take account of the steps taken by Ofcom in response to the super-complaint from the National Consumer Council on charges for payphone services from prisons in the tendering process for the next contract for the provision of payphone services to prisoners. [270907]

Mr. Hanson: The current contract for the prisoner telephone system runs to 2011. In the re-tendering process to provide the telephone system after the current contract ends, the aim will be to provide a safe and secure system balanced with the need for reasonably priced calls for prisoners.

We acknowledge the importance of prisoners keeping in touch with their family and positive influences, and seeking a reduction in the cost of calls will be a key feature in the re-tendering exercise. This must, however, be balanced with the need to provide a safe and secure system to prevent misuse of telephones by prisoners.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will commission research on the effect on trends in re-offending following release of the access by prisoners to telephone services in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [270917]

Mr. Hanson: There are no plans to commission research as suggested. There has been no loss of access by prisoners to telephones within the prison system. Using pin technology the current contract to provide prisoners with telephone access was awarded to the supplier in 1998 and this service has been widely available since 2001. Before using the system prisoners are required to sign a compact agreeing to the terms and conditions of use. Providing a prisoner signs this compact s/he will have access to the prisoner telephone or pinphone system and there are no plans to change this.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will commission research on the effects on the illegal use of mobile telephones within prisons of charges to prisoners for the use of prison payphones; and if he will make a statement. [270918]


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Mr. Hanson: There are currently no plans to commission research on the effect of telephone charges on the use of mobile phones in prisons.

The cost of telephone calls is determined under the terms of a national contract which is in place until 2011; however, we have recently reached an agreement with the supplier for some reduction to the cost of national and mobile calls which came into effect on 1 April 2009. To impose a reduction to the costs of calls without the supplier's agreement would require a large subsidy from the taxpayer.

We are 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 David Blakey's 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.

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.

Reoffenders: Hertfordshire

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people were charged with offences whilst under the supervision of the probation services in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire in the last (i) six months, (ii) year and (iii) five years; [262883]

(2) how many offenders re-offended while on probation in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire in the last five years. [263060]

Mr. Hanson: The number of offenders that were charged with offences while being supervised by the probation service is not available. This is because the extract of the police national computer held by the Ministry of Justice does not provide comprehensive coverage of charges. Data relating to the offending of offenders under probation supervision are based on proven reoffending—offences which have led to a conviction or a caution.

The measure of reoffending used to provide National Statistics for England and Wales is not broken down by area. However, newly published data on local adult reoffending (a different measure of reoffending to the national statistics) are broken down by probation area and local authority (upper tier only).

Because the data are not broken down below the upper tier of the local authority area level there are no figures available for Hemel Hempstead.

The number of offenders used to calculate the local reoffending rate for the Hertfordshire probation area between 1 October 2007 and 30 September 2008 is 10,229 and the reoffending rate is 7.93 per cent.

The local measure measures the reoffending of all offenders on the probation caseload, aged 18 or over, at
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a certain point in time (a “snapshot”), while the national measure covers all offenders commencing a court order under probation supervision or released from custody during the first quarter of the year. Additionally, the local measure allows a three month period for reoffences to be committed, while the national measure allows a year.

The local reoffending figures are produced by aggregating the data of four snapshots of the probation caseload. Therefore the number of offenders quoted above is approximately four times the number of offenders on the case load at any one time.

A reoffending rate of 7.93 per cent. with a case load size of 10,229 does not mean that 811 different offenders committed a reoffence, as some offenders may have appeared in more than one cohort and reoffended more than once.

It should be noted the probation supervision of some offenders may end during the period while their reoffending is being monitored. Therefore some reoffences may be committed after probation supervision has finished.

For further details please see “Local reoffending results 1 October 2007-30 September 2008 England and Wales” available at:

This is the first time that reoffending data at the local level have been made available.

Theft: Lorries

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there were for the theft of a heavy goods vehicle in each of the last five years. [270932]

Maria Eagle: Information held on the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database cannot separately identify the number of convictions for the offence “theft of a motor vehicle” which relate to a heavy goods vehicle.

Youth Justice

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) remands in custody for under 18 year olds and (b) court-ordered secure remands were for a period of seven days or less in the last year for which figures are available. [270777]

Mr. Hanson: During the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009, 671 young people under 18 were remanded in custody for a period of seven days or less; and 173 were remanded for a period of seven days or less to the care of a local authority with a requirement that they be accommodated in secure conditions. This information has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board and is drawn from administrative computer systems.

We believe that young people should only be sent to custody as a last resort. The decision on whether to grant bail or remand a defendant in custody is one for the courts to make, in each case, in line with the statutory framework primarily set out in the Bail Act 1976.


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Innovation, Universities and Skills

Building Colleges for the Future Programme

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2009, Official Report, column 656W, on further education: finance, from which further education colleges he has received representations on the Learning and Skills Council's list of colleges affected by changes to its capital spending programme. [269823]

Mr. Simon: I have met and had correspondence with a large number of MPs and college principals and I will be continuing this dialogue. The nature of the contact to date has been to discuss individual concerns rather than specifically regarding the Learning and Skills Council's list of colleges affected by changes to its capital spending programme.

We are aware that there are other colleges that will be at various stages of preparing their capital proposals. The response from the LSC in connection with the earlier question makes clear that some smaller projects were not included as they did not require national approval. Some colleges are also still submitting applications for approval in principle so the list will be subject to change.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what discussions he has had with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) on representations made by further education colleges to the LSC on (a) the completeness and (b) the accuracy of the LSC's list of colleges affected by changes to the LSC's capital spending programme. [269824]

Mr. Simon: I continue to have regular dialogue with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), as we consider how best to move forward with the further education capital investment programme.

I have not had any specific discussions with the LSC on representations made by further education colleges on either the completeness nor on the accuracy of the LSC's list of colleges affected by changes to the LSC's capital spending programme.

We are aware that there are other colleges that will be at various stages of preparing their capital proposals. The response from the LSC in connection with the earlier question makes clear that some smaller projects were not included as they did not require national approval. Some colleges are also still submitting applications for approval in principle so the list will be subject to change.

Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which Minister in his Department had responsibility for the further education capital programme in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [269954]

Mr. Simon: Ministers are responsible for determining and monitoring the implementation of broad policy and to hold the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to account for delegated responsibilities. Effective implementation is the role of the LSC.


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My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) was Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education up until October 2008, during which time the further education capital programme was within his remit. When my hon. Friend left the Department in October, in my role as Under-Secretary, I took over in leading on the further education capital programme.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the sum to be allocated by his Department to new college buildings in each of the next six financial years. [271800]

Mr. Simon: Budget 2009 announced additional capital funding of £300 million for this spending review period (2009-10 and 10-11), which will allow the Learning and Skills Council to give approval to a limited number of projects starting in 2009-10.


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Recognising the long-term nature of capital projects, the Government are planning a continuing FE capital investment programme in future years, with a planning assumption of £300 million a year from 2011-12 to 2013-14 to be confirmed at the next spending review.

This provides a provisional £1.2 billion in total to 2013-14 which should allow us to develop around £750 million of new schemes.

Further Education: Mergers

Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many further education colleges have merged in each year since 1997. [268679]

Mr. Simon: The table sets out all further education colleges merged since May 1997.


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28 Apr 2009 : Column 1268W
Further education college mergers since 1997
Further education colleges Name of merged college Date of merger

Reading College of Arts and Technology and Berkshire College of Art and Design

Reading College of Arts and Technology

6 January 1997

De La Salle College and Pendleton College

Pendleton College

7 February 1997

Prior Pursglove College and South Park Sixth Form College

Prior Pursglove College

1 August 1997

Worcestershire College of Agriculture and Horticulture and Pershore College of Horticulture

Pershore and Hindlip College

10 May 1997

Hyde Clarendon College and Tameside College

Tameside College

18 February 1998

Airedale and Wharfedale College and Park Lane College

Park Lane College

1 August 1998

Cambridgeshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture and Norfolk College of Arts and Technology

College of West Anglia

1 August 1998

Clarenden College and Basford Hall College

New College, Nottingham

1 August 1998

East Birmingham College and Handsworth College

City College, Birmingham

1 August 1998

North Bolton College and South College, Bolton

Bolton Sixth Form College

1 August 1998

York College of Further and Higher Education and York Sixth Form College

York College

1 April 1999

Durham College of Agriculture and Horticulture and East Durham Community College

East Durham and Houghall Community College

1 June 1999

Charles Keene College of Further Education and Leicester South Fields College

Leicester College

1 August 1999

New College, Nottingham and High Pavement Sixth Form College

New College, Nottingham

1 April 1999

Greenhill College and Harrow and Weald College

Harrow College

1 June 1999

Holme Lacy College and Pershore and Hindlip College

The Pershore Group of Colleges

1 August 1999

New College, Nottingham and Arnold and Carlton College

New College, Nottingham

1 September 1999

Bilston Community College and Wulfrun College

Wolverhampton College

1 October 1999

Kirkley Hall College and Northumberland College

Northumberland College

1 January 2000

Phoenix College and Merton College

Merton College

1 April 2000

The Rutland College and Tresham Institute

Tresham Institute

1 August 2000

Barnet College and Hendon College

Barnet College

1 August 2000

College of Care and Early Education and City of Bristol College

City of Bristol College

1 August 2000

Brooksby College and Melton Mowbray College

Brooksby Melton College

1 September 2000

Kingsway College and Westminster College

Westminster Kingsway College

1 September 2000

Trowbridge College, Chippenham College and Lackham College

Wiltshire College

1 November 2000

Walford College and North Shropshire College, Walford

Walford and North Shropshire College

1 January 2001

Abingdon College and West Oxfordshire College

Abingdon and Whitney College

31 March 2001

St. Austell College and Cornwall College

Cornwall College

1 August 2001

Basildon College and Thurrock College

Thurrock and Basildon College

1 August 2001

Dudley College of Technology and Rowley Regis College

Dudley College of Technology

1 August 2001

Shena Simon College and City College, Manchester

City College, Manchester

1 September 2001

Lewes Tertiary College and Eastbourne College

Sussex Downs College

1 September 2001

Broomfield College, Derby Tertiary College, Wilmorton and Mackworth College

Derby College

1 January 2002

Soundwell College and City of Bristol College

City of Bristol College

1 January 2002

Ealing Tertiary College and Hammersmith and West London College

Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College

1 January 2002

Coventry Technical College and Tile Hill College

City College, Coventry

1 February 2002

East Yorkshire College and Beverley College

East Riding College

1 March 2002

Brinsbury College and Chichester College of Arts, Science and Technology

Chichester College

1 August 2002

Teesside Tertiary College and Middlesbrough College

Middlesbrough College

1 August 2002

North Birmingham College and Sutton Coldfield College

Sutton Coldfield College

1 April 2003

Warwickshire College, Royal Leamington Spa and Moreton Morrell and Rugby College of Further Education

Warwickshire College, Royal Leamington Spa, Rugby and Moreton Morrell

1 August 2003

Oxford College, North Oxfordshire College and Rycotewood College

Oxford and Cherwell College

1 August 2003

Guildford College of Further and Higher Education and Merrist Wood College

Guildford College of Further and Higher Education

1 August 2003

Park College and Sussex Downs College

Sussex Downs College

1 November 2003

Daventry Tertiary College and Northampton College

Northampton College

1 August 2004

Rother Valley College and Rotherham College of Arts and Technology

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology

1 August 2004

Cannington College and Bridgwater College

Bridgwater College

1 September 2004

Tynemouth College and North Tyneside College

Tyne Metropolitan College

1 March 2005

Haywards Heath College and Crawley College

Central Sussex College

1 August 2005

Stockport College of Further and Higher Education and North Area College

Stockport College

1 January 2006

Isle College and College of West Anglia

College of West Anglia

1 April 2006

The People’s College, Nottingham and Broxtowe College

Castle College

1 June 2006

Josiah Mason Sixth Form College and Sutton Coldfield College

Sutton Coldfield College

1 August 2006

Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College and Halton College

Riverside College, Halton

1 August 2006

The Newark and Sherwood College and Lincoln College

Lincoln College

1 January 2007

Brooklands College and Spelthorne College

Brooklands College

1 August 2007

Guildford College and Farnham College

Guildford College

1 August 2007

Sparsholt College (Agriculture and Horticulture) and Cricklade College

Sparsholt College

1 August 2007

Newcastle College and Skelmersdale College

Newcastle College

1 August 2007

Keighley College and Park Lane College

Park Lane College

1 August 2007

North Trafford College and South Trafford College

South Trafford College

1 August 2007

Salisbury College and Wiltshire College

Wiltshire College

1 January 2008

Manchester College of Arts and Technology and City College, Manchester

The Manchester College

1 April 2008

Penwith College and Truro College

Truro College

1 April 2008

Stockton Riverside College and Bede Sixth Form College

Stockton Riverside College

30 April 2008

North Devon College and East Devon College

North Devon College

1 August 2008

Dewsbury College and Huddersfield Technical College

Kirklees College

1 August 2008

Tamworth and Lichfield College, Rodbaston College and Cannock Chase Technical College

South Staffordshire College

1 January 2009

Salford College, Eccles College and Pendleton Sixth Form College

Salford City College

1 January 2009

Leeds College of Technology, Leeds Thomas Danby and Park Lane College

Leeds City College

31 March 2009


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