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5 May 2009 : Column 66W—continued
Prisons: Market Testing
15. Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the deadline is for the submission of bids for the market testing of prisons in Wellingborough and Birmingham; and when he expects decisions on those bids to be announced. [272277]
Mr. Hanson:
It is expected that the deadline for the submission of bids for the market testing of prisons in Wellingborough and Birmingham will be November
2009 with award notices for both prisons expected to be issued in February 2010. Bids will be considered from public, private and third sector providers.
Family Courts
16. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what timetable has been set for implementation of his proposals for greater transparency in the family courts; and if he will make a statement. [272278]
Bridget Prentice: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor on 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 38WS.
Human Trafficking Offences
17. Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what sentencing guidance his Department provides to judges who preside over human trafficking cases. [272279]
Maria Eagle: It is the responsibility of the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council to issue sentencing guidelines for criminal offences. In May 2007, the SGC issued a guideline on trafficking into the UK for purposes of sexual exploitation and will consider developing guidelines for people trafficking more generally. The Government’s aim are to make the UK a hostile environment for trafficking and protect victims and potential victims from this abhorrent crime.
Electoral Administration
18. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of standards of electoral administration in the UK, with particular reference to postal voting. [272280]
20. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of electoral administration in the UK. [272282]
Mr. Wills: The Electoral Commission published its performance standards for returning officers on 16 March 2009. The standards cover all aspects of the work of ROs, including the processes they have in place to identify and deal with any instances of electoral malpractice. The Commission will publish details of ROs performance across the whole of Great Britain in autumn of 2009.
25. Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make an estimate of the number of people unable to vote on a Thursday as a result of their work or child care commitments. [272287]
Mr. Wills:
The Government have consulted on whether voting could be made more convenient by changing the timing of Election Day. On one hand, for those balancing family and child care commitments with working full or part-time, Thursday may not be a convenient day for
voting. However, other groups, including religious groups, might have concerns about voting on a Saturday or Sunday.
This consultation has now closed and the Government are currently working on a detailed analysis of the responses. We will publish this analysis and set out the findings of the consultation in due course.
Electoral Fraud
19. Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps the Government are taking to reduce levels of electoral fraud. [272281]
Mr. Wills: The Government have taken significant steps to enhance the security of the electoral process including the measures introduced in the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
Recent information published by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Electoral Commission on 1 May allows us, for the first time, to examine the extent and nature of allegations of electoral malpractice. It is consistent with earlier findings that the scale and volume of allegations of fraud have been decreasing. Of the 60 voting and registration alleged offences recorded at the 2008 elections, no further action was taken in the significant majority of these cases. This must be seen in the context of the 16 million votes which were cast at the May 2008 elections—but fraud is still unacceptable.
We cannot be complacent about electoral fraud but these figures demonstrate that the measures which we and others, including the police, the Electoral Commission and electoral administrators, have already taken have been successful.
We are now legislating for the introduction of individual registration in a way that will help to further curb the risk of fraud, while ensuring that changes also support improvements to the comprehensiveness and accuracy of electoral registers.
Prison Capacity
21. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure adequate capacity in the prison system. [272283]
Mr. Hanson: Prison is the right place for the most dangerous, serious and persistent offenders. We are committed to making sure we have enough prison places to cater for those offenders who need to be imprisoned. Our current prison population projects suggest we should continue to plan for a capacity of 96,000 by 2014, and our capacity programme will therefore increase overall prison capacity to 96,000 places by 2014.
We have increased prison capacity by nearly 25,000 places (not all new build) since 1997. We have delivered, to date, over 4,600 places as part of the ongoing capacity programme and will deliver a further 1,600 additional places in 2009.
HM Prison Ashwell
22. David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received on the recent disturbances at HM Prison Ashwell. [272284]
Mr. Hanson: We have received representations from the Prison Officers’ Association and from the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Alan Duncan). Police and prison investigations are under way. The incident resulted in significant damage to the establishment. As I made clear in my written ministerial statement of 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 2WS, and the Justice Secretary in his oral statement on 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 569, we pay tribute to the staff of the Prison Service and other emergency services for bringing the incident to a conclusion.
Prisoners: Learning Difficulties
24. Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to identify prisoners with learning difficulties. [272286]
Mr. Hanson: The Learning and Skills Council has commissioned Dyslexia Action to develop a questionnaire for use with offenders which highlights features of a broad range of “hidden” disabilities, including dyslexia, dyspraxia and attention deficit disorder. Education providers will shortly be trained in its use and be expected to assess all learners who are referred to them from August 2009.
Departmental Expenditure
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which of his Department's programmes will be subject to reductions in their planned budgets between 2009 and 2011. [272285]
Maria Eagle: Allocations to business groups are currently being finalised for 2010-11, to reflect the additional £70 million efficiency savings announced in the Budget, but 2009-10 allocations are set out in the corporate plan.
Civil Service: Reform
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the planned parliamentary timetable is for the passage of a Civil Service Bill. [271974]
Mr. Wills: The draft Constitutional Renewal Bill contained provisions in respect of the civil service. The Government are finalising the clauses of the Constitutional Renewal Bill in response to consultation and parliamentary scrutiny, and intend to introduce the Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Housing: Sales
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many house sales have been recorded by the Land Registry in each region in each month since January 1990; [272101]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2009, Official Report, column 969W, on housing: sales, how many sales there were in each local authority area in each month since January 1990. [272106]
Mr. Wills:
A breakdown of the figures requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Land Registry’s Residential Price Report and House Price
Index provide further information from 1995. These are available on Land Registry’s website
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2009, Official Report, column 969W, on housing: sales, what the earliest (a) monthly and (b) annual data on numbers of sales are that the Land Registry has on record; and if he will place in the Library a copy of those data. [272107]
Mr. Wills: Land Registry’s earliest recorded data for residential sales in England and Wales dates from (a) January 1995 and (b) 1995. These figures are 50,675 and 800,494 respectively. Land Registry’s Residential Property Price Reports and House Price Index provide these data from 1995. The information is available on the Land Registry website at;
Offences against Children: Greater London
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions for offences relating to child abuse there were in each London borough between 1998 and 2007; and if he will make a statement. [271043]
Maria Eagle: There is no specific offence of ‘child abuse’. Furthermore, the term ‘child abuse’ describes harm caused to a child arising from emotional, physical and sexual abuse or neglect caused by a parent or carer.
The statistics provided in the following table are for those offences currently identified as such, including causing or allowing the death of a child, sexual assaults against under 16s, and cruelty or neglect of a child. Not included are other forms of abuse for which there is no separate legal category, offences where the victim cannot be identified as a child from the type of offence, and cases of abuse which cannot be identified because they were proceeded against under more general offences such as physical assault.
It is not possible to further break down information held to individual London boroughs, thus data for both Metropolitan and City of London police force areas have been provided in lieu.
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.
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