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13 May 2009 : Column 830W—continued
Industrial Health and Safety
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its predecessor spent on compliance with requirements of health and safety at work legislation in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [274538]
Mr. Wills: The MOJ does not compile health and safety spend across its agencies and other bodies centrally and could do so only at disproportionate cost. However, spend for the Department headquarters on health and safety measures is:
| £ | |
The MOJ corporate health and safety branch provides a professional health and safety advisory and technical service, including assistance and information to all levels of management to enable compliance with relevant Health and Safety legislation. This includes auditing of
health and safety management systems and reviewing performance across the MOJ.
The MOJ annual report provides an assurance on health and safety performance on how the MOJ plans to discharge its legal responsibility in order to comply with the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and associated relevant statutory provisions.
National Offender Management Service
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the cost of the Managing Surplus Employees scheme in the National Offender Management Service in financial year 2009-10; [273537]
(2) what support his Department provides for employees of the National Offender Management Service redeployed under the terms of the Managing Surplus Employees scheme; [273538]
(3) how many surplus employees as defined under the Managing Surplus Employees scheme of the National Offender Management Service (a) have been redeployed, (b) have been made redundant and (c) have left the Service for another reason in the last 12 months. [273539]
Mr. Hanson: As a result of changes being made within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) staff are being redeployed either within the agency or to roles elsewhere within the Ministry of Justice.
The additional costs for managing the surplus employee system within NOMS in the financial year 2009-10 is estimated to be in the region of £55,000. Costs are relatively small, because the service is able to use new technology to manage these process.
Staff who are made surplus are subject to redeployment procedures but remain the responsibility of an identified line manager who is required to maintain support, identify any temporary work and assist the employee to find a new role. A range of support arrangements is currently being implemented, including retraining where this is appropriate. Staff who need to relocate to find a new post are able to apply for assistance with additional travel or relocation under existing NOMS arrangements for staff transfer.
Information on the outcome of the redeployment arrangements are as yet unavailable until the new IT is fully functional at the end of May. It is NOMS policy to avoid redundancies and to date no member of staff has been made redundant as a result of the redeployment arrangements.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many National Offender Management Service employees are registered as surplus under the terms of the Managing Surplus Employees scheme. [273540]
Mr. Hanson: We have currently got 184 employees registered as surplus under the terms of the Managing Surplus Employees scheme.
Staff are supported while on this list to assist them in finding a new posting. No staff are being made compulsorily redundant as a direct result of this scheme.
National Offender Management Service: Recruitment
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make an assessment of the merits of ensuring that persons with a probation service employment background can apply for arising vacancies within the interventions and substance misuse group of the National Offender Management Service. [274277]
Mr. Hanson: The National Offender Management Service fully recognises the benefits of utilising the specialist skills of probation staff in appropriate posts. Where there is a business need for a particular post to be filled by someone with a probation service employment background, groups may second or advertise externally in accordance with National Offender Management Service and civil service recruitment policy.
National Offender Management Service: Secondment
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to extend the two-year term of probation service secondees in the National Offender Management Service. [274276]
Mr. Hanson: All secondments into the civil service are limited to a two-year term in line with the civil service commission’s recruitment principles. Extension of this period can exceptionally be sought from the civil service commissioners if required.
Offences Against Children
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of offenders aged 21 years or over convicted of offences related to sexual activity with a child under 13 received (a) immediate custody, (b) a suspended sentence, (c) a community sentence, (d) a fine, (e) a conditional or absolute discharge and (f) other treatment in the last year for which figures are available. [274151]
Mr. Straw: The available figures are shown in the following table. The proportion of those given various disposals is shown as a percentage of those sentenced. Lags in time between conviction and sentencing may mean that the total numbers convicted and sentenced in a year may not match. Data held by the Ministry of Justice record the age of the offender at the time of sentencing, and the figures show all offenders aged 21 and over at that point.
Prisons: Complaints
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many complaints the prison service internal complaints process received from prisoners in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [272827]
Mr. Hanson: The number of internal complaints submitted by prisoners between the fiscal years 2000-01 and 2007-08 is shown in the table. Data for prisoner complaints was not centrally recorded before the fiscal year 2000-01 and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
| Total number of complaints | Average prison population | |
A revised complaints procedure was introduced in February 2002, which, among other improvements, gave prisoners greater access to complaint forms.
An effective complaints system underpins much of prison life. An efficient system for dealing with prisoners’ requests and complaints aims to given prisoners confidence in the integrity of the system and so helps to ensure that the prison service meets its obligation of dealing fairly, openly and humanely with prisoners.
Ranby Prison: Explosives
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what reports he has received on a controlled explosion at HMP Ranby on 1 May 2009; and if he will make a statement. [275143]
Mr. Hanson: I received a report on 5 May summarising the operational incidents which had taken place from 1 May to 4 May. The incident at Ranby appeared on this report. This is now the subject of a police investigation.
Duchy of Lancaster
Census: Databases
Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what arrangements have been made for the (a) retention and (b) maintenance of the address database compiled for the 2011 census once the census has been completed. [274197]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated May 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what arrangements have been made for the (a) retention and (b) maintenance of the address database compiled for the 2011 Census once the Census has been completed. (274197)
Although the Address Register strategy takes account of other national addressing initiatives it is only being developed for the 2011 Census. Subject to having appropriate data sharing agreements in place, it should provide a one-off quality improvement to each of the main address sources. The database developed for the Census will be retained by the Office for National Statistics. No plans are in place at present for the maintenance of the database.
Addresses returned on census forms as verified addresses are addresses that belong to the ONS to use for statistical purposes only, and will be kept by ONS.
Departmental Billing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) its agency paid in interest to suppliers under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years for which figures are available. [275209]
Kevin Brennan: The amount of interest paid to suppliers in 2006-07 and 2007-08 for late payment can be found in the Cabinet Office annual report and resources accounts 2006-07 and 2007-08, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House. No interest has been paid to suppliers for late payment in 2008-09. The Cabinet Office does not have any agencies.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answers to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood of 13 March 2009, Official Report, columns 800-1W, on departmental buildings, and of 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 467W, on 10 Downing Street: repairs and maintenance, how much was spent on the renovation of lavatories in Downing Street properties in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2007-08. [274142]
Kevin Brennan: The information is not available in the format requested. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Billericay (Mr. Baron) on 13 March 2009, Official Report, column 801W.
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