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18 May 2009 : Column 1215W—continued
Damages
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to publish his response to the consultation on the law on damages; what the reasons are for the time taken; and if he will make a statement. [274733]
Bridget Prentice: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 28 April 2009, Official Report, column 1253W, to his earlier question on this subject.
The consultation on the law on damages closed on 27 July 2007. The consultation paper considered proposals put forward in a series of Law Commission reports and consequently covered a number of distinct and complex issues. There were 103 responses, many very detailed, that required careful consideration. This work has taken longer than planned, partly because of the scale or the response and the inherent complexity, and partly because of by the need to divert resources to deal with other pressing issues. The Government do, however, intend to publish a response paper outlining the way forward as soon as possible.
Departmental Reviews
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) review and (b) task-force projects his Department and its predecessor have commissioned in each of the last five years; what the purpose of each such project is; when each such project (i) began and (ii) was completed; what the cost of each such project was; and if he will make a statement. [275970]
Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice does not hold this information centrally. To collate this level of information would require a detailed trawl across the Department which would entail disproportionate cost.
However, information on major reports and reviews undertaken by the Department on a wide range of issues can be accessed at the following link from the MOJ website:
It also contains Green Papers, White Papers and Government responses to parliamentary committee reports on major policy reviews.
Publications and follow-up reports on the Department’s regular research programme, as well as any special projects that MOJ initiates can also be found at:
Information on MOJ consultations, both open and closed, can be found at:
Land Registry: Fraud
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much compensation has been paid by HM Land Registry in respect of property fraud in each of the last 10 years. [275155]
Mr. Wills: The figures requested are shown in the following table. The increase in the level of payments in 2005-06 was principally caused by one fraudulent transfer which resulted in payments of more than £8.1 million. The raised level of payments in subsequent years is attributable to a range of factors—including increasing numbers of registered transactions, greater availability of credit providing more opportunities for fraudsters, increases in property values resulting in the losses from each fraud being higher, and more professional as opposed to domestic frauds. The number of frauds must be seen against the overall numbers of transactions processed in each year. For example, in 2007-08, Land Registry processed 5,638,226 applications to alter the register and there were 60 successful indemnity claims based on fraud.
| Indemnity payments relating to fraud (£) | Number of fraud related indemnity claims | |
| (1) The figures for 2008-09 are based on information currently available to be finalised when Land Registry’s audited accounts are published later this year. This figure can change. The Audit Committee are due to sign off the accounts in June. | ||
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of (a) title registries and (b) deeds for properties which have been altered by fraudulent means in each of the last 10 years. [275159]
Mr. Wills: It is not possible to provide these figures as no such estimates have been made. Land Registry tracks the level of fraudulent alterations to the register by reference to claims received for indemnity based on fraud rather than against estimates of the number of fraudulent alterations which would necessarily be speculative.
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to the economy of property fraud in each of the last 10 years. [275169]
Mr. Wills: No such estimates have been made.
Offenders: Mental Health Services
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to ensure that the mental health needs of ex-service personnel involved in the criminal justice system are met. [275918]
Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
Ex-service personnel, including those within the criminal justice system, have access to national health service treatment and services. Prison mental health care transferred fully to primary care trusts in 2006, and all prison mental health services are now mainstreamed within the NHS. On entering custody, the reception screening tool assesses all prisoners’ health concerns, including mental illness, and can refer them to mental health in-reach teams within the criminal justice system. A person whose mental illness is too severe to justify their remaining in prison can be transferred to NHS secure services.
In its response to Lord Bradley’s report on people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, the Government make it clear that veterans involved in the criminal justice system is an important group, and whose needs will also be taken into account as the delivery plan to address Lord Bradley’s recommendations is developed.
Orchard Lodge Secure Unit
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons the Youth Justice Board decided to close the Orchard Lodge Unit in Anerley. [275557]
Mr. Hanson: The Youth Justice Board will be commissioning 191 beds in Secure Children’s Homes in England and Wales from 1 July 2009. This figure was determined by examining the average level of demand for secure training centre and secure children’s home beds over a three-year period and determining the optimum number of secure children's home beds to be commissioned in the current contracting round.
The Youth Justice Board’s decision not to offer Orchard Lodge a new contract was taken following a comprehensive evaluation of a tender exercise. The evaluation panel assessed the quality of all tenders received based on the quality of the responses to the specifications issued, and a financial evaluation on submitted bed prices. Any decision about the future of Orchard Lodge will be taken by the private operator, Glen Care.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of the prison population foreign nationals comprised in each of the last five years. [274194]
Mr. Straw: The following table provides the numbers of prisoners held in all prison establishments in England and Wales as at 30 June in each year from 2004 to 2008, showing the percentage of foreign national prisoners:
| All prisoners (number) | Foreign nationals (number) | Foreign nationals (percentage) | |
These figures include foreign national prisoners serving their sentence, those on remand pending prosecution and those being held under immigration powers pending deportation action.
These figures are available on the Ministry of Justice website:
For the period 2004 to 2007:
Data on foreign national prisoners are published quarterly in the population in custody bulletin, again on the Ministry of Justice website:
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prisons: Discipline
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison disturbances requiring the deployment of (a) Tornado support officers and (b) the police there have been in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last 12 years for which figures are available; and what the (i) cause, (ii) nature and (iii) cost to the public purse of the disturbance was in each case. [272821]
Mr. Hanson: The information is not held in the form required and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. There are a variety of types of incident where Tornado teams may be deployed, predominantly concerted indiscipline, hostage taking and incidents at height. As Tornado teams will not have been deployed to all of these incidents, the information could be obtained only by examining each incident in detail. Similarly police presence at incidents is not centrally recorded.
There have been just four major incidents of disorder since 1996, and the incident at Ashwell in April was the first since the disturbance at Lincoln in October 2002. Between 1990 and 1995 there were 11 major incidents of disorder, including Manchester, which lasted 25 days, and Pucklechurch, where the entire prison was destroyed (both in 1990).
Probation Boards: Pay
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what average percentage of probation board and trust expenditure was incurred on salaries paid in respect of management positions higher than Band 4 on the national job evaluation scheme in (a) England and (b) Wales in 2008-09; [275385]
(2) what average percentage of probation board and trust expenditure was on probation board members’ (a) salaries and (b) associated expenses in (i) England and (ii) Wales in the last 12 months. [275386]
Mr. Hanson: This information is not held centrally and is not available in the format requested in the 42 probation areas where it is held. To obtain this information would therefore incur a disproportionate cost.
Repossession Orders: Mortgages
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many court orders for action in relation to mortgage arrears have been issued in each of the last five years; [275537]
(2) how many court orders were issued in respect of mortgage arrears in each region in the latest period for which figures are available; [275538]
(3) how many repossession orders have been issued by courts in England and Wales in respect of mortgage arrears in each of the last five years; [275539]
(4) how many repossession orders have been issued by the courts in each of the English regions in respect of mortgage arrears in each of the last five years. [275540]
Bridget Prentice: The number of mortgage possession orders made in each year from 1990 and in each quarter from 2004 are available via the Ministry of Justice website at:
The following table shows the number of mortgage possession orders made in England and Wales and each Government office region in the last five years and in the first quarter of 2009.
This breakdown is based on the location of the court which heard the case, rather than the exact location of the property which was the subject of the case.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold information centrally on the breakdown of mortgage possession orders according to the nature of dispute. This is because one of the main administrative computer systems used in the county courts for possession cases (CaseMan) does not identify the specific nature of dispute for these orders. Changing the administrative system to create the necessary field to capture this information would incur disproportionate cost.
The number of mortgage possession orders made in each county court of England and Wales in each year from 1987 to 2008 can be viewed using the following web link:
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