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1 Jun 2009 : Column 76W—continued
Departmental Catering
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether food and drink on sale to staff of (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies at official premises is subsidised from public funds. [276429]
Mr. Straw: Food and drink is on sale within the Ministry for Justice HQ estate. The subsidised provision of food and drink to the Ministry of Justice HQ Estate for financial year 2008-09 was set at £200,000. Although this provision has ceased since the start of the new financial year 2009-10 and the contract will operate as nil subsidy thereafter.
Her Majesty’s Courts Service has food and drink on sale for staff. Their contracts are run on a commercial basis, with a subsidy built in to cover contractor overheads and salaries.
Her Majesty’s Prison Service and National Offender Management Service (custodial and non-custodial) have canteen facilities provided through centrally let contracts which are not subsidised. Records of canteen facilities provided for staff in prisons are not held centrally and to find these details would involve contacting each prison location, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Tribunals Service and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform have subsidised provision via DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) and Home Office contracts respectively.
Departmental Official Cars
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2009, Official Report, columns 379-80W, on official cars, how many of the cars (a) owned and (b) leased by (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies are over six years old. [276775]
Mr. Hanson: The following table outlines the number of owned and leased cars used by the Ministry of Justice that are over six years old, by engine capacity.
| Cars | |||
| 1000 to 1400cc | 1401 to 1700cc | 1701 to 2200cc | |
Life expectancy for owned cars, particularly in the Prison Service, can be extended beyond average fleet age if recorded mileages are low and the condition of the vehicle has been maintained. The decision to retain any vehicle will be taken after a review of whole-life costs and operational requirements.
Modern diesel powered vehicles with extended service intervals are capable of recording high mileages, reliably and cost effectively. Consideration of the environmental impact from emissions associated with these older vehicles will also be taken into account.
Departmental Sick Leave
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many staff in (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) its agencies took long-term sick leave in each year since 1997; [272023]
(2) how many days sick leave (a) in total and (b) on average employees of (i) his Department and its predecessor and (ii) its agencies took in each year since 1997. [272024]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was created on 9 May 2007. The MOJ—and its predecessors, the Lord Chancellor’s Department and the Department for Constitutional Affairs—does centrally monitor long term sickness absence but does so by the number of days’ absence taken, not by the number of individual staff on long-term sick leave. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Information relating to the total and average sick leave for the MOJ and its predecessors, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and Her Majesty’s Prison Service, is shown in the tables. Approximately 1,530 staff transferred from the Home Office to the MOJ on 1 November 2008. However, it would be possible to obtain sick absence figures from the Home Office for these
staff only at disproportionate cost. Absence figures for the 51,239 Prison Service staff migrated into MOJ are shown as follows.
Figures for the Lord Chancellor’s Department (prior to 2003-04) and Her Majesty’s Prison Service (prior to 1999-2000) are not readily available and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
| Department for Constitutional Affairs sickness absence rates | |||
| Working days lost | Average staff in post | Working days lost per person | |
| Prison Service sickness absence rates | |||
| Working days lost | Average staff in post | Working days lost per person | |
Ministry of Justice sick absence rates
The figure includes MOJ Headquarters, Her Majesty’s Court Service, the Office of the Public Guardian, the Tribunals Service and Scotland and Wales Offices.
| Working days lost | Average staff in post | Working days lost per person | |
| (1) Includes all MOJ employees on Home Office systems (MOJ and NOMS HQ) (2) Statistics still to be validated and includes staff that migrated across from HO systems Source: MOJ Cabinet Office return minus Land Registry and NOMS Agency | |||
| NOMS agency sick absence rates | |||
| Working days lost | Average staff in post | Working days lost per person | |
| (1) Excludes staff on Home Office systems (2) Statistic still to be validated and includes staff that migrated across from HO systems Source: NOMS Agency Cabinet Office return | |||
Departmental Stationery
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of office supplies purchased by his Department were recycled products in the latest period for which figures are available. [275341]
Mr. Hanson: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) does not record specific information on recycled products although those from sustainable sources are highlighted in our catalogue of office supplies. The catalogue is made available to all parts of the Department and staff are encouraged to order products from sustainable sources.
MOJ Procurement currently have 1,273 core products on catalogue of which, 18 per cent. are sustainable. This 18 per cent., however, equates to 26 per cent. of the contract value.
Fixed Penalties
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of each category of fixed penalty notices were (a) issued and (b) paid in each police force area in each month since their introduction. [274149]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.
Information on the outcomes (endorsable and non-endorsable) of fixed penalty notices for motoring offences from 2004 to 2007 (latest available) are provided in tables 1 to 4 placed in the House Library.
Available annual information on motoring fixed penalty notices for previous years can be found in the Home Office Statistical publication ‘Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary tables’, tables 20(a) to 20(c). Copies of the publication are available in the Libraries of the House.
Information held by the Ministry of Justice on the number of penalty notices for disorder (PND) issued, paid, unpaid and registered as fines by persons aged 16 and over by offence and police force area in England and Wales for the years 2004 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in tables 5 to 8 placed in the House Library. The PND scheme was implemented in all 43 forces in 2004.
PND data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Ford Prison
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps have been taken by his Department following the recent report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on HM Prison Ford. [276230]
Mr. Straw: As with all HMCIP reports an action plan responding to each of the recommendations in the report will be submitted to Ministers and the chief inspector within the next three months.
The new governor is focusing on resettlement and security, including measures to reduce the smuggling of alcohol, and the Director of Offender Management (DOM) has approved a schedule of maintenance designed to address the decor and physical environment with plans for a new kitchen. Significant improvements have already been made to improve disability access.
Penalty Notices: Shoplifting
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) with reference to the answer of 17 November 2008, Official Report, column 22W, on penalty notices: shoplifting, what the outcome was of the study of criminal histories and re-offending rates of penalty notice for disorder recipients for shop theft; [276474]
(2) what his latest assessment is of the effectiveness of the penalty notice for disorder scheme for shop theft. [276475]
Mr. Straw: A study of criminal histories and reoffending rates of PND recipients is under way and we aim to publish the findings in late 2009. Provisional, unpublished results from this study show that of a sample of 13,800 juvenile and adult offenders given a penalty notice for disorder (PND) for theft during 2005, 33 per cent. reoffended within 12 months of receiving the PND. This study used data recorded on the police national computer and counted as a “reoffence” any offence committed during the 12-month period that resulted in a conviction or caution.
This estimate cannot be directly compared to the published reoffending rates for three reasons:
it includes offences leading to a caution as well as a conviction whilst the published National Statistics on adult reoffending counts only convictions;
it covers offenders who in general have very different offending backgrounds to those in the published cohorts; which cover offenders discharged from prison and offenders commencing a court order under probation supervision;
it covers both juvenile and adult offenders together, whereas reoffending data is published separately for adults and juveniles.
We are currently reviewing the use of PNDs for retail theft and will inform the House of our conclusions shortly.
Prison Accommodation
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison places have been created in England and Wales in each year since 1990. [271679]
Mr. Hanson: The table provides approximate information on the number of new prison places provided in England and Wales in each financial year from 1997-98 to 2008-09. In addition to the new places provided in the table, approximately 4,000 places have been provided by other means such as cell reclaims or doubling up.
Approximately 14,000 new prison places were provided between 1990-91 and 1996-97.
| Financial year | New prison places provided( 1) |
| (1) To nearest 100 | |
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