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2 Jun 2009 : Column 312W—continued
Bail Accommodation and Support Service
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what role the Probation Service has in monitoring ex-offenders placed in bail hostels managed by ClearSprings; and if he will make a statement. [276901]
Mr. Hanson: 55 per cent. of those living at a ClearSprings address are defendants on bail and are not subject to Probation supervision, unless they were subject to a relevant prior sentence when bailed by the court. Prisoners serving custodial sentences of more than 12 months are subject to supervision by the National Probation Service (NPS). All those aged between 18 and 21 years that serve a custodial sentence are supervised by the NPS on release. They are required to meet their offender manager on release and have regular contact in accordance with the requirements of their licence supervision. For those released under Home Detention Curfew (HDC) supervision starts at the point of release on HDC and continues until the supervision licence expires. Compliance with the HDC curfew condition is monitored by the relevant electronic monitoring contractor.
For those living at a ClearSprings address who were serving a custodial sentence of less than 12 months and are over 21 years of age, ClearSprings provides support.
Data Protection: Local Government
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which local authorities the Information Commissioner has found to have breached the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 since 2000. [276854]
Mr. Wills: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the independent authority set up to enforce and oversee the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).
Since the commencement of the DPA in 2000, the ICO has assessed 290 local authorities for compliance with the data protection principles. The ICO aims to resolve complaints informally with data controllers in the first instance. The ICO issued an Enforcement Notice against Plymouth city council obliging it to comply with the principles of the DPA. The ICO also agreed one non-statutory undertaking against Leicester city council to ensure it fulfils its DPA obligations.
Human Rights: Costs
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of changes in Government policy or practice necessitated by judgments made by the European Court of Human Rights since 1998. [277111]
Mr. Wills: The implementation of a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights is the responsibility of the Department in charge of the policy area concerned, and measures implementing a judgment are often included in wider changes to policy or legislation. The specific cost, if any, of implementing individual judgments therefore cannot be separated out, which prevents such an estimate being made.
Isle of Man: Electricity Generation
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 359W, on British Overseas Territories: renewable energy, from what sources the remainder of the Isle of Man's electricity demands are generated. [276786]
Mr. Wills: In the year 2007-08, the Isle of Man's electricity demand was met approximately as follows: 84 per cent. gas (using combined cycle gas turbines), 10 per cent. imports, 4 per cent. energy from waste, 1 per cent. hydro and 1 per cent. diesel.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009, Official Report column 359W, on British Overseas Territories: renewable energy, what the annual cost of operating the hydro-generation facility in the Isle of Man is. [276805]
Mr. Wills: The Isle of Man hydro-generation facility has operational costs of typically less than £25,000 per annum and is a priority generator, subject to sufficient reservoir water levels.
Magistrates Courts: Costs
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average daily amount paid to a magistrate was in each of the last three years. [276750]
Mr. Straw: Magistrates are not paid for carrying out their duties but may claim allowances within specified limits for travel, subsistence and financial loss. The structure of HMCS' financial systems does not enable the calculation of the daily amount paid in allowances.
From 1 August 2008, magistrates may claim the following daily allowances:
| Day subsistence | |
| £ | |
| Financial loss | ||
| £ | ||
| Self-employed | Other | |
Approximately half of the 30,000 magistrates in England and Wales do not claim any allowances.
On average, magistrates sit 17.5 days per annum. The total loss of earnings and travel and subsistence costs paid to magistrates in each of the last three years was:
| £ | |
Prison Service: Pay
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of each (a) prison and (b) young offender institution's budget was spent on management staff salaries in the last 12 months. [277297]
Mr. Hanson: National Offender Management Unit finance systems provide analysis between unified and clerical staff but do not allow specific analysis of management salaries without a disproportionate amount of manual analysis. Each prison would need to be contacted individually and asked to undertake a manual analysis of their payroll. It is estimated that this would be a day's work at each prison.
Prisoners Release: Northern Ireland
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any prisoners transferred from a prison in Northern Ireland to a prison in England and Wales have since been released under the end of custody licence scheme. [277284]
Mr. Hanson: Prisoners transferred from Northern Ireland to serve their sentences in England and Wales may be released on ECL provided they meet the eligibility criteria.
Between the start of the end of custody licence (ECL) scheme in June 2007 and the end of April 2009, there have been eight transfers of prisoners from a Northern Ireland prison to a prison in England and Wales. None of these eight has been released on ECL.
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: Coltishall
Mr. Garnier:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) on what date his Department's final decision to acquire the site of RAF Coltishall for conversion into a
prison was taken; and on what date construction work for conversion of the buildings commenced; [277249]
(2) on what date his Department (a) decided to acquire, (b) acquired and (c) took unencumbered possession of RAF Coltishall; and on what date (i) construction on the site began and (ii) he expects the first prisoners to be received at HM Prison Coltishall. [277676]
Mr. Straw: In response to Lord Carter's report, “Securing the Future: Proposals for the Efficient and Sustainable Use of Custody in England and Wales” in January 2008 Ministers agreed to the acquisition of the former RAF Coltishall site in Norfolk for conversion to a prison.
The site had previously been under consideration by the Home Office as immigration detention centre since 2006 and the Ministry of Justice acquired the site from the UK Border Agency in March 2008.
The work which did not require planning approval began in April 2008. Work requiring approval began in February 2009.
The prison is due to receive the first 259 prisoners in November 2009 and become fully operational by spring 2010.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the (a) annualised capital and (b) annual revenue cost of each prisoner place at HM Prison Coltishall throughout its planned lifetime. [277274]
Mr. Straw: Work is currently being undertaken to establish and approve detailed running costs for the new prison at Coltishall.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department will pay to (a) the Ministry of Defence and (b) other freehold and leasehold owners of the land on which HM Prison Coltishall will be sited in each financial year in which payments will be made. [277275]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice owns the Coltishall site outright, and so there are no fees payable in terms of freehold and leasehold of the land.
Probation: North Yorkshire
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) probation officers and (b) probation service officers were employed by North Yorkshire Probation Area on 31 March of each of the last five financial years. [277057]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of probation officers and probation service officers in post in North Yorkshire probation area on 31 March in each of the last five financial years.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders in North Yorkshire Probation Area were categorised as tier 4 in each of the last five financial years. [277059]
Mr. Hanson: The total number of offenders in North Yorkshire who were categorised as tier 4 as at 31 March in each of the last three years was as follows:
| Number | |
Information on tier 4 was not recorded prior to 1 April 2005.
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.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) probation staff and (b) trainee probation officers are expected to be made redundant in North Yorkshire Probation Area in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12. [277060]
Mr. Hanson: Budget discussions will be taking place between the director of Offender Management and the North Yorkshire Area over the coming months and it is too early to pre-empt the outcome of these discussions. At this stage, no probation posts have been identified as being at risk and no formal notice of redundancy has been issued.
With regards to trainee probation officers, attempts are being made to ensure that all graduating trainees are offered positions at the end of their training.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the likely effect of planned job reductions in North Yorkshire Probation Area on the Probation Service's national standards and service delivery. [277061]
Mr. Hanson: The chief officer of North Yorkshire Probation Board is working closely with Steve Wagstaffe the Yorkshire and Humberside director of Offender Management to avoid compulsory redundancies in North Yorkshire in 2009-10.
The chief officer has assured the director of Offender Management for Yorkshire and Humberside that the North Yorkshire Probation Board will maintain national standards and deliver the level of service specified in the service level agreement for 2009-10.
Probation: Rural Areas
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how the funding formula for probation services takes account of the costs of providing probation services in rural areas. [277056]
Mr. Hanson: There are a number of factors taken into account to ensure that funding allocations are as fair as possible, including:
current financial performance and pressures;
detailed work by specifications benchmarking and costing programme to identify areas where efficiencies and savings can be achieved;
contrasting previous budget allocations with amalgamated indictable and summary convictions for the area. Adjustments have been made where data indicates significant (i.e. over 10 per cent.) relative over-provision compared to the norm; and
the need to avoid radical budget changes within any one area.
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