Jon Cruddas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what (a) meetings he has held with and (b) representations he has received from the Mayor of London on possible sites for new prisons within London. [277474]
Mr. Straw:
As part of an exercise to identify potential sites for a prison in London, officials from the Ministry of Justice met the current Mayor in mid-2008 to discuss possible prison sites. Prior to this, a meeting was held in autumn 2007 with the former Mayor.
In addition, I spoke to the Mayor on 27 April 2009, the day of announcement of the site at Beam Park West to Parliament.
Probation Officers
Hugh Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to ensure that sufficient probation officers are trained over the next two years. [277055]
Mr. Hanson:
Five hundred and fifty probation officers graduate from their diploma course in autumn 2009 and 300 will graduate in autumn 2010. This is sufficient to meet expected vacancies for probation officers over the next two years. I intend to publish shortly a consultation on a new framework for qualifications training and career progression for probation practitioners which will be in place from April 2010.
3 Jun 2009 : Column 532W
Repossession Orders: Reading, Berkshire
Mr. Rob Wilson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in Reading, East constituency in each month of the last 10 years. [276995]
Bridget Prentice:
Figures for Reading, East constituency are not available. However, the tables show the number of mortgage and landlord possession orders made in Reading county court for each month from 1999.
These figures do not indicate how many homes have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order being made while not all court orders result in repossession.
The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, geographical boundaries of county courts may not necessarily be consistent with other administrative or constituency boundaries. Repossession orders made at Reading county court may therefore relate to properties in other constituencies besides Reading, East constituency.
The Ministry of Justice has published a consultation note on proposed changes in the National Statistics on mortgage and landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales. One of the proposed changes is to publish these statistics by local authority area, based on the physical locations of the properties which are the subject of the possession actions, as part of the regular statistical publication from 2009 quarter 2.
Further information can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at
Number of mortgage( 1 ) possession orders made( 2,3) in Reading county court by each month, 1999-2009
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009( 4)
January
48
6
31
18
23
3
41
85
56
46
41
February
28
32
7
22
12
66
19
43
32
56
(5)30
March
32
16
27
17
27
38
58
51
42
55
(5)30
April
20
25
20
37
8
25
37
46
39
63
May
13
28
29
8
55
12
37
37
50
69
June
25
38
21
20
25
24
46
26
41
50
July
13
9
34
27
24
38
42
43
51
67
August
10
16
34
9
2
38
79
56
42
64
September
39
34
27
30
70
34
71
84
60
78
October
0
42
0
24
29
16
39
40
44
67
November
38
15
11
11
2
36
46
64
39
43
December
29
20
13
14
59
49
19
53
28
42
Total
295
281
254
237
336
379
534
628
524
700
41
Number of landlord( 6) possession orders made( 2,3) in Reading county court by each month, 1999-2009
1999
2000
2001
2002
20Q3
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009( 4)
January
51
77
71
74
46
58
70
79
76
77
67
February
61
54
44
37
41
50
47
66
67
70
80
March
55
71
66
56
57
64
82
53
68
55
96
April
52
77
45
53
68
51
61
49
38
97
May
64
92
39
58
91
49
54
51
47
51
June
66
86
33
40
35
51
28
37
67
62
July
67
77
64
89
49
34
94
59
56
70
August
52
69
32
54
65
71
44
70
63
35
September
80
106
57
76
85
71
42
63
64
70
October
26
95
47
57
40
39
56
58
66
77
November
113
48
62
68
47
44
65
61
60
54
3 Jun 2009 : Column 533W
3 Jun 2009 : Column 534W
December
53
42
31
49
53
74
59
45
57
75
Total
740
894
591
711
677
656
702
691
729
793
243
(1) Includes all types of mortgage lenders. (2) The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. (3) Includes outright and suspended orders, the latter being where the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of suspension, which usually require the defendant to pay the current mortgage or rent instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced. (4) Figures for the latest quarter (January-March 2009) are provisional. And figures for quarter 2 (April-June) are yet to be released by Ministry of Justice as National Statistics. (5) The Mortgage Pre Action Protocol for possession claims relating to mortgage or home purchase arrears was introduced on 19 November 2008. Its introduction has coincided with a substantial fall in the number of new mortgage possession claims in 2008 quarter 4 and subsequently In the number of mortgage possession orders in 2009 quarter 1. (6 )The landlord data include all types of landlords whether social or private sector, and cover orders made using both the standard and accelerated possession procedures. The accelerated procedure is used by landlords in relation to shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. It enables orders to be made by the court solely on the basis of written evidence and without calling the parties to hearings. Source:
Ministry of Justice