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18 Jun 2009 : Column 496W—continued
Prisoners: Compensation
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Prison Service paid in compensation to prisoners in respect of damaged or lost property in 2008-09. [279224]
Mr. Straw: £25,361 was paid out in settlement of prisoner civil litigation claims for damaged or lost property in 2008-09. Figures for settlements of claims resolved through the internal complaints system or through the Prison and Probation Ombudsman are not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Elderly
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners in England and Wales are over (i) 70 and (ii) 75 years old. [279881]
Mr. Straw: The number of male and female prisoners aged 70 and up to 74, and over 75 years old at the end of April 2009 is as follows:
| Male | Female | |
| (1) Fewer than 5 | ||
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
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2009, Official Report, column 797W, on prisons, how long on average elapsed between prisoners' cells being unlocked in the morning and prisoners being returned to their cells in the evening in each month between January 1997 and March 2007. [279845]
Mr. Straw: The figures requested are set out in the following table.
| Monthly average time unlocked (hours per prisoner per day) | |||||||||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
Probation
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many directors of offender management there have been in each month since their inception of the post. [279891]
Mr. Straw: The first six directors of Offender Management took up their posts on 30 March 2009. An interim director also took up post on this date. The remaining three directors of Offender Management took up their posts during April. All 10 directors have been in post since 27 April 2009.
To assist in the design and development of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) agency, Wales and the London region piloted an integrated management structure during the 2008-09 financial year. The two managers who led these pilots were called directors of Offender Management and held these posts from 1 April 2008 to 27 March 2009.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many probation offices there were in each year since 1997; [279892]
(2) how many probation offices are open. [279893]
Mr. Straw: Information on the number of probation offices there were in each year since 1997 is not held or recorded centrally. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as it would require approaching 42 probation trusts and areas across England and Wales.
Current central estates records show there are 1,049 occupied probation properties, of which 95 are Approved Premises.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the caseload was of the Probation Service in (a) London and (b) England and Wales on the latest date for which information is available. [280183]
Maria Eagle: The total case load of offenders supervised by the probation service in London and England and Wales as at 31 December 2008 was as follows:
| All probation service supervision at 31 December 2008 | |
| £ | |
These figures are provisional and were published on 30 April 2009 in the Ministry of Justice statistics bulletin probation statistics quarterly brief October to December 2008, England and Wales. Copies can be found in the
Libraries of the House and may be accessed via the Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/probation quarterly.htm
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.
Probation Service for England and Wales: Finance
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budgetary reductions there will be for the Probation Service in England and Wales in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [280185]
Maria Eagle: A budget reduction of £20 million has been applied to the national probation service in 2009-10. No final decisions have been taken regarding the budget allocation for 2010-11.
We have set challenging efficiency targets for probation areas who want to become trusts, but in doing so we have always been clear that the priority is public protection and this will not be compromised.
In 2009-10, probation is required to make savings of £20 million out of a budget of £914 million, which was 2.2 per cent. In 2008-09, provisional figures show that probation areas underspent by £17 million, which demonstrates that the savings are completely realistic.
Public Opinion: Ministry of Justice
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he made of the level of public confidence in the criminal justice system in 2008. [279249]
Mr. Straw:
Public confidence in the criminal justice system (CJS) is measured using the British crime survey (BCS). In the year to March 2008 44 per cent. of people were confident that the CJS is effective in bringing
people who commit crimes to justice. This rose from 39 per cent. in 2003, and met the Government’s target for the period 2003—2008.
The BCS now includes measures of public confidence in both the fairness and the effectiveness of the CJS as a whole. During the period from October 2007 to March 2008, 56 per cent. of people were confident that the CJS as a whole is fair and 37 per cent. were confident that it is effective. From April to December 2008 the level of confidence in fairness increased to 58 per cent., while confidence in effectiveness has so far remained stable.
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