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24 Jun 2009 : Column 925W—continued
The 2008 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.
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.
The total number of full time equivalent staff employed by the Probation Service as at 31 March from 2005 to 2007 (latest figures available) are shown in the following table:
| Probation—staff in post figures by region, England and Wales 2005-07 | |||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Notes: 1. Figures provided are full time equivalent (FTE) and are as at 31 March for each year. 2. Information for 2008 is currently unavailable. | |||
Probation
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the implications for the West Mercia Probation Trust of the proposed merger of the Staffordshire and West Midlands trusts; whether it is his policy to organise the Probation Service on a regional basis; and if he will make a statement. [281312]
Mr. Straw: I am aware of the proposed merger of the Staffordshire and West Midlands probation areas. A first application is anticipated in July for Trust status, subject to further endorsement by the two separate boards.
I have made it clear that any proposals on future trust configurations should come from local areas and not be prescribed either regionally or nationally. Already within the West Midlands region, and on a national basis, areas with smaller budgets than West Mercia have applied for and achieved Trust status.
The West Mercia Probation Trust is a first wave trust but it is required to be reassessed in accordance with the new national requirements. It has made one unsuccessful application under the new arrangements and is intending to resubmit in November 2009. Once all areas in the West Midlands region have achieved trust status, whether in their present or merger form, they will be expected to work collaboratively as required to achieve best value in the delivery of their statutory duties.
The Director of Offender Management's office in the West Midlands is currently supporting the efforts of West Mercia Probation Trust to assist them in achieving re-alignment with second wave Trust status.
Probation: Databases
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many records are held on the (a) Delius, (b) CRAMS and (c) other Probation Service IT case management systems. [280237]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice’s Offender Management and Sentencing Analytical Service has indicated that, on average, the breakdown between types of case management systems is 112,000 (40 per cent.) of offender records held in Delius, 98,000 (35 per cent.) held in CRAMS and 70,000 (25 per cent.) held in other systems (ICMS, In Case and IIMS).
Probation: North Yorkshire
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people from North Yorkshire were (a) convicted of an offence and (b) referred to the Probation Service for (i) reports and (ii) supervision in each of the last five years. [277054]
Maria Eagle: The number of persons found guilty at all courts for all
offences in the North Yorkshire Police Force Area, for the years 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is given in table 1.
These data are on the principal offence basis. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
| Table 1: The number of persons found guilty at all courts for all offences in North Yorkshire P olice Force Area, 2003- 07( 1,2) | |
| Found guilty | |
| 1 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty Is the most severe. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it Is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken Into account when those data are used. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit - Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice | |
| Table 2: Total number of offenders starting supervision in North Yorkshire as at 31 March in each of the last five years | |
| Number | |
| Table 3 : Total number of court reports written in the North Yorkshire probation area between the years 2006 and 2008 | |
| Number | |
Before 2006, the number of court reports written in North Yorkshire is not centrally available.
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: South Yorkshire
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding his Department has allocated to South Yorkshire Probation Service in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [281722]
Maria Eagle: The resource budget allocations for the South Yorkshire probation area since 2001 are given in the table.
As a result of changes to the budget allocation methodology, plus Machinery of Government changes and accounting methodology changes, it is difficult to compare figures over a long period.
| South Yorkshire probation area budgets 2001-02 to 2008-09 | |
| Area : South Yorkshire | |
| Revenue (£000) | |
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the rate of (a) absence and (b) absence resulting from ill-health was among South Yorkshire Probation Service staff in 2008-09; what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such absences; and if he will make a statement. [281723]
Maria Eagle: The combined rate of all types of absence is not collected however the rate of absence resulting from ill-health (i.e. sickness absence) for South Yorkshire Probation Service staff in 2008-09 was 14.3 days per person. The total cost of sickness absence for South Yorkshire Probation Service, including on costs, for 2008-09 was £1,026,760. In order to address this South Yorkshire Probation Service have launched a sickness absence action plan which has made a significant impact on the incidence of sickness absence. Current levels of sickness absence are 8.2 days per employee.
Pupils: Absenteeism
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many parents in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point have appeared in court on charges related to the unauthorised absence from school of their child in the last (i) six, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months. [281319]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply
The Department has policy responsibility for school attendance. However, the Ministry of Justice collects and publishes data for England and Wales on prosecutions brought against parents under the Education Act 1996 for the offence under s444(1) of failing to secure their child's regular attendance at school; and for prosecutions under s444(1A), the aggravated offence of knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly. It is possible, because of the way courts record data, that some section 444 data is also collected under the more general heading of various offences under the Education Act 1996.
The Ministry of Justice collects prosecution data on the basis of police force areas only and not constituency area. Information on the number of parents prosecuted in Essex for failing to secure their children's regular school attendance between 2006 to 2007 (latest available data) is detailed in the table below. Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
| Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts for offences under the Education Act 1996 S.444( 1) , in Essex police force area, 2006 to 2007( 2,3) | |
| Number | |
| (1) Includes the following: (a) Failure to secure regular attendance at school. (Education Act 1996 S.444 (1)(8)). (b) Parent knows that their child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school. (Education Act 1996 S.444(8)(1a)(8a) added by Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 S.72). (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit - Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice | |
Remand in Custody: Children
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children have been remanded in custody in each local authority area in each of the last five years. [281503]
Maria Eagle:
The decision whether to grant bail or to remand a young person to the care of a local authority or to custody is a matter for the courts, which apply the statutory framework principally set out in the Bail Act 1976. The data in the tables have been supplied by the
Youth Justice Board from administrative computer systems. Table A shows the number of remands to (prison) custody in each of the last five years and table B shows the number of remands to local authority care with a security requirement in each of the last five years. Statistics are available only by Youth Offending Team (YOT) area. Where the YOT covers more than one local authority area (as in Wessex, for example) it is not possible to indicate the young person’s home local authority.
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