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7 July 2009 : Column 666W—continued
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to reply to the hon. Member for Walsall North’s letter of 26 May 2009 concerning a constituent. [284612]
Bridget Prentice: My noble Friend, Lord Bach, replied on 30 June. I apologise for the delay.
Non-molestation Orders
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people applied for a non-molestation order in county courts or the High Court in 2008; and how many were issued. [283596]
Mr. Straw: The numbers of non-molestation orders applied for and issued during 2008 have not yet been published. Quarterly figures covering 2008 are due to be published on the Ministry of Justice web site shortly.
Offenders: Milton Keynes
Mr. Lancaster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) male and (b) female offenders in each age group there were in the (i) Thames Valley and
(ii) Milton Keynes area in each of the last five years. [283852]
Claire Ward: The number of males and females, by age group, found guilty at all courts, or issued with a caution for all offences in Thames Valley police force area (PFA) can be viewed in the following table.
Court proceedings data held by the Ministry of Justice are not available for the Milton Keynes area.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
| Number of males and females by age group, found guilty at all courts( 1, 2) or issued with a caution( 2, 3, 4) for all offences in Thames Valley police force area, 2003-07 | ||||||
| Males | Females | |||||
| 10 to 17 years | 18 years and over | All ages | 10 to 17 years | 18 years and over | All ages | |
| (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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, it 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. (3) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time, the principal offence is the more serious offence. (4) From 1 June 2000, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit: Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice. | ||||||
Official Documents
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons the Government have not signed the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents. [284712]
Mr. Wills: The UK Government must be satisfied that their laws are compatible with the provisions of the Convention before they can make any decision to sign and then ratify the Convention.
On 10 June 2009, the Prime Minister announced that the UK Government intended to reduce the time taken to open official records to the public from 30 to 20 years, and to make two amendments to the exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to ensure that information access arrangements allow essential constitutional relationships and conventions to be preserved. These proposed amendments would have an impact upon our freedom of information legislation and so must first be carefully assessed.
The UK’s freedom of information regime is among the most open and rigorous in the world. It already goes further than the standards of the Convention in a number of areas.
Pleural Plaques
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to announce his decision on compensation for those with pleural plaques; and if he will make a statement. [284657]
Bridget Prentice: We intend to announce our decision and publish a response paper before the summer recess.
Prison Accommodation
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent steps his Department has taken to improve conditions in prisons. [284109]
Mr. Straw: The National Offender Management Service has a statutory duty to hold all prisoners in decent conditions.
As part of our commitment to increase the capacity of the prison estate to 96,000 places, we are building new prisons and expanding existing prisons. The new buildings produced by this capacity programme are providing modern accommodation that is fully compliant with relevant standards such as the new safer cell specification.
In addition, on 27 April I announced that, instead of building three 2,500 place “Titan” prisons, we plan to build five 1,500 place prisons. Our model will draw on best practice in the existing estate to provide first class regimes that will help offenders address their offending behaviour. The 7,500 places provided by these new prisons will allow for the closure of some of the most worn out places.
These measures support our aim, not only to provide additional capacity, but to modernise the estate and improve the quality of accommodation.
For existing accommodation, we have a rolling programme of refurbishment that allows the critical maintenance of the estate to be undertaken.
Probation: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding his Department has allocated to Essex Probation Service for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [283888]
Maria Eagle: The grant allocation to Essex probation area for the last five years is as follows:
| Grant allocation to Essex probation area (£) | |
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the rate of (a) absence and (b) absence resulting from injury at work was among Probation Service employees in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such absences; and if he will make a statement. [283889]
Maria Eagle: Sickness absence in Essex probation area and absence due to injury at work over the last five years is detailed in the table. Costs are calculated on average pay and include on-costs:
| April to March each year | All of Essex (days per FTE) | Cost (£) | Absence due to injury at work and cost |
There are no staff assigned specifically to the Castle Point area, and therefore only figures for the whole of the county of Essex have been provided.
Reoffenders
David Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of (a) persons discharged from prison and (b) persons on probation supervision
with an accredited programme reoffended within two years of release in the last period for which figures are available. [284304]
Maria Eagle: The latest statistics on reoffending published in May 2009 report the reoffending rates over a one-year follow up period.
The following table shows the one-year reoffending rates and frequency per 100 offenders for adult offenders who were discharged from custody or who commenced a community order or suspended sentence order and received an accredited programme requirement under that order, in the first quarter of 2007.
| Number of offenders | Proportion of offenders offending (percentage) | Number of offences per 100 offenders | |
| (1) Offenders who received an accredited programme as a requirement under their community or suspended sentence order. This may be the only requirement, or in combination with others. | |||
Further information on the one-year rates of reoffending can be found at:
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