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	2003			2004			2005
		Sentenced to:			Sentenced to:			Sentenced to:
	Found guilty	Immediate custody	Maximum custody	Found guilty	Immediate custody	Maximum custody	Found guilty	Immediate custody	Maximum custody
Having possession of a controlled drug: MDMA	2,009	81	0	1,853	60	0	1,677	61	0
Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: MDMA	746	461	0	603	394	0	557	342	0
Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in) MDMA	219	127	0	172	100	0	167	91	0
Having possession of a controlled drug: Cannabis and cannabis resin	25,714	288	0	(4)13,320	(4)161	(5)2	12,095	136	5
Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Cannabis and cannabis resin	1,470	475	0	1,247	420	0	993	272	0
Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): Cannabis and cannabis	522	222	0	456	156	0	393	135	0

	2006			2007
		Sentenced to:			Sentenced to:
	Found guilty	Immediate custody	Maximum custody	Found guilty	Immediate custody	Maximum custody
Having possession of a controlled drug: MDMA	1,539	62	0	1,590	70	0
Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: MDMA	434	256	0	513	276	0
Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in) MDMA	169	81	0	169	73	0
Having possession of a controlled drug: Cannabis and cannabis resin	12,536	141	2	14,073	162	6
Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Cannabis and cannabis resin	957	240	0	958	232	0
Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, (or being concerned in): Cannabis and cannabis	385	101	0	367	101	0
(1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has 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) Staffordshire Police Force were only able to submit sample data for parsons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. (4) Cannabis was reclassified in January 2004 to a class C drug. Guidelines advised that offenders over the age of 18 could be given, for possession only, a "cannabis warning" which does not constitute a criminal record. (5) Following reclassification in January 2004 to a class C drug, statutory maximum penalty for possession of cannabis was downgraded from five to two years. The offenders shown here were sentenced to two years imprisonment although it is not known what maximum would have applied to these offenders on the day their offences took place. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Evidence and Analysis unit (OCJR-E&A).

Freedom of Information

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) which requests for information received by his Department under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in 2008 were (a) classified as not resolvable and (b) refused in full; [286130]

(2) in respect of which requests for information received by his Department in 2008 under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 it has received permission to extend the deadline for a response by more than 40 days; and what the reason for the request for an extension was in each case. [286160]

Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the performance of central Government in dealing with requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.

In 2008, the Ministry of Justice received 2,492 requests under the Act. Of these, 529 sought information which was not held by the Department, and in respect of a further 426, the requester was provided with advice and assistance because further information was needed in order to identify the information being sought. The remaining 1,537 requests were "resolvable", in that it was possible for the Department to make a substantive decision on whether to release the information being requested, 393 of these were refused in full.

Where a qualified exemption applies to information sought, the Freedom of Information Act allows public bodies additional time to consider whether the balance of the public interest falls in favour of releasing or withholding that information. Of those requests initially received by the Ministry of Justice during 2008 which were answered by the time the annual statistics were collected, the deadline for response was extended for more than 40 working days on 45 occasions.

The 2008 statistics can be found at the following address:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/foi-statistics-report-2008.pdf

15 July 2009 : Column 443W

HM Prison Service: Secondment

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff of his Department have been seconded to HM Prison Service for the purposes of its bid for the next round of market testing. [286583]

Maria Eagle: 21 staff have been redeployed within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in response to the announcement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor on 27 April 2009.

Interim Possession Order

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how long on average elapsed between an application for and a ruling on an Interim Possession Order in the latest period for which figures are available. [285776]

Bridget Prentice: The main administrative system in the county courts of England and Wales (CaseMan) recorded that in 2008 there were 299 applications for an Interim Possession Order. CaseMan does not identify which orders following these applications were made for interim possession, were rulings on these, or were other types of orders. However, the first order will often be for interim possession and the second a ruling on this. Of the 128 cases that involved a second order being made, the average (mean) time from application to the second possession order was 45 days, while the median time was 29 days.

Local Government Association

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will use his powers under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to designate the Local Government Association as a public authority for the purposes of the Act. [285775]

Mr. Wills: In the Prime Minister's statement on Constitutional Renewal on 10 June 2009, he noted our plans to look at broadening the application of the Freedom of Information Act.

We have considered carefully the responses to the public consultation on designating additional public authorities under the Act through a section 5 order and will publish our full response to the consultation by the summer.

Prisoners

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners aged (i) between 60 and 65 years, (ii) between 66 and 70 years, (iii) between 71 and 75 years, (iv) between 76 and 80 years and (v) over 80 years there were in April of each year since 1997. [285789]

Maria Eagle: The following table shows the information requested for prison population in England and Wales as at 30 June in each year from 2002 to 2008. The data to provide figures for earlier years are not available centrally.

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	Age bands
	60-65	66-70	71-75	76-80	over 80
Female
2002	17	4	2	0	0
2003	22	7	4	0	1
2004	13	6	3	1	3
2005	21	4	1	1	1
2006	38	7	2	2	0
2007	44	9	4	1	0
2008	48	11	4	1	1
Male
2002	910	370	151	40	17
2003	922	373	170	46	19
2004	934	431	184	62	19
2005	1,030	435	204	62	17
2006	1,090	478	241	77	19
2007	1,269	549	236	78	23
2008	1,341	607	254	102	25

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