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1 Sep 2009 : Column 1775W—continued
Prisoners: Assaults
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prisoner on prisoner and (b) prisoner on prison officer assaults have been recorded in each prison in each month of 2009 to date; and if he will make a statement. [286487]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is compiled on an annual basis.
The figures for 2009 will be available in early 2010. However, I refer the hon. Lady to the latest information covering the years 2004 to 2008 that I have placed in the Libraries of the House.
Violence in prisons is not tolerated. The National Offender Management Service is working with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that perpetrators of violence in prisons are dealt with through the courts where is appropriate to do so.
Prisons: Drugs
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on drug testing in prisons in each financial year from 2002-03 to 2008-09. [285884]
Maria Eagle: Many prison officers responsible for the mandatory drug testing (MDT) process do not work exclusively on the testing of prisoners. The cost of MDT staff resources cannot be disaggregated from the overall prison running costs.
Probation
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the ratio of offenders to probation service staff in the Hampshire probation area was in each of the last five years. [281377]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is shown the following table. A data validation exercise is currently taking place on the area work force information for 2008.
| Hampshire | |
Probation Officers: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) probation service officers and (b) probation officers there were in the Essex probation area in each of the last five years. [286535]
Maria Eagle: The number of probation service officers (PSOs) and probation officers (POs) in Essex probation area in each of the last five years is shown in the table.
| Financial year | POs | PSOs | Total frontline |
The trend towards employing larger numbers of PSOs and fewer POs is one that has occurred in many counties and recognises that there are many tasks that can be undertaken by PSOs that historically were completed by POs. In Essex probation area this change was completed
as part of a planned staff restructuring process and was undertaken following full consultation with the local trade unions.
Probation: West Midlands
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average change in caseload for trained probation officers in West Mercia between 2002 and 2007 was. [282643]
Maria Eagle: The average case load per qualified probation officer was 15 orders in 2002 and 23 orders in 2007.
Prosecutions: Metals
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been prosecuted for offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 in England and Wales in each of the last five years. [288248]
Claire Ward: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts for offences in relation to the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964, in England and Wales for the years 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table. From information held by my department it is not possible to separately identify prosecutions for specific offences detailed within the Act.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. 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.
| Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts, offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 England and Wales, 2003 - 07( 1, 2) | |
| Proceeded against | |
| (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: Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice | |
Reoffenders: Manchester
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders from Greater Manchester were charged with each category of violent offence while under supervision by the Probation Service in each of the last five years. [282041]
Maria Eagle: The National Offender Management Service holds information on the number of offenders charged with serious further (violent) offences whilst under probation supervision for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08. However, this does not include all types of violent offence. The following table contains data on the number of offenders, managed by Greater Manchester probation area, who were charged with certain violent offences, where there was a requirement initially to notify the National Offender Management Service, in line with the Serious Further Offence Probation Circulars 06/2006 and 41/2006.
Security
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many breaches of security at his Department's Petty France office were recorded in the last 12 months. [279222]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records as incidents any breach of security rules or events that have resulted in or had the potential to result in the loss, damage or harm to assets.
The total number of recorded security breaches/incidents occurring in 102 Petty France (MoJ HQ) for the last reporting year was 25.
Most of these were low-level departures from security procedures by staff and none were assessed to be significant, for example not displaying their passes adequately. They were identified via enforcement activity/inspections. Remedial action was taken in all cases to address areas of non-compliance and ensure no re-occurrence.
The MoJ is applying the Government's Security Policy Framework to control risks effectively, efficiently and reliably across its organisation. This includes a regime of education and awareness for staff/contractors, robust implementation of controls to manage risks to a reasonably practicable level and a physical security monitoring/inspection and auditing regime across its HQ estate.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many breaches of security at his Department were recorded in each of the last two years. [279223]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice records as incidents any breach of security rules or events that have resulted in or had the potential to result in the loss of, damage to or harm to assets. The total number of centrally recorded security breaches/incidents occurring within the Ministry of Justice for the 2008-09 and 2007-08 reporting year is broken down as follows:
| 2008-09 | |
| 2007-08 | |
Of the total, over 80 per cent. relate to incidents involving prisons and courts. This needs to be put into the context of the challenges faced with work in the high-risk prison environment. 2008-09 saw the lowest number of escapes from prisons to date; abscond performance is good and improving.
The Ministry of Justice is applying the Government's Security Policy Framework to control risks across its organisation.
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