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9 Sep 2009 : Column 2016W—continued
Bankruptcy
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people have (a) entered into an individual voluntary arrangement and (b) been declared bankrupt in (i) York, (ii) North Yorkshire, (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iv) England in each relevant year since 1979; [290651]
(2) how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in (a) York, (b) North Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and Humberside and (d) England in each year since 1979. [290655]
Mr. Wills: Data on the number of mortgage possession claims in the county courts leading to an order being made for homes in York, North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and Humberside and England for 2000 to 2008 are shown in the following table.
| Number of mortgage possession claims leading to an order being made for homes in York, North Yorkshire, Yorkshire and Humberside and England 2000-08 | |||||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Ministry of Justice | |||||||||
Corresponding figures for earlier years are not available. The statistics showing mortgage possession claims in the county courts leading to an order being made, broken down by local authority based on the locations of the properties which were the subject of the possession actions, were published for the first time by the Ministry of Justice in August 2009. These can be found on the Ministry's website at:
Statistics broken down by individual court for 1987 onwards can also be found on the Ministry of Justice website.
These figures do not indicate how many homes have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order being made, while not all court orders result in repossession.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of people who have entered into individual voluntary arrangement or have been declared bankrupt. Figures published by the Ministry of Justice show the number of bankruptcy petitions presented to the courts and therefore are not exact measures of bankruptcies. Court level statistics on bankruptcy petitions from 2007 onwards are available on the Ministry of Justice website at:
These figures are not available broken down by local authority.
The insolvency service publishes statistics on a quarterly basis on individual voluntary arrangement and individual insolvencies. The data can be accessed on their website at:
Convictions
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there have been for offences under the Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980. [288274]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply
There have been no convictions under the Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980 during the last five years. An investigation into whether there have been any convictions prior to this is likely to involve disproportionate expense.
Copyright: Music
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of offences of copying music stored on a compact disc to a digital format for their own personal use in each of the last 20 years. [290627]
Claire Ward: Personal copying is a civil matter and not a criminal offence. As a result, there are no criminal convictions in relation to such an activity. Copying from one media to another becomes a criminal offence under Section 107 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 only if conducted on a scale prejudicial to the interests of the legitimate rights holder, or in the course of business.
Crime: Internet
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance is given to the judiciary on the gravity of instances of online child abuse. [288880]
Mr. Straw: In April 2007, the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council published a definitive guideline on the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This includes guidance to the judiciary on the offences of child prostitution, child pornography and 'Grooming'.
This and all other published guidelines can be viewed at
Departmental Invoices
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in June 2009. [288917]
Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is fully committed to achieving compliance with the Prime Minister's target of paying suppliers within 10 days where possible, and is a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code. The MOJ has only been collecting performance data for the proportion of invoices paid within 10 days of receipt of a supplier invoice since November 2008. Performance since that date is set out in the following table.
| Percentage paid within 10 day target | Number of invoices paid within 10 days | |
The Ministry has recognised that its performance against the target must improve, and has implemented a prompt payment improvement programme to address the issue. The results from April in the table indicate that this is having an effect, and further improvements will be evident as the programme progresses.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent on (i) publicity and (ii) advertising in 2008-09. [276478]
Mr. Straw: I apologise to the hon. and learned gentleman for the unacceptable delay in answering this question.
(a) The Ministry's accounting records do not distinguish between expenditure on advertising and publicity. Work to differentiate the two components would incur disproportionate cost. Combined expenditure during 2008-09 was as follows:
| £ | |
| (1) The figure shown for NOMS is recorded as recruitment expenditure on their accounting system. | |
Over 95 per cent. of the Ministry's expenditure on advertising and promotion relates to recruitment, with the majority of recruitment activity being within NOMS to ensure sufficient prison officers are in post to operate effectively the prison system.
As a result, the figure for NOMS may include other recruitment expenditure, not considered to be publicity and advertising. Work to split out publicity and advertising spend from the total recruitment amount would incur disproportionate cost.
The NOMS figure also excludes expenditure by the 42 local probation boards and trusts whose records are held locally and could be collated only at disproportionate
cost. A one-off exercise undertaken in 2007-08 found that expenditure on advertising and promotion by local probation boards and trusts was £58,264. There are no current plans to repeat this information-gathering exercise for 2008-09.
(b) To collate information for all of the Ministry's non-departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) would incur disproportionate cost. However, the expenditure of the Ministry's three largest NDPBs which account for 97 per cent. of NDPB expenditure (excluding Legal Aid) is as follows:
| £ | |
| (2) The legal services commission did not record any expenditure on advertising for 2008-09. The figure of £367,000 provided is for publicity spend only. | |
2008-09 accounts are still being finalised by the Ministry, its agencies and NDPBs. Figures may therefore be subject to adjustment during the annual audit process.
Departmental Plants
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on (a) pot plants and (b) cut flowers in 2008-09. [280020]
Mr. Straw: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in answering this question.
The information requested is set out as follows and covers expenditure for pot plants and cut flowers during 2008-09 for the Ministry of Justice headquarters and Her Majesty's Courts Service:
(a) Pot plants-£23,824.49(1)
(b) Cut flowers-£5,935.77(1)
(1) Excluding VAT
While there is a very slight increase in the cost of pot plants on the year 2007-08, the overall cost of plants and flowers incurred by the MoJ in the year 2008-09 has been significantly reduced. As consolidation of the MoJ estate evolves it is anticipated these numbers will reduce further.
Upon re-tender of the Facilities Management contract, the provision of cut flowers was seen as an area for immediate cost reduction and duly ceased in August 2008.
There is a slight decrease in the figure given for cut flowers in comparison to an earlier answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle), Minister of State for Justice, to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) on 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1257W. This is due to the earlier figure being based on an annual budget figure and the current figure being based on actual yearly expenditure, which was slightly less than what was originally budgeted for.
The figures do not include costs from the Tribunal Service or the National Offender Management Service as no separate accounting code is used to record pot plants or cut flowers and to obtain this information would require a manual trawl of each division at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what expenditure his Department incurred on (a) entertainment, (b) advertising and promotion and (c) public relations consultancy in 2008-09. [276480]
Mr. Straw: I apologise to the hon. and learned Gentleman for the unacceptable delay in answering this question.
| (a) Entertainment | £ |
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