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9 Sep 2009 : Column 2034W—continued
Robbery: Children
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children were (a) charged and (b) cautioned for robbery in (i) the East of England and (ii) Suffolk in each of the last five years. [286266]
Claire Ward:
Information showing the number of children aged 10 to 17 who have been proceeded against at magistrates courts and cautioned for robbery in the
East of England region and Suffolk police force area is shown in tables 1 and 2. The Ministry of Justice do not collect charging data; proceeded against information has been provided in lieu.
| Table 1: Number of persons aged 10 to 17, proceeded against at magistrates courts for robbery, in the East of England region and Suffolk police force area , 2003- 07( 1,)( )( 2) | ||
| East of England region( 3) | Suffolk police force area | |
| (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. (3) The East of England region includes Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit-Office for Criminal Justice Reform | ||
| Table 2: Number of offenders aged 10 to 17 cautioned( 1) for robbery in the East of England region and Suffolk police force area, 2003-07( 2, 3) | ||
| East of England region( 4) | Suffolk | |
| (1) 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. (2) 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. (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 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. (4) East of England region includes Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit-Office for Criminal Justice Reform | ||
Sentencing : Courts
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review the (a) sentencing practices and procedures and (b) operational procedures at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester by comparison with other Crown courts dealing with similar cases. [290619]
Mr. Wills: It would not be appropriate for the Government to review or comment on sentencing practices at an individual court. Within the statutory framework set by Parliament, sentencing decisions are a matter for the judiciary, taking into account the particular circumstances of the case.
Minshull street Crown court has effective procedures in place to manage the criminal cases brought before it. In 2008-09 80.5 per cent. of the court's cases commenced
within target against a national KPI of 78 per cent. and it reduced its ineffective trial rate from 10.8 per cent. to 9.5 per cent.
Treatment Programmes
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners entered (a) detoxification, (b) maintenance, (c) 12 step, (d) cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), (e) shorter duration CBT and (f) therapeutic community treatment programmes in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09; and at what cost for each type of programme in each year. [288087]
Maria Eagle: The table provides figures for prisoners recorded as entering drug treatment in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
The Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) is bringing improvements to the quality and volume of drug treatment in prisons. IDTS allows a closer integration of clinical and psychosocial drug treatment services in order to ensure that the interventions delivered are more closely matched to the individual needs of prisoners, dependent upon the stage of their treatment they are at.
The 2008-09 Key Performance Target for drug treatment programmes focused on completions rather than starts. Across prisons and the community there were 15,434 accredited drug programme and Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR) completions-exceeding the target of 12,919.
Most expenditure on accredited drug treatment programmes comes from prison service general funding. It is currently not possible to accurately disaggregate these costs. However, NOMS is undertaking a specifications, benchmarking and costings exercise which will provide more detailed information on the costs of interventions delivered in prisons.
Welsh Assembly Government : Prosecutions
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has with the Welsh Assembly Government on its powers to postpone prosecutions brought under the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Wales) Regulations 2009; and what mechanisms are in place for monitoring the use of those powers. [288061]
Claire Ward: There are no provisions in these regulations to enable the postponement of prosecutions for offences under food contact materials legislation. Therefore, there have been no discussions with the Welsh Assembly Government on this issue.
Culture, Media and Sport
Casinos: Licensing
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to publish his Department's second consultation paper on availability to play; and when he expects the local authorities whose bids for small and large casino licences have been successful to be able to hold competitions for the operation of those licences. [290760]
Mr. Simon: The Government's consultation on proposals for regulations in order to define what would constitute a gaming table in the new categories of casino established by the Gambling Act 2005 closed on 15 May 2009. The Gambling Act 2005 (Gaming Tables in Casinos) (Definitions) Regulations 2009 were laid before Parliament on 20 July 2009 and came into force on 11 August 2009.
It is up to the individual licensing authorities whose bids for small and large casino licences were successful to decide when they will invite and consider applications for the operation of those licences. None of them have yet done so.
Digital Broadcasting: Radio
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department's proposals for the analogue radio switch-off in 2015 have been submitted for rural proofing to the (a) Commission for Rural Communities and (b) Rural Advocate. [290702]
Mr. Simon: The Digital Britain White Paper set out our commitment to a full impact assessment of the Digital Radio Upgrade; including consideration of the rural impact. To inform these assessments we will work closely with the relevant stakeholders, such as the Commission for Rural Communities and the Rural Advocate.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the merits of providing financial assistance to (a) low-income households and (b) households in hilly rural areas in respect of the analogue radio switch-off in 2015. [290704]
Mr. Simon: The Digital Britain White Paper set out our commitment to conduct a full impact assessment, including a cost benefit analysis of Digital Radio Upgrade. The results of this impact assessment will help determine whether there is a case for a Digital Radio Help Scheme, and if so, what its scope would be.
In addition, the Consumer Expert Group, which brought together key consumer representatives to inform the Digital TV switchover process, has been invited to extend its scope to cover radio and will ensure that the Digital Radio Upgrade programme takes account of the wide range of listener needs.
English Heritage: Educational Visits
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what target has been set by English Heritage for free education visits each year from 2008-09 until the end of the funding agreement period. [290851]
Barbara Follett: English Heritage has set targets for the number of free education visits to its sites for the period of its current Funding Agreement as set out in the following table.
| Target | |
This represents a revision of the aim to reach 650,000 visits by 2010 set out in Making the Past Part of Our Future in 2005, and reflects changing patterns of visits across the sector and an increased emphasis on more interactive, facilitated visits to reflect educational needs. This is being delivered through a series of new Discovery Visits, hands-on programmes which have been introduced at 60 sites since 2006.
English Heritage: Manpower
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff are employed in communications, media, press and other public relations roles by English Heritage. [290852]
Mr. Simon: Information from English Heritage is that it employs 10 full-time equivalent staff in these roles, each of whom has a direct communications, media, press or public relations role.
Gambling: Gibraltar
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the reasons for which William Hill and Ladbrokes decided to relocate their betting operations from the UK to Gibraltar; and if he will make a statement. [290759]
Mr. Simon: This was a commercial decision for the two companies. The Secretary of State has not made any formal assessment of the reasons for which William Hill and Ladbrokes decided to move their online betting operations from the UK to Gibraltar.
Heritage Lottery Fund: Manpower
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff are employed in communications, media, press and other public relations roles by the Heritage Lottery Fund. [290853]
Mr. Simon: Information from the Heritage Lottery Fund is that it employs 8.5 full-time equivalent staff in these roles, each of whom has a direct communications, media, press or public relations role.
Horse Racing: Bookmakers
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of progress towards resolution of the on-course bookmakers' dispute; and if he will make a statement. [290761]
Mr. Simon: My friend the Minister for Sport wrote to the Federation of British Bookmakers and Racecourse Association on 28 July setting out his current thoughts about the unresolved issues around on-course bookmaking.
He has strongly encouraged both sides to show willingness to compromise so that mutually acceptable solutions can be found, and he expects the outstanding issues to be resolved through negotiations, which officials have been helping to facilitate.
Another meeting of the Working Group is to be convened on 22 September to assess progress. We will continue to keep all options under review, including the legislative option.
Licensing
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many fast food outlets have been granted a late night refreshment licence in (a) England and Wales, (b) Essex and (c) Southend-on-Sea in each of the last two years. [290940]
Mr. Simon: Late night refreshment permissions allow for the provision of hot food or drink to the public, for consumption on or off the premises, between 11pm and 5am or the supply of hot food or hot drink to any persons between those hours on or from premises to which the public has access. This is however not restricted to fast food outlets, and can be granted to any premises type (for example, restaurants, bars and pubs). Although a licence is needed for sales between 11pm and 5am, it does not necessarily mean that a premises will have a licence for the whole of that period or that, if it did, it would necessarily operate those hours.
The Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment Licensing Statistical Bulletin, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003, reported there were an estimated 67,500 premises licences with late night refreshment permissions in England and Wales as of 31 March 2007, and an estimated 76,800 premises licences with late night refreshment permissions in England and Wales as of 31 March 2008.
In Essex there were 1,207 premises licences with late night refreshment as of 31 March 2007 (this excludes, Braintree, Brentwood, Maldon and Thurrock whom did not respond to this question) and 1,498 premises licences with late night refreshment as of 31 March 2008 (this excludes Braintree, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock who did not answer).
Southend-on-Sea had 279 premises licences with late night refreshment as of 31 March 2007. They did not respond to this question in 2008.
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