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21 Oct 2009 : Column 1476W—continued
or a citizen of the Irish Republic resident in the UK.
At 1 September 2009 the trained strength of the UK armed forces was 174,570. As at 14 October 2009, there are 9,760 personnel in the armed forces whose records show they are not eligible to vote in a general election. There are 400 personnel in the armed forces serving in Afghanistan whose records show they are not eligible to vote in the next general election.
The Government are committed to facilitating the participation of all service personnel in the next general election. A current campaign run by the Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Defence involves every armed forces unit, raising awareness of registration for service personnel and their families. To further support this work, the Government have announced that they will extend the service declaration period from three to five years as soon as parliamentary time allows. I recently met armed forces families' representatives and I have written to invite MPs with service establishments in their constituencies to meet with me and give their views on improvements to service voting arrangements. At present, the legislation allows service voters to vote by post or by proxy: we are working with the MOD and the Electoral Commission to ensure that we have in place the most effective measures to support participation among service personnel.
Jury Service
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people were summoned for jury service in each year since 1997; and how many and what proportion were disqualified, broken down by reason for disqualification; [294198]
(2) what proportion of those summoned for jury service were disqualified on each ground for disqualification in each year since 1997. [294258]
Bridget Prentice: The following table provides information from the Jury Central Summoning Board on the number of people summoned for jury service in the Crown court from 2001 to 2008. The table also provides information on the number of people who did not qualify for jury service.
As the number of disqualifications reported for a given year may include disqualifications for summons that were issued in previous years, a direct proportion of the total summons issued cannot be calculated. Information prior to 2001 is not available.
Numbers on disqualifications are classified into the three different groups. A more detailed breakdown is not available.
Annual statistics on jury summons are published by the Ministry of Justice in the annual command paper "Judicial and Court Statistics". The most recent edition, presenting statistics for 2008, was published in September 2009. Copies are available in the Library of the House and from the Ministry of Justice website at:
| Number of people summoned for jury service in the Crown c ourt, 2001 - 08( 1) | ||||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (1) The number of disqualifications reported for a given year may include disqualifications for summons that were issued in previous years. Therefore, disqualifications as a percentage of the total number of summons issued within a year cannot be calculated. Source: Jury Central Summoning Board | ||||||||
Pleural Plaques: Compensation
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Jarrow of 21 July 2009, Official Report, column 741, on pleural plaques, when he plans to publish a final response to the issue of compensation for people diagnosed with pleural plaques; and what recent representations he has received from the UCATT union on its members who have been exposed to asbestos contamination at work. [294003]
Bridget Prentice: The House of Lords decision has raised extremely complex and difficult issues which have required very careful consideration within Government. It has also been important to look beyond the issue of pleural plaques itself to consider how people who have been exposed to asbestos can be supported much more widely. We are actively considering all these issues in order to be in a position to publish a final response as soon as possible.
The Justice Secretary has received several representations from UCATT on asbestos related issues.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to announce his decision on compensation for those with pleural plaques; and if he will make a statement. [294723]
Bridget Prentice: The House of Lords decision has raised extremely complex and difficult issues which have required very careful consideration within Government. It has also been important to look beyond the issue of pleural plaques itself to consider how people who have been exposed to asbestos can be supported much more widely. We are actively considering all these issues in order to be in a position to publish a final response as soon as possible.
Prison Sentences
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the imprisonment rate was per 100,000 population in England and Wales in each year since 2001; [294197]
(2) what information his Department holds on the imprisonment rate per 100,000 population in (a) Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland and (c) the European Union area. [294259]
Maria Eagle: The following table gives information on the numbers of prisoners in all prison establishments with prison population ratios in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland 2001-08, and the average prison population ratio per 100,000 for the European Union where this published information is held within the Ministry of Justice.
The figures are derived from the tables provided in the annual publications Prison Statistics in England and Wales 2001-02, and Offender Management Caseload Statistics, 2003-08. These publications can be found at the following website, and copies are held within the House of Commons Library:
| Rate of prison population per 100,000 of general population 2001-08, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland | |||||
| England and Wales | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Average EU | ||
The averages for the European Union are not strictly comparable due to the 2004 and 2007 enlargements.
Prisoners Release
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for release from custody relating to people who pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility were approved by mental health tribunals in each of the last five years; and what the average time taken between their conviction and release of such people was in each such year. [294224]
Bridget Prentice: Neither the First tier Tribunal-Mental Health nor the Ministry of Justice Mental Health Unit collects the information requested in this format. The First-tier Tribunal-Mental Health hears applications and references for people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended by the Mental Health Act 2007). It does not record in its database the information requested. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost by searching through all files to obtain these details. In any event, these files will only cover the last six months; anything beyond this date will have been destroyed in accordance with the Tribunals' record retention and disposal schedule.
Prisoners: Death
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people died in prison of drug-related causes in each year since 1997. [294154]
Maria Eagle: The prison system for classifying deaths does not include a specific category for drug related deaths, which is a drug related death where the underlying cause is poisoning, drug abuse or dependence and any of the substances controlled under the Misuse of Drug Act (1971) are involved.
However, information is recorded on deaths where an overdose of any drug played a part. The table shows the numbers of non-natural deaths associated with a drugs overdose.
| Non-natural drug related deaths in prison custody | |||
| Other non-natural | Self-inflicted | Total | |
| Note: The deaths reported in this table have been extracted, from the total deaths in prison in the period in question. While every effort is made to maintain a high level of accuracy, these figures may change as subsequent information arises, such as verdicts. They should not be read or taken as absolute figures. | |||
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