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7 Dec 2009 : Column 115W—continued

Fixed Penalties: Royal Parks

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 241W, on fixed penalties: Richmond Park, what progress has been made on determining a timeframe for implementing regulations to establish fixed penalties for nuisance offences in Richmond Park. [303017]

Claire Ward: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 243W, by the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle). The Government have decided not to proceed with proposals to add the regulations which prohibit littering, dog-fouling and illegal cycling in the Royal Parks, to the Penalty Notice
7 Dec 2009 : Column 116W
for Disorder (PND) scheme. Given the range of other disposals available to the police and courts, we have decided not to extend the scheme to any new offences at this time. On 9 November, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Jack Straw) announced a review of the use of out of court disposals including PNDs to look at whether they were being used inappropriately by the police and Crown Prosecution Service.

Hollesley Bay Prison

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) whether any prisoners convicted of murder are being held at HMP Hollesley Bay; [302251]

(2) whether any prisoners serving life sentences are being held at HMP Hollesley Bay; [302252]

(3) what categories of prisoner are held at HMP Hollesley Bay. [302253]

Maria Eagle: There are currently 17 prisoners convicted of murder at HMP Hollesley Bay.

There are currently 34 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences. Of these 26 have life sentences, seven have imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences and one has a detention for public protection (DPP) sentence.

All prisoners at Hollesley Bay are category D.

Transfer of any prisoner to open conditions will only take place if continued detention in closed conditions is no longer necessary for the protection of the public. Open conditions allow prisoners to find work, re-establish family ties and reintegrate into the community. All these are essential components for successful resettlement and an important factor in protecting the public.

Homicide: Prisoners Release

Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people convicted of murder and subsequently released on compassionate grounds since 1993 have died (a) within three months of and (b) more than three months after their date of release. [303545]

Maria Eagle: We do not hold this information centrally. To provide this information would require a manual examination of paper records and inquiries with agencies responsible for the prisoners' health and welfare following their release at a disproportionate cost.

Immobilisation of Vehicles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its predecessor have paid in vehicle clamping charges incurred on (a) privately-owned and (b) publicly-owned land in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [302743]

Mr. Straw: The policy of the Ministry is that the vehicle user is personally responsible for any fines incurred while the vehicle is allocated to them, including associated administration charges where applicable. This includes fines incurred by other users to whom the user has authorised use of the car i.e. additional drivers. The Ministry has not therefore incurred any expenditure on vehicle clamping charges.


7 Dec 2009 : Column 117W

Legal Services Commission: Fees and Charges

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what interest rate the Legal Services Commission is allowed to charge when taking possession of houses; and if he will make a statement. [303552]

Maria Eagle: Members of the public who receive civil legal aid for a money or property dispute, and who succeed in obtaining a financial benefit from their case, are required to repay their legal aid costs, so resources can be recycled to help others. If someone is unable to repay their legal aid costs immediately, these can be postponed as a statutory charge on their property. Where charges are postponed against property, persons are not obliged to make any repayments, or to repay the charge in full until their financial circumstances change, or the property changes hands. The Legal Services Commission will not force anyone to sell their home. However, in order to encourage clients to repay their postponed charge where they can, the charge accrues simple interest, the rate for which is set out in regulations. The current rate is 8 per cent. A written ministerial statement was made concerning this issue by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Justice (Mr. Wills) on 8 June 2009, Official Report, columns 23-24WS.

Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who the members are of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council; and what the relevant qualifications are of each of them. [304149]

Mr. Wills: As of December 2009, the members of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on National Records and Archives are:


7 Dec 2009 : Column 118W

National Offender Management Service: Information and Communications Technology

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of arrangements for co-ordination of information and technology systems available to the Probation Service. [301253]

Maria Eagle: The assessment of Information Technology (IT) systems available to the National Probation Service (NPS) is co-ordinated by the NPS ICT Board, supported by the ICT Business team who consider the systems available.

Senior probation managers are regularly consulted about the adequacy of current IT systems as part of a wider consultative process intended to support business planning.

IT system development takes place with the authority of the NPS ICT Board-once a project has been commissioned, there is a requirement to submit a monthly report, detailing progress to date, the current financial position and highlighting any significant risks or issues facing the project.

A recent example of arrangements for co-ordinated delivery of an IT system within NPS is the NOMIS Programme, which encompasses five projects, three of which will directly benefit the probation service, as follows:

Offenders: Mentally Ill

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether training is provided to prison service staff on working with mentally ill female offenders. [302327]

Maria Eagle: Training for newly recruited prison officers provides officers with an understanding of mental health disorders and how to respond effectively to all prisoners (including women) experiencing mental ill health. Further training is available to prison officers throughout their career depending on their role within their prison. Training makes specific reference to issues affecting women, where appropriate. All training provides prison officers with the knowledge to identify offenders with mental health issues and refer to appropriate health care professionals.


7 Dec 2009 : Column 119W

Prison Service Order 4800, published in April 2008 for implementation in all women's prisons in 2009, provides a set of gender specific standards for women prisoners. The standards draw from existing best practice and cover all areas of regime provision including reception into custody, day to day living in the prison environment and planning for resettlement, as well as discrete groups of women. The main thrust of the standards is about being sensitive and responsive to gender specific needs and addressing them appropriately, in particular through the positive engagement of staff. It is largely a case of good staff training and support, and the introduction of the Women's Awareness Staff Programme training has therefore been key.

Prison Accommodation

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of cells in each prison in England and Wales were unoccupied on the most recent dates for which figures are available; and for what reasons such cells are not in use. [301249]

Mr. Straw: The following table shows the number and proportion of places that constitute each prison's operational capacity that are not being used for the ordinary accommodation of prisoners on 30 October 2009.


7 Dec 2009 : Column 120W

7 Dec 2009 : Column 121W
Prison name Places that are not being used Percentage of places that are not being used

Acklington

6

1

Albany

0

0

Altcourse

38

3

Ashfield(1)

134

34

Ashwell

4

2

Askham Grange

10

8

Aylesbury

7

2

Bedford

17

3

Belmarsh

16

2

Birmingham

12

1

Blantyre House

1

1

Blundeston

12

2

Brinsford

37

7

Bristol

10

2

Brixton

26

3

Bronzefield(2)

23

5

Buckley Hall

4

1

Bullingdon

1

0

Bullwood Hall

3

1

Camp Hill

8

1

Canterbury

6

2

Cardiff

15

2

Castington(1)

70

17

Channings Wood

2

0

Chelmsford

28

4

Coldingley

12

2

Cookham Wood(1)

20

17

Dartmoor

3

0

Deerbolt

19

4

Doncaster

45

4

Dorchester

15

6

Dovegate

0

0

Dover

7

2

Downview

6

2

Drake Hall(2)

36

11

Durham

36

4

East Sutton Park(2)

10

10

Eastwood Park(2)

44

12

Edmunds Hill

9

2

Elmley

2

0

Erlestoke

7

1

Everthorpe

12

2

Exeter

27

5

Featherstone

5

1

Feltham(1)

119

16

Ford

7

1

Forest Bank

7

1

Foston Hall(2)

60

21

Frankland

50

6

Full Sutton

16

3

Garth

14

2

Gartree

2

0

Glen Parva

24

3

Gloucester

4

1

Grendon

6

3

Guys Marsh

3

1

Haslar

18

11

Haverigg

2

0

Hewell

49

3

Highdown

4

0

Highpoint

3

0

Hindley(l)

101

23

Hollesley Bay

3

1

Holloway(2)

59

12

Holme House

10

1

Hull

19

2

Huntercombe(1)

120

33

Kennet

3

1

Kingston

3

2

Kirkham

1

0

Kirklevington

10

4

Lancaster

11

5

Lancaster Farms

9

2

Latchmere House

6

3

Leeds

27

2

Leicester

22

6

Lewes

44

6

Leyhill

15

3

Lincoln

53

7

Lindholme

14

1

Littlehey

15

2

Liverpool

106

7

Long Lartin

3

0

Low Newton(2)

53

16

Lowdham Grange

6

1

Maidstone

0

0

Manchester

22

2

Moorland

22

3

Moorland Open

4

2

Morton Hall

19

5

Mount

4

1

New Hall(2)

82

18

North Sea Camp

7

2

Northallerton(1)

34

13

Norwich

24

3

Nottingham

1

0

Onley

14

2

Parc

13

1

Parkhurst

7

1

Pentonville

96

8

Peterborough

70

7

Portland

22

4

Prescoed

1

1

Preston

116

14

Ranby

10

1

Reading(1)

32

11

Risley

9

1

Rochester

6

1

Rye Hill

12

2

Send

10

4

Shepton Mallet

o

0

Shrewsbury

9

3

Spring Hill

16

5

Stafford

2

0

Standford Hill

4

1

Stocken

5

1

Stoke Heath(1)

69

10

Styal(2)

63

14

Sudbury

0

0

Swaleside

0

0

Swansea

0

0

Swinfen Hall

4

1

Thorn Cross

29

9

Usk

1

0

Verne

5

1

Wakefield

8

1

Wandsworth

0

0

Warren Hill(1)

38

17

Wayland

8

1

Wealstun

4

1

Wellingborough

5

1

Werrington(1)

32

20

Wetherby(1)

67

16

Whatton

5

1

Whitemoor

5

1

Winchester

4

1

Wolds

2

1

Woodhill

6

1

Wormwood Scrubs

0

0

Wymott

10

1

Total

2,944

3

(1) Identifies those prisons whose predominant function is to hold juveniles or which hold juveniles
(2) Identifies those prisons whose predominant function is to hold female prisoners

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