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5 Jan 2010 : Column 48W—continued
Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill
19. Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received on the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill; and if he will make a statement. [308938]
Mr. Wills: A number of amendments have been tabled to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill for debate on the resumption of Committee stage. We will consider any amendments to the Bill carefully.
Electoral Register
20. Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his most recent assessment is of the integrity of the electoral register. [308939]
Mr. Wills: There is no evidence that electoral fraud is a major problem in this country. However, there is never room for complacency. More can be done to enhance the integrity of the register by improving its security, accuracy and comprehensiveness. The phased introduction of individual electoral registration will support these aims.
Prison Chaplains
21. Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of prisons are served by a Church of England chaplain. [308940]
Maria Eagle: All prisons are served by a Church of England chaplain other than where there is a vacancy, or in exceptional ad hoc circumstances. Where there is a vacancy, it will ordinarily be the case that there is Church of England cover available to provide weekly services and pastoral care.
Young Offender Institutions
22. Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of young offender institutions in reducing reoffending. [308942]
Maria Eagle: The number of reoffences committed by those young people released from custody has been cut by 25.5 per cent. between 2000 and 2007, the latest date for which reoffending rates are available.
Young offender institutions provide young people with a range of interventions and programmes designed to tackle their offending behaviour and reduce the likelihood of their reoffending.
The Youth Justice Board is currently in the process of conducting a study entitled "Young People, Interventions and the Secure Estate" being carried out during 2009-12. It will explore outcomes for young people in each of the three sectors of the under-18 secure estate, including what types of interventions young offender institutions provide and the association between these and positive outcomes.
Legal Aid: Human Trafficking
23. Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the availability of legal aid funding to victims of human trafficking. [308943]
Bridget Prentice: Civil legal aid is available to anyone who qualifies, including victims of human trafficking, provided the case is within the scope of the scheme. Each application is assessed on an individual basis to justify the grant of public funding, being subject to statutory tests of the applicant's financial means and the legal merits of the case.
Probation Service Performance
24. Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to improve the performance of the probation service. [308944]
Maria Eagle: Probation boards and trusts are continuing to perform well and deliver against targets. 40 out of the 42 areas are meeting or exceeding their performance targets compared with 26 nine months ago, with 23 being rated as performing above the required standard. In areas where performance has fallen short of what the public can expect, we have taken decisive action. In London, for example, we appointed a new chief officer who has overseen encouraging improvements in performance.
Dangerous Driving
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving in (a) West Yorkshire, (b) Leeds and (c) Leeds North West constituency in each of the last five years. [307766]
Claire Ward: Information on the number of persons found guilty at all courts in the West Yorkshire police force area for causing death by dangerous driving, from 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is given in the following table.
Court proceedings data are not available at city or parliamentary constituency level.
Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
| The number of persons found guilty at all courts in the West Yorkshire police force area for causing death by dangerous driving( 1) , 2003 to 2007( 2, 3) | |||||
| Offence | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| (1) Road Traffic Act 1988, section 1. (2) 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. (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 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: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice | |||||
Departmental Assets
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assets of his Department are planned to be sold in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14; what the (a) description and (b) book value of each such asset is; what the expected revenue from each such sale is; and if he will make a statement. [300205]
Mr. Straw: The Government have stated their intention to realise £16 billion in asset disposals over the period 2011-14 and will publish further details of opportunities to commercialise business assets in the coming weeks.
The following table details the asset description and the book value of each asset that the Ministry of Justice has disposed of or plans to dispose of from 2009-10 to 2011-12. The expected revenue is detailed as an annual figure due to the commercial sensitivities attached to the expected revenue of each individual asset.
Plans for asset disposals in 2012-13 and 2013-14 have yet to be finalised and agreed, and are therefore not included in the list.
In March 2008, the Ministry of Justice published its asset management strategy, which will be pursued within the financial environment set by the Treasury. MOJ has developed a property asset management plan that will centralise, and significantly enhance, the management of the national and regional administrative estate, and has implemented its estates strategy to ensure the accommodation meets the business needs while providing best value for money.
| Ministry of Justice planned disposals 2009-10 to 2011-12 | |||
| Owner | Asset description | Book value (£000) | |
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