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5 Jan 2010 : Column 52W—continued
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many external consultants work for his Department. [303238]
Mr. Straw: There were 694 consultants working for the Ministry of Justice in the financial year of 2008-09. There will be a manual count of live consultancy contracts which was conducted the week commencing 14 December 2009. Further data of the current live contracts will be available in due course.
Departmental Chief Information Officer
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on what pay band his Department's Chief Information Officer (CIO) is employed; whether the CIO is employed on a fixed-term or permanent contract; and what the size is of the budget for which the CIO is responsible in the period 2009-10. [307561]
Mr. Wills: The Department's Chief Information Officer (CIO) is employed on a three-year fixed term contract at senior civil service pay band 2 level, with a salary range of £82,900 to £162,500. He is responsible for a budget of £242 million for 2009-10.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many days of sick leave were taken by staff in his Department and its agencies in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was of such sick leave. [305553]
Mr. Straw: The number of annual working days lost per employee in the 12 months from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009 was 9.5 days.
The Ministry of Justice reports its sick absence on the basis of a 12-month rolling year. These figures are provided by the Ministry's payroll provider. To obtain this information on a monthly basis would require the Ministry to obtain separate reports from payroll which would incur disproportionate cost. We are unable to provide details of the cost of such absence for a similar reason, but I have asked officials for advice as to whether a reliable estimate of the cost of 12 months absence in aggregate could be provided and I will write in due course to the hon. Member.
Departmental Training
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many overseas training courses were attended by his Department's civil servants in the latest period for which figures are available; how many civil servants attended each course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each course. [305899]
Mr. Wills: An important part of the personal development of high potential senior civil servants (SCS) are the targeted training programmes provided by the Cabinet Office, some of which involve overseas travel. The Ministry sends a limited number of delegates to two of these programmes (Top Management Programme and Leadership Across Borders Programme). In the past three years, the following numbers of SCS shown in the table have attended:
| Financial year | Numbers attending |
The total cost of these places for the period April 2007 to November 2009 was £91,950.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of parliamentary questions tabled for written answer by his Department on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day. [307544]
Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice answered 750 named day questions during the 2008-09 session, of which, 482 (64.27 per cent.) were answered substantively on the day named.
Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the 'Guide to Parliamentary Work', at:
In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.
National Offender Management Service : Equal Opportunities
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to publish the National Offender Management Service staff diversity report for 2008-09; and what the reasons are for the time taken to publish it. [307734]
Maria Eagle: The Staff Diversity Review 2008-09 for the directly employed staff of the National Offender Management Service is expected to be published within NOMS by the end of December 2009. A copy will also be placed on the NOMS website. Unfortunately publication has been delayed because of a communication error in the Department.
Overseas Residence: Crime
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received on allowing the Victims Commissioner to work with British citizens who are victims of crime overseas. [306960]
Claire Ward: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Jack Straw) has not received any representations on allowing the Victims' Commissioner to work with British citizens who are victims of crime overseas.
The Victims' Commissioner will not undertake individual casework. The Victims' Commissioner will be informed by the experience of victims and make representations regarding the support and services available for victims and witnesses. The role does not exclude learning from the experience of British citizens who are victims of crime overseas and where appropriate making recommendations regarding their needs.
Prisoner: Transfers
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to publish the report into transfer of prisoners from HM Prison Brixton prior to inspections or security audits. [300951]
Maria Eagle: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor informed the House during his oral statement on 20 October 2009, Official Report, columns 777-83, that if any evidence emerges from the analysis of transfer of prisoners prior to inspection he would update the House.
Probation
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether a decision has been made on the future of the Dyfed Powys Probation Trust office in Brecon, Powys. [307316]
Maria Eagle: There are currently no plans to close the Brecon Probation Office.
An estates review is undertaken annually by Dyfed-Powys Probation Trust as part of its business planning strategy. The next review will occur during the next financial year to ensure resources are provided in the most appropriate locations for offender management purpose.
The review will also enable the trust to respond to any changes in caseload, and any requirements for specific interventions which are delivered on behalf of courts.
Thinking Skills Programme: Yorkshire
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the outcomes of the Thinking Skills programme in Yorkshire were; and if he will make a statement. [307227]
Maria Eagle: The Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) was piloted in custody (Lindholme and New Hall and Whealstun-one fixed group each) and in community in Leeds (one group) and York (one group) probation offices. The group at York was a community-run pilot but was attended by women offenders from Askham Grange prison alongside community-based male and female offenders.
| TSP community completions from April 2009 to date | |
| Number | |
| TSP Custody completions from April 2009 to date | |
| Number | |
NOMS has conducted two reviews of the Thinking Skills Programme pilots:
1. A Qualitative Evaluation of the New Cognitive Skills Programme Pilots (August 2008)
This was an internal review which has helped inform the development of the programme and its implementation.
2. Gender responsivity and the new Thinking Skills Programme (September 2009)
A qualitative evaluation of the thinking skills pilots with female offenders which was undertaken to understand women's experience of the Thinking Skills Programme. This showed that the TSP was relevant to the women who participated on the programme, helping them to address their behaviour and bring about change. Recommendations from the evaluation are being incorporated into TSP and will inform its implementation.
Young Offenders: Convictions
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of young offenders under the age of 18 years who appeared in court in (a) England and (b) Milton Keynes was convicted in each year since 1997. [308088]
Claire Ward: The number of persons aged 10 to 17-years proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty of criminal offences at all courts in England and the Thames Valley police force area, from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) is given in the following table.
Court proceedings data are not available at town or local authority area level. Therefore data are included in the table for the Thames Valley police force area.
Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
| Table 1: Number of persons aged 10 to 17-years proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for all offences, England 1997 to 2007( 1, 2) | |||
| Proceeded against | Found guilty | Conviction rate (percentage)( 3) | |
| Table 2: Number of persons aged 10 to 17-years proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for all offences, Thames Valley police force area 1997 to2007( 1, 2) | |||
| Proceeded against | Found guilty | Conviction rate (percentage)( 3) | |
| (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) Proportion proceeded against who were found guilty. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice. | |||
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