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28 Jan 2010 : Column 1034W—continued
Vauxhall
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Vauxhall constituency, the effects on the constituency of changes to his Department's policies since 1997. [310329]
Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice's work spans criminal, civil and family justice, democracy, rights and the constitution. Every year around nine million people use our services in 900 locations across the United Kingdom, including 650 courts and tribunals and 139 prisons in England and Wales.
The range of the Department's policies and actions is wide and the statistical information relating to it is not normally collected on a constituency basis. Consequently, some of the information requested in the question cannot be provided in the form requested except at a disproportionate cost.
Although data on sentencing for the period are not available for the constituency of Vauxhall, they are available for London. They show an increase in the total number of offenders sentenced annually from 202,478 in 1997 to 226,891 in 2007, the latest period for which such information is available.
Likewise, the number of offences brought to justice for the London area increased from 122,500 in 2001-02 (the earliest period since which such data have been compiled) to 230,000 in 2007-08.
With regard to prosecutions, data are not available for the constituency of Vauxhall. However, the total number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts by the Metropolitan police increased from 260,328 in 1997 to 265,709 in 2007.
The latest data, which cover reoffending in the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, showed that the three month reoffending rate for offenders on the probation caseload in Lambeth was 8.05 per cent. After controlling for changes in the characteristics of offenders on the probation caseload, there was a reduction in reoffending of 6.88 per cent. compared to the 2007-08 baseline. Data are not available prior to 2007 on this basis.
The number of persons commencing supervision by the Probation Service in London was 16,019 in 1997 and 22,233 in 2008.
158,440 civil non-family proceedings were started in the county courts of London Civil and Family HM Courts Service (HMCS) area in 2008, compared to 263,305 in 1998, the first year for which these figures are available. In respect of family law, there were also 15,512 private law applications and 870 public law applications made in the county or High Courts of this HMCS area in 2008-09, compared to 11,684 and 1,095 respectively in 2003-04, the first annual period for which these figures are available.
In addition, at a national level:
Local communities are being better engaged in criminal justice by giving them a say in the types of Community Payback projects offenders carry out and allowing them to see justice being done, for example through the use of high visibility jackets. Offenders have now worked more than 14 million hours, with an estimated value to the taxpayer of over £80 million.
Major constitutional reforms have been delivered, including devolution, the Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information, Lords Reform, and a new Supreme Court for the UK.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to reply to Question 303548, on drugs in prisons, tabled on 26 November 2009. [313115]
Maria Eagle: I replied to the hon. Member's question today. I apologise for the delay.
Youth Custody: Meals
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in which (a) young offender institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) other units juveniles are accommodated securely and meals are taken communally. [313204]
Maria Eagle: Young people eat in groups in all secure training centres and in those secure children's homes in which the Youth Justice Board places young people. In under-18 young offender institutions, practice varies between establishments. Only one establishment, the Josephine Butler Unit at Downview, reports that no meals are eaten communally.
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prisons, (b) young offender institutions, (c) secure training centres and (d) other units in which juveniles are accommodated securely employ a nutritionist. [313205]
Maria Eagle: A nutritionist is employed at Huntercombe young offender institution. Secure training centres and secure children's homes do not directly employ nutritionists. However, nutritionists' services are accessed, via establishments' healthcare provision, to assist the needs of individual trainees and to obtain general advice and guidance.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Prosecutions
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions for sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk have been brought in each criminal justice area since 2004; and how many resulted in a conviction in each year. [313622]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 27 January 2010]: Available information on the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for the sale of alcohol to a drunk person, under section 141 of the Licensing Act 2003, by police force area, for 2006 and 2007 (latest available) is given in table 1.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. For example, 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.
A penalty notice for disorder (PND) of £80 may also be issued by the police for certain alcohol related offences such as the sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk. The numbers of persons issued with a PND for this offence, which was added to the scheme in April 2005, by police force area, from 2005 to 2007 are shown in table 2.
Data for 2008 will be available very soon.
| Table 1: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for the offence of sale of alcohol to a drunk person( 1) , by police force area, England and Wales, 2006 - 07( 2,3,4) | ||||
| Proceeded against | Found guilty | |||
| Police force area | 2006 | 2007 | 2006 | 2007 |
| (1) Under the Licensing Act 2003-section 141. (2) Only those areas for which data have been recorded are included in the table. (3) Figures given are on the principal offence basis. (4) 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: Office for Criminal Justice Reform-Evidence and Analysis Unit. [Ref: 258-09] | ||||
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