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9 Feb 2010 : Column 943W—continued
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.
Operation Black Vote
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent meetings he has had with representatives of Operation Black Vote. [315925]
Bridget Prentice: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor last met with members of Operation Black Vote on 2 June 2008 when he gave a speech at the Operation Black Vote Magistrates' Shadowing Scheme Graduation. In addition, I spoke at an Operation Black Vote organised event on 20 January 2010 to celebrate the appointment of the 50th graduate of the Magistrates' Shadowing Scheme to be appointed to the magistracy.
Prison Sentences
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people received an indeterminate sentence for public protection with a tariff of 23 months or less under the new exceptional circumstances legislation (a) between 14 July and 31 December 2008 and (b) in 2009; [316648]
(2) how many prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection are two years or more past the expiry of their tariff date; [316649]
(3) how many prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection had a tariff of 23 months or less before July 2008 and are now in an open prison; [316650]
(4) how many prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection are in an open prison; [316651]
(5) how many people received an indeterminate sentence for public protection with a tariff of two years in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007, (d) the period 1 July to 14 January 2008, (e) the period 14 July to 31 December 2008 and (f) 2009. [316652]
Maria Eagle: Table 1 as follows shows the number of offenders who have received an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP), if they are over 18 years of age, or a detention for public protection (DPP), if they are under 18 years of age, with a tariff of two years or less, as calculated from date of sentence to the date of tariff expiry, for the period up to 31 December 2009.
The following table is broken down by year, except for 2008 which is further broken down up to and at 14 July 2008 and after 14 July 2008. The figures shown are as notified to the National Offender Management Service at 5 February 2010.
| Table: 1 | |
| Year of sentence | Number sentenced (with a tariff of 2 years or less |
These figures include those sentenced to an IPP who subsequently had their sentence quashed or died. These figures are drawn from a total of 6047 cases recorded over this period. A further 17 cases over this period are still awaiting the courts setting a tariff.
From 14 July 2008 the provisions in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 took effect, in that an IPP may not be passed where the minimum tariff is less than two years, except where offenders have been convicted of very serious crimes in the past, as specified in Schedule 15A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
As at 5 February 2010, the number of prisoners in custody, serving an IPP or a DPP, and who are recorded by the National Offender Management Service as being two years or more past the expiry of their tariff was 476. This figure includes IPP prisoners who have been released and subsequently recalled.
As at 5 February 2010, there were 197 prisoners serving either an IPP or DPP and who are in open conditions.
Of these, 118 have a tariff of two years or less, as calculated from date of sentence to the date of tariff expiry.
These figures include those prisoners being held within the juvenile and female estates.
The figures to answer each question were taken from the Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD) in the National Offender Management Service, and, as with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing. The PPUD is a live database, updated on a regular basis. As a result, snapshots taken in consecutive days will contain differences reflecting updates.
Pyramid Selling
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions for breaches of the prohibition on chain gifting under section 43 of the Gambling Act 2005 there have been since the entry into force of that provision. [315715]
Claire Ward: Section 43 of the Gambling Act (chain gifting) came into force on 1 September 2007. Up to 31 December 2008 (latest currently available) no prosecutions for offences under this section of the Gambling Act have been reported to the Ministry of Justice.
Data for 2009 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010.
Robbery: Milton Keynes
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in each age group in Milton Keynes were convicted of robbery in each year since 1997. [315370]
Claire Ward: Information showing the number of persons found guilty of robbery in the Thames Valley Criminal Justice System area, broken down by age group, from 1997 to 2008 (latest available) is shown in the table.
Court proceedings data are not available below Criminal Justice System area level. Data for 2009 are expected to be published in the autumn 2010.
| Number of persons found guilty at all courts for robbery offences in the Thames Valley Criminal Justice System area, by age group, from 1997 to 2008( 1,2) | ||||||||||||
| Number of offenders | ||||||||||||
| Type of offence | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| (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. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice | ||||||||||||
Thanet
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will set out, with statistical information related as directly as possible to South Thanet constituency, the effects on South Thanet of the policies and actions of his Department since it was established. [315634]
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 South Thanet, they are available for Kent. They show an increase in the total number of offenders sentenced annually from 26,321 in 1997 to 34,385 in 2008, the latest period for which such information is available.
The number of offences brought to justice for the Kent area increased from 26,685 for the 12 months ending 31 March 2001 (the earliest period since which such data have been compiled) to 40,846 (provisional figures) for the 12 months ending 31 March 2009.
With regard to prosecutions, data are not available for the constituency of South Thanet. However, the total number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts in Kent increased from 32,160 in 1997 to 41,425 in 2008.
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 the Kent county council area was 8.79 per cent. After controlling for changes in the characteristics of offenders on the probation caseload, there was an increase in reoffending of 9 per cent. compared to the 2007-08 baseline. Data are not available prior to 2007 on this basis.
The number of persons commencing court order supervision by the Probation Service in Kent was 3,324 in 1997and 4,633 in 2008.
33,059 civil non-family proceedings were started in the county courts of Kent HMCS area in 2008, compared to 42,319 in 1998, the first year for which these figures are available. There were also 3,082 private law applications and 105 public law applications made in the county or High Courts of this HMCS area in 2008-09, compared to 2,635 and 238 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.
Theft: Milton Keynes
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people resident in Milton Keynes were convicted of an offence of (a) handling stolen goods and (b) fraud and forgery in each year since 1997. [315371]
Claire Ward: Information showing the number of persons found guilty of (a) handling stolen goods and (b) fraud and forgery in each year between 1997 and 2008 (latest available) in the Thames Valley Criminal Justice System area, broken down by age group, from 1997 to 2008 (latest available) is shown in the following tables.
| Number of persons found guilty at all courts in the Thames Valley Criminal Justice System area for offences of handling stolen goods and fraud and forgery, by age group, from 1997 to 2008( 1, 2) | ||||||||||||
| Number of offenders | ||||||||||||
| Type of offence: | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
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