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23 Feb 2010 : Column 498W—continued
Unitary Councils: Finance
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the projected (a) minimum and (b) maximum cost savings estimated for each unitary authority established since 2007 were prior to the authority's inception; what cost saving targets were set when each was established; and what savings each has achieved to date. [318038]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) on 9 February 2010, Official Report, column 882W.
Youth Services: Finance
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department allocated to local authorities for youth services in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11 through (i) formula funding, (ii) specific grants, (iii) special grants and (iv) area-based grants; and how much such funding of each type was earmarked for (A) revenue support and (B) capital expenditure in each such year. [317856]
Barbara Follett: Neither formula grant nor Area Based Grant are hypothecated to any particular purpose. The Department has paid no specific or special grants to authorities for youth services in the years in question.
Justice
Approved Premises
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average annual cost of housing a person in a probation hostel or approved premises was in the latest period for which figures are available. [317096]
Maria Eagle: The current grant for approved premises (formerly known as probation or bail hostels) equates to an average £26,600 per bed space for the current financial year, unchanged from the previous year. More than one resident will occupy a single bed space in approved premises over the course of a year, with an average stay of 74.7 days per resident.
Feltham
Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Feltham and Heston constituency, the effects on that constituency of changes to his Department's policies since 1997. [316673]
Maria Eagle:
The Ministry of Justice's work spans criminal, civil and family justice, democracy, rights and the constitution. Every year around 9 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 Feltham and Heston, they are available for London. These show the total number of offenders sentenced annually was 202,478 in 1997 and 242,429 in 2008, the latest period for which such information is available.
The number of offences brought to justice for London increased from 119,531 for the 12 months ending 31 March 2001 (the earliest period since which such data have been compiled) to 230,202 (provisional figures) for the 12 months ending 31 March 2009.
With regard to prosecutions, data are not available for the constituency of Feltham and Heston. However, the total number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts by the Metropolitan Police was 260,328 in 1997 compared to 279,581 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 Hounslow was 8.15 per cent. After controlling for changes in the characteristics of offenders on the probation caseload, there was a reduction in reoffending of 6.06 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 London was 17,214 in 1997 and 23,787 in 2008.
163,570 civil non-family proceedings were started in the county courts of London Civil and Family HM Courts Service (HMCS) area and Staines in 2008, compared to 275,769 in 1998, the first year for which these figures are available. In respect of family law, there were also 15,680 private law applications and 870 public law applications made in the county or High Courts of this HMCS area and Staines in 2008-09, compared to 11,931 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.
National Offender Management Service: Manpower
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people are employed at the (a) national and (b) regional level in the National Offender Management Service. [317093]
Maria Eagle: On 31 December 2009 the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Headquarters employed 2,260 at national headquarters and 1,094 at regional offices and in regionally organised technical support teams. A further 1,021 staff are employed by the NOMS Shared Service Centre in Newport, South Wales.
Offenders: Deportation
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign national prisoners serving sentences of less than 12 months have a court recommendation for deportation. [317127]
Mr. Straw: At the end of June 2009, there were 990 foreign national prisoners (FNPs) in England and Wales, serving a sentence of less than 12 months.
Data on how many of these FNPs also received court recommendation for deportation are not held centrally and could not be provided without manual checking of records at disproportionate cost.
This figure has been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prison Accommodation
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Harborough of 8 June 2009, Official Report, columns 774-75W, on prison accommodation, how many cells were not in use in each (a) prison for adult males, (b) prison for adult females, (c) young offender institution for males and (d) young offender institution for females on 1 January 2010 or the latest date for which figures are available. [318056]
Mr. Straw: As at 29 January 2010 there were 1,598 places recorded as out of use from the total certified normal accommodation (CNA) of the prison estate. This represents 2.1 per cent. of the total CNA.
The data available do not allow for a breakdown of whether these places are for young offenders or adults.
Comprehensive information on why these places are out of use is not held centrally, however the majority of out of use accommodation will be due to maintenance or refurbishment work taking place.
There is a planned programme of refurbishment of accommodation which requires the temporary closure of prison places. This allows the critical maintenance of the estate to be undertaken whilst having no significant change on the number of net places in use.
The following table shows the total number of places that were recorded as out of use by male and female establishments.
HMP Ashwell has 415 places out of use following an incident in April 2009. HMP Wealstun has 300 places out of use while part of the establishment is re-rolled to closed conditions.
| Establishment name | Number of places out of use | Percentage of CNA |
| (1) The sites at Albany, Camphill and Parkhurst constitute HMP Isle of Wight. | ||
Prison Officers
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers were (a) disciplined or (b) dismissed from (i) privately and (ii) publicly managed prisons in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [318059]
Maria Eagle: In the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) information is only held centrally in respect of staff disciplined or dismissed from publicly managed prisons. There is no requirement for privately managed prisons to notify NOMS headquarters of any disciplinary action taken against their employees. In order to provide the information required in respect of the privately managed prisons, we would have to contact each of the prisons concerned and ask them to submit their records for the last five years to NOMS so that it could be collated. This would incur disproportionate cost.
The following table provides a breakdown of the number of prison officers in the public sector Prison Service who have been disciplined or dismissed in each of the last five calendar years. Staff can be dismissed from the public sector Prison Service if their attendance, conduct or performance falls below the required standards. The data given for dismissals includes all prison officers from publicly managed prisons who have left the service for inefficiency, conduct and performance reasons.
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