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15 Jun 2010 : Column 395W—continued
Children: Databases
Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children in each local education authority (a) are and (b) are not recorded on the ContactPoint database. [2208]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 14 June 2010]: ContactPoint was designed to hold basic information on every child in England, by gathering data from a range of national and local data sources. The system is not set up to run reports on numbers of children in each local authority.
Children: Internet
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to maintain the Home Access programme for disabled children and those from low income backgrounds following the closure of BECTA. [1410]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 8 June 2010]: The Home Access programme will continue until the total available for grants has been awarded. The programme includes full assistive technology provision for learners with special educational needs (SEN) which is expected to continue until March 2011.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) plasma and (b) LCD televisions there are in ministerial offices in his Department. [386]
Michael Gove: There are five plasma and one LCD televisions in Ministers' offices at the Department for Education. These were installed between February and July 2007.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when and in what form he plans to publish a list of all items of expenditure by his Department over £25,000. [271]
Michael Gove: The Prime Minister has written to Cabinet Ministers reiterating transparency commitments made in the Coalition Programme for Government, and setting out a timetable for achieving them. In particular, all new items of central Government spending over £25,000 will be published online in an open format from November 2010.
Departmental Redundancy Pay
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his most recent estimate is of the annual cost to his Department of redundancy payments for (a) front line and (b) other staff. [633]
Michael Gove: The Department for Education and its predecessor, the Department for Children Schools and Families, has made no employees redundant.
The Department is subject to the same recruitment restrictions as all other Government Departments. It has not yet identified any necessary additional reductions to its non-frontline staff and therefore cannot provide any estimate in relation to cost.
The cost to the Department of any release payments this year will be disclosed in the Department's Resource Accounts for 2010/11.
Departmental Reorganisation
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his estimate is of the cost of renaming his Department. [109]
Michael Gove: The re-naming of the Department for Education cost £5,250.
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of renaming his Department. [528]
Michael Gove [holding answer 7 June 2010]: The re-naming of the Department for Education cost £5,250.
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the cost of renaming his Department; and whether all branded facilities and services of his Department are to be re-branded. [879]
Michael Gove: The re-naming of the Department for Education cost £5,250. New facilities and services will use the Department for Education brand where appropriate. We will take individual decisions about branding for existing facilities and services in order to minimise costs and waste.
Free Schools
Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many full-time civil servants in his Department have been allocated to work on policy development and programme delivery in relation to free schools. [1211]
Michael Gove: Free schools will open as academies. There are currently around 115 civil servants in the Department for Education engaged directly in work on policy development and programme delivery related to academy schools. There is a substantial number of other civil servants in the Department who make a significant contribution to policy development and programme delivery related to academy schools as part of their wider role. In addition there are 47 staff in the Young People's Learning Agency involved in funding and supporting open academies.
Justice
Self-defence Law
16. Mr Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to bring forward proposals to change the law on self-defence. [2231]
Nick Herbert: We are reviewing the law and its interpretation carefully and will explore all options before bringing forward proposals. We must make sure that the responsible citizen acting in self defence or the prevention of crime has the appropriate level of legal protection.
Bilingual Juries (Wales)
20. Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent consideration he has given to empanelling bilingual juries in courts in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [2235]
Mr Djanogly: I am aware that the previous Government consulted on this issue and announced in March this year their decision to make no change to the existing position. According to 2001 census results 21% of people in Wales said they could speak Welsh. That would amount to the exclusion, in every case involving a bilingual jury, of about four fifths of the population of Wales. I believe that juries should be selected randomly from the community and am not convinced that departing from that principle would be justified in this instance.
Victims' Groups
22. Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to increase the level of involvement of victims' groups in the criminal justice system. [2237]
Nick Herbert: As part of our ambition to build the Big Society we are committed to putting more power and opportunity into people's hands. I have asked my officials for advice on how we take a fresh look at the provision of services to victims and I am particularly keen that this includes more meaningful involvement of victims groups.
Guilty Pleas (Pre-court)
23. David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to encourage defendants to enter guilty pleas before cases come to court. [2239]
Mr Blunt: It is beneficial to victims who would otherwise have to give evidence, if defendants who are guilty plead guilty at the earliest opportunity. The main means of encouraging defendants to do so is the long-standing practice of recognising timely pleas of guilty with a reduction in sentence. It is not possible to plead guilty before the first appearance in court, but it is open to suspects to co-operate when they are interviewed by the police. It is of considerable advantage to the whole Criminal Justice System, witnesses and the taxpayer if suspects co-operate in this way. There is a case for treating those who do more favourably and it is open to the Sentencing Council to consider this.
Bill of Rights
Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights will be appointed. [1676]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The Government will make a statement to Parliament on the appointment of the Commission on a Bill of Rights in due course.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) whether the Government's proposed British Bill of Rights will include provision for the protection of economic and social rights; [2165]
(2) when he will announce the timetable for the Government's plan to establish a commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights. [2166]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The Government will make a statement to Parliament on the terms of reference and appointment of the Commission on a Bill of Rights in due course.
Departmental Ministerial Appointments
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many special advisers (a) he and (b) each other Minister in his Department (i) has appointed to date and (ii) plans to appoint; [317]
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many (a) political appointments and (b) other personal appointments he has made since his appointment; and at what estimated annual cost to the public purse. [366]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: I refer the hon. Members to the written answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 3 June 2010, Official Report, column 99W. I also refer to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's written ministerial statement on 10 June 2010, Official Report, columns 32-34WS.
Departmental Official Residences
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any domestic properties in the gift of the Government have been allocated to the use of Ministers in his Department. [1800]
Mr Blunt: The Ministry of Justice has not allocated any domestic properties for the use of Ministers.
Legal Aid Scheme
Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who will carry out his Department's planned review of legal aid. [1677]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: We set out in "The Coalition: our programme for Government" that we will undertake a fundamental review of legal aid to make it work more efficiently. I am considering how best to take this work forward and will make a statement in due course.
Prisoners: Legal Aid Scheme
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what regulations govern unsolicited communications from law firms advertising their services to prison inmates. [2547]
Mr Blunt: Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulatory arm of the Law Society. The use of advertisements and other forms of publicity by solicitors is regulated by its Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007. The Code provides that firms are generally free to advertise their services, subject to the requirements of rule 7. Rule 7 of the Code permits solicitors to publicise their firms in a number of ways-ensuring that clients and the public have appropriate information about the firm and the way it is regulated; but prohibiting misleading publicity and inappropriate approaches for business.
Prisoners' incoming mail is examined for illicit enclosures but is not routinely read. There are no specific rules relating to unsolicited correspondence to named prisoners from law firms advertising their services.
Prisons do not distribute unsolicited mail that is not addressed to a named prisoner. Advertisements from law firms are commonly carried in specialist prisoner newspapers which are made available for prisoners to pick up in communal areas.
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review his policy on access to legal aid for prisoners seeking a reduction in the length of their sentences. [2550]
Mr Djanogly: Under the existing arrangements, prisoners who wish to appeal against their sentence, to ask the Criminal Cases Review Commission to refer their sentence to the Court of Appeal, or to seek a review of their minimum term of imprisonment, are eligible for legal aid, subject to passing the relevant merits and means tests.
The Government set out in 'The Coalition: our programme for government' that it will undertake a fundamental review of legal aid to make it work more efficiently. We are considering how best to take this work forward and will make a statement in due course.
Rape: Bail
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what proportion of those charged with rape in England and Wales were granted (a) conditional and (b) unconditional bail between charge and verdict in each of the last five years; [1583]
(2) what proportion of those charged with rape in England and Wales were granted (a) conditional and (b) unconditional bail between arrest and charge in each of the last five years. [1585]
Mr Blunt: The estimated proportion of defendants proceeded against for rape (including attempted rape) at magistrates courts who were granted bail and the estimated proportion tried for rape at the Crown Court who were granted bail, in England and Wales 2004 to 2008 (latest available) is shown in Table 1.
The estimated proportion of defendants proceeded against for rape (including attempted rape) at magistrates courts who were granted bail by the police following their arrest in England and Wales in each year between 2004 and 2008 (latest available) is shown in Table 2.
The Court Proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice relating to the use of bail by the police and courts does not record whether conditions are attached to bail in cases where bail is granted by either the police or courts.
| Table 1: The estimated( 1) proportion of defendants proceeded against for rape( 2) at magistrates courts( 3) who were granted bail( 4) and the estimated proportion tried for rape at the Crown Court who were granted bail in England and Wales, 2004-08( 5,6) | |||||
| Percentage | |||||
| Court type | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008( 7) |
| (1) It is known that in some police force areas, information on remand decisions is not always readily available to those coding court proceedings returns. In certain cases, the return may be mistakenly coded as if no remand had taken place. For magistrates court proceedings, the number of remands and more importantly, the number which are in custody, are believed to be under-recorded in total. As the breakdown of remands into bail and custody cases for a number of forces is not accurate for a number of forces, estimates have to be made to provide national figures. (2) Includes rape and attempted rape of males and females. (3) Excludes remands/bail data relating to Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (4) Excludes those remanded in custody at any stage of proceedings at magistrates and Crown courts who may also have been given bail at some stage of those proceedings. (5) Proportions for 2008 have been estimated based on pre-committal remand status. (6) The figures presented in this table have been computed using data that exclude those defendants who fail to appear to bail or summons. (7) Magistrates courts data for 2008 are provisional and subject to change. Note: 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: Prepared by Justice Statistics Analytical Services | |||||
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