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16 Sep 2010 : Column 1184W—continued
EU Common Foreign and Security Policy
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which policy areas are designated under the Common Foreign and Security Policy as areas of joint action. [14459]
Mr Lidington: Joint actions no longer exist. Before the Lisbon Treaty came into force, Article 14 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) stated that:
"Joint actions shall address specific situations when operational action by the Union is deemed to be required."
Most joint actions dealt with the imposition of sanctions, crisis management operations and the creation and running of EU Common Foreign and Security Policy agencies (for example, the European Defence Agency). Under Articles 23 to 46 of the TEU these types of decision are now in the form of Decisions of the Council. Like joint actions, council decisions are legally binding between the 27 member states.
EU Institutions: Manpower
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take to increase the number of UK nationals working in EU institutions; and if he will make a statement. [15603]
Mr Lidington: It is a Government priority to increase the number of UK officials working in the EU institutions and my officials have been developing a campaign to raise interest in careers in the EU institutions. The objective will be to raise both the number and quality of UK applicants.
We have reintroduced the European Fast Stream which prepares UK civil servants for the entry concours while undertaking demanding civil servant jobs. Work is also under way to develop a more strategic approach to the use of secondments of UK civil servants to posts in the EU institutions, where UK experience and insight can add real value.
We are also holding a series of events to raise awareness among young people over the course of the coming months. This is in its early stages but the first is scheduled for mid-October, when I hope to be joined by my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Deputy Prime Minister at a reception in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) where our guests will include university Vice Chancellors, Heads of Language Departments, careers advisers and interested members of the media. We will also launch an area on the FCO website dedicated to EU careers.
European Parliament: Computer Games
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent by the European Union in developing its role-playing game Citzalia; and how much it will cost annually to support and maintain the gaming site. [14708]
Mr Lidington: Information on this project was supplied by the European Parliament. Citzalia is an initiative of an organisation called the European Service Network (ESN), a Brussels-based communications agency whose website is:
At the beginning of 2010 the European Parliament awarded ESN a maximum grant of €206,450 which represents 75% of the estimated cost of establishing the project. An advance on the grant has been disbursed and final payment is conditional on the successful completion of the project and will not be made until such time as the final accounts have been received and analysed by the European Parliament.
The grant funding covers a set period of time, after which no further funding will be provided for the ongoing annual cost of supporting and maintaining the game.
Further information can be obtained from the UK Office of the European Parliament, whose website is:
Human Rights
David Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in his Department work full-time on human rights policy. [14229]
Mr Hague: 25 members of the Human Rights and Democracy Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London work full-time on human rights, assisted by a large number of staff in Consular Directorate, geographical teams and other functional policy teams. All FCO overseas missions monitor and raise human rights with their host countries. Staff recruited locally to work at posts overseas may also work on human rights issues.
Ilois: Resettlement
Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the (a) assisted returns of and (b) the right of permanent return by Chagos islanders to the islands of the British Indian Ocean Territory. [15905]
Mr Bellingham: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary set out in his evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 8 September 2010, the Government will continue to defend their position in the proceedings brought by the Chagos Islanders to the European Court of Human Rights. This is because we believe that the arguments against allowing resettlement on the grounds of defence security and feasibility are clear and compelling.
India: Foreign Relations
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the state of bilateral relations between the UK and India; and if he will make a statement. [15742]
Alistair Burt: The UK is committed to an enhanced partnership with India, which was strengthened by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's visit to India on 29-30 July 2010. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary accompanied the Prime Minister, along with colleagues including the right hon. Chancellor of the Exchequer and the right hon. Business Secretary, a delegation of business leaders and representatives from education, culture and sport. Throughout the visit Ministers had productive and wide ranging discussions with their Indian counterparts. Both sides agreed specific initiatives to develop economic and trade relations, science and technology, energy, education, defence, cultural and people to people contacts.
Justice
Alternatives to Prison
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what proportion of recommendations for use of the Intensive Alternative to Custody scheme were accepted by the courts in the latest period for which figures are available; [14977]
(2) how much his Department has spent on the Intensive Alternative to Custody scheme to date; [15018]
(3) for what offences an Intensive Alternative to Custody has been given in the latest period for which figures are available. [15019]
Mr Blunt: NOMS does not keep statistical information on the proportion of recommendations for the Intensive Alternative to Custody scheme accepted by the courts.
Overall, £13.9 million in funding was allocated to the programme (£2.7 million in 2008-09; £5.7 million in 2009-10; and £5.5 million in 2010-11).
The majority of offences for which an intensive alternative to custody has been given are acquisitive in nature and account for 36% of the orders. This is followed by violent offences 32.5%, motoring 10%, drug offences 8.4% with the remaining 12.6% being a collection of other offences.
Children Act 1989
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the outcome was of each referral to a local authority under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 following a restraint incident in each of the last five years. [15744]
Mr Blunt: These data are not held centrally and are available only at local authority level. To obtain such information would be at disproportionate cost.
Community Orders
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost to the public purse was of ordinary community orders in the latest period for which figures are available. [15020]
Mr Blunt: Costs will vary greatly depending on the nature and intensity of the order which can include one or more of 12 different requirements. The Specification, Benchmarking and Costing programme in the National Offender Management Service has produced specifications on the management of the community order and the delivery of the supervision requirement. Work is underway to establish the costs of these specifications with probation trusts. Full costs of the supervision requirement will be collected and published in order to benchmark the whole of the probation system by the end of 2011.
Defamation
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on his plans to review libel law; and if he will make a statement. [15701]
Mr Djanogly: The Government are committed to reviewing the law on defamation (including libel) with a view to ensuring that freedom of speech and academic debate are protected and that a fair balance is struck between freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. We intend to publish a draft Bill in the new year for consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny, with a view to introducing legislation as soon after that as parliamentary time allows.
Departmental Chief Scientific Advisers
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions each Minister in his Department has met his Department's chief scientific officer since 6 May 2010. [15437]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: Since 6 May 2010, Ministers have met the Department's chief scientific officer as follows:
Crispin Blunt has met her on approximately eight occasions,
Lord McNally on four,
Jonathan Djanogly on four,
Nick Herbert MP on six,
and I myself have met her on at least eight occasions.
Departmental Consultants
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on consultants in each year since 1997. [12906]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) came into existence in May 2007, merging the former Department for Constitutional Affairs and part of the Home Office. This means comprehensive and comparable data are only available for 2007 onwards.
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) collates data on consultancy expenditure as part of its Consultancy Value Programme which assists departments in driving greater value from consultants. The MoJ is currently collecting data on consultant expenditure for 2009-10. The results will be sent to the OGC in October 2010.
The Department's expenditure on consultants in 2008-09 was £50 million. This figure is based on a manual data collection exercise completed for the period April 2008 to March 2009.
The Ministry's expenditure on consultancy for 2007-08 was £56 million and can be found in the link:
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/professional_services_consultancy_ value_programme.asp
Both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 figures reflect expenditure by MoJ headquarters, HM Courts Service, HM Courts Service Estates, Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian, and the National Offender Management Service (except for the Probation Service). Refinements in the methodology for classifying expenditure in accordance with OGC taxonomy means that the 2007-08 and 2008-09 figures are not directly comparable at a detailed level.
The OGC definition of "consultancy" is very broad. It can include professional services provided by lawyers, surveyors, architects et cetera and the employment of specialists on an interim basis, to implement project solutions, providing expertise for a defined period of time that is not available in-house.
Fines
Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of (a) fines, (b) penalty notice payments and (c) compensation payments went unpaid in each of the last five years. [15001]
Mr Djanogly: HMCS systems do not identify how much of the value of the outstanding balance relates to fines, penalty notices or compensation, this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual search of all fine accounts.
However HMCS systems can identify the total amount imposed within the last five years and the total value outstanding. The total value outstanding can relate to fines imposed in any previous period and includes financial penalties imposed a number of years ago during the period when fines could not be cancelled (2004-06) and financial penalties which are being paid by instalments. The total amount imposed and balance outstanding includes fines imposed in the magistrates and Crown courts, compensation, costs, victims surcharge and the value of unpaid fixed penalty notices that are transferred to HMCS for enforcement as a fine. The outstanding balance has risen through the application of a strict policy that only allows fines to be written off in certain circumstances.
| £ | ||
| Total amount imposed | Total amount outstanding | |
Judiciary: Retirement
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess the merits of increasing the retirement age of (a) magistrates and (b) full-time members of the judiciary. [15325]
Mr Djanogly: The Government are considering the merits of such a change, in consultation with the judiciary and others.
Jury Service: Hearing Impairment
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance his Department issues to assist deaf people to undertake jury service. [15160]
Mr Djanogly: The Guide to Jury Summons leaflet which is issued with every summons advises jurors to declare whether they have a disability or special need on the Reply to Jury Summons form to enable HMCS via the Jury Central Summoning Bureau to automatically notify the relevant court of any disability or needs. Court staff will then contact the juror to discuss if adjustments can be arranged and offer a pre-service visit to check the facilities available. In addition to this, jurors are advised that they themselves may request a pre-service visit to the court before their jury service commences to assess the facilities by contacting the Jury Central Summoning Bureau.
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people called to undertake jury service in each HM Courts Service area in the last five years were unable to serve because of deafness. [15161]
Mr Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts Service does not keep specific information on how many people were called and excused from jury service because of their deafness.
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what facilities are provided for deaf people participating in jury service in each HM Courts Service area. [15162]
Mr Djanogly: Jurors with certain hearing aids may need the use of an induction loop system and each court will either have the system on site or have access to it by borrowing it from a neighbouring court. Courts can also, subject to cost, arrange for computer aided transcription for profoundly deaf jurors which allows the proceedings to be relayed simultaneously to the juror in written form while in the courtroom. However, the juror must be able to participate in the discussion in the deliberation room with their fellow jurors without the aid of third party assistance such as a sign language interpreter.
Land Registry: Fees and Charges
George Freeman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the average cost to district councils in (a) England and Wales and (b) Mid Norfolk constituency of the proposed removal of charges for Land Registry checks. [15082]
Mr Djanogly: No Land Registry charges have been removed. However, we revoked the fee for a personal search of the local land charges register in England on 17 August 2010. Responsibility for this fee in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government.
There should be no overall cost to local authorities in the current financial year, as the loss of income will be met by central Government under the new burdens doctrine. For 2011-12 and in future years the ongoing loss of fees will be considered as part of the spending review.
However the Government expect local authorities themselves to take greater responsibility for moving to more efficient ways of registering charges on land and maintaining land charge registers, as well as for making other environmental information required to support property transactions accessible to the public by electronic means. This would be in line both with the existing duty on all public authorities progressively to make environmental information easily available under the Environmental Information Regulations, and with the Government's new Transparency Agenda.
Legal Advice and Assistance
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the recent tendering exercise by the Legal Services Commission on the ability of the most vulnerable people to gain access to legal advice and representation. [15142]
Mr Djanogly: The aim of the tender process as stated in the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) response to consultation "Civil Bid Rounds for 2010 Contract: A Consultation Response" included the objective to
'commission services that maintain service standards and ensure easier client access to advice'.
The LSC published a full impact assessment alongside its consultation response. Like the final policy, the full impact assessment was informed by responses to the LSC's formal 12-week consultation.
As part of the tender process for civil contracts starting later this year, matter starts have been made available equal to those used in the period September 2008 to August 2009. The tender process is not yet complete, however it is expected that over one million acts of assistance will be delivered during the current financial year and overall as a result no reduction in access to advice for clients is expected.
Together with representative bodies (the Advice Services Alliance, the Legal Aid Practitioners' Group and Resolution) the LSC will be conducting a review of the outcomes of the tender process and will consider in detail any areas of concern identified.
Through the new Criminal Defence Service contract, the LSC has secured sufficient contracted providers to ensure that the safety net used by those that do not have their own solicitor-that is the duty rota scheme-at every police station and court are adequately staffed. Therefore, the most vulnerable will continue to gain access to legal advice and representation.
Legal Aid
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has made an assessment of the likely effects of a reduction in the number of suppliers of legal aid services on employment at (a) qualified and (b) support level in the legal sector. [15141]
Mr Djanogly: Through the Access to Justice Act 1999, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is tasked with maintaining the Community Legal Service for the purpose of promoting the availability to individuals of and, in particular, for securing (within the resources made available, and priorities set, in accordance with the Act) that individuals have access to services that effectively meet their needs.
The recent tender process for civil legal contracts has sought to meet this objective. The tender process has not yet concluded and final numbers of legal aid providers delivering work under the new contract will only be known after the appeals and pre-contract verification processes are complete and as such no final assessment on the impact on the legal profession has taken place. Expenditure on civil legal aid is expected to remain unchanged as a result of the tender process and it is therefore not anticipated that this process will significantly affect the number of legal advisers employed overall although as not all organisations have been successful in their tenders it is likely that there will be some movement of legal advisers from unsuccessful organisations to successful ones.
The new Criminal Defence Service (CDS) contract came into effect on 14 July 2010. The number of providers contracted to undertake general CDS work across England and Wales remained stable.
This contract introduced new standards for undertaking prison law work, to ensure that only those firms with suitably experienced fee earners would qualify for the contract. This has led to a reduction in the number of providers that are able to undertake prison law work. It should be noted that the vast majority of those that did
not qualify for a contract had undertaken minimal numbers of cases in the past. The LSC are confident that the remaining contracted providers are more than able to meet the demand in this area.
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department holds on the monetary value of contributions made to the Legal Aid Fund by means of (a) monthly contributions and (b) charges on assets recovered by those who have been granted support from the Fund. [15143]
Mr Djanogly: Details of income due from funded clients are published under note 2 of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC's) annual report and accounts.
During 2008-09, the latest period for which the accounts have been published, the total amount recoverable by the LSC for legal aid work in civil matters under the statutory charge was £47 million. This included both monies which have been secured on assets and unsecured damages, where the statutory charge applies. Additionally, £16 million was recoverable by way of contributions.
From July 2010 the Crown court means testing scheme has been in operation across England and Wales. A number of defendants are now the subject of orders requiring them to contribute to the costs of their case from their income. We anticipate that numbers will increase substantially as more defendants are assessed as being liable to contribute to their costs.
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the legal aid budget was in respect of (a) criminal case legal aid and (b) family and social welfare legal aid in each of the last three years. [15157]
Mr Djanogly: There is no separate budget for criminal cases and family and social welfare law; funding forms part of the Department's overall departmental expenditure limit.
Legal aid expenditure on criminal matters, family and social welfare law during each of the past three years for which the Legal Services Commission's accounts have been published are provided in the following table, in cash terms.
| £ million | |||
| Criminal matters | Family | Social welfare | |
Legal Services Commission: Contracts
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is permitted to award more matter starts than requested by an applicant for tenders in the LSC contract commencing on 14 October 2010. [15248]
Mr Djanogly:
Organisations may not tender for more work than is available in a procurement area or access point, nor may they tender for more work than the maximum permitted by the capacity of their staff. The
tender rules, as currently set down, do not allow the Legal Services Commission to award more NMS than have been applied for.
Magistrates Courts: Keighley
Kris Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) under what budgetary headings the estimate of £263,411 for the 2009-10 operating costs excluding staff and non-cash costs of Keighley magistrates court, as referred to in Consultation Paper CP13/10, Proposal on the provision of court services in North and West Yorkshire, was made; [15331]
(2) under what budgetary headings the estimate of around £225,000 for HMCS investment in backlog maintenance at Keighley magistrates court, as referred to in Consultation Paper CP13/10, Proposal on the provision of court services in North and West Yorkshire, was made; [15332]
(3) under what budgetary headings the estimate of £130,884 for the 2009-10 operating cost excluding staff and non-cash costs of Keighley county court, as referred to in Consultation Paper CP13/10, Proposal on the provision of court services in North and West Yorkshire, was made; [15333]
(4) under what budgetary headings the estimate of around £475,000 for KMCS investment in backlog maintenance at Keighley county court, as referred to in Consultation Paper CP13/10, Proposal on the provision of court services in North and West Yorkshire, was made. [15334]
Mr Djanogly: The budgetary headings under which estimates were made of operating costs (excluding staff, non-cash and judicial costs) and backlog maintenance costs at Keighley magistrates court, sitting at Bingley, and Keighley county court, are listed as follows:
Keighley m agistrates (Bingley)- O perating costs
Property Rents
Rates
Off-Site Storage
Hire of office/courtroom related equipment
Hire of Photocopiers-VAT Recoverable
Other Property Services
Other Expenditure-Other
Catering-Office Drinking Water
Printing Postage and Office expenditure
Fuel and Utilities
Service Costs
Telecomms
Maintenance
Keighley m agistrates (Bingley)- B acklog maintenance
Building Fabric
Decoration
Electrical/Lighting
External Works
Fire Works
Heating/Plumbing
Roof
Security
Keighley c ounty-Operating costs
Property Rents
Rates
Service Charges
Hire of office/courtroom related equipment
Hire of Photocopiers-VAT Recoverable
Other Property Services
Other Expenditure-Other
Printing Postage and Office expenditure
IT Services
Fuel and Utilities
Telecomms
Maintenance
Keighley c ounty-Backlog maintenance
Alarms
Building Fabric
Decoration
Electrical/Lighting
External Works
Fire Works
Heating/Plumbing
Roof
Medway Secure Training Centre
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many referrals have there been to children and adolescent mental health services of (a) boys and (b) girls held at Medway secure training centre in each month since April 1998. [15068]
Mr Blunt: Medway STC provide mental health provision for all children and young people placed at the centre and have access to external specialist provision.
One female young person was referred to hospital for psychiatric treatment from Medway in 2006.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children received into Medway secure training centre in each year since 1998 have been assessed as having an identified (a) learning and (b) physical disability. [15069]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of young people admitted into Medway STC with a statement of educational needs relating to learning disabilities. Medway STC has only recorded this data centrally from August 2004 to date.
Medway STC has no record of any young person placed at the centre with a physical disability.
| Number of young people with a learning disability | |
| (1) Records commenced August 2004 | |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children received into Medway secure training centre since April 1998 have been assessed as having an identified mental health problem. [15070]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of young people received into Medway STC who have been assessed as having an identified mental health problem. These data are only available from 2006 to date.
These figures are based solely on clinical diagnoses made prior to young people's admission to Medway STC.
| Number | |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many assaults by (a) boys and (b) girls against staff have been recorded at Medway secure training centre in each month since April 1998; and how many such assaults required external medical help. [15071]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of assaults where the victim was not a young person, this includes staff and visitors, and of these how many resulted in injury requiring external medical help. The data cannot be broken down by gender of perpetrator.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
| Number of assaults where the victim was not a young person | Number of assaults where the victim was not a young person resulting in injury requiring external medical help | Proportion of assaults requiring external medial help (percentage) | |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many assaults by staff against children have been recorded at Medway secure training centre in each year since April 1998; and how many such assaults required external medical help. [15072]
Mr Blunt: There have been no recorded incidents of assault by staff against children and/or young people at Medway STC between April 1998 and to date.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many assaults by (a) boys and (b) girls against other children have been recorded at Medway secure training centre in each month since April 1998; and how many such assaults required external medical help. [15073]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of assaults where the victim was a young person and of these how many resulted in injury requiring external medical help. These data cannot be broken down by gender of perpetrator.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
| Month | Number of assaults by young people where the victim was a young person | Number of assaults by young people where the victim was a young person resulting in injury requiring external medical help | Proportion of assaults requiring external medical help (percentage) |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) boys and (b) girls were received into Medway secure training centre for a second time within a year of their first reception in each year since 1999. [15074]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of boys and girls who were received into Medway STC for a second time within a year of their first reception. The data are available only from 2003 to date.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
| Number | ||
| Male | Female | |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) boys and (b) girls have been received into Medway secure training centre (i) twice, (ii) three times and (iii) four times or more since 1998. [15075]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows how many boys and girls have been received into Medway secure training centre (i) twice, (ii) three times and (iii) four times or more since 1998.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
| Male | Female | |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what average length of time was spent by (a) boys and (b) girls on remand at Medway secure training centre in 2009. [15076]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the average length of time in days that was spent by (a) boys and (b) girls who were remanded at Medway secure training centre for custodial episodes ended in 2008-09.
An episode refers to a period a young person has spent in custody and it is possible that one young person can start more than one custodial episode at different points of each year for different offences or for change in legal basis for detention, such as remand to sentence.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
| Average length of time in days for remanded young people at Medway STC in 2008-09 | |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of sentence was for (a) boys and (b) girls received into Medway secure training centre in 2009. [15077]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the average length of time spent in custody in days by (a) boys and (b) girls who were sentenced at Medway secure training centre for custodial episodes ended in 2008-09.
An episode refers to a period a young person has spent in custody and it is possible that one young person can start more than one custodial episode at different points of each year for different offences or for change in legal basis for detention, such as remand to sentence.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
| Average length of time spent in custody by young people at Medway STC in 2008-09 | |
| Gender | Days |
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many referrals there have been to the local children safeguarding board in respect of children held at Medway secure training centre in each month since April 1998. [15079]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the numbers of referrals to the local safeguarding children board in respect of children and/or young people held at Medway secure training centre during the period June 2001 to date. Local safeguarding children boards were introduced in statute in the Children's Act 2004, but not fully operational until 2006 when the revised "Working Together to Safeguard Children" was published. Previously to this, they were called Area Child Protection Committees.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.
| Number | |
National Probation Service: Secondment
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will offer incentives to probation service staff to undertake secondments in the voluntary sector. [15227]
Mr Blunt:
The Government have made a commitment to putting voluntary and community organisations and social enterprises at the centre of our mission to deliver better public services and build the Big Society. Individual
probation trusts may offer their employees appropriate development opportunities in areas that are aligned to trust objectives, including the voluntary sector.
Opiate Dependent Litigation Scheme
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much compensation has been paid out under the Opiate Dependent Litigation Scheme in the latest period for which figures are available. [15103]
Mr Blunt: In 2006 the Prison Service settled 197 claims from prisoners who claimed that their drug detoxification treatment was inadequate. The claims concerned medical practice in prisons dating back to the late 1990s. Legal advice was that the standard of care they received fell short of acceptable medical standards and the Prison Service's guidelines for dealing with opiate dependent prisoners. On the basis of strong legal advice it was decided to settle these cases out of court in order to minimise costs to the taxpayer. If the claims had proceeded to trial they would have resulted in considerably more expense to the public purse. Each case was settled for £3,807.10 (a total of £749,998.7).
Following the payment of compensation the claimants' legal costs were settled for a total of £696,198.
Powers of Attorney
John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average time taken by the Office of the Public Guardian is to register each Lasting Power of Attorney it receives; [14347]
(2) how many Lasting Powers of Attorney have been registered since their inception; [14348]
(3) what proportion of Lasting Powers of Attorney were rejected on grounds of error in the latest period for which figures are available. [14664]
Mr Djanogly: Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) were introduced by the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which was fully implemented on 1 October 2007. All LPAs must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before they can be used.
Provided that all submitted documentation is in order, the OPG currently registers an LPA within 13 weeks. This includes a six-week statutory waiting period.
Since 1 October 2007 the OPG has registered some 200,000 LPAs. These can be broken down further as follows:
36,000 health and welfare LPAs
164,000 property and affairs LPAs
The OPG makes every effort to ensure that, even where there are errors in an application, corrections are made and a registered LPA results. In the period 1 October 2007 to 2 September 2010, 3% of LPA forms were rejected as invalid due to unrecoverable errors in completion.
Prisoner Escapes
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners absconded from each prison in each of the last five years. [14976]
Mr Blunt: The number of prisoners who have absconded from each prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
Despite a rising prison population, the number of absconds has been falling year on year thanks in part to better security procedures within prisons and a more
proactive approach by many open prisons, the police and CPS in prosecuting those absconding. Last year was the lowest level of absconds on record.
Every abscond is reported to the police. Some 96% of those absconding are re-captured and returned to custody.
| Absconds from prisons in England and Wales in the last five years, broken down by (a) establishment and (b) year | |||||
| Number | |||||
| Establishment name | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| (1) In 2008 HMP Hewell Grange merged with HMP Brockhill and HMP Blakenhurst to form HMP Hewell.( 2) In 2008 the open accommodation at HMP Wealstun was converted to a Category C closed establishment. Note: Data for 2009-10 will not be available until later in the year. | |||||
These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
Prisoners: Foreigners
John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to monitor the number of foreign nationals in UK prisons; and what changes there have been in the number of such prisoners in the last two years. [14344]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the UK Border Agency work closely together to ensure that those foreign national prisoners who have no right to remain in the UK are removed at the earliest opportunity. In 2009 NOMS and UKBA concluded a Service Level Agreement aimed primarily at better managing the number of time-served foreign national prisoners (or immigration detainees) in prison and focused on improving the process for the management and removal of foreign national prisoners who met the criteria for deportation. A major element of this Service Level Agreement was the concentration of these prisoners within the male, category C estate. Foreign national prisoners with more than three months but less than three years to serve are allocated, where possible, to designated hub and spoke prisons.
The main aim of this policy is to improve joint working throughout the removals process by embedding UKBA staff in "hub" prisons, who in turn service "spoke" prisons. Reducing the number of prisons with small FNP populations allows for more effective case-working of the identified group by UKBA and creates centres of expertise in the prison system for managing
those foreign national prisoners who are most likely to be removed. Prisoners also benefit from improved information and access to UKBA, as well as earlier resolution of their cases.
In June 2008, the number of foreign national prisoners held in England and Wales stood at 11,498 (14% of the prison population). In June 2010, the number had fallen to 11,135 (13%). During the same period the total prison population rose from 83,194 to 85,002.
The management of foreign national prisoners in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is a matter for the relevant devolved administration.
Prisoners: Human Rights
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have taken legal action against the Government and Government agencies under the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998. [15104]
Mr Blunt: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For example providing the information from the Ministry of Justice alone would involve the individual examination of several thousand files.
NOMS records litigation claims by the main type of allegation. Claims often make reference to alleged breaches of human rights. In some cases the claim will be brought wholly on an HRA basis. In others an HRA basis of claim will be but one of a number of alleged grounds of claim.
Prisoners: Marriage
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) marriages and (b) civil partnership ceremonies have taken place in prisons in the last three years. [15196]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not keep a central record of the number of marriages or civil partnership ceremonies that take place in prisons. This information could be obtained only by contacting every prison establishment individually which would incur disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Telephones
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance his Department issues to the Prison Service on monitoring the telephone calls of sex offenders serving custodial sentences; and if he will make a statement. [15234]
Mr Blunt: The telephone calls of all prisoners are recorded and may be monitored, other than calls between prisoners and their legal advisers and the courts. Prisons refer to a range of guidance (as set out in the following list) when deciding whether to monitor the calls of a prisoner who has been convicted of a sexual offence. Some calls are monitored because of the offence the prisoner committed in order to protect the public. However, some telephone calls are monitored randomly or because of concerns about the risk that the prisoner poses to prison security. All of these situations may apply to a prisoner convicted of a sexual offence.
Prison Service Order 4400-Prisoner Communications Chapter 4: Prisoners' Use of Telephones
http://pso.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/PSO_4400_prisoner_ communications.doc
The Public Protection Manual-Chapter 2-Child Contact Procedures
The National Security Framework-Function 4.
Prisons
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department issues guidance to the Prison Service on the display of information provided by third parties in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [15017]
Mr Blunt: Requests to display information in prisons are dealt with on a case by case basis due to the wide and varied nature of prison establishments and the information they need to display.
The layout of prison establishments varies greatly, as does the provision of notice boards and other means suitable for the display of information.
The kind of information to be displayed also needs to be taken into account and some messages are only suitable for certain types of prisoners. Additionally, some information is intended only for prison staff and not for offenders.
Decisions are taken by governors about the suitability of the information to be displayed for the type of offenders they manage. They also decide where in their establishments the information should be displayed.
The National Offender Management Service can request that governors ensure information is displayed appropriately, but the decision about how the request is dealt with is made locally.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisons have one or more prisoner representative groups; what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who are members of such groups; and what funding his Department has provided for such groups in the last three years. [15202]
Mr Blunt: The information requested is not collated centrally nor required to be recorded locally, and could be collated only by manual checking with individual establishments, which would incur disproportionate cost. However, Prison Service Order 4480 (Prisoners' Representative Associations), a copy of which has been placed in the House Library, sets out existing policy.
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) encourages prisoners to take responsibility for their actions and to help both themselves and their fellow prisoners. Representative committees exist in many establishments and these are often an effective way of communicating with, and getting feedback from, prisoners. Prisoner committees are purely local groups to involve prisoners in local issues and do not require or receive any funding.
Governors and directors have discretion in deciding how far to allow prisoners representative groups to operate in their establishments. They must take account
of local conditions and the implications for good order and discipline. They are also required to include prisoner representatives in local Race Equality Action Teams.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times an accommodation fabric check has led to confiscation of items from a prisoner's cell in the latest period for which figures are available. [15231]
Mr Blunt: Accommodation fabric checks are one of the many effective searching measures employed by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) within prisons.
The NOMS National Security Framework requires that prisons have arrangements in place for keeping records of searching and subsequent finds of illicit items, which will be confiscated when found. However, these details are not collated centrally. To provide the information requested would involve obtaining information from all prisons across the prison estate which could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Prisons: CCTV
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many closed circuit television cameras there are installed on prison premises; what estimate he has made of the number of offences recorded on such cameras in the latest period for which figures are available; and on how many occasions an offence recorded on such a camera has resulted in a prosecution in the latest period for which figures are available. [15015]
Mr Blunt: CCTV is among the range of technical aids governors deploy within prison establishments that are designed to enhance security.
The National Offender Management Service does not compile figures on the use of CCTV in prisons centrally. There is no mandatory requirement for individual prisons to collate these data locally. The information requested could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost by asking each prison to carry out a survey of CCTV installations and to analyse any locally held records.
Prisons: Cumbria
John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to build a prison in (a) Carlisle constituency and (b) neighbouring constituencies. [14346]
Mr Blunt: In October 2009, the Ministry of Justice began a site search for sites suitable for 1,500-place prisons in the priority areas of North West England, North Wales, West Yorkshire and Greater London. A number of sites in the North West have been put forward, including in Carlisle.
We will look in detail over the coming months at the sentencing frameworks for adults and young offenders, as well as the full range of penalties available in the criminal justice system.
Long-term decisions on prison capacity programmes will be taken in the light of these policy developments. We will ensure that we meet prison capacity requirements
more efficiently to improve value for money for the taxpayer and to contribute savings to help reduce the budget deficit.
Prisons: Dogs
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on the use of dogs by the Prison Service in prisons. [15092]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service have dog teams trained and accredited in six different areas of detection including drugs and arms and explosives searching, in addition to patrol and specialist incident support dog teams. The protocols and procedures for the use of prison dogs are based on need and will differ between specialities. The use of all prison dogs is set out in restricted Prison Service Orders, 1050 Prison Service Dogs Chapters 1 (Standards) and 2 (Training Aids); and 1053 External Patrols which are supported by local security protocols. All prison dogs deployed in the prison estate are fully accredited.
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