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21 Oct 2010 : Column 877W—continued
Members: Conduct
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made in bringing forward proposals to introduce powers for people to recall their hon. Member; and if he will make a statement. [18234]
Mr Harper: The coalition programme for Government included a commitment to bring forward legislation to introduce a power of recall. We are currently considering what would be the fairest, most appropriate and robust procedure.
Justice
Comprehensive Spending Review
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to publish equality impact assessments undertaken by his Department as part of the comprehensive spending review; and if he will make a statement. [18197]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is taking equality into account in its work on the spending review. Equality impact assessments will be published when the MOJ publishes detailed proposals for delivering its spending review agreement.
Courts: Trials and Sentencing
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many of those remanded in custody awaiting sentence at the last HM Courts Service monthly census date were (a) awaiting sentence at the Crown Court, (b) awaiting sentence at a magistrates' court, (c) had been arrested on a no bail warrant and (d) were in custody for other reasons; [18560]
(2) how many of those remanded in custody and not yet tried at the last HM Courts Service monthly census date were (a) awaiting trial at the Crown Court, (b) awaiting trial at a magistrates' court, (c) had appeared in court but not yet entered a plea, (d) had been charged but not yet appeared in court, (e) had been arrested on a no bail warrant and (f) were in custody for other reasons. [18561]
Mr Blunt: Data are published monthly on the number of offenders in custody on remand untried and the number on remand convicted but unsentenced. The most recent data for August 2010 were published on the Ministry of Justice website in "Population in custody monthly tables August 2010 England and Wales"-Table 1- and are available through the following link:
The Court Proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice holds information on defendants proceeded against for criminal offences in England and Wales. These data include information on the age and sex of the defendants, the court where proceedings took place as well as the outcome for specific offences including sentencing information. The Court Proceedings Database does not hold information on whether the defendants proceeded against were on bail at the time of committing their offence, or the criminal history of defendants. Circumstances leading to an arrest and charge of an offender are not recorded on the database and could only be provided through manual checking of court and prisoner records at disproportionate cost.
As at 31 August 2010 there were a total of 13,028 remand offenders in prison of whom 8,802 were untried and 4,226 were convicted but unsentenced.
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.
Management Companies: Fees and Charges
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward proposals to regulate the payment of referral fees to claims management companies by solicitors. [18127]
Mr Djanogly:
The payment of referral fees is already subject to regulation. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the direct regulation of claims management companies, who are subject to part 2 of the Compensation Act 2006.
Solicitors, who are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA), must in relation to referral fees comply with the Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007 (rule 9).
The Government are aware of concerns over referral fees and we note that this issue has been considered by Lord Young in his report 'Common Sense, Common Safety' (published on 15 October 2010) and by Lord Jackson in his report 'Review of Civil Litigation Costs' (published 14 January 2010). The Government welcome Lord Young's report and in regard to Lord Jackson's report will be issuing a consultation paper later this autumn.
The Legal Services Board, as the oversight regulator of the legal profession in England and Wales, has launched a consultation entitled 'Referral Fees, Referral Arrangements and Fee Sharing'. The consultation ends on 22 December 2010. The conclusions of this consultation will be carefully considered by the SRA and will help to inform the Government's position on referral fees.
Personal Injury Lawyers: Advertising
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward proposals to restrict advertising by personal injury lawyers. [18126]
Mr Djanogly: 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 the 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 or inaccurate publicity and inappropriate approaches for business.
Following Lord Young's report on health and safety and compensation culture to restrict advertising by personal injury lawyers I am aware that Lord Young has written to the SRA, expressing his concerns about the regulations currently in place. I have asked the SRA to inform me of their plans regarding any future changes to regulation.
The SRA is currently consulting on a new code of conduct, and will be working with Lord Young's team, the Legal Services Board and the Ministry of Justice/Claims Management Regulator and other stakeholders to ensure that clients' interests are protected, and that solicitors' publicity is not likely to diminish the trust the public places in solicitors and the provision of legal services.
Prisoners: Interviews
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners granted permission to give media interviews in each year since 1997; on what date permission was granted in each case; to which prisoners such permission was given; for which offences each had been convicted; and what the cost to the public purse of processing the interview request was in each case. [18208]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has no record of the number of prisoners granted face to face interviews with journalists since 1997. Prior to a change to the policy in July 2010, decisions to allow prisoners to have interviews with journalists were made by governors and no central records were collated. It is not possible to provide information on the number, date and cost of interviews or the type of prisoners granted face to face access to journalists. The new policy requires governors to refer all requests for face to face interviews to the Ministry of Justice Press Office for approval on behalf of the Secretary of State for Justice. No decisions on whether to allow an interview have been made since July 2010.
Prisons: Wales
Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to announce the prospective sites in North Wales for a prison. [18588]
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 as part of the new prisons programme. A number of sites in North Wales have been put forward.
The Ministry of Justice is committed to publishing a Green Paper on Rehabilitation and Sentencing, consulting on our longer term plans for offender management. As a consequence the Ministry will re-evaluate its strategy for prison capacity.
Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007: Debt Collection
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department plans to implement the provisions of Schedule 12 of the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 to appoint an independent regulator of bailiff and debt collection organisations. [18699]
Mr Djanogly: Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 does not provide for the appointment of an independent regulator of bailiff and debt collection organisations.
We have given a commitment to provide more protection against aggressive bailiffs. We are developing options for public consultation on "Protection against Aggressive Bailiffs" including the need for better regulation of bailiffs.
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department plans to undertake a public consultation on the implementation of Schedule 12 of the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. [18839]
Mr Djanogly: We have given a commitment to provide more protection against aggressive bailiffs. We are developing options for public consultation on "Protection against Aggressive Bailiffs" including the potential implementation of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.
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