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8 Nov 2010 : Column 63W—continued
Departmental Redundancy
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many redundancies he expects there to be at the Tribunals Service as a result of the implementation of the Government's proposals for public bodies reform; and what he expects the (a) severance and (b) pension arrangements to be for employees. [21833]
Mr Djanogly: Proposals for public bodies reform published by the Cabinet Office on 14 October and introduced in the Public Bodies Bill are that a number of appeal jurisdictions currently under the Departments for Business, Innovation and Skills, Communities and Local Government and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs be transferred to the Tribunals Service. There are no plans for changes to existing Tribunals Service jurisdictions and, therefore, no redundancies are expected as a result of the proposals for public bodies reforms.
The Ministry of Justice has received the spending review 2010 allocation but this has not yet been apportioned to business groups to inform workforce planning over the comprehensive spending review period. It is forecast that any staff reductions will be achieved as much as possible through natural attrition and voluntary early exits, with compulsory departures to be used only as a last resort.
(a) All early departures will be subject to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.
(b) All pension arrangements are subject to the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding to meet staff redundancy costs was identified in his Department's settlement letter in respect of the comprehensive spending review. [21541]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: All pressures on Departments' budgets were taken into account as part of the spending review and settlements were allocated accordingly. The full costs of redundancies will be met from within the Ministry of Justice's spending review resource DEL settlement.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have been offered enhanced early retirement packages in each of the last three years. [22028]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The information requested is as follows.
Ministry of Justice (excluding National Offender Management Service)
The Ministry of Justice does not record centrally the numbers of staff that have been offered enhanced early retirement packages in each of the last three years.
However, the following table details the number of staff, including senior civil service, who have accepted and left the Department and its agencies (excluding NOMS) on enhanced early retirement packages in the last three years.
| Number | |
The above numbers include staff who have left the Ministry on compulsory early retirement terms or flexible early retirement terms.
National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
Information regarding the number of staff who have been offered enhanced retirement packages prior to September 2009 is not held centrally and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.
However, in September 2009, the National Offender Management Service published a voluntary exit scheme for managers under the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. In March 2010, 258 members of staff exited from NOMS via this scheme. Of this total figure, 12 senior managers were offered and exited under enhanced early retirement packages (flexible early retirement terms).
The following table details the number of staff who have accepted and left NOMS on early retirement, not necessarily enhanced packages, in the last three years.
| Number | |
The above numbers include staff who have retired early from NOMS on approved early retirement or flexible early retirement terms (enhanced retirement package).
Departmental Travel
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of its expenditure on travel undertaken by (a) him and (b) each other Minister in his Department in (i) September and (ii) October 2010. [21860]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The amounts spent on travel incurred during this period by me, as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor and my Ministers are as follows:
| £ | ||
| Minister | October 2010 | September 2010 |
All travel by Ministers is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
A proportion of these costs are attributable to staff within Private Offices accompanying Ministers on business. It would incur disproportionate cost to separately identify these amounts.
The figures do not include the costs of the Government Car Service since the Ministry are still awaiting some of the invoices for those journeys taken in September and October.
Empty Dwelling Management Orders: Squatting
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received from (a) members of the public, (b) local government councillors and (c) hon. Members and Members of the House of Lords on properties occupied by squatters; what response he provided in each case; and if he will make a statement. [21935]
Mr Blunt: Following recent media coverage about the harm caused by squatters in residential and non-residential property, I have received a number of representations from members of the public and Members of Parliament calling for the law to be strengthened. To date, I have not received any representations from Members of the House of Lords or local councillors on this issue.
I have asked my officials to look at the existing law on trespass and the way it is enforced to see if it can be strengthened. They are working with officials in other Government Departments, including the Home Office, and with the Association of Chief Police Officers and CPS to see what, if any, changes may need to be made, including to police guidance on dealing with squatters. No firm conclusions have been reached.
Expert Evidence: Social Work
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what his policy is on the inclusion of the work of independent social workers in the remit of his Department's review group on expert witnesses in the family courts; [21706]
(2) if he will review the appropriateness of the fee structure proposed by the Legal Services Commission for independent social workers acting as expert witnesses in the family courts. [21707]
Mr Djanogly: Payments to independent social workers (ISWs) for family legal aid work are not included within the remit of the separate work being undertaken by my Department and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) on payments to expert witnesses in legal aid cases. This has been made clear to ISW groups on many occasions although they have also been invited to see and comment on any emerging findings from the expert witness fees project as part of a wider reference group. This is because changes to payments to ISWs were consulted on as part of the joint Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and LSC consultation Family Legal Aid Funding from 2010 which ran from 18 December 2008 to 3 April 2009. Following the full public consultation, it was confirmed in the consultation response that payment for legally aided independent social work in public and private law children cases would be capped to the same level as that paid by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (CAFCASS). The consultation response was published on 21 October 2009 and is available on the LSC website at:
https://consult.legalservices.gov.uk/inovem/consult.ti/FamilyFees2008/listdocuments
The Department has no current plans to review this change, as it is considered that it is not an effective use of public money for the LSC to pay higher rates than those set by CAFCASS.
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff of the Office of the Information Commissioner participated in the visit to the headquarters of Google in July 2010; and what the technical qualifications were of such staff. [21815]
Mr Djanogly: Two staff from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) participated in the visit to Google's headquarters in July 2010. As an Assistant Commissioner and a Strategic Liaison Group Manager, they were both senior staff with considerable experience in data protection law. This information was provided by the ICO.
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who was responsible for selecting the sample of the Google Street View payload data examined by staff of the Office of the Information Commissioner during their visit to the headquarters of Google in July 2010. [21816]
Mr Djanogly: The Information Commissioner's staff selected the sample payload data which was examined during their visit to Google headquarters.
This information was provided by the Information Commissioner's Office.
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many meetings (a) the Information Commissioner and (b) officials in his office held with representatives of Google in the last 24 months; and which representatives of Google were present on each occasion. [21820]
Mr Djanogly: The Information Commissioner has not met representatives of Google in the last 24 months. Staff from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have met representatives of Google on two occasions and have also been in contact by email and telephone.
This information was provided by the ICO.
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he received written advice from the Information Commissioner on Google's Street View project between January and October 2010. [21903]
Mr Djanogly: UK data protection legislation is enforced independently of Government by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and it would not be appropriate for Ministers to be involved in the ICO's handling of any particular case.
Discussions between the Information Commissioner and Ministers with regard to Google's Street View project have related to the general principles of the case.
Homicide: Sentencing
Andrea Leadsom:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess the merits of extending the tariffs for individuals found guilty of murder who refuse
to disclose (a) the location of a body, (b) the method of murder and (c) the date and time of murder where such disclosure may be of comfort to the bereaved. [22431]
Mr Blunt: The concealment of the body, or other evidence, is already an aggravating factor in sentencing. This means that where, for example, a murderer fails to disclose the location of the body of the victim, the court will punish that aspect of the offender's behaviour by imposing a longer minimum term under the mandatory life sentence required for murder.
Judges: Public Appointments
Mr Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 28 October 2010, Official Report, column 482W, on judges: appointments, whether the most recent reserve list of candidates for judicial appointments contained candidates that did not pass a judicial competition; and how many judicial appointments have been made of candidates who had not passed a judicial competition in the latest period for which figures are available. [22379]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: All candidates who have been recommended for appointment under section 94 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 have been through a selection exercise (competition) run by the Judicial Appointments Commission in accordance with that Act.
All judicial appointments made under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 for the period 2009-2010 (the latest period for which figures are available) followed a selection exercise (competition) run by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
During the same period, at the request of the Lord Chief Justice and with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor, eight Circuit Judges were re-graded to Senior Circuit Judge without going through a JAC selection exercise.
Juries: Mental Illness
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what impact assessment his Department has undertaken in respect of those diagnosed with mental health conditions who are disqualified from jury service under the Juries Act 1974; and what impact assessment his Department has undertaken in respect of (a) the Equality Act 2010, (b) the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and (c) the Mental Capacity Act 2005. [22459]
Mr Blunt: We have no plans at present to change the provisions in the Juries Act 1974 relating to the eligibility for jury service of people with mental health conditions and therefore are not undertaking any formal impact assessments in that connection. Initial analysis has indicated that only about 2% of people summoned for jury service are disqualified on grounds of mental health. Modifying the provisions governing people's eligibility to serve would be a disproportionate response in view of the limited benefits and the small number of people likely to be affected.
Magistrates Courts
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what response he has made to the Commissioner for Victims of Crime on his proposal to increase the number of cases heard by magistrates courts; and if he will make a statement. [22608]
Mr Blunt: A statement issued by the Ministry of Justice on 3 November said:
"The Victims Commissioner has called for an end to trial by jury for defendants in petty crime cases and the prevention of late guilty pleas. However, the Government is committed to preserving a person's fundamental right to have their case heard before a jury.
Many defendants who elect Crown Court trial go on to plead guilty before the trial begins. This is unfair to victims and witnesses, and a waste of taxpayers' money.
Those who plead guilty spare the victim the ordeal of giving evidence in court, and the criminal justice system significant resource. We are considering how best to encourage guilty pleas at an earlier stage, while preserving a person's long-standing right to have their case heard before a jury."
Mental Health
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of recommendations relevant to his Department's policy responsibilities contained in the Foresight report on Mental Capacity and Well-Being by the Government Office for Science; if he will ensure that his Department takes steps to promote well-being; if he will ensure that his Department's policy development process takes account of psychological research into subjective well-being; and if he will make a statement. [22757]
Mr Blunt: We recognise the importance of decisions and actions taken in the justice system as having a significant impact on individuals' mental health and well-being, and anticipate that many of our planned reforms will have a positive impact. For example, the family justice review is considering how to make the family justice system more efficient and effective, thereby providing better outcomes for people using it; and our proposals for bringing about a rehabilitation revolution are aimed to improve access to mental health services by offenders-a group identified by the Foresight report as suffering from high levels of mental health problems. We will be consulting widely in our forthcoming Rehabilitation and Sentencing Green Paper, and implementation of changes will be informed by the views received and the relevant research.
National Probation Service: Wales
Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding he allocated to the Probation Service in North Wales in 2009-10; and how much such funding he plans to allocate in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [22260]
Mr Blunt:
In the financial year 2009-10 the funding allocated to North Wales Probation Board by NOMS was £12,132,000. In addition to this funding, NOMS Cymru made an additional allocation of £205,000 to ensure that North Wales Probation received a sufficient level of funding to provide probation services across the
region. During the financial year north Wales identified that it would not spend this full allocation and a transfer of funding of £112,000 was made to Gwent Probation Board to allow it to offer some employees early exit schemes. The final amount of funding provided to North Wales Probation Board for 2009-10 was £12,225,000.
With effect from 1 April 2010, following the successful application of all four probation organisations in Wales to merge and form the Wales Probation Trust, North Wales Probation Board ceased to exist as a single entity. As such it is not possible to identify the amount of funding allocated to north Wales for probation services, however, the level of funding provided to the Wales Probation Trust for 2010-11 currently stands at £55,626,000, which represents a funding settlement that is in line with the business plan put forward as part of the application to form the Wales Probation Trust. It is not possible to specify the proportion of funding provided to cover north Wales as many services are now provided on an all Wales basis.
NOMS is unable to confirm the level of funding that will be provided to the Wales Probation Trust for 2011-12 as the settlement for the whole of NOMS is not yet known. Once the detail of the impact of the comprehensive spending review has been worked through NOMS will be in a position to provide the planned funding allocation for Wales Probation Trust.
Offenders: Disciplinary Offences
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders in each prison establishment were found to be in breach of prison discipline in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [21959]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) records the total number of findings of guilt against prisoners at internal disciplinary hearings (adjudications). Information by month and by establishment is not held centrally and could be obtained by contacting every prison only at disproportionate cost.
In 2009 (the latest year for which figures are available) the total number of proven disciplinary offences was 104,745. Some prisoners may have been found guilty of more than one offence.
Data on disciplinary offences and punishments in prisons are available in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2009, on the Ministry of Justice website at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Information Commissioner's Office. [21817]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) meet regularly to discuss a range of matters, including the Commissioner's powers and resources.
The ICO is independent of Government in the way it discharges its statutory responsibilities in respect of the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations, Data Protection Act and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
Parole: Reoffenders
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people were recalled to prison from the Bridgewood House probation hostel, Northampton in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009; [21713]
(2) what proportion of the prison population was made up of recalled prisoners in the latest period for which figures are available; [21714]
(3) how many people were recalled to prison for breaches of licence in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009. [21716]
Mr Blunt: According to information provided by Bridgewood House Approved Premises, Northampton, the number of residents recalled to prison in (a) 2008 was 13 and (b) 2009 was 15.
The prison population as at 30 September 2010 was 85,429; of these prisoners, 5,659 were recalls, a proportion of 7%.
Data on the number of offenders recalled to custody are broken down by business year (April to March). The number of offenders recalled to prison in (a) 2008-09 was 13,351 and (b) 2009-10 was 14,779.
The Department publishes quarterly information on the prison population; the latest available data, September 2010, can be found at:
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.
Prison Accommodation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cells are available for solitary confinement on the prison estate. [22214]
Mr Blunt: As of 4 November 2010 and based on information from central records, around 1,950 places are available for the purposes of holding prisoners in segregated conditions.
These figures have been drawn from central administrative/recording systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prison Officers
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what recent estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse of training a new entrant prison officer level 2; [21961]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of training a new entrant prison officer. [21962]
Mr Blunt: Since 1 October 2009, all newly recruited prison officers commence employment in the core role of Prison Officer 2.
The cost of training a new entrant Prison Officer 2 is approximately £4,423 per person.
Prison Sentences
Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people convicted for offences in each category were given indeterminate sentences for public protection in the latest year for which figures are available. [22254]
Mr Blunt: The number of persons given indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) for each offence group in 2009 (latest available) can be found in the following table:
| Persons given an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP)( 1) , by offence group, 2009( 2, 3) | |
| Offence group | Number |
| (1 )S.225 and 226 Criminal Justice Act 2003-Detention for Public Protection in the case of offenders under 18.( 2) The figures given in the table 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 it 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.( 3) 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. | |
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2010, Official Report, columns 41-43W, on sentencing, what the most recent common offence was of offenders sent to jail for 15 or more previous convictions or cautions who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence in each year. [22319]
Mr Blunt: Theft from a shop is the most common offence for offenders with 15 or more convictions or cautions who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence. As can be seen in table 1, in 2009 theft from a shop accounted for 24,658 (44%) of offenders who were not sentenced to immediate custody and had 15 or more convictions or cautions. These figures are derived from table 6.2 of "Sentencing Statistics: England and Wales 2009" which was published on 21 October 2010.
The figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
Prison Service: Wales
Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding he allocated to the Prison Service in North Wales in 2009-10; and how much such funding he plans to allocate in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [22259]
Mr Blunt: The Prison Service and NOMS are national agencies that cover the whole of England and Wales and provide a service for all offenders regardless of their home location. Presently there are no prisons situated in north Wales area and as such there has been no funding directly allocated to north Wales in relation to Prison Services. The majority of male offenders in custody who originate from north Wales are located at HMP Altcourse, with the majority of female prisoners being held in HMP Styal, and additional services have been allocated to support Welsh offenders held at both sites. The cost of these services are included in the overall prisons' cost. As such we are unable to separately identify the funds utilised for those services.
Prison: Education
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prison officers and (b) other staff are engaged in delivering education in prison; and how many redundancies among such staff he expects to arise from the implementation of the proposals of the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. [21927]
Mr Blunt: There were (on 30 June 2010) 277 full-time equivalent directly employed prison officers, senior officers and principal officers with an instructional specialism. There are also 895 full time equivalent directly employed civilian instructional officers, who are civil servants and are involved in delivering vocational training in prison workshops and other areas.
Education in prisons is, in the main, contracted out by the Skills Funding Agency and its contractors employ the staff. No central information is held on their numbers and to collect this information from individual contractors would incur disproportionate cost.
The impact of the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review on offender education staffing levels is not yet determined.
A review led jointly by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Ministry of Justice on offender education is currently underway and is due to report to Ministers before Christmas.
Prisoners
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has spent on halfway houses for former prison inmates in the last three years. [22077]
Mr Blunt: Approved Premises provide close and enhanced supervised accommodation for high and very high risk offenders, which would be much more difficult if such offenders were dispersed into less suitable accommodation elsewhere in the community. Approved Premises accommodate prisoners who have completed the custodial part of their sentence and have been released on licence, as well as offenders serving community sentences and bailees with a condition of residence. The total budget for Approved Premises in each of the last three financial years (including 2010-11) has been £58,300,000. It is not possible to separate out the cost of providing supervised accommodation in Approved Premises for offenders on licence from the cost of providing that accommodation to other offenders and bailees.
The Bail Accommodation and Support Service (BASS) provides accommodation for bailees and for prisoners released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC). We estimate that the total spending on HDC usage within BASS over the last three financial years (including 2010-11) will be £11.46 million.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his most recent estimate is of the prison population in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [22216]
Mr Blunt: The Ministry of Justice produces annual projections of the prison population in England and Wales, most recently in August 2010. These project the prison population under three different scenarios (increasing sentencing, no change and decreasing sentencing), based on different assumptions about future sentencing trends (custody rate and average custodial sentence length).
These projections take no account of any impact on the prison population which might result from the recently published Ministry of Justice Structural Reform Plan.
Other impacts included in the projections, such as those of legislation and processes, are applied equally to all scenarios. These cover the anticipated impacts of policy and process initiatives that have agreed implementation timetables.
The following table shows end of June figures for the projected prison population for the next five years:
| Projected prison population (end of June figures) | |||
| Sentencing trends | |||
| Increase | No change | Decrease | |
| Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 100. | |||
These and more details on the projections may be found in the latest published bulletin "Prison Population Projections 2010-16" Ministry of Justice Statistics Bulletin, 10 August 2010. This is available at the following webpage:
Prisoners' Release
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of prisoners were released having served their full sentence in prison in each year since 1997. [22215]
Mr Blunt: In accordance with the legislation which governs the release of prisoners, no prisoner serving a determinate sentence is required to serve the entire sentence in prison. Most are required by law to be released at the halfway point of their sentence and, for sentences longer than 12 months, they then serve the second half of the sentence on licence in the community. They are supervised by the Probation Service and may be recalled to prison during the licence period if they fail to comply with their conditions. Only those prisoners serving a life sentence with a whole life tariff will spend their entire sentence in prison.
The actual amount of time served in prison, following sentence, will depend on a number of factors, including time spent as a remand prisoner or credit for time spent on tagged bail if directed by the court, any added days for misbehaviour in prison and where release may be discretionary, for example on parole, home detention curfew or end of custody licence, if eligibility criteria are met-the end of custody licence scheme operated between June 2007 and March 2010, when it was brought to an end.
Prisoners: Compensation
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions his Department has settled out of court a claim for compensation made by a prison inmate in each of the last three years. [21795]
Mr Blunt: There is no central record of all prisoner claims brought against the Ministry of Justice and to attempt to provide the information would incur significant disproportionate cost. However, claims against the Prison Service part of the National Offender Management Service are recorded centrally. Those figures show that 333, 409 and 322 prisoner claims were settled out of court in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 respectively.
Prisoners: Drugs
Mrs Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many inmates (a) nationally and (b) at HMP Maidstone have been reprimanded for offences involving the use of drugs while in prison in the last 12 months. [21480]
Mr Blunt: Prisoners are reprimanded for misusing drugs through the prison discipline system when identified through the prisons Mandatory Drug Testing (MDT) programme. The following table gives the number in 2009 punished for the offence of "unauthorised use of a controlled drug".
| Adjudication offence: "unauthorised use of a controlled drug" number of offences punished in 2009 | |
| Number | |
Prisoners may also be punished in other circumstances for drug offences, for example, as a result of cell searches, social visits and in circumstances where use cannot be proven.
All figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. 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. The data are not subject to audit.
Prisoners: Education
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what steps he is taking to increase the number of prisoners who are able to undertake education in prison; and if he will make a statement; [21925]
(2) what his policy is on the use of distance learning for short-term prisoners; and what steps he is taking to increase the availability of such courses to prisoners. [21926]
Mr Blunt: A review on offender education led jointly by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Ministry of Justice is currently under way and is due to report to Ministers before Christmas. I expect the review to address issues such as the efficiency of education delivery, how best to maximise the number of prisoners who are able to undertake education in prison and the use of distance learning and other non-classroom based learning.
Prisoners: Fees and Charges
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will introduce means-tested charges for prisoners in England and Wales to cover the cost of their housing and food. [21806]
Mr Blunt: The Prison Act 1952 prevents prisoners being required to finance the cost of their prison sentence. Section 51 of the Act requires that all expenses incurred maintaining both prisons and prisoners must be met from public funds. As part of the Rehabilitation and Sentencing Green Paper the Government are exploring the implementation of the Prisoners' Earnings Act 1996 in respect of financial reparation to victims.
Prisoners: Mobile Phones
Mrs Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many inmates (a) nationally and (b) at HMP Maidstone have been reprimanded for offences involving the use of mobile telephones whilst in prison in the last 12 months. [21479]
Mr Blunt: NOMS does not hold centrally information on the number of disciplinary proceedings taken against prisoners using mobile phones. To provide the information requested would require a detailed investigation into all locally held records, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Prisons: Education
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what qualifications are available for prisoners to undertake; how many prisoners took part in a course to attain each type of qualification in each of the last five years; and how many and what proportion of prisoners completed each course in each year for which figures are available. [22209]
Mr Blunt: There are a wide range of qualifications available in prisons. The majority of these are delivered by the Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) funded and contracted by the Skills Funding Agency. The curriculum varies in all prisons depending on identified learning need.
In addition to basic literacy and numeracy 'Skills for Life' qualifications, further training opportunities, classroom based and vocational, are available to support individuals who have employment aspirations and where their Individual Learning and Sentence Plans recommend that they engage in training.
Qualifications offered include those on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) giving learners the opportunity to achieve credits that contribute to a full nationally recognised qualification.
The Skills Funding Agency is able to provide information on the number of learners engaged in learning and skills provision funded by the Skills Funding Agency (formerly the Learning and Skills Council) and the type of aims enrolled, completed and achieved from the Individualised Learner Records (ILR) in the 2006-07 academic year (August 06 to July 07), the 2007-08 academic year (August 07 to July 08) and the 2008-09 academic year (August 08 to July 09) by aim types.
In the 2006-07 academic year, there were 92,371 learners engaged in learning and skills provision funded by the LSC. Table 1 shows that there were 240,045 learning aims enrolled upon by these learners and 43,457 (18%) of these aims were related to specific aim types. Completion rate for total aims were at 54% and achievement rate for the total aims were at 42%.
In the 2007-08 academic year, there were 115,807 learners engaged in learning and skills provision in custody. There were 299,300 learning aims engaged by these learners and 48,323 (16%) of these aims were related to specific aim types. Completion rate for total aims with specific aim types were at 57% and achievement rate for those aims were at 49%.
| Table 2: 2007-08 F05 academic year ILR data (LSC funded provision in custody): Includes custody enrolled by all learners: There were 115,807 learners in custody identified in the 2007- 08 academic year who were engaged in LSC funded provision. | ||||||
| Aim Type | Aims enrolled | % Aims | Completed | % completed | Achieved | % Achieved |
| Source: 2007-08 ILR | ||||||
In the 2008-09 academic year, there were 98,324 learners engaged in learning and skills provision in custody. There were 243,182 learning aims engaged by these learners and 37,780 (16%) of these aims were related to specific aim types. Completion rate for total aims were 59% and achievement rate for the same group of aims were at 51%.
| Table 3: 2008-09 F05 Full academic year ILR data ( LSC funded provision in custody): Includes custody aims enrolled by all learners-there were 98,324 learners in custody identified in the 2008-09 academic year who were engaged in LSC funded provision. | ||||||
| Aim Type | Aims enrolled | % aims | Completed | % completed | Achieved | % achieved |
| Notes: 1. The data above includes data for those learners who are aged 15-17. 2. The ILR for 2006-07 academic year data provided may include a small amount of enrolments by those who are serving their sentence in the community. Source: 2008-09 Full academic year ILR | ||||||
Information relating to non-OLASS qualifications is not held centrally by NOMS.
A review on offender education led jointly by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Ministry of Justice is currently underway and is due to report to Ministers before Christmas. I expect the review to address issues such as the efficiency of education delivery, the types of qualifications made available to prisoners and the measurement of both participation and completion of various qualifications.
Joint work is also underway with the Skills Funding Agency to improve analysis of both participation and completion data across different types of qualifications.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his latest estimate is of spending from the public purse on education services for prisoners in each of the next five years. [22212]
Mr Blunt: Responsibility for the funding of prisoner education rests with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). BIS is still working through the detail of the comprehensive spending review and information will be announced as soon as possible.
In 2010-11, BIS plans to spend £168 million(1) on offender learning in English public sector prisons.
(1 )Excludes spend associated with the employment of Heads of Learning and Skills in prisons, libraries and higher education in public sector prisons in England.
Prisons: Food
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average calorific value was of food served to (a) male and (b) female prisoners each day in the latest period for which figures are available. [22210]
Mr Blunt: Information relating to the average daily calorie count in food served to prisoners is not recorded centrally.
The National Offender Management Service Catering Operating Manual includes advice and guidance for specific consumer groups published by the Food Standards Agency-'Guidance on Food Served to Adults in Major Institutions'. This guidance recommends 2,043 (kcals) per day for adult males and 1,574 (kcals) for adult females.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of meeting each type of special dietary requirement in prison establishments was in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many prisoners were recorded as having each type of special dietary requirement in the latest period for which figures are available. [22211]
Mr Blunt: Prisons offer a range of meals that enable prisoners to make preferred choices using a multi-choice menu system, including meals suited to their dietary, religious or cultural needs, including kosher, halal, vegetarian, vegan and other dietary requirements. Menu choices should reflect the establishment's population ethnicity.
Information relating to the cost of providing all the different types of meals is not recorded centrally and is included within the overall prison food budgets.
For 2009-10, the last full financial year for which figures are available, the average public sector Prison Service daily food cost per prisoner in England and Wales was £2.20(1).
(1 )The daily food cost has been calculated using available management information from NOMS finance systems and assumes that all transactions have been allocated and recorded against the correct accounting codes.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of the food purchased for prisoners was wasted in each year since 1997; and what the monetary value was of the food wasted. [22213]
Mr Blunt: While this information is not collected centrally the National Offender Management Service does nonetheless take its commitment for effective waste management seriously. To assist in reducing food waste we consider it essential that all food waste from prison serveries is recorded, costed and analysed locally, at least on a weekly basis.
Prison Service Instruction 41/2003 sets out the Sustainable Development policy and strategy for public sector prisons. Integral to the waste management component of this strategy has been the introduction of in-vessel composting technology at 50 prisons with the objective of realising the economical value of waste food by processing it into usable product. These initiatives also support the prison's performance in meeting the "Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate" targets.
Prisons: Video Games
Mrs Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many inmates (a) at HMP Maidstone and (b) on the prison estate have access to (i) games consoles and (ii) televisions. [21481]
Mr Blunt: Access to in-cell television is a key earnable privilege and available to prisoners who are on the standard or enhanced level of the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme. Eligible prisoners pay a rental amount of a £1 per set per week.
Access to games consoles is restricted to prisoners who are on the enhanced level of the IEP scheme. Since 23 July 2008, no public funds have been used to purchase games consoles or games for adult prisoners. They must be purchased by the prisoner or his/her family or friends.
As of 30 September, 593 prisoners at HM Prison Maidstone were on the standard or enhanced levels of the IEP scheme and therefore eligible to rent a TV set and 386 were on the enhanced level and eligible to have a games console of their own in their possession. The equivalent figures for the prison estate as a whole were 83,017 and 36,202 respectively.
To establish how many of those eligible actually had a games console of their own would necessitate asking each prisoner individually at disproportionate cost.
Prisons: Violence
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders in each prison establishment committed an assault on (a) another offender and (b) a prison officer in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [21960]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) holds prison-level data on the numbers of assault incidents rather than the number of prisoners involved or whether a prisoner is involved in multiple incidents. This information could be obtained only by examining local records manually at disproportionate cost.
The following table gives numbers of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults by establishment. The figures for prisons with less than six incidents are omitted in accordance with NOMS data protection policy, as this could enable individuals to be identified.
| Recorded prisoner-on-prisoner assaults by prison, October 2009 to September 2010( 1) | |
| Prison | Number |
| (1) Numbers less than 6 are not provided. | |
The latest data on assaults by prisoners on staff covering the years 2000 to 2009 are published on the MoJ website at:
The figures for 2010 will be available in early 2011.
Violence in prisons is not tolerated. NOMS is working with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that perpetrators of violence in prisons are dealt with through the courts where is appropriate to do so.
Prisons: Visits
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding his Department provided to families to visit prison inmates in the last 12 months. [21724]
Mr Blunt: The amount spent on assisted prison visits in the financial year 2009-10 was £2,343,132. In the last 12 calendar months, October 2009 to September 2010 the amount was £2,261,505. This excludes administration costs.
Rape: Sentencing
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of sentence handed down to a person convicted of rape was in each of the last five years. [22853]
Mr Blunt: The average custodial sentence length (ACSL) for rape offences in England and Wales in each year since 2005 can be found in the following table. ACSL excludes life/indeterminate sentences.
| Average custodial sentence length (ACSL)( 1) (months) for rape offences( 2) , England and Wales, 2005 - 09( 4, 5) | |||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| (1) ACSL excludes life/indeterminate sentences. (2) Includes attempted rape. (3) Life sentences and indeterminate sentences for public protection. (4 )The figures given in the table 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 it 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. (5) 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 | |||||
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
China: Foreign Investment in UK
Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on attracting direct investment from China to the UK. [21948]
Mr Jeremy Browne: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed China with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and other Ministers, on 1 November 2010 ahead of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's and other ministerial visits to China later this week. The Government are committed to expanding relations with China. Encouraging further investment from China into the UK, as well as UK investment in China, will be a significant element of the Prime Minister's visit.
Colombia
Jim McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the release of Carmelo Agamez from prison in Colombia. [21747]
Mr Jeremy Browne: We have not received any reports of the release of Mr Agamez. A number of individuals who had been detained as part of the same investigation as Mr Agamez were released on 9 October 2009 but he remains in prison. On 25 October 2010 the Colombian Attorney-General's office informed our embassy in Bogota that Mr Agamez's case had been sent to the specialised circuit of the Penal Court of Sincelejo in the province of Sucre on 10 September.
Our embassy in Bogota has made numerous representations in respect of Mr Agamez's case. These include a letter on 5 March to former Vice President Francisco Santos and another on 27 August to the Presidential Programme on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. On 9 September (Colombian Human Rights Day) the Deputy Head of Mission at our embassy in Bogota took part in an Oxfam GB event as part of their campaign on human rights defenders. The case of Mr Agamez was one of the main issues discussed.
Jim McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of allegations of collaboration by elements of the Colombian Army in drugs trafficking in Guaviare and Vichada provinces. [21748]
Mr Jeremy Browne: On 17 October a professional soldier accused other members of the Colombian armed forces of involvement in drug trafficking in Guaviare and Vichada. The allegations included accepting payments from the illegal paramilitary group Ejército Revolucionario Popular Anticomunista Colombiano to maintain trafficking routes; use of the proceeds by one colonel to establish his own drug laboratory; and extra-judicial killings. The Human Rights Unit of the Attorney-General's Office is conducting an investigation into the allegations.
Jim McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the number of people subject to forced displacement who have been killed in Colombia in the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [21848]
Mr Jeremy Browne: According to Government of Colombia figures 317 internally displaced persons were killed in 2007, 363 in 2008 and 553 in 2009. These figures equate to 1.9%, 2.4% and 3.1% respectively of the total number of homicides in that year.
Officially Colombia has 3.3 million internally displaced people, although the real figure is more likely to be around 4.5 million. This is the second highest rate in the world. Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities are particularly vulnerable, mainly because they occupy land of strategic importance to guerrilla groups, cocaine cultivation or narco-trafficking.
In 2009 the Government of Colombia reported a 56% reduction in the forced displaced population and estimated that 80% had access to basic health services. We are working with Colombia to help improve the situation of internally displaced people.
Jim McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of the number of active trade union members who were killed in Colombia in 2010. [21849]
Mr Jeremy Browne: Government of Colombia figures show that 19 trade union members were killed between 1 January and 17 June. This compares with 28 in the whole of 2009 and 196 in 2002. The UK is concerned about the safety of trade unionists in Colombia. We regularly raise our concerns with the Colombian Government.
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of indigenous people killed in Colombia in 2010; what discussions he has had with the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights on that matter; and if he will make a statement. [22207]
Mr Jeremy Browne: My Department has not made an estimate of the number of indigenous people killed in 2010. Figures from the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia suggest that at least 114 indigenous women, men and children were killed in 2009.
Our embassy in Bogota funded the visit of UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya to Colombia in July 2009. During his visit Mr Anaya congratulated the government for the "significant initiatives" undertaken, particularly in the area of health and education, to improve the difficult situation faced by the indigenous community.
However, significant obstacles remain in the effort to realise the rights of indigenous people, particularly in the areas of land rights, forced displacement, nutrition, threats and murders. Officials at our embassy in Bogota have visited a number of indigenous communities to show support and hear at first hand about the difficulties they face. This has included visits to the Awa community in Narino and the Emberas community in Choco. Our embassy is also funding a project to enhance the judicial system and combat impunity in Cauca. Indigenous communities here represent 21.5% of the entire indigenous population in Colombia and are the victims of most human rights abuses.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for how many days on average his Department's staff in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in 2009-10. [18579]
Alistair Burt: Information is available only for Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff in the UK. Information for FCO staff overseas is available only at disproportionate cost.
The number of days on average staff in each paid grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in 2009-10 are:
| Average working days lost | |
| Grade equivalent | Number |
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he made of the cost to his Department of sickness absence in each year since 1997. [18770]
Alistair Burt: Information requested is available only for Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff in the UK. Information for FCO staff overseas is available only at disproportionate cost.
Relevant comprehensive central records are held by the FCO only for the financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. The nominal salary cost to the FCO of days lost through sickness in each of these years is broken down as follows:
| £ | |
Details for the previous years are not held centrally or available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Under our sickness absence management policy and procedures, staff are required to enter details of any sickness absences they have on our online human resources system. Line managers are then required to verify that the absences have been correctly entered. This measure is in place to ensure we have an accurate record of sickness absence and are able to deal promptly with cases of excessive sick leave. Staff who fail to follow correct sickness absence procedures could face disciplinary action under the FCO Misconduct Procedures guidelines.
European Union: Fines
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial penalties are under consideration by the EU in relation to non-compliance by the UK with EU policies; what the value of those potential penalties is; and if he will make a statement. [22056]
Justine Greening: I have been asked to reply.
Provision already exists under Article 126(11) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union for the imposition of financial penalties on euro-area member states which are considered to be in excessive deficit and fail to comply with the Council's recommendations under the EU's Stability and Growth Pact. These cannot be applied to the UK since we are not a member of the euro-area. Moreover, our Protocol to the Treaty precludes use of any sanctions against the UK under this process.
The European Commission has recently published legislative proposals which create additional sanctions to encourage compliance by member states with the Stability and Growth Pact and the EU's Broad Economic Policy Guidelines. There are a variety of possible sanctions, extending up to fines of more than 0.2% of a member state's GDP for serious and repeated breaches of the Stability and Growth Pact. However, the draft proposals for sanctions relate only to euro-area member states and thus do not apply to the UK.
Gaza: Human Rights
Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of freedom of speech and the treatment of journalists in the Gaza Strip. [19983]
Alistair Burt: The UK is concerned by the treatment of Gazan journalists in recent months. This includes a violent attack against one journalist.
We recognise the rights of Palestinians under international law to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
We will support effective international efforts to address impunity for attacks on journalists and practices which curtail the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Palestinians: International Assistance
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of Israel on the importation of building materials into Gaza. [20674]
Alistair Burt: The UK welcomes the measures Israel announced in June to improve the flow of goods into Gaza. According to the UN in May, prior to the Israeli announcement, there were 2,794 trucks allowed into Gaza compared to 3,569 in September. However, this still falls significantly short of the required amount and we believe that more needs to be done to ensure full implementation and deliver real change on the ground. We continue to discuss these issues with the Government of Israel and the UN Relief and Works Agency.
Tajikistan: Religious Freedom
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to his counterpart in Tajikistan about the protection of religious freedom in that country. [21689]
Mr Lidington:
We and our EU partners maintain a dialogue with the Government of Tajikistan on a range of human rights issues, including freedom of religion. The Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised human rights with Foreign
Minister Zarifi on 3 November during a visit to Tajikistan. We also raised issues of concern through the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the EU, including during the annual EU-Tajikistan Human Rights Dialogue. In doing so, we encourage the Tajik Government to act in accordance with its international obligations.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to his counterpart in Tajikistan on levels of regulation and administrative burdens on religious organisations in that country. [21691]
Mr Lidington: We will continue to raise issues of human rights concern with the Government of Tajikistan-including those relating to freedom of religion-both bilaterally and through key international fora such as the EU and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. We also stand ready to assist Tajikistan as it embarks on its first Universal Periodic Review in the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. This is a comprehensive mechanism for reviewing the overall human rights records of UN member states.
Turkmenistan: Prisoners
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the government of Turkmenistan to enable international observers to provide medical support to Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev. [21692]
Mr Lidington: We work closely with EU and other international partners on issues of human rights concern in Turkmenistan. The individual cases of Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev were among those raised with the Turkmen authorities during the most recent annual EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue that took place in June. The EU encouraged the Turkmen authorities to allow access to medical treatment.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the government of Turkmenistan to increase the frequency of family visits for Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev. [21693]
Mr Lidington: The cases of Mr Amanklychev and Mr Khadzhiev were raised with the Turkmen authorities during the annual EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue in June 2010. In doing so, the EU stressed the importance of allowing visits by families to individuals in detention.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the government of Turkmenistan for the release of Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev. [21694]
Mr Lidington:
The EU raised the issue of a possible amnesty for Mr Amanklychev and Mr Khadzhiev with the Turkmen authorities during the most recent EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue. We will continue to look for opportunities to encourage the
Turkmen authorities to review their cases, to allow proper access to medical treatment, and to ensure that they benefit from adequate contact with their families.
Uganda: Politics and Government
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Ugandan government on the report of the Public Accounts Committee of the Ugandan Parliament on the abuse by government officials of funds allocated by his Department for the hosting of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting; and if he will make a statement. [20033]
Mr Bellingham: My Department did not allocate funds for the hosting of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
We have made clear our concerns about the allegations of abuse of Ugandan Government funds budgeted for CHOGM. The Uganda Parliament is currently debating the Public Accounts Committee's CHOGM report. We will continue to urge the relevant Ugandan authorities to ensure that action is taken on the issues raised by the Committee and by Uganda's Auditor-General in his audits of CHOGM expenditure.
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2010, Official Report, columns 25-6W, on Uganda: politics and government, what reports he has received on (a) the 22 October 2010 incident at the Electoral Commission following the visit by Dr Kizza Besigye and (b) the statement by Dr Besigye on the steps his party will take if the 2011 election is rigged; and if he will make a statement. [20899]
Mr Bellingham: I have received reports that Dr Besigye was denied entry to the offices of the Electoral Commission on 22 October. I understand that Mr Besigye has also said that the opposition parties he represents will announce their own election results rather than trust those declared by the Electoral Commission.
I have made the point to members of both the Government and Opposition parties in Uganda (including President Museveni and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament) that all political parties need to engage peacefully and responsibly in the electoral process. Our high commission in Kampala is continuously engaged with representatives of all parties, and in addition has urged the Electoral Commission and police to fulfil their responsibilities impartially.
UK Membership of EU
Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the total annual gross cost to (a) the public purse and (b) the UK economy as a result of the UK's membership of the European Union. [21945]
Justine Greening: I have been asked to reply.
The UK's projected gross contribution to the EU budget in 2010-11, after the UK abatement, is £12.5 billion. These figures can be found in the latest Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis document (see Table C1, page 176) at:
The Treasury reviews, as part of its analysis of the EU economy, a wide range of studies by external commentators that attempt to assess the costs and benefits of EU membership.
Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the total annual net cost or benefit to (a) the public purse and (b) the UK economy as a result of the UK's membership of the EU. [21949]
Justine Greening: I have been asked to reply.
The projected UK net contribution to the EU Budget in 2010-11, after the UK abatement and after public sector receipts from the EU Budget, is £7.7 billion. . These figures can be found in the latest Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis document (see Table C1, page 176) at:
The Treasury reviews, as part of its analysis of the EU economy, a wide range of studies by external commentators that attempt to assess the costs and benefits of EU membership.
Leader of the House
Early-Day Motions
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Leader of the House how many early-day motions were tabled in each Session since Session 1992-93. [22568]
Sir George Young: The information is shown in the following table.
| Session | Total number of EDMs tabled |
The total number of early-day motions (EDMs) tabled each Session is published in the House's Sessional Returns, available at:
A searchable database of EDMs is available at:
For some Sessions, the totals given include one or two EDMs which were tabled and withdrawn on the same sitting day, and so were given an EDM number but never appeared in print.
Sessions 1996-97, 2000-01, 2004-05 and 2009-10 were short, pre-general election Sessions; Sessions 1992-93, 1997-98, 2001-02 and 2005-06 were long, post-general election Sessions.
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Leader of the House how many hon. Members did not sign a single early- day motion in (a) Session 2009-10 and (b) Session 2010-11 to date. [22569]
Sir George Young: The information is shown in the following table:
| Hon. Members who did not sign a single early-day motion | |
| Session | Number |
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