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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 7 March 2011
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax Benefits
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what assessment he has made of the potential for an increase in (a) arrears and (b) instances of recovery action following arrears arising from (i) the replacement of council tax benefit and (ii) the 10% reduction in the budget for council tax benefit; [44745]
(2) what arrangements local authorities will be required to make to implement the replacement for council tax benefit; and if he will make a statement; [44747]
(3) what plans he has for the implementation of reductions in council tax benefit for (a) pensioner households, (b) working age households in work, (c) working age households not in work and (d) households with dependent children. [44748]
Robert Neill: As the Secretary of State for Communities set out in his written ministerial statement of 17 February 2011, Official Report, column 82WS, the Government remain committed to retaining council tax support for the most vulnerable in society and will be taking forward plans for councils to develop local rebate schemes. This reform will support the positive work incentives that will be introduced through the Government's plans on universal credit. Combined with other incentives—such as the new homes bonus and our proposals for the local retention of business rates—these changes will give councils a greater stake in the economic future of their local area.
Government will want to work closely with local authorities and others to understand the particular issues with a local council tax rebate scheme, and a full consultation on the system of local schemes in relation to England will be undertaken in due course led by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to ensure that the local delivery of council tax benefit or its replacement will not increase marginal rates of deduction above (a) 65% before tax and (b) 76% for taxpayers. [44746]
Robert Neill: Promoting work incentives is at the heart of the programme of welfare reform. In developing its plans for a new system for local council tax rebate schemes, the Government have been clear that the changes should support the positive work incentives that will be introduced through the Government's plans on universal credit. A full consultation on the new system in England will be undertaken in due course.
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Government Procurement Card
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) date of purchase, (b) amount and (c) supplier was in respect of each transaction undertaken by the Audit Commission using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [43840]
Robert Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
The Audit Commission is unable to provide the information requested in the time available to respond to your Parliamentary Question. However, once this information is collated we will forward the data to you.
Health Care Insurance
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Audit Commission provides health care or health care insurance funded from the public purse to any of its staff. [43864]
Robert Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
The Audit Commission does not provide health care or health care insurance funded from the public purse to any of its staff.
Health Services
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Audit Commission has paid to Cigna Healthcare and Group Life in each of the last three years; and for what purposes. [43927]
Robert Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
Cigna Healthcare and Group Life provide dental treatment insurance that employees can opt to take out and pay for through a monthly salary deduction. During 2008/09 the total contributions collected from employees and paid to Cigna totalled £20,956.95. In 2009/10 the amount was £23,463.06 and in 2010/11 it was £23,869.55. Employees pay the full cost of the insurance cover and there is no charge to the public purse.
Home Ownership
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what his policy is on the continuation of Homes and Communities Agency capital funding to the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme; [43777]
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(2) how many homes in (a) the London borough of Newham and (b) West Ham constituency are available for people participating in the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme; [43785]
(3) how many people in (a) London, (b) the London borough of Newham and (c) West Ham constituency are participating in the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme. [43790]
Grant Shapps: Home Ownership for People with Long-Term Disabilities (HOLD) enables people who are unable to access the Government's mainstream new build affordable home ownership programme, for example because they need to live in a specific location, to select a property on the open market suitable to their needs. It allows them to purchase on shared ownership terms with a housing association.
HOLD is an “on demand” product. Capital funding is provided by my Department, through the Homes and Communities Agency, to housing providers to assist them with the purchase of suitable properties on the open market. This means homes are not available in the same way as with the standard new build shared ownership product.
The following table shows the number of HOLD completions in London and the borough of Newham. Information is not held at constituency level.
| Area | Completions | ||
|
|
2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 (1) |
| (1 )End September. Source: Homes and Communities Agency's Information Management System. | |||
As announced in the spending review, we are investing £4.5 billion to deliver 150,000 new affordable homes. This will include support for the provision of shared ownership property where this is a local priority, including through HOLD.
Housing: Construction
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria his Department uses to determine the number of houses to be built in Mid Sussex constituency. [44735]
Robert Neill: Local authorities and communities should decide the number of houses needed in their area, based on robust evidence. We propose, through the Localism Bill, to remove regional housing targets, and to support local decisions through the New Homes Bonus. We will confirm planning for housing policy in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Local Authority: Pay
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate the Audit Commission has made of changes in the average salary of local authority chief executives in the last 10 years. [43847]
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Robert Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
The Audit Commission has not made any estimates of the changes in the average salary of local authority chief executives in the last 10 years.
The Commission published “Tougher at the top? Changes in the labour market for single tier and county council chief executives—a discussion paper” in July 2008. This report contains some information about movements in chief executive salaries during the period 1998/99 to 2007/08 and is available on the Audit Commission website:
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nationalstudies/localgov/Pages/tougheratthetop.aspx
Promotional Merchandise
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Audit Commission has spent on promotional merchandise since 2006; how many of each item of promotional merchandise were ordered; and how each item was branded. [43857]
Robert Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive, who is on leave.
In the five years from 2006 to 2010, the Audit Commission spent £56,982.37 on promotional merchandise. Information about how many of each item was ordered could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The majority of these low unit value items, such as pens, were branded Audit Commission. They were used at a range of external conferences and exhibitions, and also by staff.
Some of the promotional merchandise was branded Oneplace: the public-facing brand for Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). It was used to communicate information about the performance of local public services. The work on CAA was led by the Commission on behalf of the six partner inspectorates. Marketing costs for CAA were supported by a grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Electoral Commission Committee
Voluntary Work and Charitable Donations
Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has a policy to encourage its employees to (a) volunteer and (b) donate via payroll giving. [43249]
Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has policies in place to allow staff to undertake volunteering and to donate via payroll giving.
The Commission actively promotes both volunteering and payroll giving as part of its induction process for new starters, as well as through regular internal communications and specialised features on its intranet.
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Staff can request up to five days each year to undertake voluntary work, and the commission was awarded the bronze payroll giving award by the Charities Aid Foundation for the financial year 2009-10.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Food
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the proportion of the seafood procured for (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public body for which he is responsible that (i) was on the Marine Conservation Society’s list of fish to avoid and (ii) complied with sustainability standards indicated by inclusion in either the Marine Conservation Society’s list of fish to eat or by the list of fish species certified by the Marine Stewardship Council in (A) 2010 and (B) 2011 to date. [45037]
Mr Swire: The Northern Ireland Office does not keep records on the amount of expenditure on fish nor on the species purchased. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Where possible, my Department always aims to use local Northern Ireland produce that is in compliance with sustainability standards.
Departmental Procurement
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) procurement and (b) outsourcing function of (i) his Department and (ii) each non-departmental public body for which he is responsible in the last financial year for which figures are available. [43953]
Mr Swire: Comparable figures for the Department as it is now configured are not available following the completion of devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010.
However, for the period January 2010 to January 2011, the Department incurred costs of £32,746 on its procurement function. In addition a member of staff spends a proportion of her time managing the relationship with our procurement function. During this time, that function established contracts for the Department to the value of £1,124,000. The Department has one executive non-departmental body (NDPB), which does not have a separate procurement function. Neither the Department nor its NDPB have an outsourcing function.
Electoral Reform Services
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the monetary value was of contracts his Department placed with Electoral Reform Services in each year since 2005. [44223]
Mr Swire: Elections in Northern Ireland are administered centrally by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland (CEO) who is both the returning officer and registration officer for all elections in Northern Ireland. Neither the Northern Ireland Office nor the CEO has awarded any contract to Electoral Reform Services since 2005.
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Prime Minister
Chequers: Official Visits
Mr Watson: To ask the Prime Minister how many times he has visited Chequers since his appointment. [44279]
The Prime Minister: The majority of my time is spent in Downing street and I regularly spend time in Chequers and my constituency.
Public Reading Stage
Natascha Engel: To ask the Prime Minister how many staff of his Office he expects to work on (a) the introduction of a public reading stage for Bills and (b) the introduction of a public reading day within a Bill's committee stage. [41653]
Sir George Young: I have been asked to reply.
The work to introduce a public reading stage and a public reading day, as set out in the Programme for Government and the Cabinet Office's Business Plan, will be taken forward by me, working with Parliament.
A number of staff will work on the public reading stage in various capacities in addition to their existing responsibilities.
Trident
Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer of 9 February 2011, Official Report, columns 296-97, to the hon. Member for New Forest East on the nuclear deterrent, if he will rule out cancellation of the Trident replacement programme from negotiations with the Liberal Democrats in any future hung Parliament. [41735]
The Prime Minister: My answer of 9 February 2011, Official Report, columns 295-96, sets out the position.
Culture, Media and Sport
Creative Industries
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of (a) lending to and (b) financing of the creative industries; and if he will make a statement. [44876]
Mr Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport together with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has recently commissioned research into the financing of the creative industries in order to provide evidence for the digital and creative industries growth review which reports to a Budget 2011 timetable.
Departmental Relocation
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement. [43468]
John Penrose: The Department has no plans to relocate its staff and offices to Brighton.
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Gambling
Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) what discussions he has had with the (a) Association of British Bookmakers, (b) Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, (c) Gambling Commission and (d) GamCare on the contents of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 since 11 May 2010; [43053]
(2) what meetings (a) on what dates and (b) at which locations he has had with representatives of the (i) Association of British Bookmakers, (ii) Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, (iii) Gambling Commission and (iv) GamCare since 1 January 2011. [43054]
John Penrose: I met the Gambling Commission on 14 February 2011 at DCMS offices to discuss the contents of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010. I also discussed the survey results with the chair of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB), Baroness Julia Neuberger, via telephone the same day and had a meeting with representatives of Ladbrokes where we discussed the survey briefly.
In addition, the Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson) met with the Gambling Commission on 10 January at DCMS offices to discuss sports betting integrity.
Ministers have not met representatives of any other organisations to discuss the contents of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010.
Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) what steps he plans to take in response to the outcomes of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 relating to trends in the level of problem gambling; [43055]
(2) what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 relating to B2 terminals in betting shops; and if he will make a statement; [43058]
(3) what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010; and if he will make a statement. [43059]
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John Penrose: The Department is currently considering the results of the British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 which was published on 15 February.
We will make an announcement about our next steps in due course.
Internet: Social Security Benefits
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) all households and (b) households in which at least one person claims a benefit that will have home access to the internet by the time of the proposed digitalisation of the benefits system; and if he will make a statement. [43132]
Mr Vaizey: I have not made a specific estimate of households with at least one benefit claimant. 73% of all households in the UK currently access the internet through one of a variety of mechanisms—broadband connection, dial-up connection via the phone line, mobile, wireless or satellite.
Ofcom
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what professional specialist consultancy services were provided to Ofcom in 2009-10; what the name of each provider was; what the cost per provider was; how many hours each provider worked; and how many staff each provider supplied. [44034]
Mr Vaizey [holding answer 3 March 2011]: Ofcom made use of 31 technical specialist consultants in 2009-10 as part of its overall annual programme of work. The following table sets out the suppliers used, the services provided and the total sums paid.
Information provided to Ofcom as part of a tendering process is commercially sensitive. We are unable to provide a more detailed breakdown of the number of hours worked and staff provided by each supplier since disclosure of this may compromise future tendering processes.
| Vendor | Description | Total (£) |
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|
Sports rights analysis, analysis of regulatory changes on local radio |
||
Olympic Games 2012: Human Trafficking
Mr Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions has he had with (a) representatives of non-governmental organisations and (b) other interested organisations on measures to prevent human trafficking during the London 2012 Olympics. [44117]
Hugh Robertson: Regular threat briefings take place between the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), myself and the Olympic Intelligence Centre, a dedicated body comprising representation from across the Government intelligence and law enforcement apparatus that assesses strategic threats to the games. As part of this, the Department have been informed that we are not currently seeing any evidence of an increase in human trafficking related to the London 2012 games.
However, we remain vigilant and will be continuously reviewing the threat of human trafficking. The Government are determined to deter traffickers from exploiting London 2012 and we are building on the considerable expertise the UK has in tackling this issue. Should the intelligence indicate an increase in trafficking we shall ensure that the appropriate measures are in place.
We regularly engage with non-government organisations with an interest in tackling human trafficking. Government representatives sit on the Human Trafficking and London 2012 Network which shares key issues on Olympic human trafficking issues, including dedicated sub-groups on sexual exploitation and forced labour.
House of Commons Commission
Flowers
Barbara Keeley: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much the House of Commons Commission expects to spend on flowers and plants in 2010-11; and what estimate has been made of the equivalent expenditure in 2011-12. [43712]
John Thurso: Expenditure on flowers and plants in the House of Commons in 2010-11 is expected to be £116,391 and estimated expenditure in 2011-12 is expected to be some £87,400. All areas of expenditure are being scrutinised following the Commission's decision to save at least 17% of the cost of the House's administration by 2014-15.
Deputy Prime Minister
Electoral Register
Mr Evennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of electoral registration officers in improving levels of electoral registration. [44332]
Mr Harper: The Government have made no such assessment. The Electoral Commission has the power to set and monitor performance standards for electoral services. Since 2008, the Electoral Commission has monitored the performance of electoral registration officers (EROs) in Great Britain against a set of standards, and has published annual assessments. The Commission's March 2010 Report ‘Performance Standards for Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain’ found that “just under 96% of EROs met the ‘Completeness and accuracy of electoral registration records’ standard this year compared with 85% of EROs last year”.
The Electoral Commission advises and works closely with EROs who do not meet these standards in order to improve their performance.
Wales
St David's Day
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what the cost to the public purse was of her Department’s St David’s Day reception at Gwydyr house on 1 March 2011; [44572]
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(2) who was invited to her Department’s St David’s Day reception at Gwydyr house on 1 March 2011. [44573]
Mrs Gillan: The Wales Office’s traditional St David’s Day reception has long been used to celebrate our national day and to bring together representatives of Welsh society to build relationships that will potentially bring great benefits to Wales. Representatives of key employers and the big society were invited, along with Members of Parliament and peers of all the main political parties. The estimated cost to the public purse from the event is £780, excluding VAT.
The following hon. Members were invited:
Glyn Davies MP
Brooks Newmark MP
Guto Bebb MP
Alun Cairns MP
Stephen Crabb MP
David Davies MP
Jonathan Evans MP
Simon Hart MP
Roger Williams MP
Mark Williams MP
Jenny Willott MP
Peter Hain MP
Owen Smith MP
Elfyn Llwyd MP
Mark Prisk MP
Vince Cable MP
Wales: Finance
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales with reference to the Spring Supplementary Estimates 2010-11, HC 790, (1) for what reasons there is proposed an increase of £1,300,000 in voted expenditure due to an end year flexibility drawdown; [43339]
(2) for what reasons there is proposed an increase of £636,000 in voted expenditure offset by a reduction in capital expenditure; [43340]
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(3) for what reasons there is proposed a switch from capital to resource of £636,000 in Request for Resources 3; [43583]
(4) for what reasons there is proposed an increase of £141,066,000 in grant to the Welsh Assembly Government; [43588]
(5) for what reason there is proposed an increase of £636,000 in voted expenditure offset by a reduction in capital expenditure; [43593]
(6) for what reason there is proposed an increase of (a) £1.9 million in voted expenditure in Request for Resources 2 and (b) £1.3 million in voted expenditure in Request for Resources 3 owing to an end-year flexibility drawdown. [43594]
Mrs Gillan: I am responding as the questions largely relate to Wales Office expenditure. However, the query relating to the Spring Supplementary Estimates for 2010-11, HC 790,
“for what reason there is proposed an increase of (a) £1.9 million in voted expenditure in Request for Resources 2”,
is a matter for the Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore).
The comprehensive spending review (CSR) 2007 settlement determined under the previous Government was based on the presumption that the Wales Office would be allowed to bank underspends where they occurred and for those underspends to be carried forward under the end year flexibility (EYF) scheme to be used to meet pressures in later years. The £1.3 million EYF drawn down in the Spring Supplementary Estimates allowed the Wales Office to meet its spending commitments for 2010-11. In addition to the EYF drawdown, the Treasury exceptionally allowed the Wales Office to switch unspent capital provision to meet the pressures in the resource budget.
The increases to the Welsh Consolidated Fund are set out in the following table.
Details of changes to the Wales Office DEL are set out in the written statement laid in Parliament on 14 February 2011, Official Report, column 67WS.
| Welsh Consolidated Fund 2010-11 | |||
| £000 | |||
|
|
Main estimates | Changes | Spring supplementary estimates |
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Justice
Bill of Rights
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to review Sections 2 and 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 as part of his plans to establish a British bill of rights. [44008]
Mr Djanogly: In our Programme for Government, we made clear our intention to establish a commission to investigate the creation of a Bill of Rights in the UK which
“incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties.”
A statement about the establishment of this commission, including its terms of reference, will be made to Parliament shortly.
Coroners: Finance
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on training for coroners in 2009-10; and how much was budgeted for (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [44026]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice spent £116,692.53 on training for coroners in 2009-10. In 2010-11 the budget allocated to coroner training is £205,000. The budget for coroner training for 2011-12 is yet to be allocated.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been (a) spent on and (b) budgeted by his Department’s Coroners and Burials Unit for (i) staff costs and (ii) office costs, including training, travel and subsistence for (A) 2009-10, (B) 2010-11 and (C) 2011-12. [44027]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice’s budget and spend for the coroners and burials division for financial year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 are as follows:
| £ | |||
| Financial year |
|
Budget | Spend |
| (1) Estimated. (2) Not yet available. | |||
Since 1 April 2010, the directorate in which the coroners and burials unit sits has operated a flexible staff resource model, with staff being moved around the directorate to meet ministerial priorities. The staff cost for 2010-11 are thus estimated because they are part of the overall directorate costs. Similarly, other costs are now held at a wider level than this unit so cannot be identified separately. The budget for 2011-12 has yet to be agreed and existing resources cannot be guaranteed.
All costs across the Department will be subject to the 23% cuts announced last October in the spending review.
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff in his Department were in the civil service redeployment pool on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many of these had been in the redeployment pool for more than six months at that date. [44345]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice currently has 550 staff seeking permanent redeployment. Of these, 135 have been in the redeployment pool for more than six months. These figures represent staff at all grades including senior civil servants.
While seeking suitable alternative permanent roles, the majority are engaged in work that needs to be done to contribute to the delivery of public services, including core frontline activities, policy and project work and other operational roles.
Homicide: Compensation
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether provision for compensation for families of victims of murder and manslaughter is ringfenced in his Department's budget. [43834]
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Mr Blunt: Funds are allocated to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) so that compensation can be paid to eligible victims of crime under the terms of the criminal injuries compensation schemes. This includes relatives of those killed as a result of crimes of violence. Specific amounts within the overall allocation to CICA are not ring-fenced.
Separately the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) funds Victim Support to provide the national Homicide Service and provides additional funding to support the families of homicide victims through the Homicide Fund.
Following the MoJ's spending settlement, Ministers are reviewing all victims' services and carefully considering where best to allocate funds.
Human Rights
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on the future jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in England and Wales. [44009]
Mr Djanogly: The United Kingdom was one of the 11 original signatories to the European convention on human rights on 4 November 1950. The United Kingdom is bound by the European convention and has recognised the jurisdiction and agreed to abide by the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights since 14 January 1966. In our Programme for Government, we made clear our intention to establish a commission to investigate the creation of a Bill of Rights in the UK which
“incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties.”
A statement about the establishment of this commission, including its terms of reference, will be made to Parliament shortly.
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Government plan to (a) sign and (b) ratify the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. [43718]
Mr Djanogly: The UK fully supports the need to protect all people from enforced disappearance and was supportive of the aims of the convention upon its adoption in 2006.
However, the convention imposes detailed and complex requirements on those states which choose to sign and ratify it and the Government are considering how the provisions of the treaty might be implemented in the UK.
The UK signs a treaty only once it is confident it can properly implement it and once any necessary changes to legislation have been made so that domestic law is compatible with the treaty.
Juries
Mr Spellar:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications on the UK system of trial by jury of the
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judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Taxquet
v.
Belgium. [44101]
Mr Blunt: The UK intervened in this Belgian case to make clear its view that the fundamental principle of UK law that jury deliberations are absolutely privileged and juries are not required to give reasons for their verdicts is in accordance with the requirements of article 6 of the European convention on human rights.
In its judgment on 16 November 2010 the Grand Chamber found that
“the Convention does not require jurors to give reasons for their decision and that Article 6 does not preclude a defendant from being tried by a lay jury even where reasons are not given for the verdict.”
The Government are pleased by the approach taken by the Court, which does not indicate any need for changes to the UK systems of trial by jury.
Juries: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people resident in the London borough of Bexley (a) were summoned for and (b) undertook jury service in each of the last three years. [44129]
Mr Djanogly: The following table details on a national level basis for each calendar year from 2007 to 2009, the following:
(a) how many people have been required for jury service;
(b) how many people have been supplied to the court for jury service.
| Jury Central Summoning Bureau figures, 2007-09 | |||
|
|
2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Source: Jury Central Summoning Board. | |||
The Jury Central Summoning Bureau (JCSB) is not able to supply the information for the London borough of Bexley as the data cannot be extracted in this way by the computer system.
Residents from the London borough of Bexley could be summoned to one of five different court locations which also covers other postal areas.
Annual statistics on jury summons are published by the Ministry of Justice in the annual command paper “Judicial and Court Statistics”. The most recent edition, presenting statistics for 2009, was published in September 2010.
Legal Aid
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many cases people with frozen bank accounts have been recipients of legal aid in financial year 2009-10. [44271]
Mr Djanogly:
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not record whether a recipient of legal aid has a frozen bank account. A recipient's bank account may have been frozen for a variety of reasons and, although this will be considered in certain cases in relation to a
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legal aid applicant's financial eligibility, the LSC's management information systems do not have any facility for routinely recording this information centrally.
National Archives
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many files held in the National Archives have been recalled by each central Government department under Section 4(6) of the Public Records Act 1958 in each of the last three years; and what the name was of each such file. [43879]
Mr Djanogly: On average, 10,000 files are temporarily returned to Departments each year largely relating to the conduct of public business. The National Archives has provided figures for files or parts of files requisitioned by Departments during calendar years 2008, 2009 and 2010. Due to the large number of files involved, it is not possible to provide individual file names. However, a file loaned back to a Department is clearly marked as such on the National Archives document ordering system, ensuring members of the public may request to view the file should it have been requisitioned.
| Department name | Number of requisitions (file or part of a file) |
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Police Stations
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether approved premises in England and Wales are required to have alarm links to local police stations. [44097]
Mr Blunt: All approved premises in England and Wales provide staff with personal alarms which in some way link to local police stations. The most common arrangement is that, if a staff member activates their personal alarm, this alerts a call centre, which in turn contacts the approved premises by telephone to confirm whether an emergency has occurred. If there is no response, it is assumed that an emergency has occurred and police are alerted. In some cases, there are additional failsafe procedures such as passwords that have to be given before the call centre will accept that no emergency has occurred. Some approved premises instead have direct-to-police functions on personal alarms carried by staff. A minority of approved premises also have building alarm systems which operate in similar ways to the personal alarms.
Approved premises provide for enhanced supervision, particularly of high risk of harm offenders on release from custody. It would be much more difficult to provide that level of supervision, were such offenders to be dispersed into less suitable accommodation in the community on release from custody.
Prisoners
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on any link between income inequality and rates of imprisonment. [44253]
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Mr Blunt: The Department has not commissioned or evaluated research on the link between income inequality and rates of imprisonment. The Department has published information on income before custody, socio-economic classification, employment history and benefit take-up of those sentenced to custody in the latest “Compendium of re-offending statistics and analysis”.
Prisoners: Pay
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what expenditure his Department incurred on (a) pay and (b) unemployment pay for prisoners in each year for which figures are available; and how many prisoners received each type of payment in each such year; [44329]
(2) how many foreign nationals received (a) pay, (b) unemployment pay and (c) welfare-related benefits while in prison in each year for which figures are available; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such type of payment in each such year. [44330]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service's central accounting system has a single accounting code for prisoners' earnings. It does not distinguish between: prisoners' pay; unemployment pay; foreign nationals' pay; or foreign nationals' unemployment pay. To separate each of these costs would require examining a high volume of local individual records and would thus incur disproportionate costs.
There is no central record of the number of prisoners including foreign national prisoners who are in receipt of pay or other earnings. To provide this information would require examining local records and would thus incur disproportion costs.
Sentenced prisoners do not generally receive welfare related benefits.
The following table shows the total amount spent on prisoners' earnings over the last five years.
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£ million |
| (1) ( )The figures for 2010-11 are based on a forecast as at January 2011. | |
Prisons: Risk Assessment
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what disciplinary sanctions are available to the Prison Service against prison governors who do not fulfil requirements to maintain (a) workplace risk assessments and (b) safe systems of work; and if he will make a statement. [43875]
Mr Blunt: Under Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 42/2010, governing governors are required to ensure that an assessment of the risks to which their staff and others who may be affected by their undertakings are exposed is carried out and that measures are in place to eliminate or control the risk. Any failure to adhere to this Instruction may be dealt with in accordance with the conduct and discipline policy of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).
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NOMS' Conduct and Discipline Instruction (PSI 06/2010) provides a range of options for dealing with staff who fail to meet the required standards of behaviour. The primary objective of the policy is to encourage improvement in an individual rather than impose a disciplinary sanction and encourages the use of performance management processes where appropriate.
Each case would be considered on its individual merits, but depending on the nature and potential consequences of the breach, the following sanctions are available: oral warning, written warning, final written warning, regrading, removal from the field of promotion, financial restitution and dismissal from service. In cases where the misconduct is serious but does not warrant dismissal, a combination of penalties can be awarded.
Prisons: Safety
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions the Health and Safety Executive has been required to investigate an incident in a prison in each of the last 10 years; which prison was involved in each case; whether an action plan was put in place following each such investigation; and if he will make a statement. [43877]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service does not collect central records of visits to establishments by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate accidents.
Prisons: Violence
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what investigations his Department has undertaken into (a) levels of violence in prisons and (b) the causes of such violence in the last three years; and what the outcome of each such investigation was. [43876]
Mr Blunt: NOMS has completed a wide-ranging review of its violence reduction strategy. The review examined individual approaches to violence management in prisons to ensure that effective practice is shared and built upon.
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) routinely records the numbers and rates of assault incidents. Data for the last three years that are available (2007 to 2009) are detailed in the following table:
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2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| (1) Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2009. (2) Prison violence can be measured in a number of ways. This report focuses on assault incidents including fights. Notes: 1. These figures are published annually on the MoJ website. The figures for 2010 are currently being verified and will be published later this year. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level. | |||
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The responsibility for commissioning and managing the majority of investigations in to individual incidents, including those relating to violence, is discretionary and delegated to local level under Prison Service Order 1300—Investigations. In order to provide the information relating to the outcome of each investigation it would be necessary to contact all Prison Service establishments, ask them to check their local records and to submit this information to headquarters. This would incur disproportionate cost.
Probation Officers: Training
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether probation staff in England and Wales are required to routinely attend health and safety training. [44099]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service has issued national guidance to probation trusts on health and safety matters. This includes specific guidance on the health and safety training that trusts are required to provide routinely for their staff. Probation Trusts are required to have in place arrangements to ensure that all employees (including contractors' employees and agency staff) are suitably informed and trained about the hazards and risks in their working environment.
Probation: Alarms
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether interview rooms in probation trusts in England and Wales are routinely fitted with alarms. [44098]
Mr Blunt: Yes. Interview rooms in probation trusts in England and Wales are routinely fitted with alarms.
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Probation: Redundancy
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many probation trusts in England and Wales have issued standard notice of redundancy letters to probation staff since 1 April 2010. [44324]
Mr Blunt: Information is not collected centrally from probation trusts to answer this question fully. The information that is available to the National Offender Management Service does not distinguish between instances of voluntary or compulsory redundancy. However, the available information indicates that staff redundancies have occurred in 21 probation trusts since 1 April 2010.
Sentencing: Crimes of Violence
Anna Soubry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the average length of sentence handed down to a person convicted of an offence of breaching an injunction under the terms of Section 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in England and Wales was in each year since 1998; [44435]
(2) what the average length of sentence handed down to a person convicted of an offence of putting a person in fear of violence under the terms of Section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in England and Wales was in each year since 1998. [44436]
Mr Blunt: The number of persons found guilty at all courts, sentenced, given immediate custody, and the average custodial sentence length for offences under section 3 and 4 of the Harassment Act 1997, England and Wales, 1998 to 2009 (latest available) is provided in the following table.
Data for 2010 are planned for publication in spring 2011.
| Number of persons convicted at all courts under section 3 and 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (1) , sentence breakdown and average custodial sentence length, England and Wales, 1998 to 2009 (2, 3) | ||||||||||||
| Offence | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 (4) | 2009 |
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| (1) The following statutes were used for the corresponding offence: Section 3 Breach of the conditions of an injunction against harassment Protection from Harassment Act 1997 Section 4 Putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4 Religiously aggravated putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4, as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1996 S.32(1)(b) and (4) Racially or religiously aggravated putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4, as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.32(1)(b) and (4) Racially aggravated putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4, as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.32(1)(b) and (4). (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (5) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice. | ||||||||||||
Regulations
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many regulations sponsored by his Department have been (a) introduced and (b) revoked since 18 November 2010. [44366]
Mr Djanogly: The only statutory instrument which the Ministry of Justice has laid in Parliament since 18 November 2010 which has regulatory impact is the Legal Services Act 2007 (Levy) (No.2) Rules 2010.
No statutory instrument laid since 18 November has revoked regulations that have regulatory impact.
Youth Justice
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young people have (a) entered the youth justice system, (b) left custody and (c) been resettled after a custodial sentence in each year since 1997. [43832]
Mr Blunt: Data are available from 2000-01 and the following tables show the number of young people:
(a) aged 10-17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction for the period 2000-01 to 2009-10.(1)
(b) Custodial episodes(2) ending for under 18-year-olds for the period 2001-02 to 2009-10.
(c) We do not hold data on the number of young people who have been resettled into suitable accommodation after a custodial sentence. Local authorities have statutory responsibilities to accommodate young people in need of suitable accommodation through the Children Act 1989, the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and housing legislation.
| Number of young people aged 10-17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction, 2000-01 to 2009-10, England and Wales | ||
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Reprimand, warning or conviction | PND, reprimand, warning or conviction |
(1) These data are taken from the following publication and comes from MoJ's Police National Computer. 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:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/10-17-first-reprimand-warning-convinction.htm
| Custodial episode ending , 2001-02 to 2009-10, England and Wales | |||
| Financial year | Remanded | Sentenced | Total |
(2) ( ) Custodial episodes ending
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The Youth Justice Board does not count the number of individual young people leaving custody, but does count the number of individual custodial episodes that have ended for under 18-year-olds. Data on the number of episodes ended for 18-year-olds are not available.
An episode refers to a period a young person has spent in custody for a particular legal basis for detention and it is possible that one young person can start or end 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.