28 Mar 2011 : Column 63W
The MOJ will continue to fund work in combating domestic violence and has budgeted approximately £600,000 for 2011-12, however the exact figure is still to be finalised, as is the percentage going to local authorities rather than third sector partners. The MOJ is anticipating granting £125,000 to Wiltshire and Oxford county councils to pay towards coroners’ costs for service personnel. The Ministry of Defence will also be making a grant to Wiltshire for this purpose. However, this amount may vary dependant on the level of fatal military incidents. Responsibility for elections-related grants has now transferred to the Cabinet Office. The funding budget for local finance incentives has yet to be finalised in light of the spending review 2010.
The MOJ’s non-departmental public bodies, such as the Youth Justice Board and the probation trusts, also give grants to local authorities. However, it would incur disproportionate costs to collate all grants issued to local authorities by all the MOJ’s arms length and non-departmental bodies.
Public Bodies Reform Programme
Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales; [48669]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Public Guardian Board; [48670]
(3) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Magistrates' Courts Rule Committee; [48671]
(4) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Legal Services Commission; [48672]
(5) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Legal Services Ombudsman; [48673]
(6) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of HM Inspectorate of Court Administration; [48674]
(7) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Crown Court Rule Committee; [48675]
(8) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of Courts Boards; [48676]
(9) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the post and office of the Chief Coroner of England and Wales; [48677]
(10) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Administrative Justice and Tribunal Council; [48678]
(11) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the change in function of the National Archives; [48766]
(12) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the change in function of Public Trustee; [48767]
28 Mar 2011 : Column 64W
(13) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the change in function of the Parole Board of England and Wales; [48768]
(14) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the change in function of HM Land Registry; [48769]
(15) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office; [48809]
(16) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of the Advisory Council on Public Records and the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives; [48810]
(17) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of the Advisory Council on Historical Manuscripts and the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives; [48811]
(18) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of the Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace. [48812]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The coalition Government are committed to increasing the accountability of public bodies, and this involves reducing the number and their cost to the taxpayer.
To take this work forward, Cabinet Office and HM Treasury worked closely with Departments to look at all public bodies to make decisions about whether the functions they carry out should continue. Where it was decided that a function should continue, we applied three tests in order to assess whether it should continue to be carried out by a public body:
does that body perform a technical function?
does it need to be politically impartial?
does it act independently to establish facts?
On 16 March 2011, Official Report, columns 9-10WS, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) issued a written ministerial statement updating Parliament on progress on public bodies reform. That statement also announced that Departments estimate cumulative administrative savings of at least £2.6 billion will flow from public bodies over the spending review period.
For the Ministry of Justice, reductions from reform of the requested departmental public bodies have been estimated as follows:
Youth Justice Board: Work is ongoing to finalise plans and timing for reform of the YJB. However the current estimate of annual savings from abolition is £6 million by 2014-15.
The annual saving which will accrue from the abolition of the Public Guardian Board is estimated to be £0.1 million by 2014-15.
The Legal Services Commission estimates that by the end of 2014-15 an annual administrative saving of £8.4 million will be delivered from the change in status from NDPB to executive agency.
The annual saving which will accrue from the abolition of the Legal Services Ombudsman is estimated to be £ 1.1 million by 2014-15.
The annual saving which will accrue from the abolition of HM Inspectorate of Court Administration is estimated to be £1.7 million by 2014-15.
28 Mar 2011 : Column 65W
The annual saving which will accrue from the abolition of Courts Boards is £0.5 million by 2014-15.
The annual saving which will accrue from the abolition of the Administrative Justice and Tribunal Council is estimated to be £1.4 million by 2014-15.
The annual saving which will accrue from the merging of the Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace is estimated to be £1.4 million by 2014-15.
The Ministry estimated that no savings would arise from the abolition of the following bodies:
Crown Court Rule Committee;
Magistrates' Courts Rule Committee.
Chief Coroner of England and Wales:Although there are no immediate savings to be had from the abolition of the Chief Coroner, the long-term benefits are realised through non-implementation. It was anticipated to begin implementation from April 2012. The financial impact of full implementation of part one of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, which includes the post and office of the Chief Coroner, has been estimated at £10.9 million in set-up costs and £6.6 million in running costs. Therefore the intention is that the ‘non-implementation’ of the post and office of Chief Coroner before they are established will save this new expenditure in full.
There are no estimated savings for changes to The National Archives, Advisory Council on Historical Manuscripts and Advisory Council on Public Records. The changes in function to The National Archives and its advisory councils proposed through the Public Bodies Bill contain no financial implications. The rationale for these reforms is to place The National Archives, its chief executive and its advisory bodies on a statutory footing, enabling the Government to legally complete the changes that began with the establishment of The National Archives as an administrative entity in 2003.
Decisions have yet to be reached on reform/change of function of the following bodies and work is ongoing, consequently an estimate of savings is not yet available:
HM Land Registry;
Parole Board of England and Wales;
Public Trustee.
The merged Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office and Crown Prosecution Service is a non-ministerial department. Ministerial responsibility lies with the Attorney-General for England and Wales. The annual saving figure was £3.3 million by 2014-15.
Departmental Redundancy
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many civil servants in his Department have been offered voluntary redundancy since April 2010; and if he will make a statement. [49187]
Mr Djanogly: As at 24 March 2011, five civil servants in my Department have been offered voluntary redundancy since 1 April 2010. This figure does not include civil servants who have been offered early departure under the Ministry’s ongoing Voluntary Early Departure Scheme, which provides the same terms as Voluntary Redundancy under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.
28 Mar 2011 : Column 66W
Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many appeals against decisions made on applications for employment and support allowance from residents of (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) Greater London are outstanding. [48597]
Mr Djanogly: It is not possible to provide the information which the hon. Member has requested. The most recent period for which statistics on ‘live’ employment and support allowance appeals have been published was up to 31 January 2011. These did not include a breakdown by geographical area. However, the figure for the United Kingdom as a whole was 87,700 appeals.
Family Justice Review
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department’s Family Justice Review will address disparities in the way courts deal with residency and access requests for mothers and fathers; and when he expects the Review to report. [49427]
Mr Djanogly: Where both parents have parental responsibility for their child they are equal before the law. There is no presumption by the court that one parent is a better parent than the other and the court is required to approach these sensitive and difficult matters in an impartial and unbiased manner. In making decisions about contact and other arrangements for children, all judges and holders of judicial office must ensure that their work is free from improper discrimination on any grounds, including gender. Rather, the Children Act 1989 requires that the best interests of the child must be paramount in any decision taken that will affect them.
However, in order to ensure that children are able to have a meaningful relationship with both their parents following separation I have asked the Family Justice Review to examine how the positive involvement of both parents following separation should be supported. In particular, I have asked the panel to consider how contact with non-resident parents can be promoted where this is in the best interests of the child. The Family Justice Review will issue an interim report with recommendations for reform at the end of March and publish its final report in autumn this year.
Homicide: Convictions
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many murder convictions have been secured under the common law doctrine on joint enterprise in each of the last 30 years. [49495]
Mr Blunt: Data held on the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database do not specify whether court proceedings in murder cases were brought under joint enterprise.
Human Trafficking
Mr Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to announce his allocation of funding for the protection of adult victims of human trafficking. [49617]
28 Mar 2011 : Column 67W
Mr Blunt: This Government have announced an allocation of up to £2 million per year for the next two years for the provision of support services for adult victims of human trafficking. This is joint funded by both the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.
Judiciary
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department holds on the (a) ethnic background and (b) gender of the judiciary in each year from 1997 to 2010. [49622]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Judges in post (excluding Tribunals) by women, and ethnic background, England and Wales, 1998 to 2010, as at 1 April | |||
|
|
Total number of judges | Women (percentage) | BAME (percentage) |
| Source: Historical data from Judicial Office website and archived websites of the Department for Constitutional Affairs | |||
We are only able to provide comparative data for this period for courts based judiciary.
Since 2009, the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic figures were calculated as a percentage of those members of the judiciary who provided ethnicity data. Disclosure of ethnicity by judges is voluntary. Figures from 2009 onwards are not directly comparable with earlier years as the data has been widened to include four new types of judicial post. Accurate figures for 1997 are not available.
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications-and-reports/statistics/judges
http://www.dca.gov.uk/dept/depstrat.htm
Judiciary: Equal Opportunities
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to ensure diversity in the judiciary. [49500]
Mr Kenneth Clarke:
The Government supports, in principle, the recommendations delivered by the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity in its February 2010 report.
28 Mar 2011 : Column 68W
The recommendations seek to deliver speedier and sustained progress to a more diverse judiciary at every level and in all courts in England and Wales, without diminishing appointment on merit.
My noble Friend, Lord McNally, is a member of the Judicial Diversity Taskforce established to oversee the delivery of the Panel's recommendations. The taskforce met on Monday 14 March to review what has been achieved to date, and will publish its report on progress shortly.
Lancaster Castle Prison: Drugs
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Counselling Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare drug treatment scheme for prisoners at HMP Lancaster Castle; and if he will make a statement. [49170]
Mr Blunt: There has been no assessment into the effectiveness of the counselling, assessment, referral, advice and throughcare (CARAT) services provided at HMP Lancaster Castle, however, effectiveness of CARATs as a whole is kept under review at a national level.
The performance of individual prison establishments in delivering CARAT services against key performance targets is audited as part of the National Offender Management Service performance management system. In May 2010, when it was last audited against those targets, the CARATs at HMP Lancaster were found to have exceeded the required standard.
Land Registry: Fraud
John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much compensation was paid by the Land Registry due to fraud in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10. [47886]
Mr Djanogly: The information is as follows:
In 2008-09, Land Registry paid indemnity claims amounting to £10,058,945.39, of which £5,072,113.43 was for claims relating to fraud or forgery.
In 2009-10, Land Registry paid indemnity claims amounting to £7,782,081.06, of which £4,947,650.06 was for claims relating to fraud or forgery.
All figures include legal costs and interest.
Magistrates
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department holds on the (a) ethnic background and (b) gender of justices of the peace in each year from 1997 to 2010. [49623]
Mr Djanogly: The information held is shown in the following table.
| Percentage of serving justices of the peace by gender and ethnic background | ||||||||||
| Valid at | Number of JPs | Male (%) | Female (%) | White (%) | Mixed (%) | Asian (%) | Black (%) | Chinese (%) | Other (%) | Unknown (%) |
28 Mar 2011 : Column 69W
28 Mar 2011 : Column 70W
| Notes: 1. ‘—’ = The data are either no longer held or were never held because they were not recorded in that format at that time, eg the ethnic categories Mixed and Chinese were not used before 2006. 2. From 1997 to 2000 data were recorded on a calendar year basis. 3. From 2001 onwards data were recorded on a financial year basis. 4. The ethnic origin information at 1 May 1997 was taken from the results of a survey of magistrates (excluding the Duchy of Lancaster). Non returns amounted to 6.6%. 5. Data for 1 April 2002 do not include the Duchy of Lancaster. 6. Data shown up to and including 2003 has been taken from the Judicial Appointments and Judicial Statistics publications. 7. Data shown from 2004 onwards has been taken from a centrally held database within MoJ. | ||||||||||
Prison Accommodation
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2011, Official Report, column 553W, on prison accommodation, how many offenders held in a cell designed for one inmate shared it with (a) one other inmate and (b) two other inmates in each month of each year between 2001 and 2009. [48581]
Mr Blunt: The number of offenders held in a cell designed for one inmate who shared with one other inmate in each month of each year between 2001 and 2009 are set out in the following table in the column headed ‘doubling’.
There are no data on cells designed for one inmate which are occupied by two or more inmates. There has been no recorded occurrence of this since March 1994. There is now a measure of ‘trebling’ which refers to cells designed for two which are occupied by three. Figures are not available prior to April 2002 and are shown from April 2002 to December 2009 in the table.
|
|
Doubling | Trebling |
28 Mar 2011 : Column 71W
28 Mar 2011 : Column 72W
| (1) Not available | ||
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.
Occupancy levels at individual prisons will vary according to the amount of capacity available overall, the number of prisoners and the way in which the prison population is managed.
We will continue to keep capacity requirements under review against current headroom in the estate, expected prison population levels and the impact of wider developments such as the Government’s Green Paper ‘Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders’.
Prisoners
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) ethnic background and (b) gender was of those serving custodial sentences in each year from 1997 to 2010. [49620]
Mr Blunt: Available information on the ethnic and gender breakdown of the sentenced custodial population in England and Wales from 1997 to 2009 (latest available) can be found in Tables A and B.
These figures are taken from published tables within the Statistical bulletins ‘Prison Statistics, England and Wales’ and the ‘Offender Management Caseload Statistics, England and Wales’, copies of which can be found in the Libraries of both Houses.
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.
| Table A: Population in prison establishments (1) under an immediate custodial sentence by ethnic group (2) and sex, as at 30 June 1997-2002, and at 28 February 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Number of persons | ||||||||||||
| June 1997 | June 1998 | June 1999 | June 2000 | |||||||||
|
|
Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total |
28 Mar 2011 : Column 73W
28 Mar 2011 : Column 74W
| Number of persons | |||||||||
| June 2001 | June 2002 | February 2003 | |||||||
|
|
Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total |
| (1) Excludes police cells. (2) Ethnicity categories based on 1991 census codes. Note: Data within this table are taken from the Home Office publication “Prison Statistics, England and Wales” 1997 to 2003. Table 6.4 refer. Data Sources and Quality: 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. | |||||||||
| Table B: Population in prison establishments (1) under an immediate custodial sentence by ethnic group (2) and sex, as at 30 June 2004-09 | |||||||||
| Number of persons | |||||||||
| June 2004 | June 2005 | June 2006 | |||||||
|
|
Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total |
| Number of persons | |||||||||
| June 2007 | June 2008 | June 2009 | |||||||
|
|
Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total | Males | Females | Total |
| n/a = Data not available for 2004. (1)Excludes police cells. (2)Ethnicity categories based on 2001 Census codes introduced in 2003. Note: Data within this table are taken from the publication “Offender Management Caseload Statistics, England and Wales” 2005-09. Table 8.29 for years 2005 and 2006 and Table 7.23 for years 2007-09 refer. Data Sources and Quality: 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. | |||||||||
Prisons: Mobile Phones
Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have authorised access to mobile telephones; and for how many hours per week such prisoners had such access on average in the latest period for which figures are available. [49077]
Mr Blunt: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him on 16 March 2011, Official Report, columns 465-66W, which sets out the NOMS mobile phone strategy.
Prisoners generally are not permitted access to mobile phones. It is a disciplinary offence under the Prison Rules 1999 for prisoners to possess an unauthorised item, and the Offender Management Act 2007 made it a criminal offence to convey mobile phones and associated equipment into or out of a prison, or to transmit sounds or images from within a prison, without authorisation. The Crime and Security Act 2010 will also make it an offence, with a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, to possess in a prison without authorisation a mobile phone or
28 Mar 2011 : Column 75W
other device or component part that can receive or transmit images, sounds or information electronically. This provision is due to be introduced in the summer.
There are limited exceptions where use of a mobile phone by a prisoner may be authorised, for example, to enable prisons to provide direct telephone access to the Samaritans national helpline number. For out-of-hours access, cordless phones are most commonly provided; however, where there are reception problems prisons will sometimes provide mobile phones, pre-programmed only to allow contact with the Samaritans. The number of phone calls made from pre-programmed mobile phones is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
In addition, prisoners who are released on temporary licence, for example to work outside a prison in either voluntary or paid employment may be permitted to take their personal mobile phone with them. The phones are stored in lockers at the prison gate when the prisoner is inside the establishment. Any prisoner taking their phone into the prison would be subject to disciplinary action. All prisoners released on temporary licence will have been risk assessed. No data are collected centrally on the extent to which this occurs and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Offenders Information Systems
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will assess the merits of linking probation and prison IT systems with those of the police in England and Wales; [49015]
(2) what plans he has for the future of the National Offender Management Service’s probation IT system; [49016]
(3) if he will assess the merits of establishing an integrated IT system for prisons and probation services in England and Wales. [49017]
Mr Blunt: The C-NOMIS project, established in 2004, intended to provide a single interactive record of offenders across the prison and probation services. In 2007, it was stopped after it was identified that there was insufficient funding and in 2008, was replaced by the National Offender Management Information Systems (NOMIS) Programme.
The NOMIS Programme comprises five IT-enabled business change projects:
Prison-NOMIS, an improved, centralised prisons case management system now fully rolled out;
Inmate information system update, improving functionality;
Probation case management system (PCMS) will replace a variety of different systems with one centralised system for probation;
A data share system (DSS) has been developed and will be implemented (as part of PCMS), enabling probation staff to access the core prisons information they need for effective offender management; and
The offender assessment system-replacement (OASys-R) will provide an improved, shared system for offender assessment across both prison and probation services.
The latter three projects will directly benefit the probation service. In addition, the Offender Management National Infrastructure-Transformation Programme is transforming the probation service’s ICT infrastructure into a national, centralised system with better resilience, security and
28 Mar 2011 : Column 76W
performance. This programme includes the consolidation of 42 area data centres into two national data centres.
Although a single integrated system for the prisons and probation services will not be implemented (through the C-NOMIS project) the NOMIS Programme will deliver a reduction from 220 separate systems to three across both services. In addition, the NOMIS Programme is addressing data sharing enhancements, by providing the probation trusts with the ability to view core Prison-NOMIS offender information, through its DSS project and the OASys-R will enable both prisons and probation staff to share offender assessments. Furthermore, many police forces receive information relating to prisoners who are due to be released into their constabulary from Prison-NOMIS and the local inmate database system (the existing case management system used by privately operated prisons) via the prisoner intelligence notification system.
In the longer term, the Ministry of Justice will ensure that technical standards for the development of systems to facilitate the creation of future database links are clear and that there is potential for future enhancements to build interoperability. The National Offender Management Service will also be examining, as part of the National Audit Office recommendations, whether the programme should achieve more joining-up. This examination will include considering more linkage with the police. The programme will ensure that this work is followed up with the Department’s information and communications technology organisation, once the programme completes delivery in spring 2012.
Remembrance Day
Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward proposals to (a) make Remembrance Day poppy burning a hate crime and (b) amend sentencing guidelines for those sentenced in respect of such actions. [48468]
Mr Blunt: The Government understands the anger that poppy burning can cause. However, there is already appropriate legislation dealing with insulting, threatening or abusive behaviour likely to, or intended to, cause harassment, alarm or distress. Sentencing guidelines are a matter for the independent Sentencing Council, but custodial penalties are already available where the behaviour is intentionally directed at a person. It is also open to the court to increase a sentence on account of factors that the court deems to be aggravating in the particular case, even where those factors are not specifically set out in statute or guidelines.
Road Traffic Offences
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average fine levied on a person convicted of an offence under section (a) 14(3) and (b) 41D of the Road Traffic Act 1988 was in the last six months. [R] [48874]
Mr Blunt: The average fine imposed at all courts in England and Wales for offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988, sections 14 and 15, is given in the table for July to December 2009 (latest available). It is not possible to separately identify section 14(3) from other offences in sections 14 and 15.
28 Mar 2011 : Column 77W
The table also includes a column headed “Median fine”. Occasionally large fines handed down to companies or other organisations can have a misleading impact when using the mean to represent average fine amounts and therefore both average fine and median fine are given in the table.
Section 41D gave authority to existing regulations, under the Road vehicles (Construction and use) Regulations
28 Mar 2011 : Column 78W
1986, to make certain offences endorsable. The average fine imposed at all courts for these offences are also given in the table.
Court proceedings data for 2010 are planned for publication in spring, 2011.
Sentencing
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost was of (a) a jury trial at the Crown Court for (i) either way offences sent by magistrates where their sentencing powers are not deemed sufficient, (ii) either way offences where the defendant has chosen to elect jury trial and (iii) indictable only offences and (b) a trial by a justice of the peace in a magistrates court for (A) summary only offences and (B) either way offences in the latest period for which figures are available. [44950]
Mr Blunt: The estimated average cost of a jury trial at the Crown court is £3,900 for either way offences sent by magistrates, £2,900 for either way offences where the defendant elects for jury trial, £8,100 for indictable only offences where there is a not guilty plea, and £700 for indictable only offences where there is a guilty plea.
The estimated average cost of a trial at magistrates court is £300 for summary motoring offences, £900 for summary non-motoring offences, and £900 for either way offences.
Squatting
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has had discussions with representatives of police forces on the enforcement of the law to reduce instances of squatting. [49390]
Mr Blunt: Ministry of Justice officials are in ongoing discussions with other interested Government Departments, the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Crown Prosecution Service about the issue of squatting. We will continue to work closely with them as we develop proposals in this area.
Terrorism: Compensation
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to announce the outcome of his Department’s review of Compensation for Victims of Overseas Terrorism. [49478]
Mr Blunt: Previous proposals for compensating victims of terrorism overseas are being considered alongside a review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and wider victims’ services. The outcome of this review will be announced in due course.
Young Offender Institutions: Mental Illness
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take other than through the Juvenile Awareness Staff Programme to support the provision of services to young people in young offender institutions who have complex (a) mental health and (b) substance misuse issues. [49093]
Mr Blunt: As part of the spending review settlement, from April 2011 the Department of Health will take responsibility for the £6 million that the Ministry of Justice currently invests in young people’s substance misuse interventions in the secure estate.
The Department of Health already have responsibility for the provision of mental health services in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), and have allocated an additional £1.6 million per year for ‘tier 3’ Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS) in YOIs to provide for those with complex mental health needs.
The Ministry of Justice is working closely with the Department of Health to ensure that the changes to the NHS proposed in the Health and Social Care Bill will help to deliver improved commissioning of mental health, substance misuse and other health services in the youth secure estate and in the community.
28 Mar 2011 : Column 79W
In addition, as set out in our Green Paper: “Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders”, the Government are committed to intervening early and diverting young people with mental health and other problems from the criminal justice system where appropriate. The Department of Health and the Ministry Of Justice have committed to a nationwide rollout of diversion schemes by 2014.
Youth Justice Plan
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of the Youth Justice Plan (Capability and Capacity Assessment) for each youth offending team for each of the last three years; and when he expects the Youth Justice Plan (Capability and Capacity Assessment) for 2011-12 to be finalised. [48980]
Mr Blunt: Youth Justice plans and capability and capacity assessments are two separate reporting documents used by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and youth offending teams (YOTs).
There are currently 157 YOTs in England and Wales who are required by statute to produce annual youth justice plans. For 2010-11, the YJB have so far received 98 plans which will be deposited in hard copy or on disc in the Libraries of the House by the end of April. The YJB is in contact with the remaining 59 YOTs to submit their plans before the end of the financial year. Those that are received will also be deposited by the end of April. The YJB does not hold plans for earlier years.
Capability and capacity assessments are internal working documents for the YJB and YOTs and are not published. Disclosure of these documents could deter YOTs from discussing performance candidly with the YJB.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Prices
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect on demand of trends in the price of alcohol. [48609]
James Brokenshire: In January the Home Office published a review of the evidence base on the likely impacts of increasing alcohol price. This complemented a Treasury report published in November 2010 which reviewed alcohol taxation. Both reports can be accessed on the Home Office website via:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/alcohol/alcohol-pricing/
Animal Experiments
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) of 31 January 2011, Official Report, columns 646-47W, on animal experiments, when she expects to make an announcement on the date for a ban on the testing of household products on animals; to which ingredients used in household products the ban will extend; and what definition of the term household product her Department uses. [45398]
28 Mar 2011 : Column 80W
Lynne Featherstone: There is no authoritative definition of “household product” in UK or European legislation. For the purposes of the proposed prohibition on testing of such products on animals we plan to apply the definition of “substances used in the household” used for reporting purposes in the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals published annually. This includes all products that are primarily intended for use in the home, including detergents and other laundry products, household cleaners, air-fresheners, toilet blocks, polishes, paper products such as infant nappies, paints, glues (and removers), other furnishing and DIY products and household pesticides. The prohibition will apply to both finished household products and their ingredients, although in practice mainly the latter are tested. We are working towards delivering the prohibition through the conditions of licences issued under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and will announce the outcome as soon as this work is complete.
Asylum: Community Relations
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) of 15 March 2011, Official Report, column 228W, on asylum: community relations, which other Government Departments will be represented on the working group on the integration needs of refugees; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the working group's terms of reference. [48969]
Damian Green: The Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the Department for Communities and Local Government will all be represented on the working group. A copy of the terms of reference will be placed in the House once these are finalised and agreed.
Asylum: Finance
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department paid in One Stop Service funding to (a) the Refugee Council, (b) the Scottish Refugee Council, (c) the Welsh Refugee Council, (d) Refugee Action and (e) Migrant Helpline in each of the last five years. [48978]
Damian Green: The amount of funding provided to these organisations for the One Stop Service is detailed in the following table.
| £ million | |||||
| One Stop Service—Funding 2006 - 11 | |||||
|
|
2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| Note: Figures for 2010-11 are derived from the Agency budget. All other figures are derived from the Agency’s audited annual accounts (or the annual accounts of the Home Office for 2006-07 and 2007-08). | |||||
28 Mar 2011 : Column 81W
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department paid in Initial Accommodation Wrap-around Service funding to (a) the Refugee Council, (b) the Scottish Refugee Council, (c) the Welsh Refugee Council, (d) Refugee Action and (e) Migrant Helpline in each of the last five years. [48979]
Damian Green: The amount of funding provided to these organisations is detailed in the following table.
| Funding for wrap-around service 2006-11 | |||||
| £ million | |||||
|
|
2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department paid to the Refugee Council under the grant agreement for services provided by the Refugee Council Children’s Panel in each of the last five years. [48994]
Damian Green: The amount of funding provided to the Funding for the Refugee Council’s children’s panel is detailed in the following table.
| Funding for the Refugee Council’s children’s panel | |
|
|
£ million |
| Note: Figures for 2010-11 are derived from the Agency budget. All other figures are derived from the Agency’s audited annual accounts (or the annual accounts of the Home Office for 2006-07 and 2007-08). | |
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department paid in strategic funding to (a) the Refugee Council, (b) the Scottish Refugee Council and (c) the Welsh Refugee Council in each of the last five years. [48995]
28 Mar 2011 : Column 82W
Damian Green: The amount of funding provided to these organisations is detailed in the following table.
| Strategic funding provided to voluntary sector organisations, 2006-11 | |||||
| £ million | |||||
|
|
2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| Notes: 1. Strategic funding was introduced in 2008-09. Figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are for core funding. 2. Figures for 2010-11 are derived from the agency budget. All other figures are derived from the agency’s audited annual accounts (or the annual accounts of the Home Office for 2006-07 and 2007-08). | |||||
Criminal Records
Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to use funds available through the EU criminal justice programme for the purposes of building a European criminal records information system. [48090]
Lynne Featherstone [holding answer 21 March 2011]: The final technical specifications for the European criminal records information system (ECRIS) have not yet been issued by the European Commission. Once the technical specifications have been issued we will consider whether to make a bid for EU funding. The UK has made a successful bid for funding to implement the Network of Judicial Registers project whose work will form a significant part of the ECRIS project.
ECRIS is a decentralised information technology system providing for the electronic exchange of information held in each member state's criminal records database. It is not a centralised criminal records database.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications her Department received from students wishing to enter higher education in the UK in each year since 2001; and how many such applications were (a) approved and (b) rejected. [49022]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency holds statistics for applications to study in the UK from 2004 only which are detailed in the following table:
|
|
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
The statistics provided are for all main applicants under the student and tier 4 of the points based system.
The UK Border Agency does not hold central data on the number of applicants who intend to study at higher education and these figures could be only obtained by examining individual applications at disproportionate cost.
Mr Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role she expects universities to
28 Mar 2011 : Column 83W
have in determining whether language requirements under the new overseas students visa regime are being met; and if she will make a statement. [49293]
Damian Green: We will be making changes to the immigration rules so that international students coming to study at degree level and above are required to be proficient in English level B2 on the Council of Europe Framework of Reference. Students attending institutions other than universities will be required to pass a secure English language test. For university students, we will allow the sponsoring university to certify that the student meets the English language requirement.