Driving Offences
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many drivers convicted of driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs in each police authority area in the East of England in each year since 2009 had previous convictions for the same offence. [53377]
Mr Blunt: The figures requested are provided in the table, for offenders sentenced in 2009. The figures are on the same basis and from the same data set used for Table 6.4 of ‘Sentencing Statistics, England and Wales, 2009’ which can be found at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/sentencingannual.htm
and equivalent criminal history statistics for 2010 will be published on 26 May 2011.
| Offenders sentenced in 2009 in the East of England for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs1 and the number with a previous conviction or caution for an offence of this kind by police force area | |||
|
|
Number of offenders convicted and sentenced for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs | Number of these offenders with a previous conviction or caution for an offence of this kind | Percentage of these offenders with a previous conviction or caution for an offence of this kind |
| 1. Including offences of failing to provide a specimen of blood or breath 2. The figures relate to occasions when an offender was sentenced in 2009 when the primary offence related to driving under the influence of drink or drugs, and to the number of these offenders who at that time had at least one previous conviction or caution for one of these offences. | |||
4 May 2011 : Column 799W
These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer (PNC), 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.
Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals
Duncan Hames:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many Employment and Support Allowance appeals were adjourned in each year since October 2008; what proportion of the total number of appeals this represented for each year since October 2008; and how many of these adjourned appeals in
4 May 2011 : Column 800W
each year since October 2008 were classified in each category; [53591]
(2) what definitions the Tribunals Service uses of data relating to the adjournment of hearings for Employment and Support Allowance appeals that are (a) Tribunal not ready to proceed, (b) Administrators not ready to proceed, (c) Applicant not ready to proceeds and, (d) First tier agency not ready to proceed. [53592]
Mr Djanogly: The number of employment and support allowance (ESA) appeals received and adjourned in each year since October 2008, together with a breakdown of the adjourned appeals by category is set out in the following two tables:
| Number of ESA appeals adjourned (1) | |||
|
|
October 2008-March 2009 (2) | April 2009-March 2010 | April 2010-February 2011 (3) |
| Adjournment reasons as recorded at hearing (6) | |||
|
|
October 2008-March 2009 (7) | April 2009-March 2010 | April 2010-February 2011 |
| (1) This case data has been rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 with the exception of the 2008-9 data when the numbers are too low for this rounding protocol to apply. (2) The first ESA appeals were received by Tribunal Service (TS) in January 2009. (3) SSCS data has been published to 28 February 2011. (4) This is all ESA appeals received by TS in the period. They will not all proceed to a hearing. (5) This is all the case hearings adjourned in the period. A case may be adjourned more than once. (6) The adjournment reason is determined by the Tribunal judge adjourning the case hearing. (7 )The first ESA appeals were received by TS in January 2009. | |||
There are four adjournment categories used in Social Security and Child Support appeal tribunals and the adjourning judge determines the most appropriate adjournment category for the case being dealt with (cases can be adjourned for more than one reason). The four categories, together with some examples of the circumstances under which these categories may be used, are as follows:
Where the tribunal requires additional evidence.
Where an applicant was known to a tribunal panel member.
Administrators not ready to proceed
Failure by administrative staff to provide sufficient notice of the appeal hearing.
Failure to observe a previous direction given by a judge.
Arrangement of incorrect panel composition.
Applicant not ready to proceed
Where the applicant requests more time to submit evidence or appoint a representative.
The applicant is unable, due to medical or other reasons, to continue with the hearing.
First-tier agency not ready to proceed
The submission from the agency is incomplete/defective or illegible.
The agency may seek more time to consider evidence handed in on the day.
Judiciary
Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost to the public purse was of a case heard by (a) a magistrate and (b) a district judge in the latest period for which figures are available. [53043]
Mr Djanogly: Based on a simple analysis of the number of criminal cases completed and the related judicial sitting hours for magistrates courts in 2009-10, the average court costs for cases heard by a bench of magistrates or a district judge are £132 and £196 respectively. Costs comprise all judicial and administrative costs directly incurred by magistrates courts, but, inter alia, exclude area and central overheads.
It has not been possible to evaluate meaningful statistics relating to average costs for the Legal Service Commission, Crown Prosecution Services and other public sector prosecution costs associated with magistrates courts’ cases. Therefore the costs provided above relate entirely to direct HM Courts Service operational costs only.
4 May 2011 : Column 801W
The Ministry of Justice has commissioned independent research to consider variations in the approaches of magistrates and district judges dealing with criminal cases in magistrates courts. The outcome of the research will strengthen the evidence base and better inform policy decisions relating to the deployment of judicial resource across magistrates courts in England and Wales.
Legal Aid
Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for legal aid from residents in Lincoln constituency were granted in each of the last five years. [53284]
Mr Djanogly: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is currently collating its data relating to Lincoln constituency. I will write to my hon. Friend once the information has been verified and place a copy in the Library of the House.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what consideration he has given to the retention of legal aid in private family law proceedings for parties assessed as unsuitable for mediation where the issue of domestic violence does not arise. [52776]
Mr Djanogly: The Government, in their consultation paper ‘Proposals for the reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales’, set out their proposals to remove legal aid for private family law cases, except where domestic violence is present, or for a child who has been made a party to the proceedings, or for international child abduction cases. The consultation closed on 14 February. A number of responses raised the issue of other cases that might be unsuitable for mediation. We are considering all the responses, and expect to publish the Government's response to the consultation shortly.
Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the likely effects on law firms specialising in clinical negligence cases of his planned reduction in the legal aid budget. [53216]
Mr Djanogly: Both impact assessments and equality impact assessments were published alongside the consultation paper. These detail anticipated impacts on both providers and users of legally aided services. Revised assessments will be published alongside the Government's response to consultation.
Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for the funding of disbursements in (a) clinical negligence, (b) family law and (c) child care cases after such cases are withdrawn from the scope of legal aid. [53217]
Mr Djanogly: As announced in ‘Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations: The Government Response’ (Cm 8041, March 2011), the Government intend to permit the recoverability of after the event insurance premiums limited to the costs of expert reports in clinical negligence claims. The details will be set out in regulations in due course.
4 May 2011 : Column 802W
The consultation paper ‘Proposals for the reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales’ included proposals to withdraw legal aid from clinical negligence and private law family proceedings, but to retain legal aid for public law family proceedings (such as care and supervision proceedings). The Government are currently considering responses to the consultation, and expect to publish their response shortly. Where the Government decide to remove legal aid for certain types of proceedings, this will include removing funding for disbursements.
Legal Aid: Lone Parents
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department holds on (a) the number and proportion of recipients of legal aid who are single parents and (b) the matters in respect of which single parents receive legal aid. [52679]
Mr Djanogly: Neither my Department nor the Legal Services Commission holds data on whether applicants for legal aid are single parents.
Long-term Prisoners
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate has been made of the average length of time served by people sentenced to a life term in prison. [53004]
Mr Blunt: The following table taken from Offender Management annual table A3.5 published 28 April 2011:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/prisons-and-probation/oms-quartlery.htm
shows the number of life sentenced prisoners first released during 2010, and their average time served at the point of first release. The average time served by mandatory lifers has increased considerably from around nine years in the late 1970s to 16 years in 2010.
|
|
Number released | Average time served (years) |
| Note: 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. | ||
Long-term Prisoners: Deportation
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in which court cases the court has considered making a declaration of incompatibility under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 after finding a provision of legislation incompatible with a Convention right contained in that Act, but has decided not to make such a declaration; which provision of legislation was found to be incompatible with which Convention right in each such case; what the response of the Government was to each such finding; and which of those judgements are final. [52689]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The information requested is not collected and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.
4 May 2011 : Column 803W
Magistrates: Expenses
Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what account he took of trends in the price of motor fuel in making his proposals for changes to travel expenses payable to voluntary magistrates. [53041]
Mr Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service is in discussion with the Magistrates Association and the National Bench Chairs' Forum about possible changes to the travel and subsistence allowances that magistrates receive in the course of their judicial work. Although no decisions have been taken, the price of motor fuel and other relevant factors are part of the discussion.
Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much on average a voluntary magistrate claimed in expenses for one day's court sitting in the latest period for which figures are available. [53042]
Mr Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service does not hold the specific information on a daily basis, however, based on provisional data, the total cost of expenses claimed by Justices of the Peace for the financial year ending 31 March 2011, was around £17 million. This approximates to an average of £767 per claimant, per annum.
Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received on his proposals for changes to the travel and subsistence expenses for voluntary magistrates. [53044]
Mr Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service is in discussion with the Magistrates Association and the National Bench Chairs' Forum about possible changes to the travel and subsistence allowances that magistrates receive in the course of their judicial work. No decisions have been made.
Prison: Drugs
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases of corruption involving prison officers which involved illegal drugs there were in each of the last five years. [53427]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issue of staff corruption seriously and has given a firm commitment to work in partnership with the police to detect, disrupt and deter all forms of corruption affecting prisons, including that involving illegal drugs.
Our records indicate that since January 2008 (to 31 March) there have been 31 convictions for drug related offences of persons working in prisons, 15 of these convictions relate to prison officers. Clearly, in addition to the possibility of criminal proceedings where appropriate, staff corruption, if proved, will amount to a breach of conduct and discipline procedures and internal disciplinary action can be taken. Our records indicate that during the same time frame there have been a total of eight dismissals for drug-related matters of directly employed staff, five of which relate to prison officers. The following table provides a yearly breakdown of the available data held centrally since 2007:
4 May 2011 : Column 804W
|
|
Drug related convictions of prison officers | Drug related dismissals of prison officers |
These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. These figures do not include ongoing operations or investigations where it would be inappropriate to provide operationally sensitive data, or other management action taken in line with HR procedures or where an individual has resigned from employment.
Prisons: Crimes of Violence
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prisoner on prisoner and (b) prisoner on officer assaults were recorded in each prison in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [53881]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service publishes annual Safety in Custody statistics on the Ministry of Justice website. Statistics on prisoner on prisoner and prisoner on officer assaults for 2000 to 2009 can be found at the following link:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/prisons-and-probation/safety-in-custody.htm
Statistics for 2010 are currently being verified for publication later this year.
Reoffenders
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess the differences in reconviction rates in (a) England and Wales and (b) Denmark; and if he will make a statement. [52766]
Mr Blunt: This Ministry of Justice has conducted a pilot study comparing reoffending rates from three countries, England and Wales, Scotland and the Netherlands to assess whether national reoffending data can be compared.
The study showed that a significant part of the difference in reoffending rates between countries in this pilot was due to the different measurement techniques, rather than any real difference in the level of reoffending with particular groups of offenders. Therefore, it is important to understand and take into account underlying differences in the particular ways reoffending rates are calculated before any meaningful comparisons between countries can be made, and when making use of international evidence on what works to reduce reoffending.
The findings are in the Compendium of Re-offending Statistics 2010, which is available from the Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/compendium-reoffending.htm
No comparisons have been made with Denmark, but I have commissioned work to look into the feasibility of doing this in the future.
4 May 2011 : Column 805W
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what visits Ministers in his Department have made to Denmark on the subject of reconviction rates in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [52767]
Mr Blunt: No Ministers in my Department have visited Denmark on the subject of reconviction rates since 2005.
In the margins of the October 2010 EU Council Justice and Home Affairs Committee, the Secretary of State briefly discussed the general criminal justice agenda in the UK and Denmark with his Danish counterpart. Both agreed that their priorities were aligned and that dialogue between their Departments should continue as policy developed.
Shoplifting
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents of shoplifting led to (a) a caution and (b) a conviction resulting in (i) probation and (ii) a custodial sentence in each parliamentary constituency in the East of England in each year since 2006. [53380]
Mr Blunt: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 17 March 2011, Official Report, column 560W, for the number of offenders cautioned, found guilty and sentenced to a community rehabilitation order, community order, suspended sentence and immediate custody at all courts for ‘stealing from shops and stalls’ (shoplifting), in the East of England region, 1999 to 2009.
For the number of offenders found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody for shoplifting at all courts in the East of England, 1997 to 1998 please see the following table.
Information available centrally does not allow a breakdown of cases by parliamentary constituency or local authority area.
Please note that court proceedings data for 2010 are planned for publication on 26 May 2011.
| Number of offenders found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody for ‘Shoplifting’ (1) at all courts, East of England Region 1997-98 | ||||
| 1997 | 1998 | |||
| Region/Police force area | Found guilty | Immediate Custody | Found guilty | Immediate Custody |
| (1) Stealing from ‘shops and stalls’ (shoplifting) is an offence under Theft Act 1968, section 1. Notes: 1. These statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence 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. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics - Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice | ||||
4 May 2011 : Column 806W
Social Security Benefits: Tribunals
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many benefits tribunals took place in each year since 1997. [53179]
Mr Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service only holds information on the number of First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) hearings from 2007. Before this time appeals were administered by the Appeals Service, within the Department for Work and Pensions, prior to the formation of the Tribunals Service in 2006.
The following table provides information on hearings for each calendar year from 2007 up to 28 February 2011:
| Number of hearings | |
| Calendar year | Total hearings |
| (1) The 2007 data may be incomplete for the period 19 January to 31 March 2007 as in late 2006 the Appeals Service migrated its case data over to a new IT system. (2) Only includes data for January and February 2011. | |
The above figures include all appeals that required a hearing, including those where the appeal was adjourned and no decision was taken. The data have been taken from Management Information reports, and may be subject to revision.
Tribunals: Manpower
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has made an estimate of the likely required change in staffing levels for work relating to benefit tribunals in the comprehensive spending review period. [52893]
Mr Djanogly: Our current assessment is that at least 113 additional administrative staff will be required to support this work during the period 2011-12, together with significant additional funding to cover judicial and other non-staff costs. Recruitment of additional staff on fixed-term contracts is already under way. We will revisit the resource requirements for the later years of the spending review at a later date.
Young Offenders
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persistent young offenders are registered; how many offences have been recorded where the offender was a persistent young offender in each year since 2008; and what proportion of total offences in each police force area in England and Wales this represents. [53370]
Mr Blunt: There is no register of persistent young offenders and centrally available data do not provide the information requested.
Mr Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) 15, (b) 16 and (c) 17-year-olds were on remand in each police authority area in each year since
4 May 2011 : Column 807W
2005; and how many went on to serve a prison sentence for (i) the same and (ii) a different offence. [53374]
Mr Blunt: The data required to answer this question are currently being extracted and compiled. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as they are available. A copy will be placed in the House Library.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded
4 May 2011 : Column 808W
in respect of retailers selling alcohol to those aged under 18 years in each year since 2006; how many police cautions were issued; and what the average fine levied was. [53439]
James Brokenshire: The number of offences for underage sales is not held centrally by the Home Office. The number of cautions and prosecutions for offences relating to underage sales, England and Wales, 2006 to 2009 (latest available) is shown in table 1.
Average fine amounts for offences relating to underage sales, England and Wales, 2006 to 2009 (latest available) is shown in table 2.
The Ministry of Justice plans to publish court proceedings data for 2010 on 26 May 2011.
Animal Experiments
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make representations to the European Commission to bring forward proposals for the review of European Directive 2010/63/EU to include binding targets for the replacement of animals in scientific research. [53688]
4 May 2011 : Column 809W
Lynne Featherstone: Article 58 of European Directive 2010/63/EU requires the European Commission to review the Directive by 10 November 2017 taking into account advancements in the development of alternative methods not entailing the use of animals, in particular of non-human primates, and to propose amendments, where appropriate.
The United Kingdom contribution to the review will be considered at the appropriate time when consulted by the Commission.
Asylum
Mr Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of asylum seekers who were refused asylum on their original claim did not appeal the refusal decision in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010. [53923]
Damian Green: Information on the outcome of an annual cohort of asylum applications is available in Main Table 2.7 of Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2009, published in August 2010. This publication is available in the Library of the House and the Home Office Science website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics
Table 2.7 shows the latest status of decisions on applications made in each year as at May 2010. Data for 2010 and updates for previous years will be available in August 2011.
The number of initial decisions, appeals lodged, and cases that were not appealed in 2008 and 2009 are provided in the following table.
| Cohort analysis of applications for asylum, excluding dependants, made 2008 to 2009; initial decisions and appeals lodged, as at May 2010 (1) | ||
| Principal applicants | ||
|
|
2008 | 2009 (3) |
| (1) Figures rounded to the nearest five. (2) Appeals are lodged against initial decisions of Humanitarian Protection (HP), Discretionary Leave (DL), or refusals of asylum, HP or DL. (3 )Provisional figures. | ||
The number of appeals lodged and initial decisions that have not been appealed includes cases where the initial decision was to grant Humanitarian Protection (HP) or Discretionary Leave (DL), as well as those refused asylum, HP or DL. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to provide a proportion in this instance.
Crimes of Violence
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases of offences of causing actual bodily harm police cautions were issued in each of the last five years; and in what proportion of such cases the offence was the first offence recorded by the offender. [53488]
4 May 2011 : Column 810W
Mr Blunt: I have been asked to reply.
The figures requested are provided in the following tables for adult offenders cautioned and for juvenile offenders given reprimands or warnings, the equivalent to adult cautions, between 2005 and 2009. Figures for the criminal history of offenders receiving cautions, reprimands or warnings during 2010 will be published on 26 May 2011.
| Number of cautions given to adult offenders for the offence of causing actual bodily harm as recorded on the Police National Computer, and the number for which this was the offender's first offence, 2005-09, England and Wales | |||
| Cautions for ABH where offender had no previous convictions or cautions | |||
|
|
Number of cautions for ABH | Number | Percentage |
| Number of reprimands and warnings given to juvenile offenders for the offence of causing actual bodily harm as recorded on the Police National Computer, and the number for which this was the offender's first offence, 2005-09, England and Wales | |||
| Reprimands and warnings for ABH where offender had no previous convictions, reprimands or warnings | |||
|
|
Number of reprimands and warnings for ABH | Number | Percentage |
| Note: These 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. | |||
Departmental Buildings
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) name and (b) address is of each building owned by her Department; and what the estimated monetary value is of each such building. [53810]
Damian Green: The detail of properties owned by the Department is set out in the following table:
| Building name | Address | Book v alue at 31 March 2011 (£) |
4 May 2011 : Column 811W
Departmental Communications
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-geographic telephone numbers are in use by (a) her Department and (b) its agencies; what services can be accessed by calling each of them; and what revenue was received from each number in each year since 1997. [53512]
Damian Green: The information requested is as follows:
The Home Office HQ uses two non-geographic telephone numbers and 11 fax lines, none of which are revenue generating, as follows:
Publications Ordering Line
Action Line—Advice to help practitioners take effective action to tackle antisocial behaviour
Publications Ordering Line (Fax)
Private Office to the Home Secretary (Fax)
Private Office to Baroness Neville-Jones (Fax)
Private Office to James Brokenshire (Fax)
Private Office to Damian Green (Fax)
Private Office to Nick Herbert (Fax)
Private Office to Lynne Featherstone (Fax)
Ministers Parliamentary Team (Fax)
Special Advisers (Fax)
Private Office Management Support Unit (Fax)
Permanent Secretary's Office (Fax)
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) uses five non-geographic telephone numbers. These are used by the various contact centres to help customers, sponsors and employers on a wide range of topics. UKBA does not generate any revenue from any of these numbers. Details of services that can be accessed through these numbers are as follows:
MPs' enquiry line (MPEL): Dedicated service to MPs and their offices dealing with immigration enquiries;
Sponsorship and employers' helpline;
Information for employers and education providers about sponsorship under the points-based system;
A service to employers who want to verify the entitlement to work for people who are awaiting the outcome of an application made to the Home Office; and
Advice to employers about preventing illegal working, and particularly about carrying out the document checks necessary to establish a statutory excuse against liability to pay a civil penalty.
Answers questions on British nationality law including:
What British citizenship is;
The different types of British nationality;
The requirements you need to meet to become a British citizen;
How to make an application;
The cost of making an application;
The nationality checking service;
Where completed application forms should be sent;
The current waiting times for nationality applications; and
Citizenship ceremonies.
European enquiries contact centre:
Provides information about the European regulations for nationals of the European economic area (EEA) or Switzerland, or a member of an EEA or Swiss national's family.
4 May 2011 : Column 812W
Public Enquiry Office appointment booking service;
Return of Documents request service;
Progress update service for current applicants;
General enquiries service (primarily about the Immigration Rules).
The CRB has six non-geographical telephone numbers and one non-geographical fax number in use. The lines are dedicated to an individual part of the service as follows:
CRB Information line
CRB Registration line
CRB Disclosure application line
CRB Minicom line
CRB Disputes Line
CRB Welsh line
CRB Customer Services (Fax)
The lines are provided by the CRB's private sector partner Capita plc as part of a commercial contract. The CRB does not receive any revenue from these lines.
There are currently eight Identity and Passport Service (IPS) telephone lines which all use 0300 numbers (previously 0845/0870 numbers). These numbers provide general passport advice and appointments at regional offices for passport applications:
Passport Advice Line
Authentication by interview Booking Line
ABI Welsh
Fees information
Customer Correspondence Queries
Local Registration Service. This was introduced in April 2011 to provide access to specialist advice from the General Register Office. Certificate Ordering services within the General Register Office
Passport Advice Line (text phone for hard of hearing customers)
Fees information service (text phone for hard of hearing customers)
IPS has not kept records of the number of calls each service received on the 0845/0870 numbers, but revenue raised from 0845/0870 numbers previously in use is as follows:
|
|
£ |
The revenue received was used to help fund the overall cost of the service.
Information on revenue earned prior to 2004 can be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
The total revenue received in 2009-10 covers the period February to August 2009, as IPS stopped receiving revenue from its 0870 numbers from 1 September 2009. The figure in 2009-10 is much lower than previous years, as the majority of calls were on the new 0300 numbers introduced in September 2008.
4 May 2011 : Column 813W
Departmental Travel
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on flights (a) within England and (b) outside the UK in each of the last five years. [53431]
Damian Green: The Department’s recorded spend on UK and overseas flights is shown in the following table.
| Home Office expenditure on flights | |||||
| £ million | |||||
|
|
2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
Information on flights within England alone could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Figures for 2010-11 are subject to audit by National Audit Office.
The Department expects all official travel to be carried out by the most efficient and economic means available, taking into account the cost of travel and subsistence, savings in official time, management benefit, and the needs of staff with disabilities. This is in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
EU Immigration
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has discussed with her European counterparts the (a) definition and (b) legal status of irregular migrants; and whether she has discussed with (i) the Council of Europe and (ii) the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights the use of the term irregular migrant. [53845]
Damian Green: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has discussed the prevention of illegal migration across the European Union's external borders with her European counterparts, including the situations in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. The Home Secretary has not discussed the definition or legal status of irregular migrants with her European counterparts, or the use of the term ‘irregular migrant' with either the Council of Europe or the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights.
Freedom of Information
Mr Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of requests received by her Department under the Freedom of
4 May 2011 : Column 814W
Information Act 2000 gave rise to responses published by her Department in each year since the entry into force of that Act. [53457]
Lynne Featherstone: The information is set out in the table in line with guidance published by the Information Commissioner. The Home Office publishes on its website information released in response to Freedom of Information requests where the information is likely to be of wider interest to members of the public. We do not publish responses in the many cases where the released information is of relevance only to the requester, or where the information requested is either not held or is withheld under one or more of the exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act.
| Freedom of I nformation requests received by the Home Office, 2005-11 | ||
|
|
Request received | Reponses published (percentage) |
| Notes: 1. Figures for responses published in 2005 and 2006 do not involve responses published by the Criminal Records Bureau. 2. Figures for 2001 are to 31 March. | ||
Hotels
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies spent on hotel and other such accommodation for staff (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad in each year since 2007-08. [53408]
Damian Green: Expenditure of the Home Office and its agencies on hotel accommodation for staff in the UK and abroad is shown in the following table:
| Expenditure on staff hotel accommodation | |||||
| £000 | |||||
|
|
|
2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| (1 )UKBA became an executive agency in 2009-10 | |||||
Figures for Crime Research Bureau cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
The Department expects all official travel, and the associated accommodation, to be undertaken by the most efficient and economic means available, taking into account the cost of travel and subsistence, savings in official time, management benefit, and the needs of staff with disabilities. This is in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
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Hunting Act 2004
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) charges, (b) prosecutions, (c) fines and (d) cautions there have been for breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 in each police force area since 2006. [53518]
Mr Blunt: I have been asked to reply.
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The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts, and the number of offenders cautioned, for all offences under the Hunting Act 2004, in England and Wales by police force area from 2006 to 2009 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Information on charging is not held by the Ministry of Justice.
Cautions and court proceedings data for 2010 are planned to be published on 26 May 2011.
| The number of defendants p roceeded against at magistrates courts, i ssued with a fine, or caution (1) for offen ces under the Hunting Act 2004 (2) , England and Wales, 2006 - 09 (3,4) | ||||||||||||
| Cautioned | Proceeded against | Fine | ||||||||||
| Police force area | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
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| (1) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (2) Came into force on 18 February 2005. (3) The statistics 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 the principal offence 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. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | ||||||||||||