Personal Pensions

Dr Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many complaints his Department has received on hidden charges in private pension schemes since his appointment; [62785]

(2) what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Services Authority on (a) hidden charges in and (b) mis-selling of private pension funds. [62786]

Mr Hoban: The regulation of private pension products, providers and schemes is a matter for the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Pensions Regulator. However, the Treasury does engage regularly with these bodies on a variety of pensions issues, including on initiatives such as the FSA's Retail Distribution Review (RDR), which is currently examining the transparency and fairness of fees and charges across the financial advice landscape.

28 Jun 2011 : Column 693W

The Treasury receives many letters from Members of Parliament and the public on a wide range of issues. Treasury Ministers and officials also have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions or correspondence received.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what private finance initiative projects have been signed by the Government since 7 May 2010. [62736]

Danny Alexander: HM Treasury publishes two spreadsheets containing information on signed and in procurement PFI projects on its website. These spreadsheets were updated on 16 March 2011 using data submitted by Government Departments to HM Treasury. This information can be accessed from the Treasury website:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ppp_pfi_stats.htm

Between 7 May 2010 and 16 March 2011, the “Signed projects” spreadsheet shows 22 projects already in procurement reached financial close. Of these 21 were entered into by local authorities and one was a central Government project. Since the last data collection reported at 16 March we understand that a further seven number of projects have reached financial close. Of these seven were entered into by local authorities. These data will be reviewed and updated, at the next formal data collection point in the autumn.

No new PFI projects have been approved by central Government to enter procurement since 7 May 2010.

Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 May 2011, Official Report, column 328W, on tax collection, if he will place in the Library a copy of each generic letter used by HM Revenue and Customs to inform individuals and businesses of outstanding tax liabilities in the last two years; and who authorised the use of each such generic letter. [57628]

Mr Gauke: HMRC no longer uses standard letters for debt. After initial notification of a debt customised letters are used.

HMRC send a wide variety of letters to customers in respect of outstanding tax liabilities. Many of these are sent automatically by our various debt management systems while some are more specifically designed for issue to individual customers.

Letters are authorised for issue by a range of staff up to and including senior civil servants.

Scotland

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of contracts issued by (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which he is responsible were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises in (i) Scotland, (ii) South Lanarkshire and (iii) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in the latest period for which figures are available. [60199]

28 Jun 2011 : Column 694W

Justine Greening: In 2009-10, HM Treasury third party spend for goods and services procured from a wide range of suppliers was £117.5 million, 32% of which were with organisations defined as small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Treasury does not hold information based on the geographical location of suppliers. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Sir Alan Greenspan

Mr MacShane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the plaque referring to Sir Alan Greenspan is on view to visitors to his Department's main building. [62748]

Justine Greening: Yes it is.

Tax Allowances: Health Insurance

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce tax relief on personal private medical insurance premiums. [61988]

Mr Gauke: The Government have no plans to introduce tax relief for personal private medical insurance.

Taxation: Fraud

Mr Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the funding allocated to tackling fraud and error by his Department will be allocated to reducing (a) customer error, (b) fraud and (c) administrative error up to 2014. [61299]

Mr Gauke: It is not possible to provide an answer to the question in the format requested as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) do not allocate on this basis. Overall funding for HMRC's compliance activity cannot be broken down in this way as its activity—from policy making, through support and education, to audits and investigations—covers all aspects of compliance behaviour from error through to evasion as well as countering criminal attacks.

Universal Credit

Mr Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans HM Revenue and Customs has to minimise (a) customer and (b) administrative error in the administration of universal credit. [61295]

Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply.

Universal credit is being designed to be simple to understand and administer. Customers will be asked to provide the minimum information necessary to administer their claim, with information already held being reused where possible. Administrative error will be minimised by processing the majority of claims and changes automatically, based on the application of business rules to claimant information. Most claims and changes will be processed in real time, meaning any discrepancies will be identified and addressed much more quickly.

28 Jun 2011 : Column 695W

VAT: Registration

Mr Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what proportion of VAT registrations in England were in the 50 most deprived local authority areas in England (a) in each year since 2005 and (b) in 2011 to date; [61909]

(2) what proportion of the 50 most deprived local authority areas were in the lowest quarter of data distribution of VAT registration rates in England in the latest period for which figures are available. [61933]

Mr Gauke: The proportion of new, and total, registrations in the 50 most deprived English local authority areas are shown in the following table for each financial year (information on a calendar year basis is not available):

Proportion of VAT registrations in the 50 most deprived areas in England
Percentage
Financial year New VAT registrations Total registrations

2005-06

20

16

2006-07

16

15

2007-08

19

15

2008-09

21

16

2009-10

19

17

2010-11

20

17

The proportion of the 50 most deprived local authority areas that were also in the lowest quarter of VAT registration rates in England was 24%, in the latest period for which figures are available, 2008.

VAT: Vocational Training

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the merits of exempting pilot training from VAT. [59960]

Mr Gauke [holding answer 16 June 2011]: Education and vocational training are exempt from VAT when supplied by eligible bodies, such as schools, colleges, universities, local authorities and non-profit making organisations, or when supplied using funding ultimately provided by certain Government funding schemes. All other supplies of education and vocational training are liable to VAT.

The Government have no plans to consider extending this exemption to other types of education and training.

Cabinet Office

Breast Cancer: Jarrow

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were diagnosed with breast cancer in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England and Wales in the last five years. [62864]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2011:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were diagnosed with breast cancer in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England and Wales in the last five years [62864].

28 Jun 2011 : Column 696W

The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2008. Please note that these numbers may not be the same as the number of people diagnosed with cancer, because one person may be diagnosed with more than one cancer.

The following table provides the numbers of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer for each year from 2004 to 2008 in (a) Jarrow parliamentary constituency, (b) South Tyneside local authority district, (c) North East government office region and (d) England and Wales.

Table 1: Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer, (1,2) Jarrow parliamentary constituency, South Tyneside local authority district, North East government office region and England and Wales, 2004-08 (3,4)
Cancer registrations

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Jarrow

62

69

88

74

68

South Tyneside

117

119

161

117

129

North East

1,989

2,005

2,062

1,862

2,077

England and Wales(5)

40,580

41,484

41,654

41,298

41,654

(1) Breast cancer is coded as C50 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). (2) Around 99% of breast cancer cases are in women. (3) Based on boundaries as of May 2011. (4) Newly diagnosed cases registered in each calendar year. (5) Figures include data provided by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.

SMEs: Contracts

Mr Umunna: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what indicators he plans to (a) monitor and (b) report on in determining the effectiveness of his policy on ensuring small and medium-sized businesses bid for Government contracts. [61984]

Mr Maude: All Departments have published SME action plans to make sure that contracts are available to and competed for by SMEs. To monitor and report on the extent to which the Government are successful in ensuring small and medium-sized businesses can and do bid for government contracts we are:

Monitoring progress against delivery of the 25% aspiration;

Identifying contracts that have been awarded to SMEs when they are published on Contracts Finder;

Publishing regular updates on the extent to which Departments are putting opportunities and contracts on Contracts Finder;

Working with SME Groups to assess the impact of the changes made to the procurement process in terms of time and cost of bidding.

Mr Umunna: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what methodology his Department has adopted to assess the impact on businesses of (a) existing and (b) new legislation. [61996]

Mr Maude: Cabinet Office uses HM Treasury's Green Book Guidance to evaluate the impact of policy.

As with other Department's any new burdens go through the Reducing Regulation Committee. Cabinet Office has no themes on the ‘Red Tape Challenge website'.

Mr Umunna: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to (a) improve the provision of information to small and medium-sized businesses on Government procurement opportunities

28 Jun 2011 : Column 697W

and

(b)

develop appropriate advice services and training packages for such businesses; and how much funding he has allocated for these purposes. [62054]

Mr Maude: On 11 February 2011 I launched Contracts Finder, a one stop shop to enable suppliers to find procurement opportunities and tender documents and contracts online, free of charge. Contracts Finder includes a facility whereby suppliers can indicate in which sectors and areas they are interested and they will receive email notification of relevant opportunities free of charge.

To help small businesses build skills and capacity and support SMEs to access public procurement opportunities, BIS has designed (with input from across both the public and private sectors) a free on-line public procurement training course ‘Winning the Contract' available on the Businesslink website at:

www.businesslink.gov.uk/winningthecontract

Both Cabinet Office and BIS provide a range of advice, guidance and information for SMEs on the Businesslink site at:

www.businesslink.gov.uk/procurement

Stephen Allott, the Crown representative for SMEs, is working with Departments to plan to run a series of product surgeries, the details of which will be announced soon.

Funding for this work comes out of existing operational budgets.

Childbirth: High Peak

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many births have taken place at the Corbar Birthing Unit in High Peak in each of the last five years. [62418]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2011:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question, asking how many births have taken place at the Corbar Birthing Unit in High Peak in each of the last five years. [62418]

Figures for live births by establishment have been compiled from birth registration data. Information on place of birth is provided by the informant at registration rather than by the actual establishment. The latest figures available are for 2009.

Live births occurring at the Corbar Birth Centre, Buxton, 2005 to 2009

Number of live births

2005

139

2006

111

2007

173

2008

138

2009

159

Departmental Contracts

Ian Lavery: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his policy is on the offshoring of contracts held by private sector companies with Government Departments. [60595]

Mr Maude: The Government's procurement policy is to seek value for money for the public purse through fair competition in open markets, in line with our membership of the EU and other international agreements.

28 Jun 2011 : Column 698W

While the vast bulk of contracts go to UK-based companies, we cannot preclude suppliers proffering off-shored services where these meet the required criteria and provide the best value for money.

Contracts: Construction

Alun Michael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance his Department has produced for local authorities on the use of TrustMark when outsourcing public sector construction contracts; and if he will make a statement. [62592]

Mr Maude: We have issued no guidance on using TrustMark, which is designed primarily for the benefit of individual consumers.

Dalai Lama

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reason the UK representative of the Dalai Lama was not invited to a reception hosted by the Minister without Portfolio on 13 June 2011. [62115]

Mr Maude: The noble Lady Baroness Warsi hosted a celebratory reception for over 120 representatives of different faiths, organisations and Buddhist traditions in recognition of the contribution that the Buddhist community makes to the United Kingdom. The Dalai Lama's representative was not included in the list of diplomatic invitees because he does not have diplomatic status.

Special Advisers: Allowances

Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what expenses were claimed by (a) paid and (b) unpaid special advisers working in his Department in the last 12 months. [62080]

Mr Maude: No expenses have been claimed by special advisers working in the Cabinet Office in the last 12 months.

Justice

Prisoner Activities

20. Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to ensure that time spent in prison is spent on meaningful activity. [62265]

Mr Blunt: We intend to transform prisons into places where most prisoners undertake work and training.

Policy work is proceeding urgently to identify how to engage business partners to help deliver work in prisons in a away that generates an economic return which can be put towards the victims of crime. Last week I chaired the first meeting of the Business Advisory Group who will help guide our policy into becoming the reality of prison life for most prisoners.

Office of Chief Coroner

21. Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions his Department has had with INQUEST and the Royal British Legion on the retention of the Office of Chief Coroner. [62266]

28 Jun 2011 : Column 699W

Mr Djanogly: I have discussed our proposals with a number of interested parties, including peers, MPs and civil society groups such as INQUEST and the Royal British Legion. We have, where possible, sought to take into account these discussions in developing the proposals, announced on 14 June, to transfer a number of functions of the Chief Coroner while retaining the office on the statute book. We believe this represents the fastest and most efficient way to deliver reform of the coronial system, although we accept that some stakeholders would prefer to proceed with full implementation of the Office of Chief Coroner.

Prisoners: Working Hours

22. Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours per week prisoners in England and Wales worked on average in the latest period for which figures are available. [62267]

Mr Blunt: The latest available figures relate to 2009-10 and show that prisoners in England and Wales spent 11.8 hours per week on average in work.

Foreign National Offenders

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on progress in the deportation of foreign national offenders. [62264]

Nick Herbert: Home Office and Justice Ministers have frequently discussed the issue of foreign national prisoners, and our officials are in regular contact. The removal of foreign national prisoners and offenders awaiting deportation is a mutual priority.

Civil Proceedings: Fees and Charges

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the Government's response to Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations for reforming civil litigation funding and costs in England and Wales, Cm 8041, if he will publish the statistical evidence produced by the economist assessor Professor Fenn. [62424]

Mr Djanogly: The Government do not hold the statistical evidence on which Professor Fenn's analysis was based. Lord Justice Jackson's response to the Government's consultation paper “Proposals for Reform of Civil Litigation Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations” included an analysis by Professor Fenn of the cumulative effect on personal injury claims of the key proposals. Lord Justice Jackson's response is published on the Judiciary of England and Wales website:

www.judiciary.gov.uk

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the Government's response to Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations for reforming civil litigation funding and costs in England and Wales, Cm 8041, if he will collect the data required for a full quantitative assessment of the impacts of his proposals. [62425]

28 Jun 2011 : Column 700W

Mr Djanogly: The Government have published an assessment of the cumulative impacts of the reforms they intend to take forward as announced in their response ‘Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations—The Government Response’. The impact assessment takes account of such data as the Government received as a result of their request for data during the consultation process.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the Government's response to Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations for reforming civil litigation funding and costs in England and Wales, Cm 8041, how many responses to the consultation his Department received. [62426]

Mr Djanogly: As set out at paragraphs 36 and 37 of the Government Response, ‘Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations’, the Government received 625 formal responses. The response is available in the House Libraries and is also available on the Ministry of Justice website at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/jackson-review.htm

Departmental Allowances

Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what expenses were claimed by (a) paid and (b) unpaid special advisers working in his Department in the last 12 months. [62071]

Mr Kenneth Clarke: I have two paid special advisers, who have claimed total expenses of £576.24 in the period 13 May 2010 to 31 March 2011. These expenses related to travel and telephone call charges. There are no unpaid special advisers in my Department. Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, has one special adviser, paid for by the Leader of the Lords Office. She advises him in his capacity as Deputy Leader and has claimed no expenses from my Department.

Departmental Manpower

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to publish monthly information on changes in the number of employees of his Department's agencies, categorised by (a) seniority, (b) voluntary redundancy, (c) natural wastage and (d) involuntary redundancy. [61714]

Mr Kenneth Clarke: At this stage there are no plans to publish a more detailed breakdown of departmental work force statistics or to increase the current list of pre-announced publications.

Under Cabinet Office guidelines the Office for National Statistics collects employment figures from all Departments and their agencies quarterly and while decision making internally makes use of such figures, to ensure the best use of departmental resources, the required data cleansing exercises would not currently allow statistics to be presented that matched publication guidelines. If in the future there is an opportunity to increase the frequency and detail of this published data we would revisit this publication issue.

28 Jun 2011 : Column 701W

In addition, the Ministry supports the coalition Government's transparency agenda and discloses details of senior staff salaries and work force statistics. The first round of this disclosure was published in October 2010 and reflected the position within the Ministry at 30 June 2010. The second round of disclosure was published on the 15 June 2011 and shows the position within the Ministry at 31 March 2011. This can be found at the following web address:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/transparency-data/senior-civil-service-salaries-and-organograms.htm

Departmental Press: Subscriptions

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what newspaper and magazine titles prisons purchase for use by prisoners; and whether his Department prohibits the purchase of any newspaper or magazine title for use by prisoners. [62513]

Mr Blunt: Information relating to the titles of newspapers and magazines purchased for prisoners is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost. In addition to stock held in the library, prisoners are able to purchase newspapers and periodicals for their own use, using their own funds.

Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 12/2011 (Prisoners' Property) notes that governors, when permitting prisoners to have access to newspapers, books and magazines etc., they need to exclude those that the governor considers:

offensive or inappropriate

presents a threat to good order or discipline

(the possession of which) is likely to have an adverse affect on the prisoner's physical or mental condition

Censorship of material will not usually be exercised, save where an item is clearly offensive and/or in breach of legal requirements (such as racist articles, or items with age certificates, for example). However, the establishment may restrict an individual's access to some material, which will be on a case-by-case basis.

The governor must also impose restrictions on the display of material which he or she considers is likely to cause offence by reason of its indecent or violent racist content, or which is deemed to be inconsistent with our commitments to eliminate discrimination and promote equality. In essence, governors are responsible for deciding what is suitable for the prisoners in his/her establishment and devising their own schemes.

Departmental Redundancy

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of redundancies in its non-departmental bodies (a) in 2011-12 and (b) over the comprehensive spending review period. [61729]

Mr Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice has not made any estimates of the cost to the public purse of redundancies in its non-departmental bodies (a) in 2011-12 or (b)over the comprehensive spending review period. To date, the cost to the public purse for redundancies in MOJ non-departmental public bodies is nil.

28 Jun 2011 : Column 702W

Injunctions

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of super injunctions. [61919]

Mr Djanogly: The Prime Minister recently wrote to the Chairs of the Justice Select Committee and the Culture, Media and Sport Committee recommending that a Joint Committee of both Houses be established to consider current arrangements around privacy and the use of injunctions and super injunctions and whether improvements could be made. The terms of reference for the new Committee have now been agreed. The Committee has been asked to report by 29 February 2012 and we look forward to receiving its views on these important issues.

Legal Aid

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on the provision of legal aid for the settlement of domestic disputes. [62254]

Mr Blunt: We published the Government's response to our consultation on legal aid on 21 June. Legal aid will remain available for mediation in private family law cases, such as disputes about children or finance following the breakdown of a relationship. We believe that it is right to encourage families, where appropriate, to resolve their disputes without recourse to the courts. Legal aid will also remain available for cases where domestic violence or child abuse is present, where there is evidence of the need for protection. We will continue to fund applications for civil remedies for domestic violence and for injunctions to restrain abusive behaviour, as at present.

Legal Aid: Nationality

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2011, Official Report, column 179W, on legal aid: Iraq, for what reasons the Legal Services Commission does not record the nationality of claimants; and if he will instruct them to do so. [62401]

Mr Djanogly: The Legal Services Commission does not identify or record the nationality of claimants as this is not one of the criteria used to decide whether a person should receive legal aid. The fact that an applicant may live abroad is not a factor in the decision-making process under the legal aid scheme. The rules for scope and qualification are in legislation or other documents laid before Parliament.

Magistrates Courts

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to ensure that the necessary exchange of information between magistrates courts, a probation trust and a private company is carried out; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the exchange will comply with data protection legislation following the completion of the tendering process for unpaid work. [62772]

28 Jun 2011 : Column 703W

Mr Blunt: The new contracts for Community Payback will require all providers to ensure that there is an effective, safe and legal exchange of data.

The contracts between each Trust and the Secretary of State for Justice, for the delivery of probation services, include a requirement to comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. This would be mirrored in any contract with a private sector provider.

Marriage

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when his Department expects to begin its consultation on reform of marriage law. [62404]

Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice is responsible for fundamental marriage law in England and Wales. Marriage law is a devolved issue in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

On 31 March 2011, the Government Equalities Office launched a public consultation on implementing section 202 of the Equalities Act 2010 to enable civil partnerships to be registered on religious premises. This consultation closed on 23 June. The consultation document sets out that, following a listening exercise conducted last year, the Government identified a desire from many to move towards equal civil marriage and partnerships. We have committed to work with all those who have an interest in this area on how legislation can develop. The Government Equalities Office will begin this work in July 2011.

Missing Persons

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to facilitate the handling of the financial affairs of missing persons by their relatives; and if he will make a statement. [62100]

Mr Djanogly: The Government have no plans to change the law relating to the property and affairs of missing persons. However, we will carefully consider the report of the Inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults into support for families of missing people when it is published.

In relation to assisting those left behind by missing persons more generally, the Government are considering what further action is needed in relation to the

28 Jun 2011 : Column 704W

recommendations of the Missing Persons Taskforce for improving the multi-agency response to missing incidents. Of the taskforce's 22 recommendations, eight have been implemented and action is under way on a further seven. For example, the Ministry of Justice is liaising with the Missing Persons' Bureau on improving awareness of section 15 of the Coroners Act 1988, which provides that the Secretary of State for Justice can direct a coroner to open an inquest in to the death of a person who is missing and presumed dead.

Parole: Standards

Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average waiting time was from application to a parole hearing in each of the last 10 years. [61645]

Mr Blunt: The parole process for indeterminate sentence prisoners is scheduled to last six months. However, in 2010-11 the average time from the point that the Secretary of State refers an indeterminate sentence prisoner's case to the Parole Board for a review until when the case was heard was 8.5 months. The average waiting time for 2011-12 to date is 7.5 months. We are committed to working with the Parole Board to eliminate delays in the parole process and ensure that all parole reviews are held on time.

We are unable to provide average waiting times for previous years due to disproportionate costs.

Foreign Nationals: Prisoners

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2011, Official Report, columns 919-22W, on foreign nationals: prisoners, how many foreign national prisoners (a) from each country of origin and (b) in each sentence length band were released from prison in each of the last 10 years. [61748]

Mr Blunt: Table 1 shows numbers of foreign national prisoners discharged from determinate sentences by country of origin. Table 2 shows numbers of foreign national prisoners discharged from determinate sentences by sentence length band 2001 to 2010. 2009 data are not available to this level of detail.

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.

Foreign national prisoners discharged from determinate sentences by country, England and Wales

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010

Afghanistan

29

32

41

45

66

49

27

45

73

Albania

51

60

67

73

81

61

77

77

83

Algeria

98

105

111

132

156

132

117

147

125

Andorra

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

Angola

39

45

55

50

58

44

49

52

46

Anguilla

1

1

2

2

1

1

0

2

2

Argentina

0

2

4

5

5

3

1

1

4

Armenia

2

0

3

5

1

2

1

1

2

Aruba

1

4

1

0

0

0

3

0

0

Australia

30

34

33

31

26

15

20

23

20

Austria

3

7

5

3

8

9

7

3

5

Azerbaijan

1

0

0

0

1

1

3

1

1

Bahamas

1

0

1

2

2

3

3

1

2

Bahrain

1

2

0

3

0

1

1

0

1

28 Jun 2011 : Column 705W

28 Jun 2011 : Column 706W

Bangladesh

117

137

161

169

137

156

112

128

121

Barbados

7

24

11

13

24

12

10

10

13

Belgium

21

17

30

24

25

18

28

13

15

Belize

0

2

0

5

1

2

0

1

2

Benin

0

0

0

0

0

3

4

5

1

Bermuda

2

1

2

1

3

2

4

0

3

Bolivia

2

6

1

5

4

4

8

3

0

Bosnia and Herzegovina

12

7

7

9

16

17

11

16

16

Botswana

1

3

0

0

0

6

2

3

3

Brazil

17

13

27

26

29

42

115

88

82

British Indian Ocean Territory

0

2

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

Brunei Darussalam

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Bulgaria

7

8

10

5

15

16

76

111

131

Burkina Faso

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

Burundi

7

6

7

9

6

7

11

5

2

Cambodia

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

2

1

Cameroon

10

9

15

14

23

25

28

25

21

Canada

30

26

23

26

21

13

11

19

16

Cape Verde

0

0

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

Cayman Islands

0

1

1

1

0

0

0

1

0

Central African Republic

10

9

8

14

8

19

13

12

12

Chad

0

0

1

1

1

0

2

0

0

Chile

15

13

13

18

15

16

11

17

10

China

19

39

31

121

255

479

365

391

339

Colombia

53

51

57

63

37

36

42

40

35

Comoros

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Congo

29

35

73

82

105

83

72

84

80

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

45

42

46

35

33

15

19

13

4

Costa Rica

0

0

1

1

1

4

2

2

2

Croatia

5

6

7

a

6

5

9

3

6

Cuba

2

3

5

7

3

3

2

1

1

Cyprus

29

31

33

24

21

25

28

38

9

Czech Republic

9

13

12

29

34

69

73

103

122

Denmark

9

7

8

6

11

5

10

11

8

Djibouti

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

Dominica

3

6

5

2

4

3

3

3

2

Dominican Republic

1

2

2

4

4

3

3

3

9

Ecuador

12

6

19

17

15

15

15

14

4

Egypt

13

6

3

11

29

8

10

9

16

El Salvador

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

Equatorial Guinea

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

Estonia

3

4

4

6

17

28

20

23

31

Ethiopia

39

31

15

36

51

51

30

51

23

Fiji

3

2

1

1

1

5

1

6

6

Finland

2

2

3

0

4

1

2

3

2

France

100

103

107

125

116

124

148

164

162

French Guiana

1

1

1

1

2

1

3

7

2

French Southern Territories

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

1

0

Gabon

0

0

3

1

1

0

0

1

0

Gambia

8

15

26

19

26

33

33

28

20

Georgia

2

2

3

5

4

11

14

17

15

Germany

92

86

90

85

85

64

82

95

50

Ghana

67

54

75

89

93

90

102

143

101

Gibraltar

2

1

3

2

3

0

0

2

2

Greece

30

17

18

19

26

17

13

18

9

Greenland

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Grenada

8

12

11

10

8

12

12

9

10

Guam

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Guatemala

2

1

1

1

0

1

1

1

10

Guinea

1

0

3

5

5

5

7

11

10

Guinea-Bissau

0

1

0

1

0

1

0

2

0

Guyana

14

20

16

13

12

7

17

18

13

28 Jun 2011 : Column 707W

28 Jun 2011 : Column 708W

Haiti

0

0

0

0

1

0

2

0

0

Heard and McDonald Islands

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Honduras

0

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

Hong Kong

11

1

9

10

9

8

8

7

0

Hungary

6

9

9

6

11

15

25

28

47

Iceland

1

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

India

162

165

188

222

207

211

170

246

229

Indonesia

1

1

1

0

1

0

0

4

0

Iran

36

49

93

103

149

168

132

156

130

Iraq

40

96

146

202

235

240

194

158

141

Irish Republic

812

802

781

808

780

723

718

739

742

Israel

10

4

11

14

20

20

4

20

28

Italy

134

139

129

139

114

121

113

101

85

Ivory Coast

5

7

7

17

15

19

18

20

28

Jamaica

487

726

1.142

1.238

801

514

419

381

313

Japan

2

2

1

2

2

0

1

0

2

Johnston Island

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

Jordan

2

4

0

2

7

0

5

1

2

Kazakhstan

0

3

0

1

5

3

1

3

1

Kenya

45

48

46

56

51

46

49

58

36

Kiribati

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

1

1

Korea, DPR (North Korea)

1

2

0

1

0

1

0

4

1

Korea. Republic of

7

2

0

4

0

3

1

4

3

Kuwait

5

5

3

4

12

13

8

10

7

Kyrgyzstan

3

0

1

3

1

4

1

0

1

Lao Peoples Democratic Republic

0

0

1

0

1

1

0

0

1

Latvia

4

6

4

16

50

90

143

181

357

Lebanon

14

8

5

18

13

10

9

13

14

Lesotho

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

Liberia

5

4

12

15

21

10

13

18

13

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

7

8

12

9

14

12

9

11

17

Liechtenstein

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

1

1

Lithuania

18

20

30

71

154

293

424

615

831

Luxembourg

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

1

Macedonia

2

3

1

5

3

2

6

4

3

Madagascar

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Malawi

6

3

6

4

12

13

13

14

17

Malaysia

5

13

21

30

41

23

32

39

41

Maldives

0

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

1

Mali

0

0

0

2

0

0

3

0

2

Malta

20

9

15

12

6

7

9

8

2

Mauritania

0

1

2

4

4

3

1

5

3

Mauritius

9

14

11

8

10

9

13

16

14

Mayotte

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Mexico

0

0

3

6

13

6

7

12

22

Moldova

3

1

16

20

20

18

20

29

20

Mongolia

1

1

4

4

3

4

1

9

6

Montserrat

4

3

3

7

8

14

5

11

14

Morocco

38

38

41

35

37

30

27

28

40

Mozambique

1

2

0

2

3

4

6

5

3

Myanmar

1

2

1

1

1

4

1

6

2

Namibia

0

0

2

3

7

11

0

3

5

Nepal

2

0

5

2

5

2

0

2

13

Netherlands

73

60

99

89

58

63

66

68

54

Netherlands Antilles

5

6

7

8

7

8

11

5

3

New Zealand

11

8

9

9

6

10

3

10

2

Nicaragua

1

0

1

1

2

0

1

0

0

Niger

0

0

0

0

4

0

1

0

7

Nigeria

129

185

235

269

357

471

629

657

449

Norway

2

2

3

4

6

0

3

10

8

Oman

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

3

Other

10

7

17

8

1

7

5

4

2

28 Jun 2011 : Column 709W

28 Jun 2011 : Column 710W

Pacific Island

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Pakistan

260

240

264

247

271

248

249

229

225

Panama

1

0

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

Papua New Guinea

0

0

2

0

2

1

1

0

0

Paraguay

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

Peru

4

4

2

4

2

3

3

6

3

Philippines

3

9

3

8

10

10

23

10

19

Poland

57

44

57

83

186

401

700

960

1,023

Portugal

164

176

169

203

220

195

213

268

217

Qatar

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Romania

34

53

80

113

128

116

218

443

912

Russian Federation

25

40

57

88

84

94

104

124

118

Rwanda

2

6

4

8

10

5

10

7

7

Samoa

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

1

San Marino

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

Sao Tome and Principe

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

Saudi Arabia

7

7

12

9

11

13

6

8

7

Senegal

0

0

1

1

10

4

5

6

6

Serbia and Montenegro

83

90

80

66

53

41

25

48

21

Seychelles

1

3

5

5

3

4

2

1

3

Sierra Leone

32

46

44

47

55

47

39

27

36

Singapore

4

2

2

4

4

3

3

3

8

Slovakia

6

3

7

10

11

33

52

71

98

Slovenia

1

0

2

1

3

3

6

2

5

Solomon Islands

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

Somalia

166

176

193

243

274

302

217

268

313

South Africa

104

140

130

137

107

127

150

152

60

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

Spain

51

58

52

54

49

44

39

57

45

Sri Lanka

66

68

70

79

96

101

98

97

93

St Kitts and Nevis

2

2

4

3

3

1

1

2

1

St Lucia

4

13

16

6

8

15

13

14

10

St Pierre and Miquelon

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

St Vincent and the Grenadines

2

3

3

3

6

3

4

8

4

Sudan

7

7

14

19

19

33

21

30

26

Suriname

2

2

2

2

0

1

1

5

0

Swaziland

0

0

0

2

1

1

0

2

1

Sweden

8

6

9

6

13

19

17

19

13

Switzerland

0

3

4

4

5

4

3

3

3

Syrian Arab Republic

1

2

4

3

9

7

4

2

11

Taiwan (Nationalist Chinese)

0

0

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

Tajikistan

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Tanzania

11

11

9

10

10

11

9

13

14

Thailand

3

5

7

4

7

e

4

9

S

Timor-Leste (East Timor)

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Togo

1

0

2

1

0

3

4

3

2

Tonga

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Trinidad and Tobago

18

16

23

38

59

47

35

43

21

Tunisia

7

9

6

10

9

5

6

10

13

Turkey

122

116

124

137

145

104

70

102

77

Turkmenistan

2

0

2

1

0

2

0

1

2

Uganda

46

52

54

53

61

55

47

42

50

United Arab Emirates

6

2

4

3

5

7

1

3

3

United States

55

46

59

67

55

49

59

63

37

Uruguay

3

1

0

1

0

2

0

0

1

Uzbekistan

0

0

0

1

0

1

3

2

1

Venezuela

4

6

7

16

19

24

22

5

3

Vietnam

34

37

54

51

93

84

110

222

380

Virgin Islands

0

1

0

2

0

0

0

0

2

Western Sahara

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

Yemen, Republic of

3

4

4

7

9

7

4

4

3

Zambia

8

7

23

12

15

14

12

16

10

28 Jun 2011 : Column 711W

28 Jun 2011 : Column 712W

Zimbabwe

31

79

107

186

201

222

231

246

205

                   

All

4,717

5.248

6.242

7,082

7,384

7,650

8.077

9,517

9,836