| Offence description | ||||||
| Obstruction, waiting and parking offences | Use of hand-held mobile phone while driving | |||||
| Police force area | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
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11 July 2011 : Column 68W
| (1) Figure for mobile phone FPNs for 2008 to be reviewed. | ||||||
Immigration
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 June 2011, Official Report, columns 417-8W, on immigration, what the total cost to the public purse was of cases pursued against the Government on asylum and immigration matters in all stages of the legal process including judicial review in the latest period for which figures are available. [64398]
Damian Green: The Home Office (UKBA) prepares its accounts in accordance with UK GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) adapted for the Public Sector in accordance with guidance issued by HM Treasury.
The Home Office reports the total amount of legal payments made in its Resource Accounts and for 2009-10 this figure was £33.8 million, as published in the UKBA 2009-10 Annual Report.
This represents the costs of all payments to solicitors acting on behalf of the UK Border Agency, compensation paid and the payment of claimants’ legal costs awarded by the courts.
The 2010-11 UKBA accounts are due to be published very soon and figures for 2010-11 will be available at that time.
Offenders: Foreign Nationals
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) other foreign nationals who have applied for leave to remain were convicted of a criminal offence committed in the UK while their application was pending in each of the last five years; and how many such people were returned to their country of origin following offences committed while their immigration applications were pending. [63850]
Damian Green: The following table shows the published figures for number of foreign nationals removed or deported from the UK. Please note that the data for 2006 are not considered to be reliable for publication.
|
|
Number of foreign nationals removed or deported from the UK. |
It is not possible to identify from management information systems those who had an application for leave pending at the time they committed a criminal offence. In order to gather this information, the UK Border Agency would have to go through the individual records, which would incur disproportionate cost. However, any applications for leave are considered fully at the same time that deportation is considered prior to an individual’s removal form the UK.
Rape
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what proportion of cases of alleged rape the victim reported the perpetrator to be a stranger in each of the last 10 years. [64417]
Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office collects data on the number of rape offences recorded by the police but information on the relationship between the victim and perpetrator are not held centrally.
Stop and Search
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions police have authorised notices under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (a) in each year between 2000 and 2011 and (b) in each (i) police authority area and (ii) in each London local authority area in each year since 2005. [64878]
11 July 2011 : Column 69W
Nick Herbert:
The requested data on the number of authorisations to conduct section 60 stops and searches are not collected centrally. The number of stops and searches that are conducted under section 60 by each police force area are, however, collected centrally and the latest data are provided in the table. Statistics relating
11 July 2011 : Column 70W
to police powers and procedures are collected at a police force area level and no data are available at local authority level. These data are published as part of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin Police Powers and Procedures, current and previous copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
| Searches of persons or vehicles under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and resultant arrests, England and Wales, 2009-10 | ||||
| Numbers | ||||
| Stops and searches in anticipation of violence | ||||
| Police force area | Searches | Number of persons found to be carrying offensive weapons or dangerous instruments | Arrests for offensive weapons | Arrests for other reasons |
11 July 2011 : Column 71W
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Victim Support Schemes: Finance
Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to encourage local authorities to provide funding for domestic and sexual violence and abuse services. [64092]
Lynne Featherstone: As the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), made clear in her speech to Women’s Aid in July 2010, local authorities must not see this sector as an “easy cut” when making difficult decisions. The Home Office has made available £28 million funding over four years for specialist services for domestic and sexual violence victims and has encouraged local areas to provide match funding for each of these funding streams.
The Department is also working with other Departments and the voluntary sector to identify and disseminate best practice in local commissioning to ensure local authorities give this the priority it deserves.
Whitemoor Prison
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of any potential change in response time for a police helicopter to attend Whitemoor Prison arising from any change in existing arrangements for the provision of police helicopters in Cambridgeshire. [63988]
Nick Herbert: The proposal for a National Police Air Service (NPAS) has been developed in consultation with key stakeholders to ensure that the police service continues to have access to a quickly deployable asset that can be used to tackle crime and protect the public but which also offers better value for money.
Under the proposal for NPAS, the Cambridgeshire aircraft will be withdrawn from service and air support will instead be provided from the helicopter based at RAF Honington in Suffolk. While the response time for a police helicopter to attend HMP Whitemoor would increase if the helicopter were responding from its base, the re-organisation of the current fleet will increase aircraft availability by 8% and ensure that Cambridgeshire will have access to a helicopter 24 hours a day as opposed to 19 hours a day under the existing arrangement.
Justice
Access to Work Programme
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many disabled people are being supported in employment in his Department under its access to work programme. [65046]
Mr Blunt:
Figures on the number of reasonable adjustments made for disabled staff to remove barriers and enable them to participate in the workplace as equally as non-disabled colleagues are not held centrally as many such adjustments are arranged locally between the line manager and the member of staff. The types of adjustment provided range from more frequent work breaks, adjustments to working hours to enable travel outside peaks times, to specialist equipment, adaptations
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to the work environment, and support workers. Guidance on supporting disabled staff is available for staff and managers and the Ministry is currently running an internal publicity campaign “supporting disability in the workplace” to raise awareness to staff and managers of the support and guidance available.
Bail
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were proceeded against for failing to surrender to court in (a) each of the last three years and (b) the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion received a custodial sentence for this offence. [64939]
Mr Blunt: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts to immediate custody for offences relating to absconding while released on bail in England and Wales from 2008 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
Court proceedings data for 2011 will be available in the spring of 2012.
| Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty at all courts, sentenced and given a custodial sentence, by proportion of those sentenced, for absconding while released on bail (1) , England and Wales, 2008 - 10 (2,3) | |||
|
|
2008 (4) | 2009 | 2010 |
| (1) Bail Act 1976, section 6. (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | |||
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many defendants released on bail (1) were found to have interfered with witnesses while awaiting trial in each year since 2001; [65257]
(2) absconded while awaiting trial in each year since 2001. [65258]
Mr Blunt: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not record how many defendants released on bail were found to have interfered with witnesses while awaiting trial.
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The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for absconding while on bail in England and Wales, 2001 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Court proceedings data for 2011 will be available in the spring of 2012.
| Number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates courts for absconding (1) , England and Wales, 2001 - 10 (2, 3) | |
|
|
Proceeded against for absconding whil e on bail |
| (1) Bail Act 1976, section 6. (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | |
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many defendants released on bail committed offences whilst awaiting trial in each year since 2001. [65259]
Mr Blunt: The table shows, for the years 2001 to 2010, the number of defendants recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) in England and Wales as having received at least one conviction, caution, reprimand or warning during the year, and the number of these who were recorded as having committed at least one offence while on bail during the year.
These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the PNC, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. In particular the recording of information on whether or not the offence was committed while the offender was on bail is known to be incomplete. This is because the police have available to them a number of ways of recording the bail status of an offender of which the ‘offence committed on bail’ field on the PNC is one. For operational purposes forces make differing use of these various sources and as a result figures derived purely from the PNC do not provide a complete picture of these offences. Changes over time in these data may not represent real changes in offending while on bail.
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| Offenders who received a caution, reprimand, warning or conviction, as recorded on the Police National Computer and number who committed offences while on bail, 2001-10, England and Wales | |||
| Number of offenders and percentages | |||
| Offenders committing offences while on bail | |||
|
|
Total number of offenders who received a caution, reprimand, warning or conviction | Number | Percentage |
Bail and Remand in Custody
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people were granted bail in (a)
2010,
(b)
2009,
(c)
2008,
(d)
2007,
(e)
2006,
(f)
2005,
(g)
2004,
(h)
2003,
(i)
2002 and
(j)
2001; [65090]
(2) how many people were remanded in custody in (a) 2010, (b) 2009, (c) 2008, (d) 2007, (e) 2006, (f) 2005, (g) 2004, (h) 2003, (i) 2002 and (j) 2001; [65091]
(3) how many people remanded in custody in (a) 2010, (b) 2009, (c) 2008, (d) 2007, (e) 2006, (f) 2005, (g) 2004, (h) 2003, (i) 2002 and (j) 2001 subsequently received a custodial sentence; [65092]
(4) how many people remanded in custody in (a) 2010, (b) 2009, (c) 2008, (d) 2007, (e) 2006, (f) 2005, (g) 2004, (h) 2003, (i) 2002 and (j) 2001 subsequently received a suspended sentence; [65093]
(5) how many people remanded in custody in (a) 2010, (b) 2009, (c) 2008, (d) 2007, (e) 2006, (f) 2005, (g) 2004, (h) 2003, (i) 2002 and (j) 2001 were subsequently acquitted. [65094]
Mr Blunt: The number of defendants granted bail and the number remanded in custody, together with the outcome, can be viewed in the following table:
| Defendants proceeded against by type of remand and final outcome at magistrates courts (1) and tried at the Crown c ourt in England and Wales, 2001 to 2010 (2) , England and Wales | ||||||||||
| Defendants (thousand ) | ||||||||||
| Remand status/final outcome | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 (3) | 2009 | 2010 |
| (1) Magistrates courts data presented in this table exclude committals for trial or sentence, and for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, those defendants who failed to appear. (2 )Magistrates courts data are estimated. (3) Excludes remands data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008. (4) Includes those remanded for part of the time in custody and part on bail. (5) Includes those defendants acquitted or not proceeded against. (6) Includes detention in a young offender institution, detention and training orders and unsuspended imprisonment. Note: 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. 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 within the Ministry of Justice. | ||||||||||
Coroners: Domestic Violence
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans his Department has to provide training to coroners on domestic violence. [64160]
Mr Djanogly: The next series of continuation training courses for coroners and coroner's officers is currently being designed. This will include a lecture on unlawful killing and homicide which will include reference to domestic violence.
Courts: Private Sector
Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what powers a private sector operator of the contract for criminal court enforcement will have in relation to the collection of unpaid fines. [65398]
Mr Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service are developing a strategy for the enforcement of fines and how best to improve this in the future. This could include forming a partnership with a commercial partner. Details of any partnership with a commercial company to deliver enforcement functions for criminal court fines are not yet known.
Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice to what quality assurance procedures private sector companies will be subject in the bidding process for private supervision of criminal court enforcement. [65399]
Mr Djanogly: No tender process has commenced as yet for the provision of enforcement functions. Any published tender documentation will specify the relevant quality assurance procedures that would need to be followed.
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Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements are in place for the exchange of information between HM Courts Service and private companies; and what steps he has taken to ensure that such arrangements comply with data protection regulations following the completion of the tendering process for criminal court enforcement. [65400]
Mr Djanogly: The tender for the provision of enforcement functions and any resulting contract awarded would include the necessary wording to highlight that the bidding supplier would need to comply with the Data Protection Act regulations already in place.
Drug Interventions Programme
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were registered with the Drug Interventions Programme in the last six months for which figures are available. [64157]
James Brokenshire: I have been asked to reply.
The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) is a crime reduction approach which local partners use to identify, assess and manage drug misusing offenders in order to help them address their drug misuse and reduce drug related offending. Individuals do not register with DIP. Over the latest six months for which data are available (November 2010-April 2011), 30,730 assessments were carried out under the Drug Interventions Programme on 23,391 individuals.
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of (a) homeless people and (b) people with no fixed address registered with the Drug Interventions Programme in the last 12 months. [64158]
James Brokenshire: I have been asked to reply.
The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) is a crime reduction approach which local areas use to identify, assess and manage drug misusing offenders in order to help them address their drug misuse and reduce drug related offending.
Information on individuals' housing needs are collected as part of the DIP assessment of needs.
Over the latest 12 months for which data are available (May 2010-April 2011), 62,490 assessments were carried out and 61,677 (99%) had an accommodation status recorded, as follows:
|
|
Number | Percentage |
Euthanasia
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will conduct a review of the operation of the Suicide Act 1961 in relation to the law on assisted suicide. [64808]
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Mr Blunt: The Government have no plans to review the operation of the Suicide Act in England and Wales.
Legal Aid Scheme
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Legal Services Commission spent on legal aid for people charged with (a) murder, (b) unlawful sex with a minor, (c) burglary, (d) rape, (e) manslaughter, (f) knife crimes and (g) robbery in the latest year for which figures are available. [64818]
Mr Djanogly: It is not possible to fully answer the question in the exact format requested as the Legal Services Commission (LSC) do not record offences in the manner requested.
Table A shows the amounts paid for all offences heard in the magistrates courts.
Tables B and C show the amounts paid for proceedings under the available offence categories in the Crown court for cases not funded by a high cost case contract and those cases that are funded by a high cost case contract.
| Table C: VHCC spend by offence type | |
| Offence type | £ million |
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Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the contribution of 29 June 2011, Official Report, column 1064, what the evidential basis is for the statement that in 1999 claimant costs represented 50% of damages but that by 2010 the figure had risen to 150%. [64961]
Mr Djanogly: The figures relating to the increase in claimant costs to which the hon. Gentleman refers were included in “Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales—Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations: The Government Response”, published on 29 March 2011. Paragraph 20 refers to the evidence provided by a general liability insurer that in 1999 claimant solicitors' costs were equivalent to 56% of the damages awarded. By 2003 that figure had increased to 103%, and by 2010 average claimant costs represented 142% of the damages received by the injured victims.
Legal Systems: Islam
Kris Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what information his Department holds on which communities have sharia councils; [64459]
(2) what his policy is on the role of sharia councils within the justice system; [64460]
(3) what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) men and (b) women on sharia councils. [64461]
Mr Djanogly: Sharia councils are not part of the justice system of England and Wales and the Government have made it clear that they have no intention of making any change to that position.
Provided an activity prescribed by sharia law does not contravene the law of England and Wales, there is nothing that prevents people living by sharia principles. People are free to submit a dispute to a sharia council if they wish to do so and can if they wish formalise any agreement made by asking a court in England and Wales to reflect this in an order made with the consent of the parties. Any member of the community is also free to submit the case to a court in England and Wales if they wish for a decision to be made by the court.
As sharia councils are not part of the justice system the Government do not collate or hold any information on sharia councils or the gender breakdown within them. The previous Government did, however, commission an exploratory study of sharia councils in England with respect to family law. This identified a number of challenges to undertaking robust research in this area. The study was therefore limited and adds little to the evidence base. In particular, the findings cannot be regarded as a representative assessment of the operation of sharia councils. Following expert peer review of the draft report, the Ministry of Justice decided not to publish the findings.
Prison Sentences
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) pursuant to his statement of 21 June 2011, Official Report, column 165, on sentencing reform, when he intends to publish the findings of the review of imprisonment for public protection; and if he will make a statement; [65101]
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(2) whether the review of imprisonment for public protection will affect prisoners already held under the rule. [65102]
Mr Blunt: As the Prime Minister announced on 21 June 2011, we are carrying out an urgent review of the sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) with a view to replacing the existing IPP regime with a tough determinate sentence framework which would be better understood by the public and command greater confidence.
As part of this review, we will also consider the Parole Board arrangements for rehabilitation of those offenders with IPPs to ensure that real work is done to reform offenders while in prison.
We will bring forward proposals for legislation in the autumn.
Prisoners' Release: Re-offenders
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offences were committed by people who were released on (a) police and (b) court bail in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [64746]
Mr Blunt: The table shows, for the years 2008 to 2010, the number of offences recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) in England and Wales that resulted in a conviction, caution, reprimand or warning and the number of these that were recorded as being committed while the offender was on bail. The data do not enable us to distinguish between police bail and court bail.
These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the PNC, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. In particular the recording of information on whether or not the offence was committed while the offender was on bail is known to be incomplete. This is because the police have available to them a number of ways of recording the bail status of an offender of which the ‘offence committed on bail’ field on the PNC is one. For operational purposes forces make differing use of these various sources and as a result figures derived purely from the PNC do not provide a complete picture of these offences; changes over time in these data may not represent real changes in offending while on bail.
| Offences resulting in a caution, reprimand, final warning or conviction, as recorded on the Police National Computer and offences committed on bail 2008-10, England and Wales | |||
| Number of offences and percentages | |||
| Offences committed on bail | |||
|
|
Total number of offences | Number | Percentage |
Prisons: Employment
Oliver Heald:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2011, Official Report, columns 1023-24W, on prisons: employment, whether he has plans to increase the number of prisoners per
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day working in the National Offender Management Service public sector prison industries who are engaged in land-based activities on farms in East Anglia. [64716]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service operates one farm in East Anglia, at HM Prison North Sea Camp, although there are a number of other prisons in the area that provide land-based activities for prisoners on a smaller scale.
As set out in the recent Green Paper, “Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders” we are currently reviewing the opportunities for increasing the numbers of prisoners that experience the discipline of regular working hours across all sectors including land-based activities. We are also looking to further develop the skills needed by prisoners to gain employment on release from prison. For the farm at HM Prison North Sea camp this includes the possibility of working with a private sector partner to achieve this.
Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what milestones he has set for his plans to enable more prisoners to work; and if he will make a statement. [64717]
Mr Blunt: We will publish further details of our implementation strategy in relation to the Green Paper, “Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders” this autumn.
Remand in Custody
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people were remanded in custody on the grounds of (a) being accused of a serious offence, (b) being convicted of similar offences on previous occasions, (c) risk of absconding, (d) risk of interference with witnesses and (e) risk of committing further offences in each year since 2001; [65260]
(2) how many people remanded in custody in each year since 2001 subsequently received a custodial sentence that was served fully on remand. [65261]
Mr Blunt: Information on the number of defendants remanded in custody collated by the Ministry of Justice from the Court Proceedings Database does not include details of all the circumstances surrounding each case. The reasons for remanding a defendant in custody could be ascertained only by reference to individual court files which could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
Information on bail and remand collected by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not record the length of time defendants spent on remand.
Sexual Offences
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to assess the (a) prevalence and (b) circumstances of false allegations of rape and sexual assault. [65281]
Mr Blunt:
The Stern Review found that insufficient reliable empirical evidence existed on a key number of areas relating to rape, such as false allegations. In
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response the Government commissioned an analysis of police and CPS case files, relating to cases proceeded against for serious sexual and violent offences. The analysis is being undertaken by TNS-BMRB following a competitive tender through the MOJ Research Framework. The project will include a more detailed analysis of aspects specific to rape cases (factors related to attrition and case outcome), in order to inform the debate about false allegations (extent and nature). The project is under way and a report of the findings will be published in accordance with the Government Social Research Publication Guidelines when it is ready.
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/Assets/GSR%20Publication %20Guidance%20-%2029%20Jan%202010_tcm6-35775.pdf
Tribunals: Autism
Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many parents of autistic children went to a tribunal to challenge the support provided to their child in school in the last year for which figures are available. [65067]
Mr Djanogly: The number of appeals made by parents of autistic children to the First-tier Tribunal—Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) in 2009-10, the latest year for which figures are available, was 1,019 out of a total of 3,280 registered appeals(1). Further information on the number and type of appeals made to SEND is available within the Tribunal's annual report at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/corporate-reports/tribunals/send.htm
(1) These data are taken from the 2009-10 Annual Report and represent management information recorded on an academic year basis (September 2009 to August 2010).
Victim Support Schemes
Mr MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases were referred to the Salvation Army's new trafficking victim support scheme in the first week of July 2011; and by whom. [65053]
Mr Blunt: In the first week of July 2011, seven individuals were referred to the Salvation Army's support system for adult victims of human trafficking. The referrals were made by charities, the police, youth justice services and the health service.
Education
Administration
19. Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to reduce the burden of administration on schools. [64615]
Mr Gibb:
To reduce the bureaucratic burden on schools we have already scrapped the Self Evaluation Form; we are replacing the Financial Management Standard in Schools, streamlining the inspection framework; removing unnecessary regulation and dramatically reducing the volume of guidance issued to schools. We have also
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recently announced proposals to reduce the bureaucracy around the Early Years Foundation Stage and simplify assessment at age five.
Youth Services
20. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the change in his Department's funding of youth services in (a) Manchester Central constituency and (b) England in 2011-12. [64617]
Tim Loughton: The Department's funding for youth services for 2011-12 is included in the Early Intervention Grant (EIG). The EIG allocation for Manchester local authority has changed from £34.25 million in 2010-11 to £29.97 million in 2011-12, a reduction of around 12.5%, and is reduced by 10.5% for England as a whole. Money for youth services is not ring-fenced within the EIG and decisions on funding levels to youth services are for local authorities.
22. Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on the future of youth services. [64619]
Tim Loughton: Youth services should help young people to aspire and achieve. They should be driven by young people’s views, be rooted in local communities and supported by businesses. Local authorities should ensure disadvantaged young people get early help. They should open up services to a wider range of providers, including the voluntary sector. Building on our Youth Summit in March the Government will publish a policy statement on youth services in the autumn, following further consultation with young people and others.
Curriculum
21. Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on the breadth of the curriculum. [64618]
Mr Gibb: We are currently reviewing the national curriculum. As part of that review, we have carried out a call for evidence which attracted nearly 5,800 responses, including many which raised issues about the breadth of the curriculum.
The national curriculum sets out the curriculum which all maintained schools must teach but it is only part of the wider curriculum which is determined by schools themselves. All schools are required to teach a broad and balanced curriculum.
Careers Service
23. Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to issue his transition plan for the careers service. [64620]
Tim Loughton:
The Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, my hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), committed during an Education Bill debate to hold a summit for interested parties focused on issues of transition to the new arrangements for young people's careers guidance. The summit will take place this Friday 15
11 July 2011 : Column 84W
July. Following the event we will set out key milestones for the transition period up to September 2012, to support local authorities' own transition planning. We will also look to share examples of the models being developed at local level. This material will be made available on the Local Government Association's Communities of Practice website.
Teaching Unions: Meeting
24. Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he next expects to meet representatives of teaching unions. [64621]
Michael Gove: The Minister of State for Schools and I each meet the General Secretaries of the head teacher and teacher unions once a term both individually and collectively and I am scheduled to meet them again later this month.
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service: Grievance Procedures
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) individual and (b) group grievances were taken out by staff employed by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in England and Wales in 2010. [65029]
Tim Loughton: The Department for Education does not hold this information; this is an operational matter for which CAFCASS is responsible. CAFCASS’s chief executive, Anthony Douglas, has written to the hon. Member with this information. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 7 July 2011:
I am writing to you in response to the Parliamentary Question that you tabled recently: The response applies to England only.
The number of formal grievances was 39 of which 2 were group formal grievances during the period 1 April 2010-31 March 2011.
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service: Sick Leave
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many persons employed by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in England and Wales were classed as being on long-term sick leave in 2010. [65028]
Tim Loughton: The Department for Education does not hold this information; this is an operational matter for which CAFCASS is responsible. CAFCASS's chief executive, Anthony Douglas, has written to the hon. Member with this information. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
L etter from Anthony Douglas, dated 7 July 2011:
I am writing to you in response to the Parliamentary Question that you tabled recently: The response applies to England only.
The number of employees classed as being on long term sick was 242 during the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. Long term is classed as anyone being away from work for a period of 20 working days.
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Children: Protection
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many serious case reviews were carried out by each local authority (a) in each year between 1999 and 2010 and (b) in 2011 to date. [59551]
Tim Loughton: Ofsted assumed responsibility for the inspection of children's social care and local authorities became responsible for notifying Ofsted of serious incidents involving children from 1 April 2007. Data on the numbers of serious case reviews (SCRs) initiated following the notification of a serious incident relating to the death or serious injury of a child where abuse and neglect was known or suspected to be a factor are therefore available from 1 April 2007. The table with these figures broken down by each local authority has been placed in the House Libraries.
It is the responsibility of LSCBs to decide whether to initiate SCRs, in line with regulations and statutory guidance.
Decisions taken by LSCBs on whether the criteria to undertake SCRs have been met are normally taken within one month of a case coming to the attention of the LSCB chair. However, in practice decisions may take longer and may be revisited in light of additional information, such as new medical evidence or the outcome of a coroner's inquest, which may subsequently become available. Therefore, there may be variations in the data included in this table over time.
The Munro Review of child protection has recommended how to strengthen the SCR process to enable lessons to be learnt more effectively and the Government will respond by the summer.
The figures in the table include data provided for earlier parliamentary answers. For the year 2007-08, I refer the hon. Member to the data published in a previous reply issued on 23 February 2009, Official Report, column 442W. For the year 2008-09, data referring to SCRs initiated following the notification to Ofsted of a death of a child where abuse and neglect was known or suspected to be a factor were published on 22 October 2009, Official Report, column 1664W. Data collected at the same time for SCRs initiated following the notification to Ofsted of a serious injury of a child where abuse and neglect was known or suspected to be a factor have been added to these published figures to get a total of all SCRs in that period. Figures for the years 2009-2010 and 2010-11 have not yet been published. It is not possible to provide figures from April 2011 to the current date because many of the decisions about whether to initiate a SCR will still be outstanding and the figures would therefore not be reliable.
Data are not available in this form prior to 1 April 2007. The Department has however commissioned five biennial analyses of SCRs to help ensure lessons are clearly identified and disseminated. These publications include data on how many SCRs were included in each study. Links to these research reports are:
Building on the learning from serious case reviews: A two-year analysis of child protection database notifications 2007-09
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DFE-RR040
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Understanding serious case reviews and their impact—a biennial analysis of serious case reviews 2005-07
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DCSF-RR129
Analysing Child Deaths and Serious Injury through Abuse: What can we Learn? A Biennial Analysis of Serious Case Reviews 2003-05
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/RRP/u014591/index.shtml
Improving Safeguarding Practice—Study of Serious Case Reviews 2001-03
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/RRP/u014711/index.shtml
Learning from Past Experience—A Review of Serious Case Reviews
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4003094
Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many serious case reviews were carried out in each year from 2005 to 2010. [61002]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 20 June 2011]:Ofsted assumed responsibility for the inspection of children's social care and local authorities became responsible for notifying Ofsted of serious incidents involving children from 1 April 2007. Data on the numbers of serious case reviews (SCRs) initiated following the notification of a serious incident relating to the death or serious injury of a child where abuse and neglect was known or suspected to be a factor are therefore available from 1 April 2007. These figures are set out in the following table.
It is the responsibility of LSCBs to decide whether to initiate SCRs, in line with regulations and statutory guidance.
Decisions taken by LSCBs on whether the criteria to undertake SCRs have been met are normally taken within one month of a case coming to the attention of the LSCB chair. However, in practice decisions may take longer and may be revisited in light of additional information, such as new medical evidence or the outcome of a coroner's inquest, which may subsequently become available. Therefore, there may be variations in the data included in this table over time.
The Munro review of child protection has recommended how to strengthen the SCR process to enable lessons to be learnt more effectively and the Government will respond by the summer.
The figures in the table include data provided for earlier parliamentary answers. For the year 2007-08, I refer the right hon. Member to the data published in a previous reply issued on 23 February 2009, Official Report, column 442W. For the year 2008-09, data referring to SCRs initiated following the notification to Ofsted of a death of a child where abuse and neglect was known or suspected to be a factor were published on 22 October 2009, Official Report, column 1664W. Data collected at the same time for SCRs initiated following the notification to Ofsted of a serious injury of a child where abuse and neglect was known or suspected to be a factor have been added to these published figures to get a total of all SCRs in that period. Figures for 2009-10 have not yet been published.
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Data are not available in this form prior to 1 April 2007. The Department has however commissioned five biennial analyses of SCRs to help ensure lessons are clearly identified and disseminated. These publications include data on how many SCRs were included in each study. A link to the research report for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2007 is:
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DCSF-RR129
Understanding serious case reviews and their impact—a biennial analysis of serious case reviews 2005-07.
Special Advisers
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what expenses were claimed by (a) paid and (b) unpaid special advisers working in his Department in the last 12 months. [62064]
Tim Loughton: The special advisers at the Department for Education have claimed no expenses in the last 12 months, other than for subsistence, travel and telephone bills. The Department has no unpaid special advisers.
Departmental Billing
Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of invoices from small and medium-sized businesses were paid by his Department within five working days of receipt in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [63565]
Tim Loughton: The Department does not currently record within its finance systems information about the size of its suppliers. The Department is working with our shared service provider to explore ways to provide more comprehensive reporting in particular on small and medium-sized employers.
For the period June 2010 to May 2011 a total number of 48,464 invoices were processed and paid on behalf of the Department by our shared services provider, of which 78% were paid within the Government's target of payment within five days.
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Departmental Responsibilities
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member of each political party has been refused by (a) a Minister in his Department directly and (b) his Department on behalf of a Minister since May 2010. [64431]
Tim Loughton: It is always the wish of the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) and the rest of his ministerial team to accept any meeting request from an hon. Member, irrespective of the political party they may belong to. Regrettably, due to diary pressures and business needs it is not always possible to accommodate all meeting requests. To obtain accurate details of declined meeting requests would incur disproportionate cost.
Education
Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on the merits of encouraging children to study (a) religious education, (b) classical civilisation and (c) music. [64952]
Mr Gibb: The Department has received over 2,500 letters setting out the merits of children studying a range of GCSE subjects including religious education, classical civilisation and music, in relation to the English Baccalaureate. We agree that these are rigorous, engaging and valuable subjects that can play an important part in a well rounded education, either alongside the English Baccalaureate or for pupils who make a different choice of subjects.
Education: Finance
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what arrangements are in place for councils to claim funding in respect of children educated outside schools or colleges; and if he will make a statement. [64133]
Mr Gibb: Local authorities can claim Dedicated Schools Grant funding for children educated outside schools or colleges through the annual Alternative Provision (AP) census.
The underlying principle of the AP census is that it should cover pupils resident in a local authority receiving education with an alternative provider (a provider not covered by the other pupil data collections—School Census, Early Years Census and School Level Annual School Census (SLASC)). These are pupils whose education is the financial responsibility of the local authority, using either the schools budget or the schools budget with contributions from the wider local authority budget, such as another part of the children's services budget, the health authority or another local authority. The alternative provider may be situated either within or outside the local authority area.
(a) Pupils receiving home tuition for whom the local authority is financially responsible, including those requiring SEN support;
(b) Pupils receiving tuition whilst in hospital (provided they are not recorded on another data collection);
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(c) Pupils of compulsory school age, not registered at a school, being educated at FE colleges and for whom the local authority is financially responsible, and asylum seekers of compulsory school age attending FE colleges or with voluntary sector providers;
(d) Statemented or non-statemented pupils at an independent school for whom the local authority pays the fees (educational element only, not boarding fees);
(e) Pupils attending a special school not maintained by a local authority for whom the local authority pays the fees;
(f) Pupils held in a unit for their own safety, where the authority is paying for the education, although the unit is in another authority;
(g) Pupils not on a school roll elsewhere and held at a detention centre where the local authority is fully financially responsible for the pupil; and
(h) Pupils for whom the authority is paying for education in any of the alternative providers covered above but taking place outside England.
Although local authorities have statutory responsibility for elective home educated pupils, this does not constitute being fully financially responsible for the child, and so these are not eligible for DSG funding.
English Baccalaureate: Teachers
Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the number of academic institutions offering post-graduate PGCE courses in core English Baccalaureate subjects. [64950]
Mr Gibb: The Department for Education estimates the number of teacher training places (including those on Post Graduate Certificates in Education courses) needed for each subject. This includes consideration of the effects of changes such as the introduction of the English Baccalaureate qualification. The Training and Development Agency for schools (TDA) allocates these places to academic institutions and other providers of initial teacher training. The TDA formally notifies the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), a non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, of the allocation of places to institutions, but this is not broken down by subject.