Passive Smoking
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on emissions in residential areas from secondary smoking; whether such smoking constitutes a statutory nuisance; and whether he has considered amending regulations in respect of secondary smoking. [92271]
Anne Milton: The Department of Health has not specifically commissioned or evaluated research on the impact of second-hand smoke in residential areas.
Under section 79(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities have a duty to take reasonably practicable steps to investigate complaints of smoke, fumes or gases “emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance”. Local authorities take into account a number of things when assessing if a statutory nuisance exists including the reasonableness of the activity being carried out, the time of day of the occurrence, its duration, its frequency of occurrence and whether or not best practicable means was being employed.
If satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists or may occur or recur, the local authority must serve an abatement notice under section 80 of the Act requiring that the nuisance is abated or restricted within a set timescale to prevent its occurrence or recurrence. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs' recent survey of statutory nuisance complaints found that complaints were made to local authorities about cigarette smoke
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between 2008 and 2010 but we have no information on whether these were investigated under the statutory nuisance regime or found to be statutory nuisances.
The evidence is clear that the legislation prohibiting smoking in almost all substantially enclosed public places and workplaces, introduced in England on 1 July 2007, has had beneficial effects on health. We also know that levels of compliance and public support for the law are high. The Government believe that the aims of the legislation continue to be effectively achieved and that there is no further need to review the legislation at this time.
Social Services: Finance
Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department has received from primary care trusts on plans for spending the 2011-12 NHS social care allocation; which services the money has been allocated to; and what proportion of the money is expected to be spent on older people. [92392]
Paul Burstow: The Department collected information from primary care trusts in September 2011 to understand how the transfer was progressing and on which services it was being used. The information suggests that the money is being used on a wide range of services. A full breakdown of this can be found in the NHS publication “The Quarter”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The Department did not collect information on what proportion of the money is being spent on older people.
Sunbeds: Safety
Mrs Siân C. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps the Government is taking to ensure that operators of sunbed salons provide protective eyewear for users of sunbeds in commercial settings in England; [92208]
(2) what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people under the age of 18 in England do not hire or buy sunbeds; [92372]
(3) what steps the Government is taking to prevent operators of sunbed salons in England from advertising the health benefits of sunbeds; [92373]
(4) what plans the Government has to ensure that sunbed salons in England are staffed. [92374]
Anne Milton: The Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010, which came into effect on 8 April 2011 in England and Wales, makes it an offence for sunbed businesses to permit people under the age of 18 access to sunbeds on their commercial premises. The Act also contains powers to enact further regulations which include:
the provision of protective eyewear for sunbed users by sunbed businesses;
prohibiting the hire or sale of sunbeds to under-18s;
preventing the sunbed businesses from advertising the health benefits of sunbeds; and
requirement for staffing sunbed businesses.
The powers to enact further regulations have not been used and the Government are not planning to introduce any further regulations for England at the present time. We will keep the position under review.
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The Health and Safety Executive provides best practice guidance for sunbed businesses “Reducing health risks from the use of ultraviolet (UV) tanning equipment” and a poster and leaflet with advice for operators and customers available at:
www.hse.gov.uk/press/2009/e09038.htm
The guidance includes reference to trained staff and the use of protective eyewear for customers and staff.
SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention campaign, also provides information and advice about the risks to health of sunbeds at:
www.sunsmart.org.uk/advice-and-prevention/sunbeds
Tuberculosis: Vaccination
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the merits of reintroducing school-based Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination. [92201]
Anne Milton: United Kingdom vaccination policy is based on the expert advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI has advised that the current approach is the most effective way to protect those most at risk of catching tuberculosis. The JCVI has issued a statement which explains its position, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The Committee most recently reviewed the policy in 2010 and will continue to keep it under review.
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of children under one whose parents or grandparents were born in a country where the annual incidence of tuberculosis is greater than 40 cases per 100,000 received Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccinations in the latest period for which figures are available; [92202]
(2) what percentage of children under the age of one living in areas where the incidence of tuberculosis is over 40 cases per 100,00 population receive a Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination. [92206]
Anne Milton: The Department of Health does not hold data on the proportion of children eligible to receive Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination.
The NHS Information Centre publishes annually data on the number of BCG vaccinations administered nationally by age. These data show that in 2010-11, about 153,000 children aged under one year received the BCG vaccination.
The data is published in the NHS Information Centre report, ‘NHS Immunisation Statistics England 2010-11’, with the data source given as the KC50.
A copy has been placed in the Library.
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how families were informed of their eligibility based on family history for Bacillus Calmette- Guérin vaccination in medium and low incidence areas in the latest period for which figures are available. [92204]
Anne Milton:
It is the responsibility of primary care trusts to implement the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination programme and information on how families are informed of eligibility is not collected centrally. However, typically the national health service would
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inform them of their eligibility opportunistically, for example at antenatal clinics, new-birth home visits or when starting school.
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons his Department's guidance sets local eligibility for Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination at 40 cases per 100,00 population; and whether in setting this level account was taken of the likelihood of tuberculosis spreading from medium to high risk areas in west London. [92205]
Anne Milton: United Kingdom vaccination policy is based on the expert advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). JCVI has advised that the current approach to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination is the most effective way to protect those most at risk of catching tuberculosis (TB).
The current selective immunisation policy is designed to provide protection for those individuals who are at risk based on their family and/or residential circumstances e.g. if their parents of grandparents come from country that has a TB incidence rate equal to or greater than 40 cases per 100,000 population, which is the World Health Organisation threshold for indicating high TB incidence.
Universal BCG vaccination is recommended in areas where the incidence is equal to or greater than 40 cases per 100,000 population for operational reasons since these areas generally have a high concentration of families who come from regions of the world where the TB incidence is high. This policy is based on geography in order to target vaccination to children who may be at increased risk of TB in an effective way. The policy does not imply that living in areas with, a high TB incidence puts all children at increased risk of TB infection. This is because most infections of children are likely to occur in household settings.
Justice
Aiding and Abetting
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what representations he has received on joint enterprise in each of the last three years; [91789]
(2) what meetings he has had with victims groups on joint enterprise since May 2010. [91790]
Mr Blunt: We have received a number of representations about joint enterprise law in the last three years. These have included concerns that the law allows some gang members involved in the commission of offences to escape conviction. Conversely, concerns have also been raised that other people have been imprisoned when their involvement in the activities of the group was not significant enough to warrant conviction. Ultimately, the decision to convict is for the jury, taking account of all the evidence heard at the trial.
As my hon. Friend will recall, the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert), met with her and representatives of Families Fighting for Justice (FFJ) on 30 September 2010 to discuss joint
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enterprise law. I also met with FFJ and other victims groups on 16 June 2011. Details of all our meetings with external organisations are published on the Justice website at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/corporate-reports/moj/index2011.htm
Community Orders
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse was of (a) administering community orders and (b) running community-based punishments in 2011. [92041]
Mr Blunt: As part of the Government's commitment to provide greater transparency, to enable the public to hold services to account and assess whether they are receiving value for money from the services we provide, NOMS will publish, in autumn 2012, three probation level input indicators one of which is the cost per community order. This will be the average, fully-apportioned cost to probation of delivering a community order or suspended sentence order sentence to the service definition as detailed in the NOMS service specification. This will include both managing the sentence and delivering court-ordered requirements. The costs of the latter will be derived from the average number and type of requirements attached to a sentence for an offender on each tier. These indicators will be based on costs from 2011-12.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders received (a) five or more, (b) 10 or more and (c) 15 or more community orders or punishments in 2011. [92042]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows offenders of all ages sentenced to one or more community sentences in 2010, in England and Wales, as recorded on the police national computer. The figures relate to separate sentencing occasions in 2010; where an offender was sentenced on the same occasion for several offences it is the primary offence that has been counted. Where an offender has received several community sentences in the same year some of these may represent amendments or extensions to previous court orders rather than separate court orders. These are the latest available figures for a calendar year.
These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
| Offenders sentenced to one or more community sentences in 2010 | |
| Number of community sentences | Number of offenders |
Priti Patel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many offenders absconded from community punishments in each of the last five years; and what
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proportion of offenders serving community punishments that figure represents; [92043]
(2) how many offenders did not complete their community punishments in each of the last five years; and what proportion of offenders serving community punishments that figure represents. [92044]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the proportions of Community Orders terminated for various reasons (out of the total number which terminated) in each of the last five years. The reasons of ‘failure to comply with requirements’, ‘conviction of an offence’ and ‘other’ include all those offenders who did not complete their Community Orders successfully.
From the data held centrally, it is not possible to identify separately those offenders who ‘absconded’ from supervision, but the proportion shown in the table for ‘failure to comply with requirements’ will include those offenders who never attended, or stopped attending, supervision or other appointments made as a requirement of their sentence. The term ‘abscond’ is more commonly used in relation to prisoners rather than those serving community sentences.
| Percentage of terminations of Community Orders by reason, 2006 to 2010, England and Wales | |||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
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.
Court Orders: Compensation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many compensation orders were issued in each of the last three years; and what the total value of those compensation orders was. [92039]
Mr Blunt: The number and total monetary value of compensation orders imposed at all courts for all offences in England and Wales in each year between 2008 and 2010 (latest currently available) can be viewed in the following table.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.
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| Number and total value of compensation (1) orders imposed in all courts for all offences, England and Wales, 2008-10 (2,3) | |||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| (1) Including compensation orders given as second, third and fourth disposals for principal offences. (2) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (3) 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. (4) Note that courts have the power to reduce or discharge the order at a subsequent date if the offender's circumstances change, therefore the amounts of compensation shown in this table are those imposed at the time of sentence. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services within the Ministry of Justice | |||
Criminal Proceedings
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (1) people pleaded guilty for each type of offence in (a) Crown courts and (b) magistrates courts in the last year for which figures are available; [91513]
(2) cases brought before magistrates courts have pleaded guilty in each year since 1997. [91570]
Mr Blunt: Table 1, as follows, provides the number of defendants pleading guilty in the Crown court by offence, in England and Wales. This information is not available for defendants pleading in the magistrates courts for the years requested. The available statistics relate to the estimated proportion of defendants pleading guilty in the magistrates courts. These statistics are provided in Table 2 and Table 3, and are estimates sourced from the discontinued Time Interval Survey.
Table 2 provides the estimated proportion of defendants who pleaded guilty at first hearing in the magistrates courts in England and Wales from 1997 to 2010. The proportion of defendants who pleaded guilty at the first hearing in the magistrates courts, by offence groupings is provided in Table 3.
| Table 1: Defendants tried at the Crown court for all offences by plea, England and Wales 2010 (1, 2) | ||||
| Offence group | Guilty | Not g uilty | Not recorded | Total |
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| (1 )The figures given in the table 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. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | ||||
| Table 2: All defendants in criminal cases in the magistrates courts: plea at initial hearing, by offence group. England and Wales, 2010 and 2011 (combined) (1, 2, 3) | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| Offence group | Initial guilty plea at first hearing | Initial not guilty plea at first hearing | Initial no plea at first hearing | Committed/sent for trial at first hearing |
| (1 )Results are based on all completed criminal proceedings in all magistrates courts in England & Wales during one sample survey periods in March and September in 2010 and March 2011. (2 )All defendants refer to adult and youth defendants. (3 )Plea data are based on the initial plea when the trial was first listed/heard. The survey does not collect information on the plea after the first hearing. Source: Time Interval Survey—Ministry of Justice | ||||
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| Table 3: All defendants in all criminal cases, estimated proportion of pleas at initial hearing at magistrates courts, England and Wales, 1997 to March 201l (1, 2, 3) | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| Initial guilty plea at first hearing | Initial not guilty plea at first hearing | Initial no plea at first hearing | Committed/sent for trial at first hearing | |
| (1) Includes adult and youth defendants. (2 )Estimates based on one week sample for all defendants in criminal proceedings that were completed in the magistrates courts. (3 )Between 1997 and 1999, the results are based on one week period of each June. 1999 is a transitional period and results are now based on two surveys. Those are conducted in February and September. Thereafter, all criminal cases are collected in March and September. (4 )The Time Interval Survey was discontinued and estimates arc based on the last survey in March 2011. Source: Time Interval Survey—Ministry of Justice | ||||
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average number of weeks from charge to a case being heard was for each type of offence triable in (a) Crown courts and (b) magistrates courts in the most recent year for which figures are available. [91514]
Mr Blunt: Table 1 provides the average length of time in weeks from: (i) the date of offence to the date of charge/laying of information; (ii) the date of charge/laying of information to the date of completion; and (iii) the date of offence to the date of completion. This is provided for: (a) cases completing in the Crown court and; (b) cases completing in the magistrates court, for the financial year from 2010-11, the latest financial year for which figures are available.
These statistics are sourced from the administrative data systems used in the courts, and have been produced by linking together records held on the two datasets.
Summary statistics on the timeliness of criminal proceedings in the magistrates courts and Crown court are published by the Ministry of Justice in the statistical bulletins "Court Statistics Quarterly". Statistics for the quarter July to September 2011 were published on 12 January on the Department's website at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/courts-and-sentencing/judicial-quarterly.htm
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| Table 1: Magistrates and Crown courts, all defendants (1) in criminal cases by offence group, England and Wales: timeliness stages (average weeks) from offence and charge to completion, financial year 2010-11 | |||
| All criminal cases | |||
| Offence group | Offence to charge/laying of information (weeks) | Charge/laying of information to completion (weeks) | Offence to completion (weeks) (2) |
| (1) All defendants refer to adult and youth defendants. (2) Figures have been rounded to the nearest week. Intermediate stages may not add up to the total offence to completion, due to rounding. (3) The offence group is taken from data collected at the magistrates court, therefore some cases, such as summary offences may have been upgraded by the time they reach the Crown court. (4) Includes all cases concluded in the magistrates courts during the specified time period and excludes cases completed in magistrates court but not completed in the Crown court. Data are sourced from the linked administrative court data and includes around 95% of completed proceedings. These data are only available from April 2010. Source: Libra MIS Timeliness Analysis Report (TAR) and CREST linked court data, HM Courts and Tribunals Service. | |||
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Criminal Proceedings: Costs
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost per day was of a case heard in a (a) magistrates court and (b) Crown court in each year between 1997 and 2011 inclusive. [91551]
Mr Djanogly: Her Majesty's Court and Tribunal Service, HMCTS, has no court cost statistics prior to the creation of Her Majesty's Court Service on 1 April 2005. Prior to financial year 2009-10, financial systems did not support the jurisdictional analyses that are the basis of current costings. It is therefore not possible to provide meaningful comparatives for the average cost per hearing day for earlier years.
Courts average cost per hearing day are as follows:
| £ | ||
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
Costs are judicial, administration and court costs incurred directly by the courts, excluding overheads and depreciation.
Bronzefield Prison
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much Sodexo has paid for carrying out police national computer checks on visitors to Bronzefield prison. [91838]
Mr Blunt: The information requested is not available and to extract the data from financial reports would result in disproportionate cost.
Offenders: National Insurance
Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners released did not have a National Insurance number in the most recent year for which figures are available. [90189]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not collect this information.
Prison Sentences
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) men and (b) women have been sentenced to an extended sentence for public protection in each year since 2005. [92006]
Mr Blunt: The number of males and females sentenced to immediate custody at all courts and, of these, the number who received an extended sentence of imprisonment, in England and Wales, from 2005 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.
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| Number of males and females sentenced to immediate custody at all courts and, of these, the number sentenced to an extended sentence of imprisonment, England and Wales, 2005-10 (1,2) | |||
| Immediate custody | |||
| Of which: | |||
| Sex | Year | Number sentenced | Extended sentence of imprisonment (3,4) |
| (1) 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. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Where males or females under the age of 21 are included in these figures they will have been sentenced to detention. (4) Persons whose offences were committed prior to 4 April 2005 will have been sentenced to an extended sentence under s85 of Powers of the Criminal Court (Sentencing) Act 2000. (5) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (6) Revisions have been made to 2009 figures to account for the late receipt of a small number of court records. (7) Includes persons where sex is 'not stated', therefore 'males' and 'females' figures may not add to 'All persons' totals. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | |||
Prisoners’ Home Leave
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2012, Official Report, columns 862-63W, on prisoners’ home leave, on how many occasions restricted patients released into the community have reoffended. [92040]
Mr Blunt: It is not possible to provide the information requested on the number of restricted patients who have committed further offences either on community leave or when conditionally discharged, without a manual check of over 6,000 files at disproportionate cost.
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Among all restricted patients who were discharged from hospital for the first time between 1999 and 2007, 5.8% were reconvicted within two years of their discharge.
Prisoners’ Release
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of those serving custodial sentences were released after serving half of their sentence in each year between 1995 and 2011. [90478]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the percentage of prisoners serving determinate sentences who were released prior to the half-way point of the sentence under the two principal early release schemes that have operated during this period, and thereby indicates the proportion that were released on or after the half-way point. It relates to those serving determinate sentences only. Those serving indeterminate sentences are released from prison only after they have served the minimum period in custody (tariff) set by the court. Data prior to 1998 are not held centrally; figures for 2011 are not yet available.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prisoners are released in accordance with the legislation that applies to their sentence and there have been various statutory release regimes operating during the period 1995 to 2011 which are explained as follows.
The Criminal Justice Act 1967 applied to prisoners sentenced before 1 October 1992. Such prisoners were eligible for parole from the one-third point of their sentence and therefore could be released before the half-way point if this was agreed by the Parole Board. If not granted parole they were released automatically at the two-thirds point of the sentence. Since 1992 the number of prisoners eligible for release under the 1967 Act regime has diminished to only a handful currently.
Prisoners sentenced after 1 October 1992 are subject to the release regimes of the Criminal Justice Acts of 1991 or 2003 (or the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 in the case of young offenders serving Detention and Training Orders (DTOs)).
Throughout the period in question, therefore, the overwhelming majority of prisoners have been subject to the 1991 and 2003 Act regimes. These require the
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release of all determinate sentence prisoners automatically at the half-way point, subject to any days added for breaches of prison discipline. There are two exceptions where release may take place after the half-way point involving an increasingly small pool of offenders serving long sentences subject to the 1991 Act regime or extended sentences imposed before 14 July 2008.
A number of schemes have operated during this period under which certain prisoners may be released before the half-way point is reached.
Since 1999, short-term, low-risk prisoners have been considered for release under the home detention curfew (HDC) scheme, which requires them to reside at an approved address generally for 12 hours per day, subject to electronic monitoring and recall to prison for failing to comply with the scheme. All registered sex offenders and violent offenders serving extended sentences are excluded from HDC, specified violent and previous sexual offenders not required to register are presumed unsuitable and all prisoners must pass an individual risk assessment before HDC may be granted.
There is a similar release scheme available to young people sentenced to Detention and Training Orders. Young people sentenced to DTOs serve the first half of their sentence in custody and the second half in the community. Where the Order is for at least eight months there is a presumption that the young person will be released one or two months prior to the half-way point unless they are serving a sentence for specific sexual or violent offences or their behaviour and/or progress against their training plan is unsatisfactory. Data on early release from DTO is not collated separately but in 2010-11 there were around 1,110 young offenders in custody serving a DTO.
Between June 2007 and March 2010, when the scheme was withdrawn, prisoners who met the eligibility criteria serving sentences between four weeks and four years were released under temporary licence 18 days prior to the half-way point of the sentence under the End of Custody Licence Scheme.
Finally, since 2005, foreign national prisoners eligible for removal from the UK could be deported or removed prior to the half-way point of the sentence under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS). Data on ERS has not been collated over this period but, in 2010, the UK Border Agency removed or deported 5,235 foreign national prisoners, around a third under ERS.
| Prisoners released from determinate sentences, 1998 to 2010 | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
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| (1) Figures for the total number of releases and releases not on HDC or ECL are rounded to the nearest 100. (2) Includes a very small number of prisoners released prior to the half-way point under (a) the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1967; (b) the Early Removal Scheme for foreign national prisoners; and (c) the early release scheme for Detention and Training Orders. | |||||||||||||
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average additional time spent in custody was for people recalled to prison in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011. [91839]
Mr Blunt: The information requested is not routinely collected, however, based on a one-off analysis of those recalled to prison in 2008, the average time spent in custody was estimated to be around eight months. This average figure excludes fixed term recalls, under which offenders spend a fixed period of up to 28 days in custody on recall.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prisons: Finance
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budget his Department plans to allocate to each prison in each of the next five years. [92210]
Mr Blunt: The information requested is as follows:
Financial years 2012-13 to 2017-18
Spending review 2010 agreed MOJ's budget up to 2014-15; however, detailed allocations are done only on an annual basis. NOMS is in the process of allocating 2012-13 budgets to individual prisons and will agree this before the start of the financial year.
Prostitution
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people have been charged with (a) control for gain of prostitution and (b) other offences related to trafficking in the London area since Specialist Crime Directorate 9 in the Metropolitan Police was created; [91983]
(2) how many prosecutions there have been for trafficking-related offences in the London area since Specialist Crime Directorate 9 in the Metropolitan Police was created. [91984]
Mr Blunt: Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, in the Metropolitan Police force area, for human trafficking offences, from 1 April (when Specialist Crime Directorate 9 was created) to 31 December 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Data provided may or may not have resulted from operations conducted by the Specialist Crime Directorate 9.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 will be available in May 2012.
Charging data are not collated centrally by the Ministry of Justice.
| Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts in the Metropolitan Police force area for human trafficking offences (1) from 1 April to 31 December 2010 (2,3,4) | |
| Defendants | |
| (1) Includes offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants Act) 2004. (2) The Specialist Crime Directorate 9 was created on 1 April 2010. Data given in the table may or may not have resulted from operations conducted by this directorate. (3) 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. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | |
Sentencing
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress his Department has made in its review of community sentences. [92166]
Mr Blunt: We are currently developing proposals to reform sentences in the community and intend to publish those for a period of consultation in due course.
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Tribunals
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will review the arrangements by which first tier tribunals (tax) operate in cases where one party is unable to attend a tribunal hearing; and if he will consider introducing measures to keep a verbatim record of tribunal hearings when one party is absent; [92045]
(2) what the average length of time taken for a judge to give judgment on a first tier tribunal (tax) case after a hearing has taken place was in 2011. [92046]
Mr Djanogly: The information is as follows:
(1) The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), currently has no plans to review the arrangements by which first tier tribunals (tax) operate in cases where one party is unable to attend a tribunal hearing. The First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) can hear an appeal in a party's absence if the tribunal is satisfied that both (a) the party has been served with notice of the hearing (or reasonable steps have been taken to notify him/her) and (b) it is in the interests of justice to do so. These provisions are detailed in the procedure rules that support the Tax Chamber: The Tribunals Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Tax Chamber) Rules 2008. The decision to proceed in the absence of a party is a judicial one and not an administrative one. Either party has the option of submitting an application to postpone the hearing, which the tribunal will consider on its merits.
The Secretary of State for Justice has no plans to introduce measures to keep a verbatim record of tribunal hearings when one party is absent. The First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) does not have the facility to make a verbatim transcript of hearings before it. The judge is expected to make a note of the proceedings, but it is a note and not a verbatim record.
(2) The First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) does not report on the average time taken from the date of the hearing to the date of promulgation of the decision. It is not possible to obtain such data without disproportionate cost. In addition any figures would tend to be misleading as the average time would cover all appeals ranging from straightforward cases where a judgment can be given on the day of the hearing to complex appeals heard by a panel of three where a judgment may necessarily take some months, and may be seen in draft by the parties prior to its issue.
We have however recently published Quarterly Tribunals Statistics for the period 1 July to 30 September 2011. Table 1.4 of the publication
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/statistics-and-data/tribs-stats/quarterly-tribs-stats-q2-11-12.pdf
provides information on the following performance measures for the First Tier (Tax) Tribunal:
The percentage of standard/complex cases disposed of within 70 weeks of receipt (58% disposed of in 70 weeks in Quarter 2)
The percentage of paper cases disposed of in 20 weeks (88% disposed of in 20 weeks in Quarter 2); and
The percentage of basic cases disposed of in 20 weeks (76% disposed of in 20 weeks in Quarter 2).
30 Jan 2012 : Column 510W
Youth Custody
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure each (a) youth offending team and (b) young offender institution has a children's council. [92370]
Mr Blunt: The Youth Justice Board encourages all youth offending teams to fully take into account the views of children and young people. The decision on whether a children's council or an equivalent body is the best means of achieving this are made at a local level.
The regimes provided in each under-18 young offender institution are governed by Prison Service Instruction 28/2009 ‘Care and Management of Young People’. That instruction mandates that all governors must have in place arrangements for consulting all young people about a range of issues through bodies such as representative consultative groups which meet regularly and must provide them with information about those arrangements. Prison Service Instruction 28/2009 has recently been reviewed and its replacement will be published in the spring. The replacement Prison Service instruction retains the instruction, which mandates consultative groups as outlined above.
Youth Custody: Education
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to provide access to full-time education for children serving community or custodial sentences. [92366]
Mr Blunt: Young persons of compulsory school age who are serving community sentences are expected to be in full-time education in the community. Youth offending teams work closely with local authorities and schools on interventions designed to ensure that young offenders are attending school and addressing their learning needs. Young persons held in the secure estate have access to a full day of education and constructive activity and receive an individual learning plan to address their learning needs and objectives while in custody.
Youth Custody: Mental Health Services
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to ensure a child psychologist is in place in every youth offending team. [92367]
Mr Blunt: Health services are a statutory partner of the youth offending team as set out by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. We expect youth offending teams to have access to all services relevant to ensuring that young people are appropriately assessed and receive interventions suitable to their needs. The most recent audit of youth offending team health workers (2009) found that 151 youth offending teams (out of a total of 157 at that time) had a practitioner seconded from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) through whom access to a range of professionals, including a child psychologist, would be available.
30 Jan 2012 : Column 511W
Treasury
Air Passenger Duty
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what account is taken of the levels of duty which are in operation in other countries when assessing the level of air passenger duty. [92627]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government continue to monitor developments in other countries and are aware that several have recently introduced their own passenger taxes. Many other countries also charge VAT on flights, which the UK does not. The Government have also made clear that air passenger duty is primarily a revenue raising duty which makes an important contribution to the public finances.
Bank Services: Low Incomes
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to provide information for the (a) long-term unemployed and (b) lower earners on the benefits and discounts of opening bank accounts to set up direct debits. [92257]
Mr Hoban: The Money Advice Service was established as the Consumer Financial Education Body in April 2010 to promote understanding of the financial system and raise levels of financial capability across the UK. It offers free and impartial information and advice to consumers on money matters.
The Money Advice Service offers a range of online information available to all consumers which includes advice on opening bank accounts. Full details are available on the Money Advice Service website
http://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/
Departmental Expenditure: Alcoholic Drinks
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies have spent on (i) wine, (ii) other alcoholic refreshments and (iii) bottled water since May 2010. [91963]
Miss Chloe Smith [holding answer 26 January 2012]:A record of wine, other alcoholic refreshments and bottled water is not held centrally and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Economic Situation: Northern Ireland
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish the Government's response to the consultation on rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy. [92414]
Mr Gauke: The Government published their response to the consultation, ‘Rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy: summary of consultation responses’, on 20 December 2011. The document is available on the HM Treasury website:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/condoc_responses_rebalancing_ni_economy.pdf
30 Jan 2012 : Column 512W
Excise Duties: Beer
Bob Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to reduce the rate at which duty is applied to beer in order to increase the competitiveness of the UK brewing industry in Europe. [92215]
Miss Chloe Smith: Alcohol excise duty is levied on all beer that is consumed in the UK, whether it is domestically produced or imported from abroad. UK beer exports to Europe do not pay UK excise duty, but are liable for excise duties in the country they are destined for.
The revenues from alcohol excise duty make an important contribution to reducing the deficit. Decisions about tax policy are a matter for the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.
Freedom of Information
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department publishes on its website its response to each request it receives under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; whether the response is published in the same part of its website on each occasion; and what the average time taken is between responding to a request and the information being made available on the website. [92115]
Miss Chloe Smith: HM Treasury does not publish the responses to all Freedom of Information Act requests that it receives. Responses are published, on the FOI disclosure log linked from the home page of the HM Treasury public website, if the information released is considered to be of wider public interest. Publication usually occurs on the same day as the response is sent out.
Income Tax
Mr Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men and (b) women in (i) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (ii) the London borough of Bexley have (A) overpaid and (B) underpaid income tax in the last three years. [91991]
Mr Gauke: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost as the relevant HMRC systems do not include details of taxpayers' parliamentary constituency.
Local Government Finance
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assessed the likely efficacy of a local authorities bond market to finance local capital expenditure; and if he will make a statement. [92610]
Danny Alexander: Local authorities are free to use municipal bonds to finance capital investment. It is for local authorities to decide the most appropriate means of financing local capital projects. In doing so, local authorities should consider factors such as market conditions, value for money, product flexibility and administrative costs.
30 Jan 2012 : Column 513W
Portacabins
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the green portacabins on King Charles street will be removed before the commencement of the Olympics. [91781]
Miss Chloe Smith: The portacabins belong to Westminster city council.
Private Finance Initiative
Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has put in place to control private finance initiative contracts. [92337]
Danny Alexander: Those projects that have not yet reached financial close are subject to the new assurance and approval arrangements introduced by the Treasury and the Cabinet Office in April 2011. The Major Project approval and assurance guidance can be accessed at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/major_projects_approvals_assurance_guidance.PDF
In respect of signed PFI contracts, in July 2011 the Treasury announced a plan to deliver £1.5 billion of savings across the operational PFI projects in England. These savings can be fully recycled back into frontline services by the contracting authority.
Private Finance Initiative: Inflation
Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with (a) local authorities, (b) local health authorities and (c) education bodies to ensure that inflation is not added into private finance initiative contracts. [92338]
Danny Alexander: The Treasury makes its guidance on the value for money considerations of inflation indexing the unitary charge available to all procuring authorities at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ppp_finance_guidance.htm
Public Sector: Pensions
Mr Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the oral statements of 2 November 2011, Official Report, columns 927-29, and of 20 December 2011, Official Report, columns 1201-4, on public sector pensions, if he will provide a definition of the term accrued rights as used in the statements. [91724]
Danny Alexander [holding answer 26 January 2012]:The meaning of the term accrued rights as used in the oral statements referred to is as set out in the oral statement of 2 November 2011, Official Report, columns 927-29:
"Everything that public servants have earned until the point of change, they will keep, and those things will be paid out in the terms expected and at the retirement age expected."
Social Security Benefits: Expenditure
Rachel Reeves:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the overall change in expected total expenditure on (a) social security, (b) tax credits, (c) unemployment benefit and
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(d)
housing benefit between 2011-12 and 2015-16 as a result of changes to fiscal forecasts between (i) June 2010 and November 2011, (ii) November 2010 and November 2011 and (iii) March 2011 and November 2011. [92608]
Mr Gauke: The estimates of changes in social security and tax credits between 2011-12 and 2015-16 are set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility in their ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’ and accompanying supplementary fiscal tables, which are available on their website for each forecast made in June 2010, November 2010, March 2011 and November 2011:
June 2010 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’
Table C14:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/wordpress/docs/junebudget_annexc.pdf
November 2010 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’
Tables 4.16 and 4.17:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/wordpress/docs/econ_fiscal_outlook_291110.pdf
Table 1.4:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/pubs/fiscal_supplementary_tables_291110.xls
March 2011 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’
Tables 4.18 and 4.19:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/wordpress/docs/economic_and_fiscal_outlook_23032011.pdf
Tables 2.9, 2.11 and 2.13:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/pubs/obr_fiscal_supplementary_tables1.xls
November 2011 ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’
Tables 4.21 and 4.22:
http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/Autumn2011EFO_web_version138469072346.pdf
Tables 2.11 and 2.12:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/pubs/Fiscal-Supplementary-Tables-AS11.xls
Breakdowns of the forecasts for the DWP social security benefits, which include forecasts for unemployment benefit and housing benefit, are shown on the DWP website and are available for each of the OBR forecasts made in June 2010, November 2010, March 2011 and November 2011:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=medium_term
Tax Yields
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the overall change in expected total (1) tax revenue between 2011-12 and 2015-16 arising from changes to fiscal forecasts between (a) June 2010 and November 2011, (b) November 2010 and November 2011 and (c) March 2011 and November 2011; [92603]
(2) revenue from (a) VAT, (b) income tax, (c) national insurance contributions, (d) corporation tax, (e) capital gains tax, (f) fuel duties and (g) business rates between 2011-12 and 2015-16 arising from changes to fiscal forecasts between (i) June 2010 and November 2011, (ii) November 2010 and November 2011 and (iii) March 2011 and November 2011. [92604]
30 Jan 2012 : Column 515W
Mr Gauke: Changes in total receipts and particular revenue streams between each fiscal forecast are set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in its ‘Changes to current receipts’ tables published in successive “Economic and fiscal outlooks”.
OBR “Economic and fiscal outlook” publications are available on the OBR's website:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/
Taxation: Profit Sharing
Mr Ward: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the tax treatment of employee benefit trusts to encourage employee ownership of companies. [92174]
Mr Gauke: The Government have no immediate plan to review the tax treatment of employee benefit trust arrangements to encourage employee ownership of companies.
Third Sector
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to measure progress on the implementation of policies supporting the big society initiative; and if he will make a statement. [91403]
Miss Chloe Smith: HM Treasury monitors spending on core big society and Office for Civil Society programmes.
The Department is also involved in work, led by Cabinet Office, to implement the Government's open public services agenda, including several policies supporting
30 Jan 2012 : Column 516W
the big society initiative. The progress made in relation to the open public services agenda will be detailed in a forthcoming publication.
Further to this, HM Treasury has joint responsibility with the Cabinet Office for the departmental business plan framework. This framework is key to monitoring delivery of business plans across Government, some of which track progress on policies that are central to supporting the big society initiative. Business plans will be updated in spring 2012.
VAT: Internet
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reconsider his requirement for VAT returns to be made online by April 2012 for small traders in (a) rural and (b) other areas without good broadband access. [92625]
Mr Gauke: From April 2012 virtually all VAT-registered businesses will have to file VAT returns online.
Broadband is not required to file a VAT return. HMRC VAT filing software can be used with dial-up internet connections.
HMRC has put in place extensive support to enable customers to go online, and has also worked with third parties (such as UK Online, national and regional trade and enterprise bodies, and the bookkeeping and agent organisations) to ensure that support is in place for those who need it. HMRC has published details of all the help and support available to VAT customers moving to online filing on the ‘What's New’ section of its website:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/index.htm