Drugs: Rehabilitation
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the longest period is that someone on a drug rehabilitation requirement has gone without having a drugs test in each of the last three years; [99848]
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(2) how many scheduled drugs tests did not take place for people on drug rehabilitation requirements in each of the last three years; [99853]
(3) what proportion of people serving a drug rehabilitation requirement, who failed (a) one drug test, (b) two drug tests, (c) three drug tests and (d) four or more drug tests were sent to prison in each of the last three years. [99854]
Mr Blunt: Information on the longest period without someone on a drug rehabilitation requirement having a drugs test, the number of scheduled drug tests that did not take place, and the proportion of people serving a drug rehabilitation requirement who fail a drug test and are sent to prison is not held centrally. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by retrieving, analysing and collating data held locally on offender records and local data systems.
European Court of Human Rights
Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on implementing decisions of the European Court of Human Rights applicable to the UK. [99882]
Mr Djanogly: The UK is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and is obliged to comply with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as a matter of international law. Article 46(1) of the Convention, states:
“The High Contracting Parties undertake to abide by the final judgment of the Court in any case to which they are parties”.
Fraud: EU Law
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the UK has enacted the provisions of EU Council Framework Decision 2001/413/JHA of 28 May 2001, on combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment; and what evaluation has been made of the effectiveness of the Decision in reducing fraud. [99990]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The provisions of EU council Framework Decision 2001/413/JHA of 28 May 2001 on combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment have been implemented in UK law.
The Government have not made any assessment of the effectiveness of the Framework Decision.
Knives: Crime
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many reported incidents of crime involving a knife there were in (a) Leeds North West constituency, (b) the city of Leeds and (c) England in each of the last five years; and what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of such knife crime. [98401]
Nick Herbert: Data for selected offences involving the use of a knife or sharp instrument are collected by the Home Office at police force area level only, so data are not available for Leeds North West constituency or the city of Leeds. Data for these selected offences are provided for West Yorkshire police force as well as England in the table.
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Data for 2007-08 are not comparable with those shown for later years due to an expansion in the number of offences covered. In 2007-08 the offences covered are homicide, attempted murder, grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, GBH without intent and robbery. In 2008-09 the coverage was expanded to include actual bodily harm (ABH), threats to kill, sexual assault and rape offences.
Knife crime is wholly unacceptable. It causes misery for victims and is often connected to the kind of gang violence that can wreck whole communities.
We will ensure an effective response to knife crime: the Government's position is clear; any adult who commits a crime using a knife can expect to be sent to prison and serious offenders can expect a long sentence; and, for young offenders, imprisonment is always available and will also be appropriate for serious offences.
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Bill currently in the Lords includes a new offence of carrying a knife or offensive weapon in a public place or school if it is then used to threaten and endanger another with a minimum mandatory sentence for those over 18 years old of six months, and a four months Detention and Training Order for those aged 16 and 17. If passed, this will send a clear message to those who possess a knife to threaten and endanger that they can expect to face prison.
| Table A: Number of selected violent and sexual offences (1) involving a knife or sharp instrument recorded by West Yorkshire police force and police forces in England, 2007-08 to 2010-11 | ||||
| Area | 2007-08 (2) | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| (1) Police recorded knife and sharp instrument offences data are submitted via an additional special collection. Other offences exist that are not shown in this table that may include the use of a knife or sharp instrument. (2) The collection was expanded in 2008-09 to also include actual bodily harm (ABH), threats to kill, sexual assault and rape offences. Therefore figures are not comparable with those offences recorded in 2007-08. (3) Figures for England include unbroken bottle and glass offences, which are outside the scope of this special collection, for Surrey and Sussex police. As such, data for these forces are not directly comparable to data for other forces. (4) Data are shown excluding West Midlands as West Midlands included unbroken bottle and glass offences in their returns until April 2010 but now exclude these offences in line with other forces. As such, their 2010-11 data are not comparable with their data for earlier years. Note: Homicide figures as at 18 October 2011; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. | ||||
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to answer the letter sent to the Attorney-General by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 26 January, with regard to Mr J. Crain, and transferred to his Department. [99748]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: The letter was wrongly addressed to the Attorney-General. I have now replied.
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Prisons: Employment
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to enable prisoners to work. [99265]
Mr Blunt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 13 March 2012, Official Report, column 119, by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke).
Prisons: Visits
Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the purpose of the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme is; [99981]
(2) what assessment he has made of the benefits to the public of financially assisting the spouses of convicted criminals to visit them in prison; [99983]
(3) what the cost to the public purse was of the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme in each of the last three years. [99984]
Mr Blunt: The Assisted Prison Visits Scheme provides financial help with travel expenses to prisoners' close relatives and partners who are on a defined benefit and receive a low income. The scheme’s purpose is to contribute to reducing reoffending and resettlement strategies by helping to ensure that family ties are maintained. The Ministry of Justice (Mo J) actively encourages prisoners to maintain outside contacts and meaningful family ties. Visits are crucial to sustaining relationships with close relatives, partners and friends.
The MoJ Resettlement Survey 2008 showed that offenders could be 39% less likely to reoffend if they had family visits while in custody. Lord Justice Woolf’s report of 1991 made a recommendation that prisoners should have better prospects of maintaining their links with families through more visits and in his follow-up report exactly 10 years later makes specific reference to Assisted Prisons Visits and described it as “admirable”.
A recent report commissioned by the EU entitled ‘Children of Imprisoned Parents’ highlighted the importance of providing financial assistance to families of prisoners.
The cost of the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme in the last three financial years was:
| £ | |
Stalking
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many victims of stalking have been interviewed by members of the Death and Violence Team in his Department in the last 12 months; [98656]
(2) what the functions and duties are of his Department's Death and Violence Team. [98657]
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Mr Blunt: The Criminal Law and Legal Policy Unit, including the Death and Violence Team, advises Ministers in relation to various aspects of civil and criminal law policy including homicide and offences against the person.
The Ministry of Justice does not ‘interview’ victims of any criminal offences; officials do however attend meetings and workshops at which victims’ interests and views are shared, as well as those of other stakeholders. In relation to stalking there has also been a recent Government consultation on how we can protect victims of stalking more effectively. We have been looking carefully at the responses to that consultation—many of which were submitted by victims and groups that represent their interests. As a result of the consultation, we have introduced provisions to create two new offences, one of stalking and one of stalking with fear of violence, and have committed to providing better training for the police and probation service and courts, to make sure that stalking is taken seriously.
Young Offenders: Wales
Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many juvenile offenders from each local authority area in Wales have been held in a (a) secure children's home, (b) secure training centre and (c) young offender institution in each month since May 2005. [98506]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of juvenile offenders (aged 10 to 17) either sentenced or remanded in custody attached to Welsh Youth Offending Teams who have been held in a (a) secure children's home, (b) secure training centre and (c) under 18 young offender institution by month from May 2005 to December 2011. This is based upon monthly snapshot data. Therefore one young person who is serving more than one month in custody may be shown in more than one month in the table. Data from April 2011 onwards are provisional and will be finalised when the 2011-12 Annual Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2013.
These data have been provided by the Youth Justice Board (YJB). The YJB does not hold data at local authority level. However, it does hold data down to youth offending team area, some of which cover more than one local authority area.
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 and can be subject to change over time.
| Table 1: Young people in custody attached to Welsh Youth Offending Teams by establishment type, May 2005 - December 2011. | |||||||||
| Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly | Bridgend | Cardiff | |||||||
| Month | SCH | STC | YOI | SCH | STC | YOI | SCH | STC | YOI |
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| Carmarthenshire | Ceredigion | Conwy and Denbighshire | |||||||
| Month | SCH | STC | YOI | SCH | STC | YOI | SCH | STC | YOI |
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| Flintshire | Gwynedd Mon | Merthyr Tydfil | |||||||
| Month | SCH | STC | YOI | SCH | STC | YOI | SCH | STC | YOI |
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