Personal Independence Payment
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons his Department proposes to consider 16 to 18-year-olds as working age adults for the purposes of the personal independence payment. [103408]
Maria Miller: Personal independence payment will be introduced for young people from age 16 as we believe this is the age at which young people should make a claim in their own right and be assessed against adult criteria. This reflects the present situation under DLA.
The assessment criteria are being designed to meet the needs of people aged 16 or over, and assessors will be well equipped to deal with young adults including 16 to 18-year-olds.
At age 16 young people have a choice about whether to remain in full-time education at school or college, take up an apprenticeship or work-based learning, or a full-time job together with part-time education or training. A claim to personal independence payment should also be made from this age as it will help to support the aspirations of young people as they start to move to adulthood and make decisions about other aspects of their lives.
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Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department plans to take to take account of the needs of young people with (a) serious health conditions and (b) disabilities in the personal independence payment (i) independent medical assessment and (ii) decision-making process. [103409]
Maria Miller: We are currently working through the details of the development of personal independence payment and we have every intention of being sensitive to the needs of young people and will ensure processes are designed with their needs in mind.
Processes will be informed by consultation with disabled young people and representative organisations. A sub-group of the Implementation Development Group, who are our primary mechanism for consulting with national and local organisations that represent a broad range of disabled people, are specifically looking at the issues of children and young people. We will use their ideas to inform the design of personal independence payment wherever we can.
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the personal independence payment meets the needs of cancer patients (a) aged 16 to 25 years and (b) of all ages. [103410]
Maria Miller: Through personal independence payment we want to focus support on disabled people who face the greatest barriers and costs to participating in society. As such entitlement to the benefit will not be based on the nature of an individual's health condition or impairment but on the impact that these have on their day to day lives. As with DLA, PIP is a benefit to support those with long term conditions.
The assessment for personal independence payment will consider an individual's ability to complete 11 key everyday activities. The criteria are being developed to fairly take account of all impairments and health conditions, including cancer, and to be applicable to all people of working age, including those aged 16-15.
We are developing our proposals on the assessment in collaboration with a group of independent specialists in health, disability and social care and are doing so in an iterative and co-productive way. This includes testing our proposals as they are developed and seeking views of disabled people and disability organisations, including organisations representing individuals suffering from cancer.
We are committed to ensuring that good provision is in place for individuals with fluctuating conditions and are therefore proposing that the assessment should consider ability to carry out activities over a period of time, we are suggesting a year, we will consider impacts where they apply on over 50% of days in this period.
We recognise the importance of getting the development of the assessment right, and we want to hear further views of disabled people and disability organisations. That is why we are currently consulting on the second draft of the assessment criteria. I would welcome the right hon. Lady’s views as part of this.
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Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons shaving and make-up application have been excluded from the personal independence payment assessment definition of grooming. [104421]
Maria Miller: The criteria for personal independence payment have not been designed to cover all areas of everyday life, or include all of the activities where disabled people face barriers or cost. Doing so would create a very lengthy and complicated assessment. They are instead intended to, as a whole, act as an overall proxy for the impact of impairments, allowing us to identify and focus support on individuals who face the greatest barriers to living independently. Grooming is one of a range of activities considered in the assessment. We believe that the current definition of grooming—focusing on brushing teeth, washing and brushing hair—help assess this impact in a clear, simple and measurable way.
We recognise the importance of getting the development of the assessment right and want to hear further views of disabled people and disability organisations. That is why we are currently consulting on the second draft of the assessment criteria. I would welcome your views and those of your constituents as part of this. The consultation documentation can be found at:
www.dwp.gov.uk/pip
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the likely level of personal independence payment eligible to a blind person who (a) can and (b) cannot read Braille; and what the reasons are for any difference between those figures. [104422]
Maria Miller: Entitlement to personal independence payment will be based on the extent to which an individual's health condition or impairment affects their day to day lives, not on the nature of the health condition itself.
The assessment for PIP will consider individuals' ability to carry out a series of key everyday activities. Priority in the benefit will be based on how well people can carry out these activities and the degree to which they need help from other people, or to use aids and appliances. By developing the assessment in this way we aim to ensure that the award is based on individual circumstances and treats people with all impairment types fairly.
As every individual will be affected differently by their health condition or impairment and will be assessed on their personal circumstances, it is not possible to make the estimates requested.
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the definition of social engagement in personal independence payment assessments will focus exclusively on social engagement that is impaired by cognitive or intellectual difficulties. [104423]
Maria Miller:
Following our first consultation on the initial draft of the PIP assessment criteria we made a series of changes. One of these was adding the additional activity “social engagement”. This was introduced to focus on individuals' ability to interact with others in an
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appropriate manner, establish relationships and understand body language. Although the assessment is designed to take into account the impact of impairments, regardless of their type, this activity primarily focuses on the mental, intellectual and cognitive aspects of social engagement.
We recognise the importance of getting the development of the assessment right and we want to hear further views of disabled people and disability organisations. That is why we are currently consulting on the second draft of the assessment criteria. We have already had valuable feedback following consultation meetings we have had to date and I would welcome your views and those of your constituents as part of this consultation. The consultation documentation can be found at:
www.dwp.gov.uk/pip
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that personal independence payment tests are assessed on an individual basis and implemented taking into account a claimant's specific disability. [104424]
Maria Miller: The assessment for personal independence payment is being developed in collaboration with an independent group of specialists in health, social care and disability, including disabled people. We are designing the assessment to target support on those disabled people who are most impacted by their health condition or impairment. Entitlement will not be based on the nature of the impairments individuals have.
To ensure that the assessment will focus on individual circumstances, we will consider evidence from the claimant and from professionals involved in supporting them. In most cases, it will also involve a face to face consultation between the claimant and an independent health professional. This will provide an opportunity for individuals to fully explain the impact that their condition or impairment has on their daily lives.
We recognise the importance of getting the development of the assessment right, and we want to hear further views of disabled people and disability organisations. That is why we are currently consulting on the second draft of the assessment criteria. I would welcome your views as part of this. The consultation documentation can be found at:
www.dwp.gov.uk/pip
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effects on personal independence payments of the length of time a person has experienced sight loss; and how an estimate of adaptation will be made. [104425]
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Maria Miller: Entitlement to personal independence payment will be based on the extent to which an individual's health condition or impairment affects their day to day lives, not to focus on the nature of the health condition itself.
The assessment for PIP will consider individuals' ability to carry out a series of key everyday activities. Priority in the benefit will be based on how well people can carry these out and the degree to which they need help from other people, or to use aids and appliances. By carrying out the assessment in this way we aim to ensure that the award is based on individual circumstances and treats people with all impairment types fairly.
As entitlement will be based on an assessment of individual circumstances and impairments can affect people in many different ways, we are not able to make estimates on the impact of PIP on individuals with specific health conditions or impairments. However, I can assure you that the assessment will be based on considering the individual's ability to complete the activities at the time they are claiming the benefit, it will not make assumptions about any likely future adaptation.
Schizophrenia
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of people diagnosed with schizophrenia who are employed. [104131]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated April 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate has been made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of people diagnosed with schizophrenia who are employed. 104131.
Estimates of the number of people in employment are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Unfortunately estimates of those diagnosed with schizophrenia are not available; only those who reported a mental disorder.
Social Security Benefits
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much and what proportion of social security expenditure was spent on (a) contributory, (b) non-contributory non-means-tested and (c) means-tested benefits in each of the last 30 years. [104705]
Chris Grayling: The information is in the following tables:
| Nominal (£ million) | |||||||
| Contributory | Non-contributory/non-means tested | Means tested | |||||
| N umber | Percentage | N umber | Percentage | N umber | Percentage | Total | |
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| 2012-13 (1) prices (£ million) | |||||||
| Contributory | Non-contributory/non-means tested | Means tested | |||||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Total | |
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23 Apr 2012 : Column 664W
| (1) 2012-13 prices using GDP deflators current as at Budget 2012 Notes: 1. Figures relate to Great Britain, or people resident overseas who are receiving Great Britain benefits, except for Over 75 TV Licences and War Pensions, which also cover Northern Ireland. 2. Figures relate to social security expenditure administered by the Department for Work and Pensions or its predecessors along with those elements of housing and council tax benefits funded from local authorities' own revenue. 3. Over the years there have been a number of transfers of responsibility between departments which will affect the trends shown. The main transfers of responsibility are as follows: (a) From April 1999, benefits paid in respect of asylum seekers have been reimbursed by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), as part of the transitional arrangements to the new asylum support arrangements introduced at that time. Expenditure from 1999-2000 on the main income-related benefits excludes that amount reimbursed by NASS, but figures prior to that date have not been adjusted to exclude asylum seekers. (b) Family credit and disability working allowance were replaced from October 1999 by working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit, administered by HM Revenue and Customs. (c) Responsibility for war pensions transferred to the Veterans Agency from 2002-03. (d) Responsibility for providing certain residential care or nursing homes was transferred to local authorities from April benefits in support of those living in 2002 to October 2003. Relevant expenditure has been identified in income support for years up to the transfer, and is presented in these figures. (e) Responsibility for child benefit, guardians allowance and child's special allowance transferred to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs from 2003-04. (f) Starting in April 2003, child allowances and premia in income support and jobseeker's allowance were gradually replaced by child tax credit, administered by HM Revenue and Customs. The figures include estimates of the value of the child tax credit-equivalent elements of those benefits. (g) From April 2003, a significant element of housing benefit expenditure was transferred to local authorities under the Supporting People programme. It is not possible to identify that element of housing benefit that was equivalent to Supporting People funding in the years up to 2002-03. (h) Although funding responsibility for rent rebate transferred to DWP from 2004-05, figures show all spending on rent rebate regardless of source of funding, throughout. Similarly, the figures include the full amount of spending on rent allowance, council tax benefit and predecessors throughout, even though a proportion of expenditure was funded by local authorities. This information can be found on the Department for Work and Pensions website at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=medium_term Source: DWP statistical and accounting data | |||||||
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed each (a) non-means-tested and (b) means-tested benefit in each of the last 30 years. [104706]
Chris Grayling: The information requested on how many people have claimed benefits is not available, however information on benefit recipients could be obtained but only at disproportionate cost.
Social Security Benefits: Disability
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Health on the volume of requests for consultants to complete hospital reports for his Department in respect of claimants of disability living allowance or employment and support allowance. [103561]
Maria Miller: Departmental Ministers and officials have regular discussions with our counterparts in the Department of Health on policy and operational matters, including on disability living allowance and employment and support allowance. Under a long-standing agreement, NHS hospitals are obliged to provide factual reports and other supporting evidence to the Department, free of charge, to support consideration of claims for benefit. No recent discussions have taken place specifically on the volume of requests for such reports.
Social Security Benefits: Young People
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many 16 and 17-year-olds were in receipt of (a) jobseeker's allowance severe hardship payments and (b) income support in each of the last five years; and whether he plans to make any changes to the eligibility criteria after the introduction of universal credit. [103035]
Chris Grayling: Information on the total number of 16 and 17-year-olds who received jobseekers allowance (income based) is in the following table. This information includes those who qualify because they are in a prescribed group as well as those for whom a severe hardship direction has been issued.
| Jobseeker's allowance (income based) recipients, aged 16-17, Great Britain: August 2007 to August 2011 | |
| As at August each year | Recipients |
| Notes: 1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. Figures are based on 5% samples and therefore subject to sampling variation. 3. The preferred statistics on benefits are now derived from 100% data sources. However, 5% sample data still provides some detail not yet available from the 100% data sources, which are then uprated to 100% proportions, and rounded to the nearest hundred. 4. Except for some exceptional circumstances, young people aged 16-17 are generally excluded from receiving benefits as unemployed people. Jobseekers allowance (income based) is only paid to those who are in a prescribed group or for whom a severe hardship direction has been issued. 5. The breakdown of numbers who qualify for JSA in each of these categories is not available 6. Data are available from the Departments Tabulation Tool at the following link: http://83.244.183.180/100pc/is/tabtool_is.html Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate 5% samples. | |
Information on the total number of 16 and 17-year-olds who received income support is in the following table below.
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| Income support recipients aged 16-17, Great Britain: August 2007 to August 2011 | |
| As at August each year | Recipients |
| Notes: 1. Figures have rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Data are available from the Departments Tabulation Tool at the following link: http://83.244.183.180/100pc/is/tabtool_is.html Source: DWP Information, Governance & Security Directorate Work and Pensions 100% Longitudinal Study (WPLS) | |
Regulations later this year will set out the circumstances in which young people under the age of 18 years can qualify for universal credit. We are designing universal credit on the basis that young people under the age of 18 years should normally be in education or training and in most cases should be supported by their parents. However, as now, there will be some cases where it is appropriate to make exceptions. We are considering whether there is scope to simplify and update the current approach but subject to that, we expect the eligibility criteria to be broadly similar.
Universal Credit
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of the funding allocated for transition to universal credit he expects his Department to spend in each of the next three years. [104310]
Chris Grayling: The 2010 spending review settlement included funding of £2 billion for the period 2011-12 to 2014-15. This is intended to meet all the costs of introducing universal credit including any increases in benefit expenditure, additional benefit administration costs in the transition period, the costs of IT development and implementation, communications, staff training and programme management.
The Department spent £103 million in 2011-12 and is estimating to spend a total of £332 million in 2012-13. This will be spent on IT development, programme management, implementation planning, communications and staff training in preparation for the launch of a universal credit pathfinder at the start of 2013-14.
Universal Credit: Young People
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to work with the Department for Education to ensure that universal credit supports young people aged 16 and 17 years who are estranged from their parents to participate in education or training after the rise in the participation age. [102985]
Chris Grayling:
Regulations later this year will set out the circumstances in which young people who are necessarily living away from their parents can qualify for universal credit while in non-advanced education. We are designing universal credit on the basis that young people aged under 18 should normally be in education or training
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and that, as now, there will be some cases where it is appropriate to provide support direct to the young person rather than, as in most cases, via their parents. These principles are reinforced, but not materially changed, by the planned rise in the participation age to 18.
Vetting
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the effect of the time taken obtaining Criminal Records Bureau checks on individuals' ability to obtain employment. [103819]
Chris Grayling: At the request of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), officials from the Department have discussed with the Criminal Records Bureau the time taken to obtain checks but not the effect of the time taken on individuals' ability to obtain employment. Data on that are not collected. The length of time taken to complete a check varies according to each individual case and is not dependent upon an individual's employment or unemployment status.
As shown in official reports, the Criminal Records Bureau has been consistently exceeding its published service standard of processing 90% of enhanced checks within 28 days for over 12 months. In the financial year 2011-12 the CRB issued 95.4% of all enhanced certificates within 28 days and 99.9% of standard certificates within 10 days. There are a number of factors that can affect the time taken to complete checks, including: the length of time it can take for an employer to deal with the initial application; the accurate completion of the application form; the clarity of the information provided; and the operational effectiveness of the Disclosure Units of the police forces.
Work Capability Assessment
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Employment of 13 March 2012, Official Report, column 71WH, which charities advised that with fewer mental, intellectual and cognitive function descriptors in the work capability assessment, there would not be an increase in the number of mental health claimants placed in the support group. [104708]
Chris Grayling: The internal review of the work capability assessment was undertaken with significant input from disability groups. Recognising the concerns of disability groups around initial proposals, significant work was undertaken with them to further refine the assessment. The outcome of this work was published as an addendum to the report and these changes and refinements are fully reflected in the final legislation. For ease of reference I attach the following link to the document:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/work-capability-assessment-review-addendum.pdf
It would be inappropriate for the Department to comment further on individual charities' views on the revised work capability assessment and its descriptors, as this is a matter for the charities themselves to answer.
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Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Employment of 13 March 2012, Official Report, column 72WH, whether the proposed new descriptors for mental, intellectual and cognitive function that were recommended by Professor Harrington could be implemented without amending the descriptors for physical and fluctuating conditions. [104774]
Chris Grayling: It is important that the work capability assessment is a coherent and transparent assessment. The complexity of the proposals put forward on the mental, intellectual and cognitive function descriptors—particularly the proposed scoring system—mean that a similar approach would need to developed for the descriptors used to assess physical conditions.
We are currently investigating how to build an evidence base to determine the effectiveness of the recommendations made to us on both the mental, intellectual and cognitive function descriptors and the physical/fluctuating conditions descriptors.
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Employment of 13 March 2012, Official Report, column 71WH, what evidence he has received that the increase in the number of people being allocated to the support group is as a result of the implementation of recommendations of his Department's internal review on the work capability assessment; and whether he has made an assessment of the effect of implementing the recommendations of Professor Harrington's independent review on the number of people being allocated to the support group. [104775]
Chris Grayling: The statistics we have show that in the three months following the implementation of the recommendations from the internal review, the support group increased by 7% (from 15% to 22% of initial assessments, adjusted to account for appeals).
It is highly likely that the increase in the size of the support group is at least in part due to the Department's internal review of the WCA in 2010.
This is because the review recommended that some additional groups of people be placed into the support group. This included people awaiting certain kinds of chemotherapy, and those with certain communication difficulties and severe mental health conditions.
The latest figures we have relevant to the size of the support group are from March-May 2011, which was when the Department's internal review recommendations were implemented.
As the Harrington recommendations were only implemented in summer 2011, we do not yet know what effect these recommendations have had on the support group.
New data will be available at the end of April.
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people awarded no points in the work capability assessment have been awarded maximum points on appeal. [104852]
Chris Grayling: The information is not available.
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Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the work capability assessment. [104917]
Chris Grayling: Prior to the implementation of the Department-led review of the work capability assessment (WCA), an impact assessment was undertaken to assess whether the proposed changes would help in correctly identifying an individual's capability for work. The impact assessment can be found at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wca-ia-eia.pdf
Furthermore, there is a statutory commitment to review the WCA for the first five years after it was introduced. Professor Malcolm Harrington, a highly respected occupational physician, was commissioned to undertake the reviews. He has now published two independent reviews of the WCA and is now working on his third and final review.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people previously on incapacity benefit who were reassessed using the work capability assessment and placed in the (a) support group and (b) work-related activity group have been given a back-to-work prognosis at (i) one month, (ii) two months and (iii) three months. [104965]
Chris Grayling: This information is not available.
Work Experience
Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the number of work experience placements completed in each parliamentary constituency; [103331]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of workplaces offering work experience placements in each parliamentary constituency. [103330]
Chris Grayling: We do not collect the information in the format requested.
From January to end November 2011, 34,200 claimants started a work experience placement nationally.
Justice
Claims Management Services
Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to reform the regulation of claims management companies. [104118]
Mr Djanogly: I plan to consult in the summer on the conduct requirements which regulate claims management companies activities. Steps have already been taken to tackle poor practices demonstrated by some claims companies handling claims for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), including the establishment of a specialist PPI compliance team within the Department's Claims Management Regulation Unit.
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Disability Living Allowance: Appeals
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people are waiting to have an appeal tribunal hearing as a result of withdrawal of disability living allowance; what the average waiting time is; and what the (a) shortest and (b) longest times are in each local authority area. [103946]
Mr Djanogly: Data for the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal cannot be provided by local authority area. All appeals to the tribunal are registered in the processing centre in the region where the appellant lives, and data can be broken down to the level of these processing centres.
Claimants can appeal to the tribunal on a number of different grounds, such as the rate of benefit awarded or refusal of benefit. The tribunal does not record the issue under appeal and, therefore, cannot isolate data relating to appeals on the basis of having been refused disability living allowance (DLA).
The total number of 'live' DLA appeals (appeals at various stages of the process before hearing or decision) nationally at 31 December 2011 (the most recent period for which statistics have been published) was 43,200, down from 44,500 at the end of June 2011. The following table shows the estimated breakdown of live DLA appeals at each SSCS Tribunal Processing Centre.
The following table shows the average time from receipt at Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to hearing for DLA appeals for the area served by each processing centre. The information covers 1 April 2011 to 31 December 2011, the latest period for which figures are available.
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| (1) Covers whole of Government office region London, except Hillingdon, Harrow, Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge, Waltham Forest and Hackney which are covered by Birmingham. | |
The SSCS Tribunal does not hold information on the shortest and longest waiting times for an appeal hearing. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost by manually checking each individual case file.
It is possible to provide the percentages of appeals disposed of within four weeks and longer than 52 weeks. During the period 1 April to 31 December 2011, 65,200 DLA appeals were disposed of nationally. Of these, 6.9% were disposed of within four weeks and 7.9% were aged 52 weeks or more when disposed of. Those appeals that take longer than 52 weeks to be disposed of are likely to be complex cases which may have more than one hearing, for example a first hearing may have been adjourned for further evidence to be gathered. The following table shows the percentage of DLA appeals cleared within four weeks and in 52 weeks or more at each SSCS Tribunal Processing Centre, during the period 1 April to 31 December 2011.
HMCTS is working hard to increase the capacity of the SSCS Tribunal and reduce waiting times. It has implemented a range of measures including recruiting more judges and medical panel members; increasing administrative resources; securing additional estate; increasing the number of cases listed in each session; running double shifts in its largest processing centre; running Saturday sittings in some of the busiest venues; and setting up a customer contact centre to deal with telephone enquiries.
All of this is having a positive effect. The number of disposals has increased significantly from 279,000 in 2009/10 to 380,000 in 2010-11 and the tribunal planned
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to dispose of around 435,000 appeals in 2011-12, with the capacity for half a million disposals in 2012/13. Disposals outstripped receipts for the 12 months between January 2011 and December 2011, and the number of cases waiting to be heard reduced by over 44,000 between April and December. The average waiting time has stabilised nationally, and is beginning to fall in many venues.
Extradition: Children
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received on the adequacy of the maximum sentence for child abduction crimes; and if he will make a statement. [104701]
Mr Blunt: The Ministry of Justice has not received any formal representations on the adequacy of the maximum sentences available for child abduction offences. The Government are however aware of, and are considering, the recommendation made by the Lord Chief Justice in the cases of R v. Kayani and R v. Solliman (2011) EWCA Crim 2871 in regard to the maximum penalties for offences under the Child Abduction Act 1984.
Family Courts
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reason family courts sit in private; if he will consider requiring them to sit in public; and if he will make a statement. [104314]
Mr Djanogly: Cases involving children are highly sensitive and the European Convention on Human Rights supports the principle that the privacy of vulnerable children and their families should be respected during proceedings. Any desire to make the family courts more open must therefore be carefully balanced with the parties' rights to privacy and the interests of the children involved. Accredited media representatives have been able to attend most family proceedings since April 2009, and we are currently considering more ways in which greater information can be released from the family courts.
Industrial Diseases: Compensation
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what proportion of industrial disease claims for damages were judged to be vexatious or frivolous in the latest period for which figures are available; [103703]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of vexatious or frivolous claims for mesothelioma; and if he will make a statement. [103704]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice does not collect any data in relation to the number of claims for damages that relate specifically to industrial diseases or mesothelioma; nor does it make any formal assessment as to vexatious or frivolous claims.
Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Violence
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the potential effects of his proposed changes to legal aid funding on victims of domestic violence. [104480]
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Mr Djanogly: The legal aid reforms are designed to protect victims of violence. They maintain public funding for advice and representation in private family matters for victims of domestic violence, as well as public funding in respect of protection orders for victims of domestic violence. We will also continue to waive financial eligibility limits in these cases.
Legal Aid Scheme: Parents
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consider extending legal aid to both parents when contesting child custody cases; and if he will make a statement. [104315]
Mr Djanogly: Legal aid is currently available for both parents involved in child custody cases. Following the legal aid reforms, we are taking most private family law cases out of the scope of legal aid. We are encouraging mediation as a means of resolving disputes, in place of adversarial litigation. However, we are keeping legal aid for victims of domestic violence in family cases because otherwise they may not be able to effectively put their case against their former abuser. This does not apply to the perpetrator.
Legal Aid Scheme: Police
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the potential effect on court time of changes to funding for litigants in actions against the police. [104616]
Mr Djanogly: The Impact Assessments and Equality Impact Assessments published alongside the response to consultation lay out the Government's assessment of the likely costs and benefits of the reforms. Ultimately, impacts arising from the changes will be driven by behavioural responses, and these cannot be predicted with any real degree of accuracy. We will undertake a post-implementation review of the reforms between three and five years following implementation.
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has made with the Secretary of State for the Home Department about the potential effect on police time and costs of changes to funding for litigants against the police. [104617]
Mr Djanogly: Discussions were held with a range of Government Departments on a range of issues as part of both the policy development and clearance process, and these discussions naturally included consideration of systemic costs. Ultimately, costs arising from the reforms will be dependent on behavioural responses to the changes, and these cannot be predicted with any real degree of accuracy. We will conduct a post-implementation review of the reforms between three and five years following implementation.
Litter: Prosecutions
Mr Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2012, Official Report, column 217W, on litter: prosecutions, what
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proportion of the people
(a)
charged,
(b)
prosecuted and
(c)
convicted of dropping litter resided in (i) London and (ii) each local authority in London. [104167]
Mr Blunt: Pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2012, Official Report, column 217W; information held on the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database does not identify the place of residence of defendants proceeded against.
Charging data are not collected by the Ministry of Justice.
Staff
Mr Llwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the operational staffing requirement was for (a) operational managers, (b) principal officers, (c) senior officers, (d) prison officers, (e) operational support grades and (f) other grades at each prison establishment on 31 March 2012; and what the staff-in-post figure for
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each such group at each establishment was on that date. [104471]
Mr Blunt: The number of funded posts (otherwise known as the operational staffing requirement) and the number of staff in-post within public sector prison establishments for the grades listed at the latest date available are given in the following table. Figures for private sector establishments are not provided as they have their own grading structures.
All of these grades are now closed to new entrants as part of work force changes in public sector prisons. The principal officer grade has been closed since 2009 and the funded level reflects the number of such staff remaining in-post.
Information on the number of funded posts and full-time equivalent staff in-post is contained in the tables. Information is supplied as at 31 January 2012, which is the date of the latest published associated data.
| Funded posts and staff in- post at Prison Service establishments, a s a t 31 January 2012 | ||||||||
| Operational managers | Principal officer | Senior officer | Prison officer | |||||
| Establishment | Funded | In- post | Funded | In- post | Funded | In- post | Funded | In- post |
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