Criminal Injuries Compensation
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many victims of dog attacks under 18 years of age received compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in each of the years (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [124832]
Mrs Grant: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) does not have reliable figures for this. Compensation for victims of violent crime is based on the injuries people sustain not the particular crimes of which they were a victim. The injuries for which CICA can compensate, and therefore provide reliable figures for, are set out in the Tariff of Injuries in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2008, but the tariff does not contain any injuries specific to dog attacks.
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many victims of crime who received compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme did not report to the police but to another body or person considered by the authority to be appropriate for the purpose in each of the years (a) 2009-10 , (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [124833]
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Mrs Grant: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) cannot say definitively how many victims of crime who received compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme did not report to the police but to another body or person considered by the authority to be appropriate. The CICA holds information at that level of detail only within individual files, not in its main database. The exact information requested could be obtained only by a member of staff manually sifting through around 1,600 files at a disproportionate cost.
The CICA can, however, provide figures based on cases resolved where the victim did not report the crime to the police but did receive an award. These are set out in the following table. To be eligible for compensation, within the terms of the scheme, any victim who did not report the crime to the police must have reported to another body or person considered by the CICA as appropriate.
Financial year | Number of successful claims |
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much each of the Tariff Bands in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme would be worth if they had been increased by the rate of inflation since 1996 using each of the indices (a) RPI and (b) CPI; [124834]
(2) if he will publish the figures used and calculations made, referred to in paragraph 58 of the Impact Assessment of the proposals to reform the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme which produce an estimate that the average total payment for loss of earning would fall from £40,000 to £30,000 under the proposal to pay loss of earnings at a flat rate of £4,243 per year. [124836]
Mrs Grant: The following table sets out the value of each of the tariff bands in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) along with how much each of the tariff bands would be worth if they had increased by the rate of inflation since 1996 using each of the indices (a) RPI and (b) CPI:
£ | |||
Band | Tariff amount | (a) Inflated amount (RPI) | (b) Inflated amount (CPI) |
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Note: ONS RPI and CPI indices have been used for these calculations. |
The figures used to estimate the initial average total payment for loss of earnings of £40,000 were based on a sample of 138 cases from 2009-10 (out of about 1,100 who received loss of earnings in that year). As well as total award value, we have detailed information on most members of the sample including years of past and future loss.
The £30,000 average total payment for loss of earning under the proposal to pay a flat rate of £4,243 was estimated using information on past and discounted future loss for these members. Multiplying the flat rate of £4,243 by the total years of loss across the sample and dividing across the size of the sample gives an average total payment of approximately £30,000.
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the 73 Pre-Tariff cases which were outstanding at 31 March 2012 were settled during the period 1 April to 30 September 2012. [124835]
Mrs Grant: The number of outstanding Pre-Tariff cases at 31 March 2012 was 63 not 73. 28 Pre-Tariff cases were settled in the period 1 April to 30 September 2012.
Prison Sentences
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of custodial sentences handed down was in each year from 1994 to 2011. [124603]
Jeremy Wright: The average custodial sentence length (months) received for all offences at all courts in England and Wales from 1994 to 2011 can be viewed in the following table.
Average custodial sentence length received for all offences at all courts, England and Wales, 1994 to 2011(1, 2). England and Wales | |
Average custodial sentence length(4 )(months) | |
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(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) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (4) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services within the Ministry of Justice. |
Sentencing
Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people convicted of robbery received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence in 2011; [124473]
(2) how many people convicted of rape received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence in 2011; [124474]
(3) how many people convicted of theft from a vehicle received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence in 2011; [124475]
(4) how many people convicted of grievous bodily harm received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence in 2011; [124476]
(5) how many people convicted of actual bodily harm received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence in 2011. [124477]
Jeremy Wright: The number of persons found guilty and sentence breakdown at all courts for robbery, rape, theft from a vehicle, grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm, in England and Wales for 2011 can be viewed in the following table:
Number of persons found guilty and sentence breakdown at all courts for offences of robbery, rape, theft from a vehicle, grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm, England and Wales, 2011(1,2) | |||||||||
Offences | Found guilty | Total sentenced(7) | Absolute discharge | Conditional discharge | Fine | Community sentence | Suspended sentence | Immediate custody | Otherwise dealt with |
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(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) Includes offences under: Sexual Offences Act 2003, s1 and s5 (4) Includes offences under: Theft Act 1968, s1 (5) Includes offences under: Offences against the Person Act 1861, s18 (6) Includes offences under: Offences against the Person Act 1861, S.47 (in part) (7) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown Court, may be sentenced in the following year. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice |
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals in the Peterborough city council area have been convicted of welfare benefits-related fraud in the most recent period for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [124177]
Jeremy Wright: The number of persons found guilty at all courts of benefit fraud offences in the Cambridgeshire police force area in 2011 can be viewed in the table.
Court proceedings data are not available at local government authority level therefore data for Cambridgeshire police force area have been provided in lieu.
Number of persons found guilty at all courts of benefit fraud offences(1), in the Cambridgeshire police force area, in 2011(2,3) | |
Number found guilty | |
(1) Includes offences under Social Security Administration Act 1992 as added by the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997, Sections 111A & 112. (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice |
Unpaid Fines
Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the monetary value is of outstanding fines imposed by the Health and Safety Executive on businesses which have remained unpaid for more than (a) six and (b) 12 months. [124614]
Mrs Grant: HM Courts and Tribunals Service systems do not identify the outstanding balance of fines imposed by specific prosecutors or for specific offences and therefore this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual search of all fine accounts.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Anaerobic Digestion
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many anaerobic digestors have been (a) given planning approval and (b) built since May 2010; and if he will make a statement. [124066]
Richard Benyon: Statistics from the Department for Communities and Local Government show that 55 anaerobic digestion (AD) projects received approval between April 2010 and March 2012. Data provided by the Waste and Resources Action Programme show that four more have received approval between then and July 2012. These were for projects identified as waste infrastructure. We estimate that a further 71 AD projects based on farms have received approval since May 2010. Nine of these 130 projects are currently operational.
The Government's AD Strategy and Action Plan, published in June 2011, sets out our commitment to increasing the energy from waste produced through AD. We identified 56 actions to tackle barriers to the uptake of AD.
In July 2012, we published a progress report on the action plan. This showed that the number of plants had increased from 54 to 78 since the strategy was compiled and that the capacity of the industry had doubled. The Strategy and Action Plan and the progress report are available on DEFRA's website.
Water
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the high level group on water last met; when it will next meet; and if he will make a statement. [124412]
Richard Benyon: The high level group on the implementation of market reform in the water sector first met on 7 September and is due to meet next in November. The group has agreed to meet every six to eight weeks. The note of the first meeting is available on the Ofwat website.
The group draws representation from the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments, Ofwat, the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland, the water and sewerage
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industry and customers to support the UK Government in delivery of the market reform proposals set out in the draft Water Bill.
Water Companies
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will commission a study to compare the performance of UK water companies with their publicly-owned European counterparts. [124652]
Richard Benyon: Since privatisation in 1989, the stable regulatory framework for the water sector has enabled companies to attract over £108 billion in low-cost investment to upgrade water and sewerage infrastructure, improve customer service and environmental standards.
The evidence shows that charges and standards are broadly consistent across Europe. There are no plans for a comparative study.
Work and Pensions
Access to Work Programme
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled people have received support through the Access to Work programme in each year since 2009-10, by Department for Work and Pensions district. [124463]
Esther McVey: The following table shows the number of individuals helped by the Access to Work programme in each financial year between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2012. The figures are broken down further by Jobcentre Plus (JCP) district.
JCP district | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
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Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Due to missing or erroneous postcodes, there are a small proportion of cases where we have been unable to generate a JCP district. Therefore JCP district totals may not sum to GB total, due to summing rounded figures and areas where the JCP district is missing. Source: Access to Work database. |
Atos Healthcare
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people participating in the Atos Quality Survey in Scotland rated Atos Healthcare's performance as (a) very good, (b) good, (c) poor and (d) very poor in 2012 to date. [122486]
Mr Hoban: Unfortunately the information requested above is not available in the format requested.
The answer could be provided in the requested format only at disproportionate costs exceeding the disproportionate cost limit of £800 for parliamentary questions.
Employment Schemes: Young People
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many companies have employed young people through the wage subsidy incentive in the Youth Contract since its inception. [124903]
Mr Hoban: The Youth Contract, including wage incentives, went live on April 2012. From this point any young person attached to the Work programme could be placed into work with a wage incentive being offered to the employer.
From late July 2012, in selected “youth unemployment hotspots”, wage incentives became available via Jobcentre Plus to employ eligible 18 to 24-year-olds.
In most cases the wage incentives element of the Youth Contract are paid after a young person has been in work continuously for 26 weeks. Following the collection and quality assurance of these data, the first set of Official Statistics on the wage incentive should be available from early 2013.
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Housing Benefit
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people under 25 years in (a) Stafford constituency and (b) England are in receipt of housing benefit. [124536]
Steve Webb: Information is not currently available for housing benefit (HB) recipients aged under 25 at parliamentary constituency level. The table gives the figure for HB recipients in England.
Housing benefit recipients in England - May 2012 | ||
All HB recipients of which are aged under 25 | ||
Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 4. Age groups are based on the age on the count date (second Thursday in the month), of either: (a) the recipient if they are single, or (b) the elder of the recipient or partner if claiming as a couple. 5. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data are available monthly from November 2008 and May 2012 are the most recent available. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) |
Housing Benefit: Private Rented Housing
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) absolute and (b) percentage change was in the number of housing benefit claimants in the private rented sector who were in work in each local authority area between May 2010 and January 2012. [124838]
Steve Webb: The available information will be placed in the Library.
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new claims for jobseekers' allowance were submitted using the online delivery channel in each month from March 2012 to date. [124867]
Mr Hoban: The Department reports performance against the Business Plan ‘Proportion of new Jobseeker's Allowance claims submitted online indicator in the Annual Report and Accounts’.
The Business Plan indicator is comprised of a single Jobseeker's Allowance measure, which is the Business Case measure. There are however two measures of jobseeker's allowance available, the Business Case measure and the Management Information System Programme (MISP) measure.
The following table shows the percentage of jobseeker's allowance claims made via the online channel from March 2012 to September 2012 based on both measures of jobseeker's allowance online performance.
Percentage | ||
Business case measure | MISP measure | |
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Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Atos assessment centres there are in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland; and in which such assessment centres mental health champions are based. [122373]
Mr Hoban: There are 146 assessment centres currently used to conduct health and disability assessments for the DWP and the Social Security Agency in Northern Ireland. These are located as follows:
England: 97
Wales: 19
Scotland: 30
Northern Ireland: 10.
60 mental function champions are employed by Atos Healthcare for the DWP contract and five for Northern Ireland. They provide a telephone service to all health care professionals regardless of location.
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Atos Healthcare assessment centres there are in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland; and how many in each such category operate during (i) core office hours, (ii) weekends and (iii) evenings. [122491]
Mr Hoban: There are 146 assessment centres currently used to conduct health and disability assessments. These operate according to customer demand within the locality. They normally operate during core hours although when required may open at a weekend.
Universal Credit
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of (a) the number of universal credit claimants who will receive transitional protection and (b) the expenditure on such transitional protection for each year between 2013 and 2017. [124759]
Mr Hoban: We will offer transitional protection to universal credit recipients, which will ensure that households will not receive less as a result of their move to universal credit, where circumstances have remained the same. The number of transitional protection recipients and costs in each year between 2013 and 2017 are subject to the incremental caseload of universal credit over this time period, and the final policy design. The detailed approach to managing this increase is currently under development.
The cost of transitional protection is included within the £2 billion spending envelope allocated for the introduction of universal credit over the spending review period.
Stephen Timms:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of
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the merits of recent proposals for a self-care addition to universal credit. [124904]
Mr Hoban: The Department has sought the views of stakeholders as we develop universal credit and we will continue to do so. We are currently considering the proposals made in the recent report: ‘Holes in the safety net: The impact of Universal Credit on disabled people and their families’.
Work Capability Assessment
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether employment and support allowance claimants undergoing a work capability assessment are entitled to view the full documentation on that assessment compiled by Atos Healthcare. [122489]
Mr Hoban: On completion of a work capability assessment, claimants in receipt of employment and support allowance can contact DWP to request a copy of the Atos Healthcare assessment report.
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints his Department has received in relation to the work capability assessment in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date. [122495]
Mr Hoban: The DWP Medical Services Contracts Correspondence Team has received the following number of complaints in relation to the work capability assessment (WCA), in each of the year's requested:
2010—correspondence not categorised to identify complaints by type
2011—117 items of WCA correspondence
2012 (to date)—147 items of WCA correspondence
To provide a month-by-month response to this question would involve undertaking a detailed review of all the correspondence cases to ascertain the relevant month in which the complaint was lodged and would exceed the disproportionate cost limit of £800 for parliamentary questions.
All complaints received are taken seriously and are properly investigated prior to a response being issued.
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions a Decision Maker from his Department requested additional medical information from a claimant after the work capability assessment had taken place but before a final decision had been made in each month of 2012 to date. [122498]
Mr Hoban: This information is not captured by DWP, although the requirement to undertake telephone calls to all claimants prior to a decision is mandatory.
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In all cases, the claimants are given the opportunity to give further evidence before the final decision is made.
Work Programme
Sir Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) prime contractors and (b) subcontractors have voluntarily withdrawn from the Work programme since it began; and how many such contractors were charitable and voluntary organisations. [124762]
Mr Hoban: No prime contractors have withdrawn from the Work programme.
The most recent published stock take information, which represented the supply chain as at 30 January 2012, showed 412 organisations from the voluntary and community sector involved as subcontractors, a net decrease of eight from the August 2011 return. Overall there was a slight net increase of seven in the total number of subcontractors. A further stocktake will be published shortly.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions have been issued by Work programme providers in each month since the programme started. [124905]
Mr Hoban: Benefit sanctions are not issued by Work programme providers. Work programme providers are able to raise sanction doubts, for example if they do not consider that a person is available for work and actively seeking work, but the ultimate decision to enforce a sanction sits with Jobcentre Plus.
Information on how many jobseeker’s allowance sanctions have been applied by Jobcentre Plus for failing to participate in the Work programme in each month since the programme started can be found at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
Guidance for users is available at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf
Church Commissioners
Metal Theft
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what the cost of metal theft from Church of England property was in (a) Manchester and (b) Chester diocese in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 to date. [124703]
Sir Tony Baldry: The following table shows the value and amount of metal thefts from Church of England property in the dioceses of Manchester and Chester in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The figures for 2012 display the situation as of 30 September.
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | Total over 3 years | |||||
Diocese | Claims | Cost (£) | Claims | Cost (£) | Claims | Cost (£) | Claims | Cost (£) |
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