Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he intends to answer the letter sent to him by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 15 November 2012 with regard to Ms Leila O'Sullivan. [136121]
Gregory Barker: I have now replied to the right hon. Member and apologised for the delay in doing so.
Petroleum Act 1998
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which rig operators have notices served under section 29 of the Petroleum Act 1998 that are unresolved. [136063]
Mr Hayes: Any party served a notice under Section 29 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (“the Act”) has the opportunity, at any time, to ask for consideration of withdrawal of their notice(s) if they no longer remain within a category as defined by Section 30(1) or Section 30(2) of the Act.
There are currently 17 extant S29 notices under review following requests for withdrawal from served parties. (Consideration of withdrawal of S29 notices is a regular and ongoing part of DECC Offshore Decommissioning Unit's risk assessment process.)
Public Expenditure
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has carried out since the 2012 autumn statement of the effect of the proposed reduction in his Department's resource budget of (a) 1% in 2013-14 and (b) 2% in 2014-15 on its (i) staffing levels and (ii) operating capability. [136330]
Gregory Barker: The autumn statement of 5 December 2012, OfficialReport, columns 871-882, requires the Department of Energy and Climate Change to make reductions to its programme budgets of £3 million in 2013-14 and £6 million in 2014-15. The majority of the Department's budgets are protected from reductions as they relate to the management of historical energy liabilities or overseas development aid commitments. The Department is currently in the middle of a business planning process which will determine how the reductions are applied. This process is planned to conclude by the end of March 2013.
Wind Power
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if his Department will publish a wind map of Britain. [136231]
Mr Hayes: Each month, DECC publishes a table of aggregate UK wind speeds and an accompanying map of the monitoring station locations. These are available at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/source/temperatures/temperatures.aspx
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Treasury
Financial Services: Equality
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance his Department has published on the application of the Equality Act 2010 (Age Exceptions) Order 2012 to the provision of financial services; and if he will make a statement. [136027]
Sajid Javid: The Government Equalities Office (GEO), based within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility for the Equality Act 2010 (Age Exceptions) Order 2012. In September 2012 GEO published guidance for financial service providers and their customers, entitled “Equality Act 2010 and age discrimination: What do I need to know? A quick start guide for financial services”. HM Treasury worked with GEO on the content of the quick start guide and has not published separate guidance.
Government Securities
Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the overseas holding of UK gilts; and what the value is of UK gilts held by each holding country. [136333]
Sajid Javid: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on holdings of gilts by overseas investors. These data show that as at end-September 2012, the market value of overseas gilt holdings totalled £398.3 billion, accounting for 30.2% of the total gilt stock.
The ONS does not disaggregate these data by country.
The Government welcome the participation of overseas investors in the gilt market as it contributes to the diversification of the investor base and supports the depth and liquidity of the market.
Income Tax
Mr Raab: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons HM Revenue and Customs revised the figure for the amount of income tax paid by additional rate taxpayers in 2011-12 in table 2.6 of its income tax liabilities statistics from £47 billion when the table was published in April 2011 to £38.1 billion when the table was published in April 2012. [136251]
Mr Gauke: Estimates of the income tax liabilities of additional rate taxpayers in 2011-12 published in April 2012 took account of newly available evidence suggesting that the behavioural responses of high income individuals to the introduction of the additional rate were greater than previously expected. Among these additional behavioural effects, a much greater amount of income was forestalled (i.e. brought forward into 2009-10 from later years in order to be taxed at 40% rather than the 50% additional rate). This had the effect of significantly reducing the amounts of income then declared in 2010-11 and 2011-12 compared to the predictions made when the April 2011 statistics were compiled.
These changes to the projections for high income individuals were described in Annex B of the April 2012 Income Tax Liabilities Statistics bulletin, available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/liabilities.pdf
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The HMRC report "The Exchequer effect of the 50% additional rate of income tax" provides further details, available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/excheq-income-tax-2042.pdf
In addition, the liabilities statistics published in April 2012 were updated to take account of newly available Survey of Personal Incomes outturn data for 2009-10 and the revised forecast for the UK economy released in the Office for Budgetary Responsibility's March 2012 Economic and fiscal outlook.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average annual sum to be retained by persons previously liable for the 50p rate of income tax following its reduction; how many such persons he estimates there are in each (a) nation of the UK and (b) region of England; and what estimate he has made of the sums to be forgone by the Exchequer in respect of the reduction in the 50p rate in each such nation and region in the 12 months following the reduction. [136266]
Mr Gauke: The cost of reducing the additional rate of income tax to 45% is estimated at around £100 million per year. This accounts for a significant behavioural response associated with changes in personal tax rates.
An estimate of the impact broken down by region is not available as the behavioural response is only estimated in aggregate.
For more details see the HMRC report “The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate of income tax”, available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/excheq-income-tax-2042.pdf
Estimates of the number of individuals liable to the additional rate of income tax by country and region in tax years are published on the HMRC website in Table 2.2 “Number of individual income taxpayers by marginal rate, gender and age, by country and region, 1999-2000 to 2012-13”:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-statistics/table2-2.pdf
These statistics are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) projected in-line with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2012 Economic and fiscal outlook.
Long-term Health Trends Review
Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the (a) actions taken by his Department, (b) decisions made by Government for each of the recommendations made in the (i) conclusion and recommendations chapter and (ii) Annex A of the report by Derek Wanless and the Health Trends Review team at HM Treasury published in April 2002; and if he will make a statement. [136178]
Sajid Javid: The Wanless Review was commissioned by and reported to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the previous Administration. I therefore refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made by the then Chancellor on 17 April 2002, Official Report, column 589, and to the plans subsequently set out by the Department of Health.
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Non-domestic Rates: Licensed Premises
David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will harmonise the pub premises rates with the normal rateable value of other commercial high street premises. [136230]
Sajid Javid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 175W.
Olympic Games 2012
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which events at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were attended by each Minister in his Department using tickets or passes for which they did not pay personally; and what the cost was of attending each such event for members of the public who used comparable seats or had comparable access. [135649]
Sajid Javid: The Government pledged to publish these details following the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will do so shortly.
Pensions: Tax Allowances
Chris Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 827W, on pensions: tax allowances, what estimate he has made of the potential yield to the Government of implementing the changes to pension tax relief in 2013-14 rather than 2014-15 in (a) 2013-14 and (b) each of the following five financial years. [136303]
Sajid Javid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 827W, on the reason behind the 2014-15 implementation of the changes to pension relief and unavailability of an estimate of the yield from introducing the changes in April 2013.
Public Sector: Pay
David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration has been given to the effects of regional pay proposals in the public sector to economically deprived areas outside London. [136544]
Danny Alexander: Following the 2011 autumn statement, the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) were asked to consider how public sector pay could better reflect local labour markets.
The Government published these reports at the 2012 autumn statement and announced that they will be accepting the key recommendations, including that there should be no new centrally-determined local pay rates or zones but that there should be greater use of existing flexibilities.
The Government also said that there will be no centrally-imposed changes to the geographical structure of pay in the civil service.
Sickness Absence
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2012, Official
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, column 438W, on sick leave, if he will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing work place stress and staff absences in his Department. [136199]
Sajid Javid: Her Majesty's Treasury is firmly committed to the well-being of its staff and keeps various techniques and practices which support this commitment under review.
Although we do not currently use any specific mindfulness-based interventions in dealing with sick absence cases, employees have access to a range of well-being services which are provided on site at full cost to the employee. In addition, guidance is available for staff, for example on managing stress in the workplace, and support is available through an Occupational Health service and an Employee Assistance Programme.
Teachers: Pay
Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether changes to teachers' pay in Wales outlined in his autumn statement will be the responsibility of the Welsh Government or of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [135956]
Mr Laws: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Education.
The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), is responsible for the pay and conditions of teachers in England and Wales.
In his written ministerial statement on 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 58-59, the Secretary of State announced his intention to accept, subject to the views of consultees, all of the key recommendations of the 21st report of the School Teachers' Review Body. Accepted recommendations will be incorporated into the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions document and will apply to both England and Wales.
Although the pay and conditions of teachers are not a devolved matter, the Welsh Government is a statutory consultee of the School Teachers' Review Body. The Welsh Government submitted evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body and has provided a response to the consultation on the Secretary of State's intention to accept their recommendations. There will be a further consultation on the revised School Teachers' Pay and Conditions document before it is laid before Parliament, to which the Welsh Government will be invited to respond.
Valuation Office Agency
Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the performance of the Valuation Office Agency in 2012. [134861]
Mr Gauke: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes its business plan each year setting out its main areas of work including a set of input and impact indicators. The 2012-15 plan is available on the internet via the VOA's corporate website under corporate publications and can also be viewed at the House of Commons' Library.
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The agency also publishes its annual report and accounts including an operating and performance commentary. The annual report and accounts for the last three financial years are also available on the agency's website and are placed in the Library of the House of Commons.
Here is a link to these reports:
http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/publications/corporate.html#rep
I reviewed the latest business plan and annual report prior to publication. I am also updated by the agency's senior officials throughout the year on operating and performance issues.
Culture, Media and Sport
School Sports
15. Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect of the Government’s proposed removal of specific requirements for outdoor space in schools on her plan to create a sporting habit for life; and if she will make a statement. [136090]
Hugh Robertson: This is principally a matter for the Department for Education, but Sport England’s £1 billion youth and community strategy is designed to strengthen links between school and community sport. For the first time we will target funding towards young people aged 14-25, helping to inspire a generation and create a culture where people have a sporting habit for life.
17. Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect of the Government’s proposed removal of specific requirements for outdoor space in schools on her plan to create a sporting habit for life; and if she will make a statement. [136092]
Hugh Robertson: This is principally a matter for the Department for Education, but Sport England’s £1 billion youth and community strategy is designed to strengthen links between school and community sport. For the first time we will target funding towards young people aged 14-25, helping to inspire a generation and create a culture where people have a sporting habit for life.
Horse Racing
16. Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she has made on replacing the Horserace Betting Levy Board system of funding horse racing; and if she will make a statement. [136091]
Hugh Robertson: I was pleased that Bookmakers and Racing reached an agreement for the 52nd levy. I have now given the Levy board six months to help broker a commercial and enforceable long-term agreement under the current levy arrangements. I continue to explore other options to fund racing and, if a suitable solution is found, would expect this to lead to a public consultation by autumn 2013.
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4G Spectrum
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the status is of the 4G spectrum auction. [136089]
Mr Vaizey: On 7 January Ofcom published the names of the bidders who will take part in the award of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum bands, and said that bidding will start before the end of January. The bidders are:
Everything Everywhere Ltd;
HKT (UK) Company Ltd;
Hutchison 3G UK Ltd;
MLL Telecom Ltd;
Niche Spectrum Ventures Ltd;
Telefónica UK Ltd;
Vodafone Ltd.
Broadband: Lancashire
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to assist Lancashire county council to rollout high speed broadband in Yealand, Lancashire and similar areas. [136256]
Mr Vaizey: Broadband Delivery UK has been working closely with Lancashire county council to help the county to deliver its superfast broadband project and universal standard 2 Mbps broadband. The county council has a delivery contract in place and is currently undertaking its consultation to ensure no over-building of other broadband networks, as required to demonstrate compliance with EU state aid requirements. This consultation is due to end on 12 January 2013.
Deloitte
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many meetings Ministers and officials in her Department had with Deloitte in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [135981]
Hugh Robertson: The Department does not hold centrally a list of all meetings held by officials and to collate this information for the period requested would incur disproportionate cost. However, as a London 2012 sponsor officials within the Government Olympic Executive would have met Deloitte to discuss matters relating to the Games. The Department publishes details of all ministerial meetings with external organisations, since May 2010, on its transparency website at the following link:
http://www.transparency.culture.gov.uk/category/other/meetings/
Electronic Publishing: Public Libraries
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on e-lending in public libraries. [136078]
Mr Vaizey: Approaches to e-lending are a matter for individual library authorities. However I have also commissioned William Sieghart to conduct an independent review examining the issue of e-lending in public libraries in England. The review will report back to me this Session.
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Gay Games: Greater London
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to support London's bid to host Gay Games X in 2018. [135929]
Mrs Grant: My Department wholeheartedly backs the bid to bring the 2018 Gay Games to London. My officials have met with the London 2018 Bid Team to discuss the bid and the Minister for Sport and Tourism, my right hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Hugh Robertson), has written to confirm that my Department stand ready to provide advice and assistance to the bid.
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with organisers of the bid for London to host Gay Games X in 2018; and if such discussions have examined the possible use of Olympic facilities as part of the bid proposal. [135930]
Mrs Grant: The legacy use of Olympic and Paralympic facilities is a matter for the venue owners and I would therefore encourage the organisers to engage with the venues directly. The venue owner for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the London Legacy Development Corporation. My Department stands ready to facilitate discussions if necessary.
Volleyball: Kettering
Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if the Minister for Sport will visit the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering. [136128]
Hugh Robertson: I have no current plans to visit the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering.
Women and Equalities
Autumn Statement
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on the effects on equalities policy of the autumn statement. [136070]
Mrs Grant: Tough decisions are necessary to reduce the deficit, but it is vital robust processes are in place to ensure equality issues are taken into account.
There have been regular discussions with Ministers related to the impacts on women and other equality groups, both in the run up to the autumn statement and following the statement.
Females: Poverty
Nia Griffith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies on women of recent tax and benefit changes. [136065]
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Esther McVey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Government are supporting women and their families, for example by extending child care support through universal credit and by lifting 2 million of the lowest paid workers out of income tax altogether, six out of 10 of whom are women.
Education
Children: Speech and Language Disorders
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (a) how many and (b) what proportion of pupils in (i) reception, (ii) year 1 and (iii) year 2 in each state-funded primary school had speech and language difficulties in the latest year for which figures are available. [135333]
Mr Timpson: The available information has been placed in the House Libraries.
Information on pupils with special educational needs (including some school level data) is available in the “Special Educational Needs in England: January 2012” Statistical First Release which can be found at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001075/index.shtml
Children: Speech Therapy
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the availability of speech and language therapy for children in England with special educational needs who do not have a statement of special educational needs. [134727]
Mr Timpson: No recent assessment has been made. Decisions about the need for speech and language therapy are for local agencies.
The Government published on 27 December 2012, the final reports of The Better Communication Research Programme: Improving provision for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. The reports highlight the importance of local agencies working together to assess needs and provide the right support. The findings of the reports support the action the Government are taking to better support the needs of disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs.
The Government's proposals for legislation to improve the special educational needs system include provision to promote integration of special educational provision with health and social care provision and for joint commissioning of services. These proposals are designed to help to improve provision made for all children and young people with special educational needs, including those with speech, language and communication needs.
Families
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to allow children to maintain relationships with grandparents and other family members if their parents separate. [135147]
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Mr Timpson [holding answer 7 January 2012]: We agree with the Family Justice Review's recommendation that the importance of children's relationships with grandparents and other family members, where safe and appropriate, should be emphasised in the dispute resolution process. Work will continue this year to develop a range of support to help separated parents resolve their disputes out of court. The importance of considering the benefits to children of maintaining relationships with wider family members will be stressed throughout this process, including through online support, parenting programmes for separated parents, and as part of the new “parenting agreement” which is being developed.
Kids Company
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what government funding will be awarded to Kids Company in financial year 2013-14; and if he will make a statement. [135521]
Mr Timpson [holding answer 9 January 2012]: There are a number of funding opportunities available for voluntary sector organisations across government. The Department for Education have a range of contracts for which voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations are eligible to bid. We have a new round of VCS funding available under the National Prospectus Grants programme 2013-15. The bidding exercise for this programme, which will offer up to £30 million a year in 2013-14 and 2014-15, closed on 30 November 2012. Eligible applications are under active consideration and no funding allocations have yet been made.
Special Educational Needs
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which special schools are schools for children with statements of special educational needs for behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. [135332]
Mr Timpson: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
Information on pupils with special educational needs (including school level data) is available in the ‘Special Educational Needs in England: January 2012' Statistical First Release which can be found at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001075/index.shtml
Special Educational Needs: Suffolk
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children with special educational needs and resident in Suffolk were educated outside that county in each of the last three years; and what the cost of such provision was to Suffolk County Council in each year. [134572]
Mr Timpson: Information on how many children with special education needs and resident in Suffolk that were educated outside that county is given in the following table.
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| Number of pupils(1,2,3) resident in Suffolk and attending school outside that county, by SEN provision 2010, 2011 and 2012 | |||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
| (1) Figures are based on the local authority of pupil residence. (2) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. Includes boarding pupils. (3) Includes nurseries, state-funded primary schools (including middle schools as deemed), primary academies, state-funded secondary schools (including middle schools as deemed), city technology colleges, secondary academies, and state-funded and non-maintained special schools. Source: School Census, 2010, 2011 and 2012 | |||
The Department does not hold information on the cost of such provision to Suffolk county council.
Teachers: Early Retirement
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers took early retirement in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Essex, (d) Cambridgeshire, (e) Bedfordshire, (f) Hertfordshire and (g) England by category of institution in each of the last three years. [134571]
Mr Laws: The following tables provide the number of teachers awarded early retirement benefits from the Teachers' Pensions Scheme (TPS), whose last recorded service was in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire local authority areas and for England, in each year from 2008/09 to 2010/11. Figures include teachers retiring from local authority maintained schools, academies and city technology colleges as well as those teachers in independent schools and further and higher education colleges that were covered by the TPS.
| Early retirements(1) from institutions covered by the Teachers' Pensions Scheme in each local authority area. 2008-09 to 2010-11. Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire local authorities and England | |||||
| 2008-09(2) | |||||
| Nursery/primary | Secondary(3) | Special and PRU | Other sectors | Total | |
| 2009-10(2) | |||||
| Nursery/primary | Secondary(3) | Special and PRU | Other sectors | Total | |
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| 2010-11(2) | |||||
| Nursery/primary | Secondary(3) | Special and PRU | Other sectors | Total | |
| (1) Includes premature and actuarially reduced benefits. (2) Provisional. (3) Includes academies. (4) Bedfordshire local authority was re-organised on 1 April 2009 and retirements are not available for the new local authorities in Bedfordshire. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Database of Teacher Records and Pensioner Statistical System (PENSTATS) | |||||
Teachers: Training
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which higher education institution providers of initial teacher education have reduced their allocation for PGCE secondary training in (a) history, (b) geography, (c) English, (d) STEM subjects in 2013-14; and what that reduction is as a proportion of 2012-13 allocations in each such case. [135415]
Mr Laws: Postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) places were allocated directly to ITT providers in academic year (AY) 2012/13. For AY 2013/14, however, they are split between core places allocated to providers and School Direct places allocated to schools, who work with a partner ITT provider to deliver teacher training. Therefore a straight comparison of allocations between the two years may be distorted.
On this basis, the following tables show the higher education institution providers of initial teacher education with reduced core allocations for postgraduate secondary training for academic year 2013/14, the proportionate reduction and the effect of School Direct. Many providers with reduced core allocations will actually be delivering more training once the effect of School Direct is included.
| (a) History | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Reduction from 2012/13 to 2013/14 | ||
| HEI name | Core places only | Core plus School Direct places |
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| (b) Geography | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Reduction from 2012/13 to 2013/14 | ||
| HEI name | Core places only | Core plus School Direct places |
| (c) English | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Reduction from 2012/13 to 2013/14 | ||
| HEI name | Core places only | Core plus School Direct places |
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| (d) STEM subjects (aggregate of biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, physics with mathematics, combined science, ICT, computer science and design and technology) | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Reduction from 2012/13 to 2013/14 | ||
| HEI name | Core places only | Core plus School Direct places |
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Details of the numbers of places which produce the proportions in the tables above and a breakdown of the STEM numbers into individual subject cohorts have been placed in the House Libraries.
Young Offenders: Literacy
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the level of literacy is of those detained in the secure youth estate. [135266]
Mr Timpson: Data on the educational attainment of those detained are not collected centrally for the entire youth secure estate. Some data are collected centrally by the Education Funding Agency for the provision it funds for those aged under 18 in public sector Young Offender Institutions. Of the 3,410 entrants to these institutions who were newly assessed for literacy skills in 2011/12; 11% were assessed on entry as being at level 2 or above (equivalent to GCSE English at grade C or above); 38% at level 1 (equivalent to GCSE English at grades D-G); and 51% at entry level or below (below the level of GCSE grade G).
Justice
Crimes of Violence: Reoffenders
Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the average number of previous convictions was for each offender found guilty of actual bodily harm between 1994 and 2011; [135750]
(2) what the average number of previous convictions was for each offender found guilty of rape between 1994 and 2011; [135751]
(3) what the average number of previous convictions was for each offender found guilty of robbery between 1994 and 2011; [135752]
(4) what the average number of previous convictions was for each offender found guilty of grievous bodily harm between 1994 and 2011. [135753]
Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the average number of previous convictions for each offender found guilty of actual bodily harm, rape, robbery and grievous bodily harm.
| Average number of previous convictions of offenders found guilty of actual bodily harm, rape, robbery and grievous bodily harm 2001-11 | |
| Average previous convictions | |
| Source: Ministry of justice | |
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The figures are drawn from the Police National Computer (PNC) which was created in the year 2000 and the data prior to this are considered unreliable. We have used an extract of data from Criminal Stats Publication (offending history section, chapter 7) up to the end of 2011 which have the current year (in this case 2011) and then a 10 year history. The dates that the extract contains are from the 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2011 and the average is taken from anyone convicted of requested crimes in this period:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-editions
For clarity, below is a list of each offence counted within each crime category in the table:
Offences against the Person Act 1861 Sec.47 (in part) Assaults occasioning actual bodily harm (malicious wounding).
Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.29(l)(b) & (2) Racially or religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Rape (1963-1964).
Sexual Offences Act 1956 Sec.7 as amended by Mental Health Act 1959 Sec.127 Man having unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman who is a defective.
Mental Health Act 1959 Sec.128 (1)(a) Male member of staff of hospital having unlawful sexual intercourse with a female patient.
Mental Health Act 1959 Sec.128 (1)(b) Man having unlawful sexual intercourse with mentally disordered female patient in his care.
Rape (1965-94).
Rape of a female aged under 16—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.l.
Rape of a female aged 16 or over—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1.
Rape of a male aged under 16—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1.
Rape of a male aged 16 or over—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1.
Attempted rape of a female aged under 16—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1.
Attempted rape of a female aged 16 or over —Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1.
Attempted rape of a male aged under 16—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.l.
Attempted rape of a male aged 16 or over—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.1.
Rape of a female child under 13 by a male—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.5.
Rape of a male child under 13 by a male—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.5.
Attempted rape of a female child under 13 by a male—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.5.
Attempted rape of a male child under 13 by a male—Sexual Offences Act 2003 S.5.
Theft Act 1968 Sec.8 Robbery.
Theft Act 1968 Sec.8 Assault with intent to rob.
Offences against the Person Act 1861 Sec.18 Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Offences against the Person Act 1861 Sec.29 Causing explosion or casting corrosive fluids with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Offences against the Person Act 1861 Sec.20 Malicious wounding —Wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.29(l)(a) & (2) Racially or religiously aggravated wounding or grievous bodily harm.
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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.
Family Justice Council
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice where he anticipates savings to be made in the Family Justice Council in 2012-13. [135247]
Mrs Grant: The Family Justice Council had a total allocation of £77,505 for the financial year 2012-13. £12,000 has been transferred to the Family Justice Board and the council has identified savings of £5,500—mostly drawn from staff and non-staff travel and subsistence budgets. It is possible that further savings may be found from the research budget before the end of the financial year.
Fraud: Cash Dispensing
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of sentence was given to those convicted of fraud involving the use or possession of a Lebanese loop device for ATM card capture in (a) the UK and (b) London in each of the last three years. [134945]
Jeremy Wright: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the court proceedings database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to identify from this centrally held information the number of defendants convicted of using or possession of a Lebanese loop device.
Legal Aid Scheme
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) terms of reference, (b) membership and (c) reporting date of the legal aid review announced on 7 November will be. [135084]
Jeremy Wright: The Secretary of State for Justice, has made clear that he is concerned about public confidence in the legal aid system. He has ordered an internal policy examination of aspects of the system that affect its credibility with the public. We will make a further announcement in due course.
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of reductions to civil legal aid and obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. [135314]
Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 is fully compliant with the Government's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Olympic Games 2012
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which events at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were attended by each Minister in his Department using tickets or passes for which they did not pay personally; and what the cost was of attending each such event for members of the public who used comparable seats or had comparable access. [135643]
Mrs Grant: The Government pledged to publish these details following the Olympic and Paralympic games and will do so shortly.
Prisoners
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) Category A, (b) Category B, (c) Category C and (d) Category D prisoners are currently incarcerated in each prison in England and Wales. [136045]
Jeremy Wright: The table identifies all sentenced adult male prisoners who have a centrally recorded security category of A (including provisional standard, high and exceptional risk), B, C, or D. Category A data is accurate as at 2 January 2013 and all other data is accurate as at 4 January 2013.
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.
| Prison | Category A | Category B | Category C | Category D |
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Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many Category A prisoners are currently classified as (a) Standard Risk, (b) High Risk and (c) Exceptional Risk in each prison in England and Wales. [136046]
Jeremy Wright: Category A prisoners are currently only held in the eight High Security Prisons. On 2 January there were:
Belmarsh—61 Standard Risk; six High Risk; and three Exceptional Risk prisoners
Frankland—209 Standard Risk; and 14 High Risk prisoners
Full Sutton—162 Standard Risk; and 17 High Risk prisoners
Long Lartin—153 Standard Risk; and 16 High Risk prisoners
Manchester—20 Standard Risk; and 11 High Risk prisoners
Wakefield—137 Standard Risk; and four High Risk prisoners
Whitemoor—144 Standard Risk; and 12 High Risk prisoners
Woodhill—49 Standard Risk; and seven High Risk prisoners
Young Offenders
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders under the age of 18 were held in the adult secure estate in 2011. [134352]
Jeremy Wright: Five young people aged under-18 years were authorised to move into the over-18 secure estate during 2011.
This data has been provided by the Youth Justice Board (YJB).
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Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the average number of previous convictions was for each offender held within the secure youth estate in each year since 1994; [134916]
(2) how many people under the age of 18 and in the care of the secure youth estate were re-offenders in each year since May 2005. [134884]
Jeremy Wright: Databases held centrally by the Ministry of Justice record information on the previous convictions or reoffending for those offenders entering the secure youth estate.
Table 1 shows the average number of previous convictions for offenders under the age of 18 who were sentenced to immediate custody in England and Wales between 2001 (the earliest available) and 2011. Data for 2012 will be available from March 2013.
| Table 1: Average number of previous convictions for offenders under the age of 18 sentenced to immediate custody, England and Wales | ||
| Number of juveniles sentenced to immediate custody | Average number of previous convictions | |
The numbers of previous convictions given in Table 1 are based on individual sentencing occasions and will therefore be lower than the average number of previous offences committed by these offenders. The data also do not include any previous cautions given to these offenders by the police.
Table 2 shows the number of juvenile offenders in England and Wales who were released from custody in each of the years 2005 to 2010; and the proportion that committed a proven reoffence within a one year follow-up period. Data for 2011 will be published on 31 October 2012.
| Table 2: Proven reoffending rates for juvenile offenders released from custody. England and Wales | ||
| Number of offenders in cohort(1) | Proportion of offenders who reoffend (percentage) | |
| (1) This does not represent all offenders—offenders who were released from custody are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders that cannot be matched are excluded from the offender cohort. | ||
A proven reoffence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.
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Please note that proven reoffending statistics are available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending
Tables 1 and 2 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.
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many young people of each age between 10 and 17 years were convicted of a first offence since 1 May 1998; and how many such people (a) committed a further offence and (b) were later sentenced to a prison term in an adult institution; [135252]
(2) how many people of each age between 10 and 17 years have been convicted of a crime since 1 May 1998; and how many such people of each age were (a) committing their first offence and (b) reoffenders; [135302]
(3) how many people of each age between 10 and 17 years who have received a police caution (a) have only received one caution and (b) went on to receive further cautions since 1 May 1998. [135304]
Jeremy Wright: The figures are drawn from the Police National Computer (PNC) which was created in the year 2000 and the data prior to this are considered unreliable. We have used an extract of data from the most recent Criminal Stats Publication (offending history section, chapter 7) which have the current year and then a 10 year history. The most recently published publication used the dates 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2012 and that is what we have used for all of the answers to these PQs:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-statistics
Table 1 shows the number of people under the age of 18 by age who have been convicted of a first offence since July 2001.
| Table 1: Number of young people of ages between 10 and 17 convicted(1) of committing a first offence since July 2001 in England and Wales | |
| Age | First time convictions |
| (1) Offenders recorded on the (PNC) by an English or Welsh police force as having received their first conviction. Offenders may have previously received a caution, reprimand or warning prior to this conviction. Source: Ministry of justice | |
Table 2 shows from the number of people in each age category in table 1, how many went on to be convicted of an offence after their first conviction and how many people in each age category were later sentenced to an immediate custodial sentence as an adult.
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| Table 2: Number of young people of ages between 10 and 17 who went on to commit a further offence or receive an adult custodial sentence following from their first recorded conviction | |||
| Age | Total offenders | Went on to commit further offence after first conviction | Went on to receive an adult custodial sentence |
Table 3 shows the number of young people ages between 10 and 17 by age who have been convicted of a crime and the number of these people who are fist time offenders at a particular age along with the number of reoffenders.
| Table 3: Number of people aged between 10 and 17 convicted of a crime and the number of these who are first time offenders(1) and reoffenders(2) | |||
| Age group | Total convicted | First time offenders | Reoffenders |
| (1) A first time offender in the table above is an individual whose first convicted crime is also there first recorded crime. (2) A reoffender is defined as any individual having previously received a caution, reprimand or warning prior to their first conviction. Offences resulting in penalty notices for disorder are not counted as first offences. Source: Ministry of Justice | |||
The data only include individuals at the first point for which they are convicted of a crime. Therefore no individual appears more than once in the above table and they appear at their earliest conviction date. The number of reoffenders is calculated based on whether the individual committed any subsequent offence after an initial first offence and is not based on the methodology as measured in the Proven Reoffending Statistics Quarterly Bulletin:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending
which only include those individual who has committed an offence within 18 months during the follow-up period.
Table 4 shows the number of young people of each age from 10 to 17 who received a caution, how many received only one caution and those who receive further cautions since 1 July 2001.
| Table 4: Number of people who received cautions between age 10 to 17 since 1 July 2001 | |||
| Age | Total | Received only one caution | Went on to receive at least one further caution |
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| Source: Ministry of Justice | |||