Bill of Rights: Northern Ireland
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Human Rights Commission about a separate Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. [132395]
Chris Grayling: On the 29 November 2012 the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green), met with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Scottish Human Rights Commission. Various issues were raised including a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
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Community Orders
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders have been placed on community payback orders in each probation area in England and Wales for each year since 2008; and how many such offenders reoffended within two years of the completion of the requirements of the order in each such area in each such year. [133516]
Jeremy Wright: Proven reoffending statistics for England and Wales are published quarterly, most recently for the period January to December 2010. These statistics provide information on proven reoffending at the national, local authority, prison and probation trust level.
It is not possible to provide information on the number of offenders who reoffended following the completion of the community payback (unpaid work) requirement of their order because the Ministry's proven reoffending data measure reoffending from the start of a court order. However, for information, we can provide data on the number of offenders who reoffended within 12 months of commencing this type of requirement.
The following table shows the number of adult offenders in England and Wales starting a court order with an unpaid work requirement, by probation trust, in each year from 2008 to 2010; and the proportion that committed a proven reoffence within a one year follow-up period (ie the one year proven reoffending rate).
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.
Please note that proven reoffending statistics are available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending
Table 1: Proven reoffending rates for adult offenders starting a Court Order(1) with an unpaid work requirement in each year from 2008 to 2010, by probation trust, England and Wales | |||
Probation trust | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
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(1) This does not represent all offenders—offenders who commenced a court order are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders who cannot be matched are excluded from the offender cohort. (2) Court Orders include Community Orders and Suspended Sentence Orders which were introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and came into force in April 2005. |
Conditions of Employment
Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, column 198W, on conditions of employment, how many people were employed on zero-hour contracts in each year between 2008 and 2011. [143045]
Jeremy Wright: The number of people employed on zero-hour contracts by the Ministry of Justice (Ministry of Justice HQ, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, National Offender Management Service and the Office of the Public Guardian) in each year between 2008 and 2011 is set out in the following table.
Number of people employed on zero-hour contracts by the Ministry of Justice as at 31 December | |
Headcount | |
Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, column 198W, on conditions of employment, what grades of employment the 140 members of staff are on. [143046]
Jeremy Wright: The grade for those employed on zero-hour contracts by the Ministry of Justice (Ministry of Justice HQ, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, National Offender Management Service and the Office of the Public Guardian) as at 31 December 2012 is set out in the following table.
Grade | Total |
Confiscation Orders
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the 10 largest confiscation orders imposed by the courts for fraud cases were in the last 12 months. [129796]
Mrs Grant: I have interpreted your question as covering the last 12 complete calendar months. The following table records the 10 largest value confiscation orders granted between 1 November 2011 and 31 October 2012 in relation to fraud cases, within England and Wales.
Fraud offence | Order amount (£) | Order date |
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been recovered under each of the 10 largest confiscation orders imposed by the courts for fraud cases since May 2010. [129801]
Mrs Grant: The table records the 10 largest value confiscation orders granted since May 2010 in relation to fraud cases, within England and Wales and how much has been recovered.
Large value confiscation orders often contain hidden and overseas assets, which makes them extremely difficult to enforce. I have provided a breakdown of the hidden and overseas assets in the table against each order. Of the 10 highest valued confiscation orders relating to fraud cases 79% of the value imposed relates to hidden or overseas assets.
The Government take confiscating criminals’ assets very seriously and during 2011-12 we recovered 8% more from all confiscation orders than in the previous financial year. This year performance has significantly increased again, and for the period April 2012 to the end of October 2012, we have collected 13% more than the same period last year. This means that, though there is still work to do, we are on course to have our most successful year ever.
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During the last two complete financial years, 77% of all confiscation orders imposed were successfully completed.
The following table records the 10 largest value confiscation orders granted since May 2010 in relation to fraud cases, within England and Wales and how much has been recovered.
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Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much has been recovered under each of the 10 largest confiscation orders imposed by the courts for drugs cases since May 2010; [129802]
(2) what the 10 largest confiscation orders imposed by the courts for drugs cases were since May 2010. [129803]
Mrs Grant: The following table records the 10 largest value confiscation orders granted since May 2010 in relation to drugs cases, within England and Wales and how much has been recovered.
Large value confiscation orders often contain hidden and overseas assets, which makes them extremely difficult to enforce. I have provided a breakdown of the hidden and overseas assets in the table against each order. Of the 10 highest valued confiscation orders relating to drugs cases 54% of the value imposed relates to hidden or overseas assets.
The Government take confiscating criminals’ assets very seriously and during 2011-12 we recovered 8% more from all confiscation orders than in the previous financial year. This year performance has significantly increased again, and for the period April 2012 to the end of October 2012, we have collected 13% more than the same period last year. This means that, though there is still work to do, we are on course to have our most successful year ever.
During the last two complete financial years, 77% of all confiscation orders imposed were successfully completed.
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Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the defendants ordered to pay the 10 largest confiscation orders imposed by the courts were recipients of legal aid in the last two years. [129804]
Mrs Grant: I have interpreted your question as covering the last two complete financial years, the period from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2012. The information is not readily available; data must be merged from multiple datasets. I will write to the hon. Member once my officials have carried out this work.
Consultants
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent staff were employed on consultancy contracts in his Department on the latest date for which figures are available; how many such staff were employed on the same date 12 months ago; and if he will make a statement. [132212]
Jeremy Wright: It is not possible to provide these figures. Consultancy agreements are frequently entered into to achieve certain outcomes; they do not necessarily describe the number of full-time equivalents required to deliver those outcomes.
Departmental Responsibilities
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation. [142766]
Mrs Grant: The core responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice are set out in the Appropriation Act for each year which authorises the use of resources for each Department. The core functions listed include the administration of the National Offender Management Service, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service and civil and criminal legal aid, together with functions in relation to justice policy, victims and the criminal justice system.
The costs of delivering the obligations are published in the Main Estimates and the Ministry of Justice annual report and accounts.
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Domestic Visits
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which individuals and organisations (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have visited since May 2010; and on what date each such visit took place. [135279]
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Jeremy Wright: The following table provides details of visits to external organisations by Ministry of Justice Ministers since May 2010 as part of their departmental responsibilities.
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In addition to these visits, Ministers regularly attend receptions, make speeches and visit prisons, courts and other sites within the justice system; these are not included in the table. Also excluded are meetings and overseas travel; these are captured in the quarterly gifts, meetings and hospitality returns, which are available on the Justice website (or the Home Office website for the right hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert) and the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, the right hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green).
Human Trafficking
Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) nationality and (b) gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in January 2013; in which region each of the suspected victims was found; and which agency referred each case to the scheme. [142805]
Mrs Grant: In January 2013 there were 66 referrals to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by The Salvation Army. In the interests of victim safety the region in which the victim was encountered is provided rather than the local authority. Details are provided in the following table:
Nationality | Gender | Region | Referring Agency |
Legal Aid Scheme
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much and what proportion of legal aid was awarded in each year between 1997 and 2011 to individuals serving a custodial sentence at the time the award was made; and how many such individuals received such awards. [136361]
Jeremy Wright: The Government are clear that legal aid must be available to those who need it, but resources are not limitless. That is why we were concerned to see an increase of £25 million in legal aid spend on prison law, between 2001-02 and 2010-11.
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Restrictions placed on prisoners' access to legal advice are having an impact. In July 2010 we reduced the availability of legal aid for prison law treatment cases, which has already reduced spend. However I am still concerned about public confidence in the legal aid system, and an urgent review into this has been ordered.
The details of legal aid spending on prison law each year from 2001-02 to 2011-12 and as a proportion of total legal aid spending in England and Wales, are provided in the table.
Details of the amounts of legal aid spent on prison law are not available for years prior to 2001-02 as spending cannot be disaggregated from other areas of legal aid.
Legal aid spend on prison law in England and Wales(1) (£) | Proportion of total legal aid spending in England and Wales (%) | Total legal aid spending in England and Wales(1) (£) | |
(1) Rounded to the nearest £ million. |
Pay
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employees in his Department were paid (a) between £80,000 and £100,000 per year and (b) in excess of £100,000 per year in each of the last five years. [133118]
Mrs Grant: The number of officials in the Ministry of Justice (Ministry of Justice HQ, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, National Offender Management Service and Office of the Public Guardian) that earned a full-time equivalent salary of (a) between £80,000 and £100,000 and (b) in excess of £100,000 for each of the last five years is set out in the following table:
Year (as at 30 September) | £80,000 to £100,000 | More than £100,000 |
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The increase in employees earning £80,000 to £100,000 from 2009 to 2010 is largely attributable to a contractual 1% increase in the maximum pay threshold of one of the management grades. This resulted in an increase in the threshold from £79,661 to £80,458 thereby increasing the number of people who earned a full-time equivalent salary of £80,000 to £100,000.
Pay Systems
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish details of all payment by results scheme pilots since 2009 indicating (a) the aims and objectives of the pilot, (b) when the pilot started, (c) when it completed or is due to complete, (d) when interim evaluation data were published or are due to be published, (e) when final independent evaluation data were published or are due to be published, (f) how much funding was allocated for each pilot and (g) how much funding was spent on each pilot. [134699]
Mrs Grant: 14 payment by results pilot schemes became operational since 2009.
The pilots test different models and help to inform the use of payment by results in the Criminal Justice system. The Peterborough and Doncaster pilots and the Employment and Reoffending pilots are targeting reduced reoffending within the target cohort of offenders. The local justice reinvestment pilots target reduced demand on local justice services in the pilot areas. The Youth Justice Reinvestment Pathfinders target a reduction in the number of bednights spent by young offenders in custody.
The Ministry of Justice has recently published the consultation paper “Transforming Rehabilitation—a revolution in the way we manage offenders” setting out how we propose to extend payment by results for rehabilitation in the community. We will examine each of the operating pilots further as we develop our approach, both drawing lessons and considering whether they should continue to operate in coordination with new services or whether they should be replaced by new services.
The Ministry of Justice has identified the maximum potential financial exposure by reference to the contractual terms of each pilot. The level of actual spending on each pilot is ultimately dependent on the provider’s success in reducing reoffending. We will therefore identify the spending requirement for each pilot once the final results have been assessed.
Details of the pilots, including start and completion dates and the timing of evaluations, are set out in the following table:
Payment by results pilot schemes which became operational since 2009 | ||||
Date pilot became operational | Date pilot operations are due to end | Interim Evaluation published(Process Evaluation) | Final Independent evaluation data published | |
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(1) There are six Justice Reinvestment pilots—in Greater Manchester, Croydon, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark. (2) The two Employment and Reoffending pilots are in Wales and west midlands and the Marches. (3) The four Youth Justice Reinvestment Pathfinders in Year 1 of the pilot were in Birmingham, north and east London, West Yorkshire and West London. (4) The Peterborough pilot will last for up to six years, with three cohorts of short sentence prisoners, one after another, each containing around 1,000 offenders. Each cohort will remain open until it reaches capacity, or for a maximum period of 24 months. (5) Results from cohort one. Subsequent cohort results approximately every two years thereafter, maximum three cohorts. (6) Results from cohort one. Subsequent cohort results to be published approximately annually thereafter, maximum three cohorts. (7) Results from cohort one. Subsequent cohort results to be published approximately annually thereafter, maximum three cohorts. |
The Ministry of Justice is continuing to assess the robustness of early indicative reoffending data from the pilots and whether they are suitable for publication as Official Statistics. Any publication of such data will be pre-announced on the Ministry of Justice website following standard Official Statistics release protocols.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice has been supporting work, led by the Department of Health to co-design and implement eight drug and alcohol Payment by Results pilots to assess whether paying on the basis of results can further incentivise the delivery of a range of recovery outcomes rather than simply engaging people in treatment. The Ministry of Justice provides no funding to these pilots, which are not part of the department’s own pilot programme.
Prisoners: Self-harm
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners were considered to be at risk of self-harm in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; [138842]
(2) how many prisoners in HM Prison Lincoln were considered to be at risk of self-harm in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [138843]
Jeremy Wright: Prisoners who are considered as being at-risk of self-harm may be placed on an Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) Plan. ACCT is a prisoner focused care planning system for those prisoners identified as being at-risk of self-harm and/or suicide. ACCT has helped prisons to manage prisoners’ risk of self-harm and suicide since 2007. Establishments record and monitor the number of prisoners supported through an ACCT plan locally. There is currently no ability to centrally report this information.
The vast majority of self-harm is not directly life threatening but nevertheless can be extremely distressing both for those affected by it and those who have to deal with it. There are no easy solutions to self-harm but we remain committed to managing and finding ways to reduce it.
The latest available figures show that 6,623 individual prisoners self-harmed in 2010 and 6,854 in 2011. The figures for 2012 are not due to be published until April 2013.
The latest available figures for HMP Lincoln show that 78 individual prisoners self-harmed in 2010 and 95 in 2011. Figures for 2012 will not be available until April 2013.
Prisons: Expenditure
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent from the public purse on prisons in each year since 1987. [130804]
Jeremy Wright: The expenditure recorded each year since 1987-88 on prisons in England and Wales is as follows:
Total expenditure (£ million) | |
Notes: 1. Figures include both public sector and private prisons. 2. Figures from 1993-94 do not include capital expenditure. |
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The figures from 2008-09 are as recorded with the Addendums to the published accounts of the National Offender Management Service, and previously in the published accounts of the HM Prison Service and Home Office.
Over the last 25 years changes to the scope of the Prison Service and the accounting treatment in recording expenditure mean the ability to make useful comparisons between years is reduced.
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much capital expenditure there was on each prison in each year since 2007. [137793]
Jeremy Wright: Details of capital expenditure for all prisons for each year since 2007 are given in the following table:
£ million | |||||
Type of capital expenditure | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
Notes: 1. Local capital expenditure is that met directly by the establishment and excludes expenditure met at regional or national level. 2. Local capital acquisitions include purchases of items such as plant, machinery, mechanical and electrical equipment etc. 3. Figures include immigration removal centres and major investment on new builds during this period. 4. Figures may not be directly comparable over time due to changes in scope and accounting treatment. 5. The capitalisation threshold increased from £5,000 to £10,000 from 1 April 2010. 6. All figures are rounded. |
The higher figures reflect investment in the prison capacity programme which has now come to an end.
The Department holds detailed information on capital expenditure, but because it is not collated by establishments as a matter of course, it will take departmental staff some time to draw it together. As soon as this has been done I will write to the right hon. Gentleman and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
Prisons: Food
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) whether any changes have been made to his Department's contract with 3663 to supply Halal meat for prison food in the last three years; [143212]
(2) what contingency planning his Department has undertaken to avoid any disturbances in prisons following the identification of contaminated Halal meat in prison food; [143213]
(3) how long 3663 has been providing food to the prison estate; [143214]
(4) whether his Department is able to impose financial penalties on suppliers of contaminated Halal meat in prisons; [143241]
(5) whether any prison food containing contaminated Halal meat had been distributed further than the prison estate. [143242]
Jeremy Wright:
The standard for the provision of Halal products has not changed or been amended during the past three years. During this time, 3663 has been the
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sole provider of Halal products. It has been contracted to supply food to public sector prisons since June 2007.
The National Offender Management Service has acted quickly and decisively throughout this issue, withdrawing contaminated and potentially contaminated supply lines, ceasing all deliveries from the affected supplier, providing alternative menu choices and working with the Agency's Muslim advisor to communicate to all Muslim chaplains to disseminate information to prisoners. Due to this positive approach, there have to date been no reported disturbances in prisons linked to this issue. In addition, there have been various engagements with Muslim media to clarify the contamination issue and reassure the community.
All prisons have regularly tested contingency plans to deal with instances of concerted indiscipline and Governors can call on national resources as required.
The Ministry of Justice is currently considering what financial redress it can seek. The MOJ is unaware of any product contamination outside of the Halal products supplied to prisons.