Drugs
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage a greater production of drugs for rare illnesses; and what incentives his Department offers pharmaceutical companies to increase development of such drugs. [161826]
Norman Lamb: The European Union offers a range of incentives to encourage the development of medicines for rare diseases in order to address the unmet clinical need in the form of orphan drug legislation (Regulation (EC) No 141/2000). These incentives include market exclusivity (for 10 years), the provision of scientific advice specifically tailored for orphan medicinal products and fee reductions and waivers for regulatory procedures.
Applications for the designation of orphan medicines are reviewed by the European Medicines Agency through the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP). Via the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the United Kingdom takes an active role in the decision making process at the COMP, ensuring applications for Orphan Drug designation of potential drug candidates for rare diseases are appropriately recognised, encouraging companies to develop their products further.
For drug licensing, it is compulsory for designated orphan medicinal products to use the centralised procedure to gain a marketing authorisation. A marketing authorisation application will be sent by the company directly to the European Medicines Agency, to be assessed
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by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). The UK is fully represented at the CHMP, ensuring that applications for a Marketing Authorisation (MA) for an Orphan Drug are thoroughly and rapidly evaluated for quality, safety and efficacy and a MA is granted without undue delay for the treatment of rare diseases.
Fluoride: Drinking Water
Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 149W, on fluoride: drinking water, whether any assessment to add fluoride to drinking water in Southampton and South West Hampshire is in place; and what reports he has received of whether any such proposal is part of an existing scheme. [161931]
Anna Soubry: Prior to April 2013 South Central Strategic Health Authority assessed the potential benefit to health if fluoride were to be added to the drinking water in Southampton and South West Hampshire, and whether it was feasible to do so.
Public Health England is continuing to review the matter.
Glaucoma
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people have been diagnosed with glaucoma in each of the last five years; [161829]
(2) what the age group of those with glaucoma was in each of the last five years. [161830]
Dr Poulter: This information is not available in the format requested.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued a clinical guideline on glaucoma. NICE estimate that around 2% of people older than 40 in the United Kingdom have glaucoma, and that glaucoma accounts for around 10% of blindness registrations in the UK.
Health Services
Mr Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on its priorities for new indicators for the Quality and Outcomes Framework. [161994]
Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has not held discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the introduction of new indicators into the Quality and Outcomes Framework.
NICE is responsible for managing the independent process for developing and reviewing the evidence base for the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) clinical and public health-related indicators. NICE'S independent advisory committee recommends new indicators or changes to existing indicators. Recommendations from NICE are fed into the negotiations on the General Medical Service GP contract.
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NHS Employers then negotiate with the General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association on which of the published indicators should be applied nationally and what the financial value and payment thresholds for those indicators should be. NHS Employers negotiate on behalf of NHS England and the devolved Administrations.
Health Services: Immigrants
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to limit access to health services for immigrants and seek back payment costs for services. [161843]
Anna Soubry: Entitlement to free national health service hospital treatment is limited to those who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom or exempt from charges under regulations. Chargeable migrants provided with urgent treatment before they have paid, who do not clear any outstanding debt, may be subject to debt collection proceedings and may be refused a new visa or extension of stay.
Following a major review, the Department will shortly consult on a number of proposals to change the rules and procedures on charging visitors and migrants for health services, including improving how the NHS can identify, charge and recover charges where they should apply. The Department has no plans to deny necessary, access to health services.
Herbal Medicine
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to implement statutory regulation of herbal practitioners via the Health and Care Professions Council. [162068]
Dr Poulter: The legislation around this policy is complex and there are a number of issues that have arisen which we need to work through. We appreciate that the delay is causing concern. The Department will make an announcement on the progress of this policy once the issues have been resolved.
Hospitals: Standards
Penny Mordaunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the link between patient experience and staff satisfaction. [161958]
Dr Poulter: We know that staff who feel engaged and valued in an open and supportive working environment deliver better care and support for patients, and this theme was reiterated in the initial Government response to the Francis report. In particular there are a number of academic studies which show a clear link between staff survey results and the quality of NHS services.
Patient and staff feedback, including a suite of patient experience surveys and the annual NHS staff survey, is now the responsibility of NHS England. A number of elements of its programme of work have been informed by the evidence that demonstrates the links between staff experience and the performance of health care
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providers. In particular, NHS England is committed to implementing the Friends and Family Test for both patients and staff. The information they gather from patient and staff feedback as described above will allow NHS England to continue to assess the link between patient experience and staff satisfaction.
Lung Cancer
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment his Departments has made of access to treatment for patients with lung cancer in the NHS; and if he will make a statement; [162197]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all lung cancer patients have access to a clinical nurse specialist; [162200]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of progress in improving access to treatment for lung cancer patients since May 2010. [162201]
Anna Soubry: In January 2011 we published ‘Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer’. Backed by over £750 million over four years, the strategy set out an ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives every year by 2014-15 through earlier diagnosis of cancer and improved access to treatment for all cancers, including lung. Earlier diagnosis of lung cancer will mean that more patients can benefit from curative treatment.
We know from the National lung Cancer Audit 2012 that there have been increases in curative surgery for lung cancer patients. The audit report supports providers and commissioners and NHS England to reduce variation in services and drive improvement locally. The next audit is due for publication in December 2013.
The evaluation of the regional pilot of the lung cancer symptom awareness campaign held in 2011 also showed that more cancers were diagnosed at an earlier stage, and there was more access to lung resection surgery. In preparing the national health service for the forthcoming lung cancer campaign, we have advised them about the possible increased demand for lung cancer treatment services. We will be fully evaluating the impact of the campaign on treatment levels.
We are also providing improved access to treatment through other means, such as the Cancer Drugs Fund, through which over 30,000 patients have benefited since October 2010. With the development of the chemotherapy dataset, we will shortly have detailed information about chemotherapy drug treatment for lung cancer patients.
In March 2012 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published the Lung cancer Quality Standard. This quality standard describes markers of high-quality, cost-effective care that, when delivered collectively, should contribute to improving the effectiveness, safety and experience of care for people with lung cancer. The standard contains 12 quality statements about lung cancer care, and statement 4 sets outs that:
“People with known or suspected lung cancer have access to a named lung cancer clinical nurse specialist who they can contact between scheduled hospital visits.”
In the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2011-12, 91% of lung cancer patients reported having a clinical nurse specialist, compared to 87% for all cancers.
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Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence relating to its planned review of access to treatments for non small-cell lung cancer. [162199]
Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions. As an independent body, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the development of its guidance to the national health service.
NICE has appraised a number of technologies for non-small-cell lung cancer.
NICE is currently reviewing its technology appraisals of erlotinib for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (TA162) and gefitinib for the second-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (TA175) with a view to producing updated technology appraisal guidance which will cover the use of both products for treating non-small-cell lung cancer that has progressed following prior chemotherapy. NICE currently expects to issue revised final guidance in June 2014.
Mental Illness: Prisoners
George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people who are mentally ill were imprisoned in (a) 2012 and (b) the first three months of 2013 because there was not a place available for them in a psychiatric hospital. [162228]
Norman Lamb: The information requested is not collected centrally.
NHS: Ancillary Staff
Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care assistants in each region of the UK are on zero hour contracts. [162339]
Norman Lamb: The Department does not collect this information centrally.
Skills for Care, the partner in the sector skills council for social care, in England, has provided the following estimates on adult social care workers by each region.
Skills for Care is an employer-led workforce development organisation and is responsible for the strategic development of the adult social care workforce in England. Skills for Care do not collect any data for the devolved Administrations and the devolved Administrations have their own equivalent organisations.
| Estimated number of adult social care workers on zero-hours contracts, by each English region | |
| Region | Estimated number of workers on zero-hours contracts |
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| Source: Skills for Care workforce estimates 2011, NMDS-SC May 2013 | |
NHS: Anniversaries
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what events he (a) has been invited to and (b) plans to attend to mark the 65th anniversary of the National Health Service; [162527]
(2) how he plans to mark the 65th anniversary of the National Health Service. [162554]
Dr Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has not received a specific invitation to mark the 65th anniversary of the national health service
The Secretary of State will be celebrating the 65th birthday of the NHS by combining his programme of personal work with frontline NHS staff, with a specific visit to a NHS hospital on 5 July.
NHS: Redundancy
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long it will take for redundancies in the NHS since 2010 to break even and be cost neutral. [161840]
Dr Poulter: The payback period for redundancies made by national health service organisations is a matter for individual employers. This information is not held centrally.
In relation to the modernisation of the health and care system, by the end of 2011-12 savings were expected to have exceeded the total forecast redundancy costs up to 2015. This was confirmed with the publication of the 2011-12 administration costs outturn, which was £662 million lower than forecast in the published impact assessment, further increasing the level of savings from reforms.
The final impact assessment for the Health and Social Care Bill estimated that, at 2010-11 prices, the savings from the reforms would be as set out in the following table and that the redundancy costs between 2010-11 and 2014-15 were most likely to be £810 million.
| Estimated savings from the Health and Social Care Bill, 2010-11 to 2014-15 | |
| Savings (£ million) | |
| Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest million. Source: Co-ordinating document for the final impact assessment Health and Social Care Bill. A copy of this document has already been placed in the Library. | |
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Obesity
Mr Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with Public Health England on its responsibility to share information and expertise with local authorities to help them make improvements in the population's obesity outcomes. [161995]
Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with Public Health England regarding reducing the burden of ill health associated with obesity; and if he will make a statement. [162144]
Anna Soubry: The Department and Public Health England (PHE) are clear that tackling obesity is a shared priority. Ministers hold regular discussions to ensure that responsibilities are clear and are discharged appropriately.
PHE's role is to work with, support and help local authorities to tackle obesity. To achieve this PHE will take learning from existing approaches, and, working with a range of partners, develop evidenced-based approaches which will support local authorities. Information about progress for each local area will be available through the Public Health Outcomes Framework indicators.
PHE is responsible for nationally-led initiatives to tackle obesity including marketing campaigns such as Change4Life and nationally co-ordinated initiatives, for example the National Child Measurement Programme and NHS health checks.
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that initiatives to tackle obesity focus on management of obesity and excess weight as well as prevention. [162223]
Anna Soubry: The Government's ‘Call to action on obesity in England’ sets out our approach to tackling overweight and obesity in the new public health and national health service systems. This approach recognises the importance of both preventing obesity and supporting people in reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. In England, local authorities have received ring-fenced funding to support them in improving the health of their local populations, which may include the commissioning of weight management services. Public Health England will support local areas in commissioning these services. Health and well-being boards will bring local partners together and enable them to develop agreed care pathways.
NHS England is responsible for commissioning severe and complex obesity services and has set out its policy on this.
A copy of ‘Call to action on obesity in England’ has already been placed in the Library.
Orthopaedics
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England and Wales have opted for amputation of feet or legs due to continuing mobility problems in the last three years; and what the age group is of such people. [161833]
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Norman Lamb: Information is not held centrally on the number of people who have opted for amputation due to continuing mobility problems.
The numbers of finished consultant episodes in England in the last three years where an amputation of a toe, foot or leg has been recorded are as set out in the following table:
| Activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | |||
| Age band | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
| Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre | |||
This is a devolved matter; the Department therefore only holds data for England.
Overseas Aid
Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which projects administered by his Department were UK Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) attributable; what the total value of his Department's contribution to UK ODA was in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012; and what the value of that contribution will be in 2013. [162211]
Anna Soubry: The Department makes an annual subscription to the World Health Organisation as its overseas development assistance contribution. The amounts paid for the annual contributions for 2010 to 2013 were:
| £ million | |
Pregnant Women: Alcoholic Drinks
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to promote abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy; and if he will work with the devolved assemblies to begin a UK-wide publicity strategy of this policy. [161838]
Anna Soubry: UK chief medical officers' advice is that women should avoid alcohol if they are pregnant or trying to conceive.
If women do choose to drink, our advice is that it is best to minimise the risk to the baby by not drinking more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week, and by not getting drunk.
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In England, the Department's Start4life campaign provides advice to pregnant women on establishing healthy habits to give their babies the best start in life and reduce the risk of poor health in life. As part of this campaign, the Department has launched a leaflet that includes information on alcohol and the reasons why it is best avoided in pregnancy.
On 18 May 2012, the Government launched the National Health Service Information Service for Parents. This digital service for parents provides regular NHS and other quality assured advice for both mothers and fathers on staying healthy in pregnancy, preparing for birth and looking after their baby, and includes advice on risks of drinking before conception and during pregnancy.
The Government are also committed to improving the labelling of alcoholic drinks, which would help make people more aware of how much alcohol they are drinking, what the guidelines are and what the risks are, including for those who are pregnant.
As part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, alcohol retailers and producers have a responsibility to raise this awareness for those who drink and have committed to putting the warning 'Avoid alcohol if pregnant or trying to conceive', or an alternative logo, on 80% of labels on shelf by 2013.
Responsibilities for matters such as health education and campaigns in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are for the devolved Administrations.
Prosopagnosia
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the level of prosopagnosia in the UK; what assistance he makes available to people with that condition; and if he will make a statement. [162249]
Norman Lamb: The Department has made no estimate of the level of prosopagnosia, a condition sometimes called “face blindness”, in the United Kingdom. People who are concerned that they may be affected by prosopagnosia should discuss the matter with their general practitioner.
We understand that NHS Choices will be including information about prosopagnosia in the A to Z of medical conditions on its website later this year. This will help to promote better understanding among the wider general public and ensure that people with prosopagnosia receive the recognition and support they need.
Radiotherapy
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting time for radiotherapy is in England; and what comparative assessment he has made of this figure with that in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales. [161841]
Anna Soubry:
In England, patients should wait a maximum of 31 days for their definitive treatment following a diagnosis of cancer, including where that treatment is radiotherapy. In the most recent period for which statistics are available (Quarter 4 2012-13), data published by NHS England show that 98.3% of people
1 July 2013 : Column 478W
began their first definitive treatment within one month (31 days) of diagnosis for all cancers. This is 2.3% above the level of expected performance of 96%.
Patients should also experience a maximum wait of 31 days for a second or subsequent treatment if that treatment is a course of radiotherapy. Data for the same period show that 98.1% of patients waited 31 days or less for the second or subsequent treatment where that treatment was radiotherapy. This is 4.1% above the level of expected performance of 94%.
The Department has made no comparative assessment of radiotherapy waiting times in England against those in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Reflexology
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the reflexology sector on the use of reflexology as a method of pain relief. [161839]
Norman Lamb: There have been no discussions with the reflexology sector on the use of reflexology as a method of pain relief.
Clinical responsibility for an individual's health condition rests with their general practitioner, who must therefore be able to justify clinically any treatment s/he refers someone to.
School Milk
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent representations he has received on the proposed national contract for the administration of the Nursery Milk Scheme; [162019]
(2) what pricing will be used by his Department for the proposed national contract for the Nursery Milk Scheme; [162020]
(3) what assessment he has made of the effect on farmers of the proposed national contract for the administration of the Nursery Milk Scheme. [162021]
Dr Poulter: As part of the consultation process we engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including parents, childcare providers and milk producers. We also engaged specifically with representatives of the dairy-industry and local government to seek their views on how they might be affected by the options proposed in the consultation.
We are gathering data during the consultation process to inform an impact assessment of the proposed options on farmers and business including small to medium sized businesses.
Based on the evidence received, we will provide a fuller assessment of the direct impact on business.
A decision about the future operation of the scheme will be made after full consideration is given to the impact assessment, a comprehensive analysis of the consultation responses, and other relevant information.
Thromboembolism
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that clinicians are able to prescribe novel oral anticoagulants. [161732]
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Norman Lamb: Decisions on the prescribing of medicines are a matter for clinicians in discussion with their patients.
National health service commissioners are legally required by regulations to fund those anticoagulant treatments recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in its technology appraisal guidance.
This clarifies the information given in my written answers to the hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) on 18 June 2013, Official Report, column 668W.
Justice
Crimes against Property: Sentencing
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2013, Official Report, columns 6-7W, on crimes against property, how many of those arrested on property damage charges were sent to prison. [156721]
Jeremy Wright: The proportion of those convicted to a custodial sentence for property damage is at its highest for 10 years.
Information on offenders sentenced to immediate custody for criminal damage offences is already in the public domain and can be viewed in the Sentencing chapter of the Criminal Justice Statistics publication on the MOJ website (see in particular annual tables A5.1 from 2001 to 2011). Please see the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/162616/sentencing-tables-1211.xls.xls
Housing Act 2004
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been prosecuted under section (a) 30, (b) 32 and (c) 35 of the Housing Act 2004 since that Act's enactment. [161009]
Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. However, information held centrally for offences under sections 30, 32 and 35 of the Housing Act 2004 form part of a wider group consisting of all offences under all sections of the Act. As such, prosecutions brought under sections 30, 32 and 35 of the Housing Act 2004 cannot be separately identified from prosecutions brought under other sections of the Act.
Knives: Crime
Philip Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been (a) charged and
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(b)
prosecuted under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 for aggravated threatening knife offences since 3 December 2012; and what sentence or disposal was handed down in each case where the defendant was found guilty or admitted the offence. [160087]
Jeremy Wright: These offences are contained in the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and came into force on 3 December 2012, and carry a minimum custodial sentence of six months for adults, and four month Detention and Training Order for 16 to 17 years olds which must be imposed unless in all circumstances it would be unjust to do so.
Neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Home Office hold information required to answer part (a) as we do not hold statistics centrally on the number of people charged. However the Ministry of Justice holds corresponding data on the number of prosecutions and the table shows the number of offenders who have been prosecuted. The latest available figures are available in table 8 of the Knife Possession Sentencing Quarterly Brief which was published on 6 June 2012. The quarterly bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly-brief-january-to-march-2013
Legal Aid Scheme
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what meetings were held as part of his Department's consultation on legal aid reforms since 1 October 2012 with (a) the Chair of the Bar Council, (b) the President of the Law Society, (c) members of the senior judiciary, (d) circuit leaders, (e) solicitors representing Law Society Members and (f) other individuals or organisations; and what the (i) date and (ii) length was of each such meeting. [158068]
Jeremy Wright: Between 9 April and 4 June 2013 the Government consulted on a number of proposals to reform legal aid via the “Transforming Legal Aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system” consultation. This included a proposed model of competitive tendering for criminal legal aid services. We have been clear we must continue to bear down on the cost of legal aid, including the £1 billion of taxpayers' money spent on criminal legal aid a year, to ensure we are getting the best deal for the taxpayer.
Ministers and officials have undertaken numerous meetings with stakeholders and interested parties over the time period in question, and particularly during the course of the consultation. This includes regular meetings with the judiciary which ordinarily cover a range of topics, including legal aid. In the table is listed every meeting undertaken by the ministerial team, policy officials and representatives of the Legal Services Commission (or from 1 April 2013 the Legal Aid Agency).
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|
Tuckers Solicitors (Manchester), Olliers Manchester, Cartwright King | |||
|
Stakeholder engagement event in Reading with 99 tickets booked | |||
|
Stakeholder engagement event in Newcastle with 200 tickets booked | |||
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Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of his proposed legal aid reforms on the number of self-represented litigants. [159468]
Jeremy Wright: Between 9 April and 4 June 2013 the Government consulted on a number of proposals to reform legal aid via the “Transforming Legal Aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system” consultation. This included a proposed model of competitive tendering for criminal legal aid services. We have been clear we must continue to bear down on the cost of legal aid, including the £1 billion of taxpayers' money spent on criminal legal aid a year, to ensure we are getting the best deal for the taxpayer.
In addition Ministers and officials in the MOJ meet regularly with HMCTS and members of the Judiciary and will continue to monitor impact of the changes.
The MOJ's analytical services team has commissioned a research project to develop the evidence base on the range of litigants in person in private law family cases, their behavioural drivers, support needs and their impact on the court system.
The research includes two key elements:
(1) a detailed analysis of all cases listed for a hearing in five target courts over a three-week data collection period, involving observation of the hearings, interviews with the parties and the professionals associated with the case and scrutiny of the court file; and,
(2) a local contextual study, designed to pick up the broader processes and perspectives relevant to litigants in person.
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The aim is to improve our understanding of the full range of cases involving litigants in person and how their needs are supported during the court process.
Magistrates: Veterans
Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates have served in the armed forces. [161761]
Mrs Grant: I am unable to provide this information, as to do so would incur disproportionate costs; all of the Lord Chancellor's local advisory committees would be required to check the individual personal files for over 23,000 magistrates.
Offenders
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people working in (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible have a criminal conviction. [161084]
Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central record of people working in the Department, its agencies and its Executive non-departmental public bodies that have a criminal conviction.
To establish how many staff have a criminal conviction would require a Ministry wide exercise to collect the information. This would incur disproportionate costs. If serving members of staff receive a criminal conviction, they will be subject to potential disciplinary action. Depending on the nature of the conviction, this could lead to dismissal, including summary dismissal.
This would be in addition to any criminal sanctions imposed by the courts. Prior to beginning employment with the Ministry of Justice, applicants must declare criminal convictions and consent to additional background checks where appropriate. Previous criminal convictions do not automatically exclude people from employment at the Ministry of Justice and each case is considered on its merits.
Police Cautions
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Office of the Chief Magistrate about the use of conditional cautions. [155391]
Jeremy Wright: I have not had any recent discussions specifically on conditional cautions. However, I have regular meetings with the judiciary and in October the Ministry of Justice published consultations on the draft Adult and Youth Codes of Practice for Conditional Cautions copies of which were sent to the judiciary. The Government engaged with the magistracy as part of the review into simple cautions.
Prison Service
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what sentences were received by each employee of the Prison Service found guilty of criminal activity in the workplace in each year since 2003; [154392]
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(2) what sentences were handed down to employees of the Prison Service found guilty of criminal activity in the workplace in each year since 2003. [154022]
Jeremy Wright: Staff employed in the public sector prison service and found guilty of a criminal offence in the workplace would invariably face internal disciplinary action in addition to the criminal prosecution.
While the vast majority of its staff are honest and hard working, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is committed to detecting, deterring and disrupting any and all corrupt behaviour by individuals working in prisons. A dedicated NOMS Corruption Prevention Unit was set up to ensure staff corruption is identified and tackled. As part of this work NOMS has compiled a central record of staff convicted of offences which meet the NOMS definition of corruption.
This definition is that corruption occurs when a person in a position of authority or trust abuses their position for their or another person's benefit or gain.
Therefore the NOMS central record does not include all types of criminality as not all offences meet the definition. No central data exist prior to 2008.
Sentences handed down to individuals working in prisons since 2008 is given in the following table:
| Sentences | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Grand total |
The information provided has been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison staff were dismissed for breaches of the code of conduct in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [159440]
Jeremy Wright: Information on the number of civil servants employed by the National Offender Management Service working in prison establishments that were dismissed for conduct in the past five calendar years are contained in the following table.
| Headcount of staff in prison establishments | |
| Dismissal—Conduct | |
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| Notes: 1. Does not include staff in HQ, Area Services or Shared Service Centre, who do not work in prison establishments. 2. Figures represent the headcount of staff leaving the department with a reason for leaving listed as “Dismissal—Conduct”. | |
Prisoners’ Release
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many and what proportion of prisoners given a life sentence were released before their originally allocated minimum period of imprisonment had been served in the last five years; [158959]
(2) how many and what proportion of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment or an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection in the last 30 years have not served the entirety of their original punitive tariff period. [158961]
Jeremy Wright: All life sentence prisoners and those prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) must serve a minimum period of imprisonment to meet the needs of retribution and deterrence. Pursuant to section 30 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997, the Secretary of State may at any time release an indeterminate sentence prisoner on licence if he or she is satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist which justifies early release on compassionate grounds. Such circumstances are either that the prisoner has a terminal illness and has less than three months to live or that the prisoner is bedridden or severely incapacitated. Before exercising this power, the Secretary of State must be satisfied that early release does not undermine public protection.
Comprehensive records in a readily accessible electronic format are not available for the last 30 years. Data are available in the required format since 2006. The number of compassionate releases of indeterminate sentence prisoners who had not reached their tariff expiry date between 2006 and 2012 was four. To put this into context, the total number of first releases of tariff-expired life and IPP prisoners over the same period was 2,191.
Prisoners: Death
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on Prisons and Probation Ombudsman investigations following deaths in custody in each of the last three years. [158863]
Jeremy Wright: Across each of the last three business years, the portion of the total Prisons and Probation Ombudsman's budget attributed to investigating deaths in custody, which includes some associated office costs, was as follows:
| Total cost for fatal incident investigations (£) | |
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Prisoners: Pay
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners in the UK are in receipt of unemployment pay. [159605]
Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service has responsibility for prisons in England and Wales.
To obtain the information for how many prisoners are receiving unemployment pay in both public and private prisons would require examining individual prisoner records to establish those who are in receipt of unemployment pay and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Public Consultation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners responded to the consultation on the Victims' Code of Conduct; and if he will make such responses public. [161271]
Mrs Grant: We received a number of responses to the consultation on ‘Improving the Code of Practice for Victims' of Crime’ from a range of stakeholders, including organisations representing victims’ groups, criminal justice practitioners, including those who work with offenders such as youth offending teams, and members of the public. None of those who responded to the consultation identified themselves as a prisoner.
Prisons: Construction
Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what feasibility studies his Department has commissioned on Titan prisons. [157819]
Jeremy Wright: We are not resurrecting the “Titan” prison programme. The Ministry of Justice is carrying out a review to examine the feasibility of constructing a new prison which will be economically viable and will save the taxpayer money. The feasibility work will determine the most appropriate location, size and role of the prison as well as examining the operating and funding arrangements.
Prisons: Discipline
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents there have been of (a) abuse of prison staff, (b) breach of health and safety regulations and (c) misuse of tools, equipment and other offences against good order and discipline in each of the last five years; and how many prisoners have been disciplined for these actions in each such year. [156724]
Jeremy Wright: The information is as follows.
(a) The National Offender Management Service incident reporting system does not record the number of incidents in which staff were abused but does record the number of incidents in which staff were assaulted. Table 1 shows the numbers of assaults on staff for each of the last five years.
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| Table 1: Assaults on staff | |
| Assaults on staff | |
The system for recording disciplinary action against prisoners arising from such incidents only records whether that action was for adjudications of ‘violence against a person’. It does not distinguish between prisoner and staff victims. The system also includes adjudications involving ‘Threats/abusive words or behaviour’ but similarly, this does not distinguish between prisoner and staff victims.
(b) Breaches of health and safety regulations has been taken to refer to actual prosecutions. Crown Censures of National Offender Management Service for a breach of employer obligations under Health and Safety regulations are relatively rare and we are only aware of two such cases in the last five years.
(c) The National Offender Management Service incident reporting system does not specifically record the number of incidents of misuse of tools equipment and other offences against good order and discipline. However, the adjudications system does record ‘offences against good order and discipline’ of which disciplinary action against prisoners was taken in 430 cases in 2012. We do not have this information for the previous four years.
Prisons: Employment
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what consideration he has given to introducing mandatory prisoner work schemes for those who are able to do so, as a condition of their sentence. [156753]
Jeremy Wright: Prisoners can be compelled to work in both private and public prisons in accordance with Rule 31 of the Prison Rules. We have already begun to see an increase in both the numbers of hours worked by prisoners, and the length of the working week in some prisons. Statistics published in June 2012 show that in 2010-11 public sector prisons delivered around 10.6 million prisoner working hours which increased to over 11.4 million hours in 2011-12.
Currently over 10,500 prisoners per day are actively employed in industrial work areas undertaking a wide range of activities. These figures do not include the substantial numbers of prisoners who work in prisons on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.
On 30 April 2013, we announced significant changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme. The purpose of the IEP scheme will change so that not only are adult prisoners (18 or over) expected to behave well, but they will also be expected to actively work towards their own rehabilitation and, to reach the highest level of the scheme, demonstrate both an active commitment to their own rehabilitation and provide help or support to other prisoners and/or prison staff. Gaining additional privileges will require not just the absence of negative behaviour, but also the demonstration of positive behaviour targeted at rehabilitation.
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Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people employed by HM Prison Service to (a) cook, (b) serve meals, (c) do prison maintenance and (d) clean are not serving prison sentences; and what the cost of their employment was in the last year for which figures are available. [159607]
Jeremy Wright: This information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only through manually checking with individual prisons, which would incur disproportionate costs.
Prisons: Mental Health Services
Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what space each prison establishment in England and Wales provides for the purpose of completing mental health assessments. [158161]
Jeremy Wright: Prisons work closely with NHS England, mental health trusts and other health care providers to ensure that appropriate space is provided for confidential services including medical and mental health assessments.
All prisons have appropriate areas to support health care screening, diagnosis and treatment. These include areas in reception to undertake the reception risk assessment, first night facilities, health care wings and clinical consultation rooms, all of which support the effective provision of health care services.
Prisons: Operating Costs
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish the cost of all services under each costing of each prison in the UK. [160940]
Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) publishes prison unit costs in summary form for each prison as an Addendum alongside its Annual Report and Accounts. We do not intend or plan to publish a detailed analysis of each prison unit costs.
The published information for each prison unit’s costs for financial 2011-12 is available on the Department's website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-2011-12
Between 2008-09 and 2011-12 prison unit costs (direct prison costs only) have reduced in real terms by 11% per place and 10% per prisoner.
We plan to publish similar summary information for financial year 2012-13 on the MOJ website in October alongside the Management Information Addendum.
Copies of all previous Annual Reports and Accounts are also placed in the House Library.
Prisons: Television
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the cost is to the public purse of the provision of televisions for use in prisons; [161122]
(2) on what date his Department plans to introduce the proposed ban on television channels in prisons. [161120]
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Jeremy Wright: On 30 April 2013, we announced significant changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme, under which prisoners earn access to in-cell television and other privileges. The changes, which will come into effect from 1 November, will ensure that privileges are appropriate and earned not just through good behaviour but also through the demonstration of positive behaviour targeted at rehabilitation.
Access to in-cell television is not provided at cost to the taxpayer. The provision of in-cell television is entirely self-financing from the rental payments made by prisoners. All costs related to the purchase and provision of televisions are recovered from this charge.
As part of the changes to the IEP scheme subscription television, which is currently available in some contracted out prisons, is being removed. Contracted out prisons have been informed of the need to remove subscription television services by 31 July 2013.
Probation Trusts: Negligence
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions each probation trust has been sued for negligence in each of the last five years. [156783]
Jeremy Wright: The information is not collected centrally in this form and obtaining it from each of the 35 probation trusts would incur disproportionate cost.
Sign Language
Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what assessment he has made of the equality of access available for deaf people whose first language is British Sign Language in communicating with (a) legal professionals and the court services and (b) the agencies and public bodies which support his Department; and if he will make a statement; [157375]
(2) what measures his Department has put in place to ensure that deaf people have the opportunity to communicate in British Sign Language with (a) legal professionals and the court services and (b) the agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible. [157462]
Mrs Grant: The Ministry of Justice is committed to meeting the needs of its service users, and endeavours to work with them to respond to their requirements. In cases where British Sign Language is the appropriate form of communication, the Ministry would look to provide an interpreter on request
The Ministry and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies apply the same process to users British Sign Language as they would to other languages, assessing any service users' needs as required. Under the Equality Act 2010, Departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies must make reasonable adjustments for disabled service users, which would include provision of British Language translators as appropriate.
Trials
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the cost was to the court system of the delays caused by criminal trials that were ineffective for reasons related to court administration in 2012-13; [156923]
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(2) what the cost was to the court system of (a) delays caused by ineffective criminal trials and (b) cracked trials in 2012-13. [156924]
Mrs Grant: The information is as follows:
Using current resourcing models, we estimate that in magistrates courts, the staff and legal adviser cost of trials that were ineffective for administrative reasons was £1.0 million and in the Crown court the staff and judicial cost for trials that were ineffective for administrative reasons was between £0.4 million and £0.5 million.
These estimates are based on volumes for the 2012 calendar year. Data on the number of, and main reasons for, ineffective trials are published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice. Data to December 2012 was published on 27 March 2013 and is available. Data covering January to March 2013 will be published on 20 June.
Ineffective trials for administrative reasons covers all trials that are ineffective due to ‘another case over-ran’, ‘judge/magistrate availability’, ‘overlisting (insufficient cases drop out/floater/backer not reached)’ and ‘equipment/accommodation failure’, and additionally in the Crown court only ‘insufficient jurors available’, ‘outstanding committals in the magistrates court’ and ‘outstanding committals in the Crown court’.
Using current resourcing models, we estimate that:
(a) In magistrates courts the staff and legal adviser cost of ineffective trials was £3.6 million and in the Crown court the staff and judicial cost of ineffective trials was between £1.6 million and £2.0 million.
(b) In magistrates courts the staff and legal adviser cost of cracked trials was £9.5 million and in the Crown court that the staff and judicial cost of cracked trials was between £2.7 million and £3.6 million.
These estimates are based on volumes for the 2012 calendar year. Data on the number of effective, ineffective and cracked trials are published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice. Data to December 2012 was published on 27 March 2013 and is available. Data covering January to March 2013 will be published on 20 June.
Witnesses
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many requests for registered intermediaries have been made by (a) children and (b) adults in each month since January 2013. [158562]
Mrs Grant: Requests for registered intermediaries for children (0-17 years) and adults (18 years plus) are made by police forces and/or CPS areas, not by the individuals themselves. The number of requests for both categories in 2013 is shown in the following table.
| Children | Adults | |
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Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many registered intermediaries were appointed in each of the last three years for which data is available; and what the type of case was in each case. [158563]
Mrs Grant: Data are available for the number of registered intermediaries appointed in cases involving sexual offences, and all other offences. The number of appointments for both categories is shown in the following table.
| Sexual offences | Other offences | |
Work Capability Assessment: Wales
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many of those living in each constituency in Wales who appealed against decisions on benefits entitlement made following work capability assessments waited more than six weeks for their appeals to be heard in the financial year 2012-13; [161125]
(2) how many claimants living in each constituency in Wales had to wait more than six weeks for their appeals to be heard against decisions on benefits entitlement made following work capability assessments carried out in the financial year 2012-13. [161211]
Mrs Grant: The First Tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) (decisions in which the work capability assessment (WCA) is a key factor).
Appeals made to the SSCS are not recorded on a constituency basis, but by the office which deals with the case. This is usually the hearing venue nearest to the appellant's home address. Consequently the information has been provided by SSCS hearing venues in Wales.
The information provided is for those appeals where the WCA is a factor and is shown in the following tables: total disposals (a); and cases disposed of at hearing (b).
(a) The figures provided in the following table are total disposals in Wales where the WCA was a factor. This includes those disposed of at a tribunal hearing and those that were disposed of without the need for a hearing (for example withdrawn, superseded or struck out).
| 2012-13 | |||
| SSCS venue | Total number of cases disposed | Number of cases disposed of in less than six weeks | Number of cases disposed of in more than six weeks |
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(b) The figures provided in the following table are those cases in Wales where the WCA was a factor and which were disposed of at a tribunal hearing:
| 2012-13 | |||
| SSCS venue | Total cases disposed of at hearing | Number of cases disposed of at hearing in less than six weeks | Number of cases disposed of athearing in more than six weeks |
The number of appeals received by the SSCS tribunal nationally has risen significantly: from 339,200 in 2009-10 to 507,100 in 2012-13 (an increase of 49%). In addition to local initiatives, such as identifying additional hearing venues across HMCTS estate, and increasing the use of Saturday sessions, HMCTS continues to respond strongly at a national level to continue to increase the capacity of the SSCS tribunal and reduce waiting times. Measures in place include ongoing recruitment of additional judges and medically qualified members and the review and continuous improvement of administrative processes both internally and between HMCTS and DWP. All of this is having a positive effect. The total number of disposals has increased significantly from 279,000 in 2009-10 to 465,500 in 2012-13 (an increase of 66%).
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The average waiting time has fallen nationally from 23 weeks in 2011-12 to 18 weeks in 2012-13: in Wales this has fallen from 21 weeks in 2011-12 to 13 weeks in 2012-13.