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Offenders: Mental Health Services

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on supporting more appropriate use of the Mental Health Treatment Requirement as part of a community sentence. [162445]

Jeremy Wright: The changes introduced under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 make it easier for courts to use mental health treatment requirement (MHTRs) by simplifying the assessment process and ensuring that those who require treatment can receive it as early as possible. We are establishing a new Health and Justice Partnership Board which brings together NHS England, Public Health England and local health commissioners to ensure that sufficient suitable treatment services are available across the justice system.

Parole

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effects of victim personal statements at Parole Board hearings; and if he will make a statement. [161290]

Jeremy Wright: The victim personal statement provides victims with a valuable opportunity to tell the Parole Board, when the Board is considering whether to direct the prisoner's release, how that prisoner's offence has affected them or their family and what the impact of the prisoner's release would be on them or their family.

Where victims have evidence that an offender may present an ongoing risk to them or to others, the place for such evidence to be included, to inform the Parole Board's release decision, is not in their victim personal statement but in the offender manager's report to the Board. In such cases, victims' victim liaison officer should pass on the evidence to the prisoner's offender manager.

If the Parole Board holds an oral hearing, victims may request to attend to read their statement in person.

The purpose of an oral hearing is to assist the Parole Board determine whether the risk presented by a prisoner is such that he may be safely managed in the community. If the Parole Board is not so satisfied, it will not direct the release of the offender.

No assessment has been made of the effects of victim personal statements at Parole Board hearings.

Prisons: Finance

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2013, Official Report, columns 22-3W, on prisons: employment, what proportion of prison budgets are allocated for (a) training,

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(b)

education,

(c)

fitness and

(d)

offending behaviour programmes; and to what extent those allocations reflect departmental guidance. [162359]

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service's central accounting system does not separately identify details of the proportion of budgets allocated to prisons on training; education; fitness; and all of the offending behaviour programmes. Budgets associated with such expenditure are primarily met through establishment baseline funding and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by examining locally in each establishment, disaggregating and then collating the costs.

There is no set departmental guidance on the proportional allocation of individual budgets. Prison budgets are compiled annually based on an assessment of operational business needs and may vary from year to year according to changes in departmental priorities.

Education that is provided through providers contracted to the Skills Funding Agency is not included in prison budgets.

Private sector prison contracts may include some or all of these activities, but the proportion of budget allocated to them is not separately identified.

Prisons: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the proposed timescale for identification of the specific site for the North Wales prison is; [163224]

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(2) what the total budget is for the North Wales prison project; [163229]

(3) when work will commence on the building of the new prison in North Wales. [163260]

Jeremy Wright: An announcement about a preferred site for the new prison in North Wales will be made in due course. We anticipate that work will start on site next summer with the prison being fully operational by late 2017.

It is expected that the new prison will cost around £250 million to fully deliver, although final costings are dependent on the exact size, location and function. This investment will deliver savings of £20 million a year from 2017-18.

Woodhill Prison

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements are in place for expert witnesses to conduct interviews with prisoners in private at Close Supervision Centre HM Prison Woodhill; and if he will make a statement. [163565]

Jeremy Wright: Prisons will always try and accommodate the requirements of expert witnesses. Operational constraints, including the limited availability of the expert witnesses or requests for interviews made at short notice may mean this is not always possible.