The Clyde Dockyard Port of Gareloch and Loch Long (Amendment) Order 1983
Additionally, in November 2011, the Armed Forces Act 2011 received Royal Assent. This Act repealed the Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Act 1915 and also revoked the Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Order 2008
The Ot Moor Range Byelaws 1980
Part 8 of Schedule 2 to the Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009
It should also be noted that each Armed Forces Act (Continuation) Order remains in force for one year only.
Temporary Employment
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many individual contracts have been issued for manpower substitution by his Department in each financial year since 2007; [166447]
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(2) how many days have been worked by staff employed as manpower substitutes in his Department in each financial year since 2007. [166448]
Mr Francois: In 2007, the Ministry of Defence (MOD), excluding its Trading Funds, began to operate centrally administered manpower substitution contracts which provide MOD business units with access to short-term staff known as agency workers. These arrangements provide placements at agreed fixed rates on a national basis, thereby offering benefits to the entire Department. The first centralised contracts provided clerical/administrative and secretarial agency workers. This has expanded over time to a centralised Manpower Substitution Service (MSS) owned by Defence Business Services (DBS) which also encompasses the provision of interim professionals (including HR, finance and audit, project and programme management and procurement), specialist IT workers, health care and dental grades and Skill Zone workers, drivers and security guards.
The information held centrally on the MOD's MSS database reflects this broadening of scope. It records the number of centrally-held individual manpower substitution contracts rather than the number of different agency staff who may have worked within MOD.
| Financial year | Number of individual manpower substitution contracts |
The database used to capture this information was set up in late 2007 and therefore full data from financial year 2007-08 is unavailable. These data do not capture pre-existing locally arranged contracts, which business units may have had with recruitment agencies prior to the introduction of the new mandatory centralised arrangements, nor locally organised manpower substitution arrangements for temporary staff outside of the groups mentioned.
A calculation of the number of days worked could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Veterans: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of former (a) servicemen and (b) medical auxiliaries who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after discharge from military service. [166342]
Mr Francois: The information is not held in the format requested. However, we do hold information on the number of veterans who are in receipt of a war pension under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) or have since April 2005 been awarded compensation under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that has been attributed to service.
As at 31 March 2013 (the latest date for which WPS and AFCS data are available) 6,200 ex-service personnel were in receipt of a war pension for PTSD and 185 ex-service personnel had been awarded compensation
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as a result of a post-service claim under the AFCS for PTSD, The term “medical auxiliary” does not correspond to any category for which data are available.
In accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy the WPS and AFCS figures have been rounded to the nearest five.
Veterans: Suicide
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many former (a) military personnel and (b) medical auxiliaries have been identified as having committed suicide on discharge from the military after having served in Afghanistan in each year since 2002. [166343]
Mr Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not currently have specific information on the number of suicide and open verdict deaths among veterans who served in Afghanistan.
The MOD has commissioned a study on veterans of Operations Telic (Iraq) and Herrick (Afghanistan). This will monitor the causes of death (including suicide) of all members of the armed forces who served in the period from 2003 (the start of operations in Iraq) until the end of operations in Afghanistan. The intention is to run the study for the lifetime of the cohort; therefore the population will include both serving personnel and veterans. It is hoped that the initial results of this study will be published next year.
In 2006 the MOD commissioned research from Manchester university to investigate the level of suicide amongst those leaving the UK armed forces over the period 1996 to 2005, and to make comparisons with matched personnel remaining in-service and the general population. This work was published in March 2009. The study found that, taking all age groups together, the risk of suicide was no higher than in the general community.
Education
Apprentices
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many apprenticeships his Department offered to people aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 21 and (c) 22 to 26 years old in each year since 2010. [165871]
Matthew Hancock: The Department does not hold this information.
Billing
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many creditors to his Department owed more than £10,000 remained unpaid for more than (a) 30 days, (b) 45 days, (c) 60 days, (d) 75 days and (e) more than 90 days in each of the last three years. [166371]
Elizabeth Truss: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In common with other Government Departments, the annual report and accounts for the Department for Education, which are available in the Libraries of both Houses, contain information on supplier payment performance.
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Education: Woking
Jonathan Lord:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the level of literacy and numeracy in (a) primary
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school leavers and
(b)
secondary school leavers in Woking constituency in each of the last five years. [166304]
Mr Laws: The information requested has been provided in the following tables:
| Achievements at the expected level(1) by pupils at the end of key stage 2 in Woking constituency(2,3,4)(a) | |||||
| Percentage of KS2 pupils achieving expected level in | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012(5) |
| (1) Includes pupils who achieved Level 4 or above. Level 4 is the expected level of achievement for pupils at the end of key stage 2. (2) Parliamentary constituency figures are based on the postcode of the school. (3) Data are final data for all years. (4) Includes state-funded schools including academies. Figures do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. (5) In 2012, English was calculated from reading test results and writing teacher assessment rather than from reading and writing tests as in previous years. English in 2012 is, therefore, not comparable to previous years. Source: National pupil database | |||||
| Percentages of pupils at the end of key stage 4 achieving A*-C grades in English and mathematics GCSEs(1) in Woking constituency(2,3,4)(b) | |||||
| Percentage of KS4 pupils achieving an A*-C grade in | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
| (1) Full GCSEs only have been included (Full GCSEs, double awards, accredited international certificates and their predecessor iGCSEs and AS levels). Figures from 2007/08 to 2008/09 exclude iGCSEs, 2009/10 figures onwards include accredited iGCSEs. (2) Parliamentary constituency figures are based on the postcode of the school. (3) Data are final data for all years. (4) Includes state-funded schools including academies. Figures do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. Source: National pupil database | |||||
English Language: Lancashire
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people in Lancashire have been affected by (a) English Language and (b) English Literature grade boundary changes in the current academic year. [166339]
Elizabeth Truss: This is a matter for Ofqual. I have asked the Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write to my hon. Friend. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House Library.
Free School Meals: Surrey
Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children in (a) Woking constituency and (b) Surrey were eligible for free school meals in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in each of the last three years. [166305]
Mr Laws: Information on the number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals in state-funded primary and state-funded secondary schools in Woking constituency, Surrey local authority and England is shown in the following table.
| State-funded primary and state-funded secondary schools(1, 2, 3, )Number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4, 5), January each year: 2011 to 2013, England, Surrey local authority and Woking parliamentary constituency | ||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | |||||
| Number on roll(4, 5) | Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4, 5) | Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals | Number on roll(4, 5) | Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4, 5) | Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals | |
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| 2013 | |||
| Number on roll(4, 5) | Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(4, 5) | Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes all primary academies, including free schools. (3 )Includes city technology colleges and all secondary academies, including free schools. (4 )Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. Includes boarders. In pupil referral units includes pupils registered with other providers and further education colleges. (5 )Pupils who have full-time attendance and are aged 15 or under, or pupils who have part time attendance and are aged between 5 and 15. Source: School Census | |||
Regulation
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the title is of each regulation his Department (a) introduced and (b) revoked in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date; and if he will make a statement. [165909]
Elizabeth Truss: In 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 up to 16 July, the Department for Education introduced 289 and revoked 146 statutory instruments (SIs).
The Department has regulated within the ‘One in, One out’ (from 1 January 2011) and ‘One In, Two Out’ (from 1 January 2013) frameworks for those regulations affecting the business sector, such as private firms and civil society organisations. These rules only apply to those regulations affecting the business sector.
Details of these regulations are set out in a supplementary table that has been placed in the House Library.
Teachers: Standards
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of teachers were graded as (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) satisfactory/notice to improve and (d) unsatisfactory in Ofsted inspections of (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in each of the last five years; what proportion of those teachers graded as (A) satisfactory/notice to improve and (B) unsatisfactory (1) were given professional support to improve the quality of their teaching and (2) ceased teaching; and what proportion of those who ceased teaching (x) resigned, (y) retired and (z) were dismissed. [166611]
Mr Laws: Ofsted inspectors reach judgements on the quality of teaching throughout a school, rather than on the quality of teaching by individual teachers.
Information is not collected centrally about the professional development of individual teachers. We have introduced streamlined arrangements to give schools more freedom to manage teacher performance to suit their own circumstances. Teachers' line managers are now free to decide how much observation over the course of the year is necessary for them to form an accurate assessment of teachers' performance, including underperformance, so that they can take appropriate action.
Teachers: Training
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to improve continuous professional education for (a) teachers and (b) older teachers. [166612]
Mr Laws: High-quality professional development is important to support and enable all teachers, irrespective of their age, to improve their practice.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 May 2013 to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol North West (Charlotte Leslie), Official Report, column 127W.
Teachers: West Midlands
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants were employed in maintained schools in (i) West Midlands and (ii) Birmingham in each of the last five years. [166491]
Mr Laws: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 July 2013, Official Report, column 616W. The latest data, for 2012, were published on 17 July. These are included in the following table:
| Full-time equivalent teachers and teaching assistants in service in publicly funded schools, January 2008 to 2009(1), November 2010 to 2012(2): West Midlands region and Birmingham local authority | ||||||||||
| Teachers | Teaching assistants | |||||||||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
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| (1) Source: Form 618g (2) Source: School Workforce Census | ||||||||||
Wales
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department provides services to people resident in Wales or usually resident in Wales. [166103]
Elizabeth Truss: Education policy has been mostly devolved to the Welsh Government.
There are three non-devolved policy areas: teachers' pay and conditions of service, teachers' pensions and teacher discipline. We provide Government services in the Welsh language where there is demand. For example, we have translated two documents: Proposed Teachers' Pension Scheme Reforms; and School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document 2012 which are available on the Department's website(1,2).
(1)http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/payandpensions/b00204965/proposed-teacher-pension-scheme-reforms
(2)http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/statutory/g00213238/teachers-pay-conditions-2012
Welsh Language
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has a current Welsh Language scheme; when that scheme was adopted; and whether it has been reviewed since May 2011. [166085]
Elizabeth Truss: The Department has a current Welsh Language scheme that was adopted in 2006. We are currently working with the Welsh Language Commissioner to update it.
Justice
Accountancy
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008. [164957]
Mrs Grant: The Ministry of Justice has spent the following on the provision of services with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each full calendar year since 2008. Spend is exclusive of VAT.
Consultants can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not available in house. Consultancy spend is governed by strict Cabinet Office controls and any spend over £20,000 requires approval by the departmental board on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Consultancy contracts in excess of nine months require further approval by the Cabinet Office.
| Supplier | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Conditions of Employment
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 93W, on conditions of employment, how many people in his Department were employed on zero-hours contracts in each of the last three years. [163953]
Mrs Grant: The number of staff employed on zero-hour contracts in 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 of the last three financial years is set out in the following table:
| Total cumulative staff number | |
The use of zero-hour contracts enables greater flexibility where work is irregular, thereby making more efficient use of resources to meet demand. The staff are only paid for the hours that they work.
Coroners
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what complaints were received against local coroners in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [161685]
Mrs Grant: The Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) considers complaints about the personal conduct or behaviour of coroners but not deputy or assistant coroners. The OJC does not hold the information requested for the years 2010 and 2011. Complaints against coroners were received in the following categories during 2012:
| Complaints | |
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Corruption
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of corruption in the last year for which figures are available; what distinction his Department makes between corruption and fraud for the purpose of crime statistics; and how each is measured and monitored. [165819]
Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of corruption-related offences, in England and Wales, in 2012 (the latest available), can be viewed in the table.
Criminal court activity relating to fraud offences are reported within a wider offence group 'Fraud and forgery' in the Criminal Justice Statistics publication, which is released on a quarterly basis. On an annual basis, more detailed supplementary volumes are published which provide a further disaggregated breakdown of convictions and sentences issued within the 'Fraud and forgery' category. Similarly, the corruption offences provided in the table are reported within the wider offence group 'Other indictable (not motoring)', and more specifically within the '99 Other (Excluding Motoring offences)' offence type within annual supplementary volume tables.
Misconduct in public office is unacceptable and this Government are committed to ensuring that all those guilty of this offence are brought to justice.
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Court of Protection
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the operation of the Court of Protection in respect of individuals suffering from Alzheimer's; and if he will make a statement. [155028]
Mrs Grant: The Court of Protection is a unique court dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in society. Its specialist judges are called on to make decisions in cases where there is a concern a person may not have the mental capacity to act in their own interests—for example about their property, financial affairs, health care or personal welfare.
The Court collects information on the type of applications being made, but not about the cause of the lack of capacity—for example about whether it relates to Alzheimer's—and so no assessments have been made about performance in that area
Courts: Crimes of Violence
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many incidents of violence there were in magistrates courts that involved defendants in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; [164937]
(2) how many incidents of violence there were in Crown courts that involved defendants in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [164938]
Mrs Grant: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) do not maintain records detailing whether an incident of violence has involved the defendant for the period detailed above. HMCTS maintains records of violent incidents involving parties to a case. These are as follows:
| Magistrates court | Crown court | |
My Department takes the security of all court users seriously and it is the policy of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) that all security incidents are reported and investigated. All incidents involving violence are reported to the police for further investigation. The figures provided comprise reported incidents from the reporting years April to March and resulting in actual violence and include incidents between and against parties, court users and court staff and contractors. These figures do not include incidents of verbal abuse or verbal threats as they do not fall within the remit of the request.
Crime: Victims
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many complaints were received about the obligations under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime by each agency covered by the code in each of the last five years; [158122]
(2) how many complaints were received about obligations under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime in each of the last five years. [158150]
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Mrs Grant: The Ministry of Justice does not hold this information centrally. Agencies with duties under the Code handle complaints under their own internal complaints processes. Collection and retention of complaints data is carried out at a local level. The Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman also retains data from those complaints from victims referred to them by a Member of Parliament.
The Government recently held a public consultation on a revised Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. This included proposals to improve the transparency and effectiveness of the complaints process to ensure that all criminal justice agencies provide quick and thorough responses to victims and that the onus is on agencies, not on the victim, to redirect complaints to the right place. The consultation ran from 29 March 2013 until 10 May 2013 and we intend to publish the Government's response this summer.
In addition, as part of the wider criminal justice reform agenda, the Government are committed to improving the accountability of the criminal justice system so that victims can hold the system to account if things go wrong.
Criminal Records
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when all police forces will be able to access full records of charges and out-of-court disposals for every police area. [165838]
Damian Green: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
The Police National Computer (PNC) already provides a central record of all charges, cautions, reprimands, warnings and penalty notices.
Authorised PNC users, within all police forces, are able to view full records for every police area.
Electronic Tagging
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost per day of electronically monitoring an individual using (a) global positioning system technology and (b) radio frequency technology; and if he will make a statement. [165812]
Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice has not made an estimate of the relative cost per day of monitoring an individual using these two different technologies.
Most of the electronic monitoring which takes place under the current contracts uses radio frequency technology.
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The next generation of electronic-monitoring contracts, currently out to tender, will provide for the use of both radio frequency and global positioning system technology—and we anticipate that the overall cost will be significantly lower than at present.
Knives: Crime
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have received the maximum custodial sentence for possession of a knife in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 to date. [158335]
Jeremy Wright: Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon is a serious criminal offence which carries a maximum four-year custodial sentence. Where someone is actually harmed there are a range of existing offences against the person, in particular offences of wounding or causing grievous bodily harm, that reflect the seriousness of the offending behaviour and the harm caused.
In the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013, the Government introduced the new offences of threatening someone with a knife in a public place or a school which came into force on 3 December 2012. These offences carry a minimum sanction of six months custody for adults and a four-month Detention and Training Order for juveniles.
The Government are also considering whether there is a case for further changes to be made to the sentencing framework for knife possession as part of the knife sentencing review.
Within the sentencing framework, it is for judges and magistrates to decide the appropriate sentence in individual cases taking account of the harm the offence caused and the culpability of the offender. Under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 there is an obligation on courts when sentencing for offences to follow the guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council, unless it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.
Available information on the number of offenders sentenced at all courts to immediate custody, and those who received the maximum sentence of four years, for knife possession offences, in England and Wales, in each year from 2005 to 2012, can be viewed in the table.
Following further validation and receipt of additional magistrates court records, a number of revisions have been made to previously published 2011 information. As such, 2011 figures may not match what was previously provided.
Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
| Offenders sentenced at all courts to immediate custody, and those who received the maximum sentence, for knife possession offences, England and Wales, 2005 to 2012(1,2) | |||||||||
| Offence description | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008(5) | 2009 | 2010 | 2011(6) | 2012 | |
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| ‘—’ Nil (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) An offence under Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 s.3. (4) An offence under Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1X5Xa) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1). (5) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates' court for April, July and August 2008. (6) Following further validation and receipt of additional magistrates' court records, a number of revisions have been made to previously published 2011 information. As such, 2011 figures may not match what was previously provided. (7) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice | |||||||||
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2013, Official Report, column 480W, on knife crime, and with reference to table 8 of the Knife Possession Sentencing Quarterly Brief for the first quarter of 2013, what the length of each of the eight immediate custodial sentences contained in that table which were handed down for the offence of threatening with a knife was; [164205]
(2) which of the defendants in each sentencing category referred to in table 8 of the Knife Possession Sentencing Quarterly Brief for the first quarter of 2013 (a) had a previous knife-related conviction, (b) had a previous violence-related conviction, (c) had any other previous conviction and (d) were sentenced for other offences at the same time as the offence of threatening with a knife. [164206]
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 a 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.
The following table shows the sentence lengths for each of the eight offenders who received an immediate custodial sentence for aggravated possession of a knife or offensive weapon.
| Length of sentences for offenders sentenced to immediate custody for an aggravated knife or offensive weapon possession offence, Q1 2013, England and Wales | |
| Length of sentence | Number of offenders |
| Source: Ministry of Justice | |
It is not possible to further break down the number of offenders presented in each sentencing category from table 8 of the latest Knife Possession Sentencing Quarterly Brief due to the risk of disclosing personal data about these small numbers of individuals. We can however provide overall figures for each of the different parts of the question as follows:
| The number of offenders who were convicted for an aggravated possession offence | ||
These are the latest available figures and are a copy of 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
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the definition of housing costs for the purpose of qualification for legal aid will be on an (a) imputed or (b) actual basis. [160034]
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 nearly £1 billion of taxpayers' money spent on criminal legal aid a year, to ensure we are getting the best deal for the taxpayer.
We will also be consulting in the autumn on changes to the legal aid financial eligibility tests to accommodate the further roll-out of universal credit. That will include proposals for the treatment of housing costs.
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to ensure that client choice in relation to legal aid is still available. [163730]
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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 nearly £1 billion of taxpayers’ money spent on criminal legal aid a year, to ensure we are getting the best deal for the taxpayer.
One specific point in the consultation which has attracted significant response is the proposal to remove client choice in the model for competition for criminal litigation. The rationale for proposing this change was to give greater certainty of case volume for providers, making it easier and more predictable for them to organise their businesses to provide the most cost-effective service to the taxpayer. This was not a policy objective in its own right. We have heard clearly from the Law Society and other respondents that they regard client choice as fundamental to the effective delivery of criminal legal aid. We are therefore looking again at this issue, and expect to make changes to allow a choice of solicitor for clients receiving criminal legal aid. We will be launching a new consultation in the autumn.
Legal Aid Scheme: Wales
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was paid in criminal legal aid costs to solicitors' firms in (a) Alyn and Deeside constituency and (b) North Wales in each of the last three years. [155159]
Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid Agency records costs relating to firms by legal aid procurement area, which is broadly based on local authority boundaries. The information requested falls under the remit of the Legal Services Commission; however, the same applies as the information has historically been recorded by local authority. Therefore, the following information is provided in relation to the Flintshire local authority and the North Wales region, as the Flintshire local authority covers the area of Alyn and Deeside.
Offenders: East of England
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to review the provision of the multi-agency public protection regime in the East of England; and if he will make a statement. [163542]
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Jeremy Wright: There are no plans to review the provision of the statutory multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) in the East of England or elsewhere in England and Wales. Under the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, MAPPA will continue to operate for the assessment and management of known serious offenders, and all those offenders under statutory probation supervision and subject to MAPPA will be managed by the public sector probation service.
HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) undertake thematic and core inspection programmes that focus on frontline practice as well as organisational arrangements. Much of their work is undertaken jointly, with other Inspectorates.
HMI Probation has occasionally undertaken inspections specifically into MAPPA (2011) and related areas such as sexual offenders (2011). The effective operation of MAPPA is also considered, where relevant, as part of wider "thematic" inspections such as those due to be published during 2013-14, which include life sentenced prisoners, victims and integrated offender management.
Prisons: Television
Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what profit has been made by prisons from charging prisoners for access to televisions in their cells in the latest period for which figures are available. [155650]
Jeremy Wright: All in-cell TVs are Prison Service owned and their costs are recovered from prisoners.
All the income derived from prisoners this way is used for the provision of in-cell television.
Private Finance Initiative
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many contracts for private finance initiative schemes his Department signed prior to May 1997; and what the total capital value of those contracts was. [164358]
Mrs Grant: The information requested is not held centrally and to collate it would incur disproportionate cost. The Department has only existed in its current form since May 2007. Gathering the information you have requested would involve contacting the previous bodies which were subsumed into the Department, including but not limited to: The Home Office, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and Her Majesty's Courts Service.
Reoffenders
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners released on temporary licence subsequently reoffended in the last four years; [165182]
(2) how many (a) murders and (b) crimes of violence against the person have been committed by those released from prison on early release since 2008; [165190]
(3) how many offences were committed by offenders serving a prison sentence in an open prison in the latest period for which figures are available; what the offence was in each case; and in which open prison each such offender was serving; [165409]
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(4) how many people who have served an indeterminate sentence for public protection have reoffended after release since 13 September 2010; and what estimate he has made of the number of offences committed by such reoffenders in that time period. [165442]
Jeremy Wright: Public protection is our top priority and we are determined to have the best possible systems in place to supervise offenders in the community. Any serious further offence is one too many and we work hard to manage risk—sadly it can never be completely eliminated.
We are currently reforming the system and will be introducing a new public sector National Probation Service focused on keeping the public safe from offenders who pose the greatest risk of serious harm.
Data on proven reoffending for offenders who were released from custody are produced and published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. A proven reoffence is defined as any offence that was committed
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within one year of release and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning within that year or within a further six months to allow the offence to be proven in court.
Proven reoffending data for adult offenders who were released from prison between July 2009 and June 2011 (latest period for which data are available) after serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection are published in Table 19a of the Proven Reoffending Statistics Quarterly bulletin at the following link. The table includes information on the number of adult offenders who committed a proven re-offence within 12 months of release and the number of proven re-offences that were committed by these offenders.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/proven-re-offending--2
The following table presents the number of murders and crimes of violence against the person committed by adult offenders who were released on licence from prison between 2008 and June 2011 (latest period for which data are available).
| Number of proven re-offences committed by adult offenders who were released from prison on licence between 2008 and June 2011, England and Wales(1) | |||||
| Number of re-offences | |||||
| Cohort | No. of offenders released from prison on licence(2) | Murder | Violence against the person(3) | Other | Total |
| (1) The data presented in the table are a further breakdown of the data published in Table 25 of the Proven Reoffending Statistics Quarterly bulletin: www.gov.uk/government/publications/proven-re-offending--2 (2) The group of offenders for whom reoffending is measured does not represent all proven offenders. Offenders released from prison are matched to the police national computer database and a certain proportion of these offenders cannot be matched. These unmatched offenders are, therefore, excluded from the proven reoffending measure (3 )Includes murder. | |||||
Proven reoffending data cannot be provided for offenders who were released from prison on temporary licence nor can they be provided for offenders while they served their sentence in an open prison. This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Salvation Army
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding he is providing for identified victims of human trafficking after they have exited the Salvation Army Trafficking Support Scheme. [163648]
Mrs Grant: The majority of victims who have been supported by the Salvation Army decide to return to their home country. However, where a victim is entitled to remain in the UK, for example nationals of EU and EEA member states exercising EU treaty rights or those who have been given leave, they may receive outreach support, benefits or housing support through the local authority.
When it is safe and appropriate for a victim to return to their home country, reintegration funding may be provided to support them to do this.
Sentencing
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the degree to which the creation of business impact statements under the revised Victims Code will result in more informed sentencing decisions and will reduce reoffending. [164790]
Mrs Grant: The Business Impact Statement, like the Victim Personal Statement, will give the victim a louder voice in the criminal justice system. It will provide the court with a fuller picture of the impact of the offence on the victim and will be disclosed to the defendant's legal team to provide an avenue through which the offender can be made fully aware of the impact of their actions on the victim. We will work with the judiciary to assist them in reviewing and updating the relevant guidance and Practice Directions governing the use of the statement in court.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many and in what proportion of occasions the maximum sentence for an offence was given in (a) Crown courts and (b) magistrates courts in each year since 2008. [165187]
Jeremy Wright:
Parliament sets the maximum penalty for an offence at a level to provide for the worst possible example of the offence and to give the courts sufficient range of sentencing powers to deal with all the cases which come before them. The courts, therefore, rarely impose the maximum sentence. However, sentencing
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has become more severe over the last decade: in 2012, the average custodial sentence length was 14.5 months, an increase of 1.9 months compared to 2002.
The number of defendants who received the maximum sentence available, following sentence at the Crown court and magistrates court, and the percentage of sentences where the maximum sentence was given at all court, in England and Wales, in each year from 2008 to 2012 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
| Defendants receiving the maximum sentence available, following sentence at the Crown court and magistrates court, and percentage of sentences where the maximum sentence was given at all courts, England and Wales, 2008 to 2012(1, 2) | ||
| All courts | ||
| Number of maximum sentences handed down | Proportion who received maximum sentence (%) | |
| (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | ||
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Vacancies
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his Department's vacancy rate was in 2012-13; and what vacancy rate has been assumed for 2013-14. [162673]
Mrs Grant: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) does not collate vacancy rates centrally.
The Department's central budgetary calculations for 2013-14 do not involve assumptions about vacancy rates. Recruitment depends upon the need to balance redeployment of displaced staff, turnover rates and operational need.
Vending Machines
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many vending machines in his Department's premises contain snack foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value. [164272]
Mrs Grant: We do not hold this information centrally and this information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However I can confirm there is one vending machine across the Ministry's London headquarters' buildings, in 102 Petty France. This stocks a variety of confectionary and soft drinks, which includes fruit juices, water and cereal bars.