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USA
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department provides for UK citizens extradited to the US who have no means to support themselves. [189299]
Hugh Robertson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and its missions overseas provide consular support to British nationals who find themselves in difficulty abroad as laid out in the FCO publication “Support for British nationals abroad: A guide”.
Support offered to all detainees includes visits, explanation of local procedures and support to ensure health and welfare issues are property addressed in line with local standards.
However, the FCO is unable to offer financial support to British nationals in detention. However, small amounts of funding for detainees with special needs is available in certain cases from charities working to support British nationals in detention overseas.
Communities and Local Government
Community Assets: West Yorkshire
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications were made across (a) West Yorkshire and (b) Leeds North West constituency to list (i) facilities and (ii) buildings as Assets of Community Value; and how many such applications were approved. [189366]
Stephen Williams: Local authorities are responsible for administering the Assets of Community Value scheme. The Government do not require local authorities to report on the numbers and types of buildings and facilities that have been nominated and listed as Assets of Community Value. Under the scheme, local authorities maintain a list of assets that have been listed in their area which they must make available on request.
Leeds City Council's Assets of Community Value list can be found at:
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/2014-02-07%20List%20of%20 Assets%20of%20Community%20Value.pdf
Equality
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many publications his Department has produced for the purposes of monitoring or promoting staff equality and diversity in each of the last five years; and what the cost of producing such publications was in each such year. [188895]
Brandon Lewis: [holding answer 26 February 2014]: As required by secondary legislation issued under the Equality Act 2010, the Department has published a yearly report on the public sector equality duty, and a document outlining its equality objectives. There is no substantive cost other than some staff time.
We have taken steps to reduce the excessive length of such monitoring reports, reflecting the recommendations of the Review of the Public Sector Equality Duty to scale back gold-plating of the Act and reduce unnecessary paperwork.
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Housing: Standards
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he has issued to local authorities on the length of time families with children should stay in annexe accommodation provided under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004. [189371]
Kris Hopkins: The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 makes clear that bed and breakfast accommodation provided under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 should be used to house homeless households with children only in an emergency, and then for no longer than six weeks.
Statutory guidance reiterates this restriction and states that where bed and breakfast accommodation is secured the authority should notify the household of the effect of the order.
We have increased transparency by publishing a list of all local authorities that have used bed and breakfast for families with children for longer than six weeks. Bed and breakfast accommodation is defined as accommodation which is not self-contained and in which a toilet, personal washing facilities or cooking facilities are shared by more than one household. As such any annexes where facilities are shared will be included within published statistics and can be used only in an emergency and then for no longer than six weeks.
The Government are determined to tackle this unlawful and damaging practice and have made available £2 million in 2013-14 to support local authorities to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to the problems which drive the use of bed and breakfast accommodation. Recent reports indicate that this approach is starting to take effect, with local authorities in receipt of funding significantly reducing the number of families with children in bed and breakfast accommodation.
We are also committed to helping other authorities by drawing on the lessons learned from the funding. We have earmarked £100,000 to use to identify good practice which will be shared with other local authorities.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to replace the mortgage rescue scheme; and if he will make a statement. [186494]
Kris Hopkins: The mortgage rescue scheme was a time-limited scheme introduced under the last Administration following the Labour Government's housing crash in 2008. The scheme had lower take-up than predicted, was expensive and offered poor value for money.
The National Audit Office evaluated the last Administration's scheme and noted:
‘In the way it implemented and managed the Scheme, the Department has not delivered value for money. The Department did not adequately test the assumptions underpinning the Scheme's business case; misjudged the demand for different types of mortgage rescue; and did not take action early enough to improve the value obtained from public investment in the Scheme after realising its initial assumptions were wide of the mark'.
(National Audit Office, “The Mortgage Rescue Scheme”, May 2011, HC 1030, p.10).
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Given the flaws in the programme, and in light of the housing market recovery under this Government, we do not intend to replace this taxpayer-funded intervention in the housing market.
According to the Bank of England, the number of new mortgage arrears cases in the last quarter is the lowest number since its time series began in 2007 (Bank of England, “Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics”, 10 December 2013). According to the Council for Mortgage Lenders, the number of repossessions is at its lowest level since 2007 and falling; it is also revising down its forecasts for 2014 (“CML press release”, 14 November 2013). This is not to be complacent, but I would note that critical to this fall in repossessions is the action the coalition Government have taken to keep interest rates down by tackling the Labour Government's deficit.
I would add that enhancements to the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme (shortened waiting times and increased capital limits) remain in place until March 2015 for eligible out-of-work households. The Government continue to ensure the provision of free on-the-day legal advice (the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme) to assist households at possession hearings. We are providing £470 million of funding in the current spending review period to prevent and tackle homelessness and repossessions. I would also encourage anyone who is concerned about getting into mortgage difficulties to contact their lender at the first opportunity.
Parking
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will ensure that any measures introduced as a result of the local authority parking review being undertaken by his Department will not have a detrimental impact on the safety of children. [189326]
Brandon Lewis: Yes. We will carefully consider all the public policy issues as we review the responses to the consultation.
However, I would observe that the Local Government Association has claimed that the coalition Government's proposals to ban CCTV parking cameras
“will put children at risk”.
This is a false and spurious claim.
CCTV spy cars are a recent and modern innovation from legislation passed by the last Labour Government. They are just an excuse for councils to raise money from issuing parking fines on an industrial scale. They undermine natural justice, as car owners receive the fine weeks later in the post making it extremely hard to challenge on appeal. Nothing we are proposing to do will prevent a parking warden or police officer issuing a penalty notice in the case of genuinely dangerous parking.
It is hard-pressed parents who get hit with the fines from such Stasi surveillance. Public confidence is strengthened in CCTV if it is used to tackle serious crime, not to raise money for town halls by penalising parents dropping off kids on the school run.
In their rush to bankroll CCTV spy cameras for parking enforcement, it would appear from recent media reports that parts of local government have had no qualms about sacking lollipop men and women. Crossing patrols do a sterling job in protecting children from danger—but, unfortunately, unlike spy cars, they do not raise money for council coffers.
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Travellers: Caravan Sites
Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps his Department takes if a local authority assessment of Gypsy and Traveller need is unsatisfactory and results in too little land or too few sites coming forward; and how his Department measures the adequacy of such assessments; [187594]
(2) how many local authorities have developed realistic and inclusive policies as set out in his Department's planning policy for Traveller sites guidance; and how his Department evaluates these policies; [187595]
(3) what mechanisms his Department uses to determine whether private Traveller site provision is adequate; [187599]
(4) how many additional Gypsy and Traveller sites have come forward in each region of England (a) in 2013 and (b) since 2010. [187629]
Brandon Lewis: Local planning authorities are obliged to plan to meet the needs of their Traveller communities in the same way as they do for the settled community. This involves an objective assessment of need, which provides the basis for proposed site provision in the local plan and whose soundness is subject to examination by an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate. It is similarly for local authorities to determine the right balance between private and local authority run pitches.
The twice-yearly count of Traveller caravans provides figures on total numbers of caravans and on numbers of socially-rented sites. Published statistics are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/traveller-caravan-count
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to answer Question 185266 tabled for ordinary answer on 27 January 2014. [189329]
Kris Hopkins: PQ 185266 was answered on 24 February 2014, Official Report, columns 119-20W.
Justice
Chemicals
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of using ethylene glycol-based anti-freeze products deliberately with the intention to poison in each of the last five years. [188902]
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. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to separately identify from this centrally held information whether a defendant was convicted for the use of ethylene glycol-based anti-freeze products from other products. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Communications Act 2003
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there have been under section 127 of the Digital Communications Act 2003 since 2011; and how many such convictions have related to communications (a) sent to an individual, (b) sent to a small group and (c) widely available to the public. [187926]
Jeremy Wright: The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has published guidance in relation to abusive and/or threatening behaviour online. This is an area of concern for Government and the legislative position in relation to this is clear: where behaviour is illegal off-line, it is also illegal online, and there are a number of pieces of legislation which can be, and are, used to prosecute.
The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (the latest data available) can be viewed in the table.
The proportion of offenders given custody for this offence has increased since 2010.
The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to separately identify, in all cases brought under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, whether a defendant sent or caused to send information to an individual or a small group of individuals or made the information widely available to the public. This detailed information may be held by the courts on individual case files which due to their size and complexity are not reported to Justice Analytical Services. As such this information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Court proceeding data for the year 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014
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Community Orders: Greater London
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what average time is taken to answer telephone calls by Serco with regards to placements for offenders as part of the London Community Payback contract; [186279]
(2) what targets are included in Serco's contract for Community Payback in London; [186280]
(3) how many offenders have been incorrectly assigned places as part of Community Payback in London since Serco was awarded the contract for the delivery of that programme. [186340]
Jeremy Wright: The information requested could not be obtained within the timescale. I will write to the right hon. Gentleman in due course.
Family Law: Appeals
Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many family law cases applied for leave to appeal after their case has been heard in court in each year between 2009 and 2013; [187796]
(2) how many family law cases have been successful in applying for leave to appeal in each year between 2009 and 2013; [187795]
(3) how many family law cases in which leave to appeal was obtained had their original judgment overturned in each year from 2009 to 2013. [187854]
Simon Hughes: Appeals against decisions in the family courts and family proceedings courts made by district judges are heard by circuit judges and appeals against circuit judges' decisions are heard in the Court of Appeal. Table 1, as follows, shows the number of applications to appeal against district judge decisions in the family courts. Leave to appeal being granted or refused is not recorded on the family courts case management system, nor are the results of appeals. The only way HMCTS could estimate these totals would be to manually check the case files in the following totals and this would incur disproportionate costs. Data for cases in the Court of Appeal are published annually on a calendar year basis and the data for 2013 are due to be published in June 2014 and will not be available until then. Table 2, as follows, shows the number of applications for permission to appeal relating to family matters filed in the Court of Appeal, the number of those applications allowed, and the number of appeals allowed for 2009 to 2012.
| Table 1: Appeals applications in the family courts (number and percentage of orders appealed) | |||
| Appeal applications against district judge decisions | Total number of orders made (in both family proceedings courts and county courts) | Appeals against DJ decisions as percentage of all (DJ and CJ) orders made in the year | |
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| Notes: 1. Family Proceedings Courts were rolled out during 2009 and 2010 so data are incomplete for these years. 2. These data are taken from a live case management system and should be considered as Management Information only. 3. Family cases in the family courts include public law child appeals, private law child appeals, Family Law Act 1996 appeals and adoption appeals. 4. The number of appeal applications and the number of orders made are counts for number made during each year; they are not ‘case-tracked’ (eg. an appeal made in 2009 may relate to an order made prior to 2009). 5. The number of orders made in family proceedings court and county court cases are for work-load indicative purposes only. They are not the same as other published figures for the numbers of children or the numbers of cases in adoption, public law, private law and Family Law Act cases. | |||
| Table 2: Number of family cases appealed to the Court of Appeal | |||||
| Number of overallpermission to appealapplications1 | Family permission to appeal filed | Percentage of overall work | Permission to appeal allowed | Appeals allowed | |
| 1 Admin courts, Queen’s bench, chancery, county courts, IA tribunals, other tribunals, family. | |||||
Fines
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by his Department on the enforcement of payment of fines in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013; [185415]
(2) how many full-time equivalent staff worked on the collection of confiscation orders in each year since 2010; [185452]
(3) how many full-time equivalent staff of his Department worked on collection of fines in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013. [186100]
Mr Vara: The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) in the area of enforcement of the payments of fines and on the collection of confiscation orders as a snapshot as at 31 December for the years 2010 to 2013 is shown in the following table. These figures were obtained from the Human Resource (HR) system on 30 January 2014. It is not possible to differentiate on the HR system between those staff employed in enforcement and those employed in the collection of fines.
Enforcement as a separate HMCTS function was not created until June 2011. For data purposes prior to that date, the business code name and hierarchy information has been used to identify staff who work in enforcement and/or confiscation.
| Strength | ||||
| Other enforcement | Confiscation | Total FTE | Total headcount | |
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Fixed Penalties
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent staff worked on the collection of penalty notice orders in each of the last four years. [186161]
Mr Vara: It is not possible to identify the number of full-time equivalent staff working in fixed-penalty offices over the last four years. It is not possible to differentiate on the Human Resource system between those staff working in fixed penalty offices and those working in other enforcement functions.
Gender Recognition
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans she has to review the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to remove the spousal veto for gender reassignment. [187510]
Simon Hughes: The Government have no plans to review the Gender Recognition Act 2004. There is no spousal veto currently in the 2004 Act and there will be no spousal veto when the gender recognition provisions of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 are implemented. All applicants for gender recognition will, as now, be able to obtain their legal gender change regardless of their spouse's views.
Under the new provisions in the 2013 Act, couples who wish to stay married following gender recognition will each need to complete statutory declarations to this effect. This will allow the Gender Recognition Panel to issue a full gender recognition certificate to the applicant.
Where the couple do not wish to stay married, the panel will, as now, issue an interim gender recognition certificate. This will allow either party to initiate proceedings to annul their marriage and the applicant to obtain their full certificate.
Maghull Prison
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on the construction of HM Prison Maghull before the project was cancelled in 2010. [189214]
Jeremy Wright: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answers given on 21 December 2010, Official Report, column 1163W, and 21 December 2010, Official Report, column 1164W. There has been no additional cost since that answer.
Medomsley Secure Training Centre
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what support his Department is providing to the victims of mistreatment at Medomsley Detention Centre; [187520]
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(2) what steps Ministers in his Department took when first informed of allegations of mistreatment at Medomsley Detention Centre; [187521]
(3) when Ministers in his Department were first informed of allegations of mistreatment at Medomsley Detention Centre; [187522]
(4) whether his Department has asked the police formally to investigate allegations of mistreatment at the Medomsley Detention Centre; [188443]
(5) how many allegations of mistreatment at the Medomsley Detention Centre his Department has received to date. [187895]
Jeremy Wright: In 2003, the police investigated allegations of abuse against Neville Husband, a former employee at Medomsley Detention Centre. Mr Husband was convicted of offences in 2003. Medomsley Detention Centre was closed in the early 1980s.
Ministers, in the current Administration, were informed of the allegations of sexual abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre in September 2011, in relation to a civil claim brought by a former detainee at Medomsley. Ministers were advised that Durham constabulary had reopened its investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre in December 2013.
I can confirm that the Ministry of Justice has received 46 complaints from former detainees of Medomsley Detention Centre to date. I am unable to comment any further on the complaints because of the ongoing legal proceedings. I regret that I am unable to answer any specific questions regarding the police investigation other than to assure the right hon. Gentleman that the Ministry of Justice will fully cooperate with Durham constabulary regarding this matter.
Since 2011, the Ministry of Justice has provided over £5 million to organisations to support both male and female victims of sexual violence. The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Government have committed £500,000 over the next financial year to provide services including advice and counselling, specifically to help male victims. I understand that Durham constabulary is providing support for the victims that have come forward since the investigation reopened in 2013.
Ministers' Private Offices
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department's Ministers. [188321]
Mr Vara: The total size of the offices assigned to the Department's Ministers and the number of officials, by grade, working in the private offices of each of the Department's Ministers is detailed in the following table. To protect individual privacy, as they have five or fewer officials supporting them, only the total number of officials supporting Simon Hughes, Lord Faulks, Shailesh Vara, Jeremy Wright and Damian Green is provided. Damian Green is also supported in his private office by Home Office officials as a joint Ministry of Justice and Home Office Minister.
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| Secretary of State | Simon Hughes | Lord Faulks | Shailesh Vara | Jeremy Wright | Damian Green | |
The State of the Estate Report reports annually on progress made during the year in improving the efficiency of the Government's civil estate. The results for 2013 will be presented to Parliament later this year. Results for 2012 show:
continued progress, with the total size of the estate falling by 5% and the amount of occupied space being around 13m2/FTE;
at £409/m2, we out-perform the private sector benchmark on cost per square metre by 3%.
In London, the size of the Government's central civil estate was reduced by over 491,309m2 (or around 22%) from 1 May 2010 to 1 December 2013.
From 1 May 2010 to 1 December 2013 the Government exited just over 1.8 million m2, reducing the size of their mandated estate by around 17%.
Across the central civil estate, the Government Property Unit has recorded savings on annual running costs from early exits from leasehold, PFIs or disposals of freehold property of £454 million per annum from May 2010 to March 2013.
Departments have been advised to work towards (i) an 8:10 desk ratio or less, and (ii) work in open plan offices with no single occupancy offices except Ministers and in exceptional cases other senior officials. This change will release space for use by other Government Departments or will enable buildings to be returned to the open market or sold, thus reducing the overheads of Government.
Oakwood Prison
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions the National Tactical Response Group has been called out to Oakwood Prison since the opening of that prison; on what date each such call-out occurred; and what the nature of the incident was. [182761]
Jeremy Wright: HMP Oakwood, currently contracted out to G4S, opened in April 2012. Since that date there have been five occasions when the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) has been called out to attend incidents, as follows:
| Count | Date | Nature of incident |
‘Working at height’ covers those instances when a prisoner has scaled a roof, on to the netting between landings or on to any other raised surface and cannot be safely removed from ground level. NTRG has devised strategies and equipment to enable it to safely retrieve someone from a height.
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which members of staff holding the positions of (a) Director, (b) Deputy Director, (c) Activities Manager, (d) Head of Reducing Re-offending, (e) Head of Safer Custody, (f) Head of Security, (g) Head of Community Engagement and (h) Head of Performance at the time of HM Prison Oakwood taking its first inmates had previous experience of (i) working, (ii) less than one- year service, (iii) between one and five years service and (iv) over five years working in the prison system. [188742]
Jeremy Wright: The information requested could not be obtained within the timescale. I will write to the right hon. Gentleman in due course.
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which members of staff holding the positions of (a) Director, (b) Deputy Director, (c) Activities Manager, (d) Head of Reducing Re-offending, (e) Head of Safer Custody, (f) Head of Security, (g) Head of Community Engagement and (h) Head of Performance at the time of HM Prison Oakwood taking its first inmates had previous experience of working in a new prison when it took its first inmates. [188743]
Jeremy Wright: The information requested could not be obtained within the timescale. I will write to the right hon. Gentleman in due course.
Office of the Public Guardian
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff were employed in the Office of the Public Guardian Investigations Unit in each year since 2010. [184955]
Simon Hughes: In July 2010 there were 40.35 full-time equivalent staff members in the Compliance Unit. As of January 2014 the unit has expanded to 54.07 full- time equivalent staff members.
The Investigation Unit is part of the larger Compliance Unit, which includes staff who deal with Type 1 deputy supervision cases, safeguarding and court applications. As the work they carry out often overlaps we are unable to provide specific numbers for the Investigation Unit.
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In comparison there are currently 106 staff members employed to work with Deputy cases generally, within the supervision function.
The relevant figures are in the following table.
| Compliance Unit | Headcount | Full-Time Equivalent |
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many (a) complaints and (b) enquiries the Office of the Public Guardian Investigation Unit has received in each of the last three years; and how many such complaints resulted in (A) no further action, (B) further investigation and (C) court proceedings; [184956]
(2) how many complaints and enquiries the Office of the Public Guardian Investigations Unit received in each month of the last three years. [184967]
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Simon Hughes: The Public Guardian has statutory authority to investigate complaints, or allegations of abuse, made against deputies or attorneys acting under registered powers. The Compliance Unit deals with complex cases and in particular investigations into concerns about deputies and attorneys. Investigation plays an important role in safeguarding clients from abuse.
Complaints and enquiries forwarded to the Compliance Unit by the wider OPG are recorded as referrals. Investigations are commenced by the Investigations Unit subject to an assessment of the evidence provided. In cases where the OPG has no jurisdiction referrals are signposted to other appropriate agencies.
The figures for referrals and subsequent investigations can be found as follows. The categories of ‘further action' and ‘no further action' have been recorded since April 2013. ‘Further action' outcomes are recorded when the OPG requires a third party (ie. the deputy/attorney) to make an application to the Court of Protection or where the OPG monitors a case for a certain time frame.
| (1) Result of referrals by year | ||||||
| Financial year | Referrals received | Investigations started | Referrals signposted | Public Guardian application to court | Further action | No further action |
| (2) Referrals received by month | |||||||||||||
| Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Total | |
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of running the Office of the Public Guardian Investigations Unit was in each of the last four years. [185488]
Simon Hughes: The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is self-funded through customer fees. It is responsible for funding all of its operational costs excluding funding for exemptions and remissions, which is supplied by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). As such the cost of the OPG to the taxpayer is minimal.
The OPG is committed to lowering its operational costs in order to offer reduced fee levels to its clients. Maintaining the quality of its services is paramount, particularly in its role in safeguarding vulnerable groups.
Following a restructure in 2010-11 the Investigations Unit was embedded in the Compliance Unit, which includes staff who deal with Type 1 deputy supervision cases, safeguarding and court applications. Post 2010-11 the cost of the Investigations Unit was included in the Compliance Unit cost. In order to allow for comparability across the years the cost of the Compliance Unit as it is currently structured has been provided.
The requested costs can be found as follows.
| Cost (£) | |
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the budget of the Office of the Public Guardian will be in 2014-15. [187548]
Simon Hughes: The budgets for 2014-15 have not yet been finalised; however, the indicative allocation for the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is £43,367,000, of which £2,933,000 is capital.
Prison Sentences
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of custodial sentence handed down to people found guilty of (a) the offence of making or possessing an explosive under suspicious circumstances, (b) weapons training for terrorism and (c) training for terrorism was in each of the last 10 years. [188576]
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Jeremy Wright: Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, within the maximum penalty set by Parliament for the offence. The Government have introduced provisions in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to increase the maximum penalty for these offences to life, and to add these and other terrorism-related offences to the enhanced dangerous offender sentencing regime. These provisions will ensure that robust sentences can be imposed where necessary on the most serious and dangerous terrorist offenders in a wide range of cases.
The number of offenders sentenced and given an average custodial sentence length (months) at all courts for selected terrorism offences, in England and Wales, from 2003 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.
The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against,
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found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to separately identify, in all cases brought under the Terrorism Act 2006, whether an offender was found guilty of weapons training for terrorism. This detailed information may be held by the courts on individual case files which due to their size and complexity are not reported to Justice Statistics Analytical Services. As such, it can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Court proceeding data from 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
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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 Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. 4 Care should be taken when interpreting these figures as averages are based on small numbers. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | ||||||||||||
Prison Service
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers taking voluntary early departure since May 2010 have had (a) up to six, (b) six to 12, (c) 12 to 18, (d) 18 to 24 and (e) over 24 months' continuous service. [181126]
Jeremy Wright: There were 1,430 prison officers (numbers rounded to the nearest 10) in the public sector who took up voluntary early departure between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013 and all had over 24 months' continuous service.
Prisoners: Females
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what programmes and interventions are provided to female victims of domestic violence in prison; in which women's prisons such programmes and interventions are currently available; and how much central Government funding has been made available to such programmes and interventions in 2013-14 and 2014-15. [188005]
Simon Hughes: The following table shows the centrally recorded domestic violence programmes and interventions being delivered across the women's prison estate during 2013-14. The cost of these programmes is met by local prison budgets. Information about what programmes will be delivered during 2014-15 will be published by the end of April 2014.
| Programme | Establishment |
Prisoners: Foreign Nationals
Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2014, Official Report, column 293W, on prisoners: foreign nationals, which three countries have the next largest number of foreign nationals in UK prisons; and what steps he is taking to return those offenders to secure detention in their own countries. [187003]
Jeremy Wright: The countries with the 4th, 5th and 6th largest populations of Foreign Nationals in UK prisons on 31 December 2013 are:
4. Romania (547)
5. Pakistan (548)
6. Lithuania (502)
Romania has now implemented the EU Prisoner Transfer Arrangement and we expect to start transfers later this year. We have a voluntary prisoner transfer arrangement with Pakistan and are currently exploring how we can make it more effective. Lithuania is due to implement the EUPTA later this year and as soon as it does we will start referring prisoners to the Home Office to get the deportation orders required for transfer.
In January this year we signed a compulsory PTA with Nigeria (7th largest population of FNOs) and last year we signed a PTA with Albania (11th). We expect to see prisoner transfers to both these countries before the end of this year.
Prisoners: Self-harm
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess how psychiatric input would improve the Assessment, Care in Custody Teamwork process. [188714]
Jeremy Wright: The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for those identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm. It already benefits from psychiatric input where appropriate.
An ACCT plan will be put in place following a prisoner's episode of self-harm or where a risk has been identified. This may include a referral for a mental health assessment which could lead to psychiatric input dependent on individual needs. The ACCT process includes provision for enhanced case management of prisoners presenting heightened or exceptional risk of harm to themselves.
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Prisons
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what new capacity has (a) been introduced and (b) been removed from each prison in England and Wales in each month since January 2013; [176204]
(2) what (a) new capacity has come on stream and (b) capacity has been taken out of use, by prison, across the secure estate in England and Wales for each month since 1 January 2013. [177032]
Jeremy Wright: The Government will always ensure there are enough prison places for those sentenced to custody by the courts. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), has committed to ensuring that there will be more adult male prison places available at the end of this Parliament than there were at the start.
At the same time we are taking steps to modernise the prison estate and to drive down costs, in order to deliver better value for money for the taxpayer. In fact the NAO has recently commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for a generation.
Statistics on capacity at each prison are published on a monthly basis and the figures for 2013 are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures
We manage capacity on a dynamic basis and bring capacity on and off stream as we need to, including as a result of planned maintenance, the opening of new capacity and the closure of older, more inefficient places.
The Secretary of State has made two major announcements on our estate modernisation plans, which will deliver significant savings for the taxpayer. In January 2013, the Secretary of State announced the closure of 2,600 old and uneconomic places through the closure of six prisons and the partial closure of accommodation in three other sites. This followed the opening of 1,600 places at HMP Oakwood and the development of plans to provide up to 1,260 new places through new houseblocks at four sites. The written ministerial statement providing details can be found at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130110/wmstext/130110m0001.htm#13011037000004
In September 2013, the Secretary of State announced that we were able to close a further 1,400 uneconomic places at four sites and the conversion of an additional 600 places at HMP The Verne to hold immigration detainees. At the same time, we announced that we were starting work to build a large new prison in north Wales, delivering up to 2,000 new places. The written ministerial statement providing details can be found at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130904/wmstext/130904m0001.htm#13090427000004
Prisons: Civil Disorder
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on which occasions the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) was called out in each month in 2013; and to which prison the NTRG was called out in each such case. [182762]
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Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service's National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) is a specialist resource to assist both public and private sector establishments in safely managing and resolving serious incidents in prisons.
NTRG staff have been called to attend incidents at only 51% of establishments in the past year. There has been a rise in the number of call-outs during 2013. This is mainly due to minor incidents such as prisoners protesting by climbing onto the netting between landings. NTRG staff have the specialist skills required to deal with such incidents, which accounted for 67% of all the call-outs during 2013, and they are frequently called to attend as a precautionary measure. Not all call-outs result in engagement by NTRG staff, with a number of situations being resolved locally. Of all the incidents NTRG attended during 2013, 74% were resolved by surrender. There has been no rise in the number of serious incidents being attended.
The following table sets out the occasions from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013 when the National Tactical Response Group has been called out to public and private sector establishments. This information does not include aborted call-outs:
| Count | Date | Establishment |
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