Prisons

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons have been locked out in each month since May 2010; and on how many occasions each such prison has been locked out. [189680]

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not collected centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Food

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost is of preparing (a) halal and (b) non-halal food in the Prison Service. [191311]

Jeremy Wright: While public sector prisons in England and Wales provide around 82 million prisoner meals per year, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not require prisons to provide food preparation costs categorised by religious, cultural or medical need, rather all meal costs are included within the total food account figure.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners sent to local prisons by courts have been sent on to an alternative prison due to overcrowding in each month since September 2013. [189681]

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Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not collected centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Risley Prison

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) when workshops have been closed at HM Prison Risley since October 2013; [183443]

(2) which wings at HM Prison Risley have been locked down for half a day due to staff shortages since October 2013; [183444]

(3) how many times a wing at HM Prison Risley has been locked down during the lunch period since 1 October 2013. [183445]

Jeremy Wright: A workshop was closed at Risley prison on 110 occasions, either for a morning or an afternoon, between 1 October 2013 and 17 January 2014.

Seven wings at the prison have been locked-down for half-a day at some point as a result of staff sickness. The prison management take every step possible to reduce this to a minimum.

There have been 76 occasions when a single wing at Risley has been locked down during lunchtime during the same period.

All unplanned regime curtailments have been caused by high levels of staff sickness absence and not staff shortages; a new strategy for managing staff sickness was introduced in February to address this. The prison remains fully resourced to deliver an effective and purposeful regime. We also recently introduced changes to the regime to rotate necessary wing closures during the core day, but ensure that workshops and education remain open at all times.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many tribunals have been stayed pending decisions in other courts relating to decisions on benefits for over six months; how many claimants this involves; and what the total value of benefits involved is; [190406]

(2) how many tribunals considering appeals on benefits decisions are currently held pending decisions in other courts; how many claimants this affects; what the value of such benefit claims is; and if he will make a statement. [190408]

Mr Vara: The first-tier tribunal social security and child support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits.

(1) As at 30 September 2013 (the most recent period for which statistics have been published) there were 1,179 stayed cases aged over six months. Each case represents one claimant. It is not possible to quantify the amount of benefit due to these claimants as every case awaiting an appeal would potentially have a different amount due.

(2) As at 30 September 2013 there were no appeals against benefit decisions on hold at the tribunal pending decisions in other courts.

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Squatting

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2013, Official Report, column 127W, on squatting, what the cost to the public purse has been of hearings in relation to the case of a constituent of the hon. Member for Workington (Sir Tony Cunningham), Gary Tomlinson, Claim Number OWH00080, Cert Number JBIRQK61BB77/A/E/1; for what reasons legal aid funding in relation to this case was withdrawn; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the report in relation to that withdrawal decision. [191542]

Mr Vara: The overall cost to the public purse of hearings in relation the case of Gary Tomlinson cannot be provided.

The cost to HM Courts and Tribunals Service of the hearings involved in this case would require an estimate of the of the judicial time spent on each of the hearings, and the time of each member of staff spent on administrating those hearings. This could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The receipt of legal aid is considered to be personal data and the Department has certain obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 which would prevent it from disclosing this type of information. Furthermore, the LAA is further prohibited by statute from disclosing information relating to the provision of legal aid in individual cases (under section 34 of the LASPO Act 2012, section 20 of the Access to Justice Act 1999, and before this under section 38 of the Legal Aid Act 1988).

Theft: Metals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of any offences relating to scrap metal theft in each of the last three years. [191467]

Jeremy Wright: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not contain information about the circumstances behind each case, beyond the description provided in the statute under which proceedings are brought. It is not possible to identify from this centrally held information those found guilty of offences specifically of scrap metal theft as opposed to other offences of theft. 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.

Charging data are not held by the Ministry of Justice.

Defence

Air Force: Assets

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the value of each asset under contraction valued at £1 million or more held on Air Command's balance sheet is; [191821]

(2) what the (a) quantity and (b) value of all information technology tangible fixed assets items valued at £1 million or over held on Air Command's balance sheet is; [191822]

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(3) what the (a) quantity and (b) value of all single use military equipment tangible fixed asset items valued at £1 million or over held on Air Command's balance sheet is. [191823]

Mr Dunne: Only one of Air Command's tangible fixed asset items with a present Net Book Value of over £1 million is held on its Balance Sheet. It is valued at £3 million. The remaining assets are held on the Defence Equipment and Support Balance Sheet. The total number and value of such assets, rounded to the nearest million, is shown in the following table.

The asset types are those categories under which the assets are recorded in the Ministry of Defence fixed asset register.

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases were taken to summary appeal courts in each year since 2006 by members of each branch of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement. [191445]

Anna Soubry: The following table shows the number of summary appeal cases (SAC) taken to court since 2009 (when the Service Prosecuting Authority came into full operation) and by which service:

The figures relate to the year the case was heard at court. This is not necessarily the same year as the SAC referral was received.

The most relevant information available for earlier years is contained in the answer my predecessor the now Minister for Armed Forces, my right hon. Friend for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois) gave on 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 613W. However, these figures are not directly comparable because each case as reported above may include more than one defendant and more than one charge.

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) serving and (b) former members of each branch of the armed forces received compensation following the end of the previous policy of disciplining personnel who received a police caution; and if he will make a statement. [191502]

Anna Soubry: No such compensation has been paid.

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Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much compensation has been paid to (a) serving and (b) former members of each branch of the armed forces who were disciplined following receipt of a police caution; and if he will make a statement. [191503]

Anna Soubry: No such compensation has been paid.

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving members in each branch of the armed forces were deemed to have lost out on promotion following receiving a police caution in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [191525]

Anna Soubry: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Inquiries

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what conditions have to apply in order to prevent the release of a Service Inquiry report to the general public. [191597]

Anna Soubry: The publication of Service Inquiry reports is considered on a case-by-case basis. The arrangements are set out in chapter 7 of Joint Service Publication 832 (‘Guide to Service Inquiries'). A copy of that document can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/service-inquiry-si

along with a list of published reports of Service Inquiries, Boards of Inquiry, and Military Aircraft Accident Summaries.

Armed Forces: Museums and Galleries

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visitors there were at the (a) National Army Museum, (b) Royal Air Force Museum, (c) National Museum of the Royal Navy and (d) National Memorial Arboretum in the last year for which figures are available; and what the planned grant-in-aid is for each such attraction in 2014-15. [191425]

Anna Soubry: The information requested is contained in the following table:

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Army: Northern Ireland

Dr McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) army applications and (b) successful army applications from Northern Ireland there have been in the last three years. [191855]

Anna Soubry: The total number of soldiers from Northern Ireland who applied and who entered service in the last three years, including 2013-14 to date, is shown in the following table:

D-Day Landings: Anniversaries

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate his Department has made of how many veterans of the D-Day landings will travel to Normandy for the 70th anniversary of those landings; [191645]

(2) what steps his Department is taking to assist veterans of the D-Day landings to take part in the Normandy 70 commemorations; [191646]

(3) what plans his Department has to hold a national event in London to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings; [191647]

(4) what representations his Department has received about holding a national event in London to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. [191648]

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working closely with partners across Government and with external agencies, including the Normandy Veterans Association (NVA) and the Royal British Legion (RBL), to deliver a fitting programme of commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Veterans interested in attending events in Normandy have been asked to register their interest with the RBL, to allow an estimate of numbers planning to travel.

Veterans wishing to make the trip to Normandy are able to apply for financial support from the Big Lottery Fund, which has extended its Heroes Return 2 programme until 31 December 2015. This enables veterans, widows, spouses and carers to apply for travel and accommodation expenses to make trips back to places across the world where they served, or make a commemorative visit within the UK.

The UK's national events to commemorate the 70th anniversary will take place in Normandy, France. A large event is being organised by Portsmouth city council on 5 June 2014 supported by the MOD. The Department has received some correspondence from MPs and their constituents about holding a national event in London and will be considering further veterans groups. The NVA plans to disband this year and will hold services to

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mark the occasion, including the dedication of a new memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in September 2014.

Empty Property

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by (a) his Department and (b) any executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies of his Department in the current financial year. [191805]

Dr Murrison: As of 14 March 2014 empty property business rates paid on properties owned by the Ministry of Defence for the current financial year is £520,000. While a site is vacant and awaiting disposal it will incur Empty Property Business rates as any buildings until it is disposed of.

There are no empty properties owned by executive agencies or non-departmental bodies, so no rates have been paid in the current financial year.

Marines: Northern Ireland

Dr McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people from Northern Ireland have joined the Royal Marines in each of the last five years. [191867]

Anna Soubry: Recruitment into the Royal Marines is co-ordinated through Armed Forces careers offices, not by geographic areas. Candidates from Northern Ireland would normally be processed through the Belfast office but any candidate may apply to any recruitment office in the UK. In addition, a number of officer candidates, notably specialists, are processed centrally through the Admiralty Interview Board.

The numbers shown in the following table relate to entrants processed through the Belfast office only, and do not reflect the region the recruit originates from.

These figures are Single Service Estimates for officers and other ranks for the Regular Service only, including Royal Marine Band Service entrants.

Military Exercises

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department will abandon the use of live pigs in military battlefield exercises; whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland to learn from their use of mannequins as a replacement; and if he will make a statement. [191896]

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Mr Dunne: As a key element in their training for operational deployment, members of the UK Defence Medical Services attend military Exercise Surgical Training courses in Denmark.

These exercises are essential to ensure our medical personnel are capable of carrying out potentially life-saving surgery on casualties with serious bullet and blast wounds. Injuries of such severity are not routinely encountered during their clinical practice in NHS hospitals, but they are regularly required to treat them when on operational deployment. Participating in Danish training minimises the number of animals involved. The pigs are treated humanely with full use of anaesthetics.

There are a number of sophisticated simulation models on the market that provide effective training in certain surgical techniques, and the Ministry of Defence already uses these where clinically appropriate. However, none of those currently available provide a viable alternative to the serious bullet and blast wound training that our surgeons receive from live pig models.

Electoral Commission Committee

Elections

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the use of positive role models and celebrities to increase electoral registration and voter turnout. [190821]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has not made an assessment of the use of positive role models and celebrities in its public awareness work.

This is due to the risk that they might have political affiliations which would lead to the neutrality of the Commission's work being called into question.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, for what reasons the Commission's estimate of unregistered voters was 4 million in 2010 and 6 million in December 2011. [190818]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it provided estimates for the completeness of the December 2010 and April 2011 registers in Great Britain in its “Great Britain's electoral registers 2011” report. The report indicated that at least 6 million people were not registered at their current address in December 2010 and this figure had risen to 8.5 million by April 2011.

This change to the accuracy and completeness of the electoral register within such a time period is not unexpected. In any given year there will be a variety of reasons why such a change would occur, the most significant of which will usually be the impact of home movement after the annual canvass, which was the case in this instance.

The Commission's report explaining the background to its research can be found here:

19 Mar 2014 : Column 655W

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/145366/Great-Britains-electoral-registers-2011.pdf

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the data matching rates were for university students living in university towns. [190822]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission refers the hon. Gentleman to the answer to his previous question (177062), on 29 November 2013, Official Report, columns 455-56W, which outlined the background on match rates for students in university towns.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the registration rates were in the review of the national estimate of the completeness of the electoral register in England and Wales in 2000 and the Electoral Commission's research on Great Britain's electoral register in 2011. [190823]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its research on the December 2000 registers in England and Wales found that 8% to 9% of eligible people were not registered at their current address.

Its subsequent research across Great Britain found that, in December 2010 and April 2011, 13% to 15% and 18% respectively of eligible people were not registered at their current address.

Electoral Register: Bridgend

Mrs Moon: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in Bridgend County Borough Council; and if he will make a statement. [191195]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for Bridgend county borough council were as shown in the following table:

19 Mar 2014 : Column 656W

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

The Electoral Commission also produced a report analysing the results of the Confirmation Dry Run Process, which can be found on its website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/163144/Confirmation-Dry-run-2013-Results-report.pdf

Electoral Register: Gateshead

Mr Anderson: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in (a) Gateshead Council and (b) Blaydon constituency. [191206]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for Gateshead council were as follows:

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The ward results for the Blaydon constituency were as follows:

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here:

19 Mar 2014 : Column 658W

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

Electoral Register: Greater Manchester

David Heyes: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures in each ward were in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in (a) Oldham Metropolitan Borough and (b) Tameside Metropolitan Borough. [191196]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for Oldham metropolitan borough council were as follows:

The ward results for Tameside metropolitan borough council were as follows:

19 Mar 2014 : Column 659W

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in (a) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, (b) Tameside Metropolitan Council and (c) Denton and Reddish constituency. [191197]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for Stockport metropolitan borough council were as follows:

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The ward results for Tameside metropolitan borough council were as follows:

The ward results for the Denton and Reddish constituency were as follows:

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

19 Mar 2014 : Column 661W

Electoral Register: Nottingham

Mr Allen: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in (a) Nottingham city council and (b) Nottingham North constituency. [191198]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for Nottingham city council were as follows:

The ward results for the Nottingham North constituency were as follows:

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

19 Mar 2014 : Column 662W

Electoral Register: Oxford

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in Oxford East constituency. [191199]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for the Oxford East constituency were as follows:

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

Electoral Register: St Helens

Mr Watts: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in (a) St Helens metropolitan borough council area and (b) St Helens North constituency. [191239]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information

19 Mar 2014 : Column 663W

System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for St Helens metropolitan borough council were as follows:

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The ward results for the St Helens North constituency were as follows:

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls