Cyprus

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) allegations of, (b) investigations of, (c) prosecutions for and (d) convictions for (i) rape and (ii) sexual assault fell under the jurisdiction of the Service Police in Cyprus in each year since 2008. [193650]

Mr Dunne: The following table details allegations of rape and sexual assault investigated by the Service Police in Cyprus in each year since the implementation of the Armed Forces Act 2006 on 1 November 2009 to 25 March 2014.

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DSG Ashchurch

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that the value for money assessment prepared for the closure of DSG Ashchurch is in accord with Joint Service Protocol 507; and if he will make a statement; [193644]

(2) when the value for money report for the proposed closure of the DSG Ashchurch site will be produced; and if he will make a statement. [193651]

Mr Dunne: The assessment study programme for Logistics Service Ashchurch is still being confirmed. Once undertaken, the study results will be used in development of a business case seeking approval for a selected solution. It is too early to say when the business case will be completed.

Application of JSP 507 is required policy for all business cases. It will be applied in this case.

Egypt

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what non-lethal military support his Department has provided to Egypt in each year since 2012. [194083]

Dr Murrison: Since 2012 Egyptian personnel have undergone defence education and training in the UK, including Initial Officer Training, Advanced Command and Staff Course, and Royal College of Defence Studies attendance.

Employment Tribunals Service

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of all Employment Tribunal judgements made against his Department since 2008 to date; and if he will make a statement. [193112]

Anna Soubry: The information will take time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he or officials of his Department will discuss the issues raised by Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan of the US Air Force in his testimony on the F-35 programme to the US House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces sub-committee with their US counterparts. [194198]

Mr Dunne: UK officials are embedded within the US Joint Strike Fighter Programme Office and are present at daily meetings chaired by Lt Gen Bogdan. Any programme issues are presented at these meetings, meaning the UK has full visibility of any F-35 concerns.

All of the issues raised by Lt Gen Bogdan in his testimony to the House Armed Services Committee are well-known to the UK and are being actively managed by the programme.

Military Police

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service police there were in (a) each branch of the armed forces and (b) the Special Investigations Branch in the last year for which data are available; how many such police have received specialist training in the investigation of sexual offences; and if he will make a statement. [191443]

Anna Soubry: The following table shows the number of naval service police, Army Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police in the armed forces and the number of personnel in each of the Special Investigation Branches (SIB), as of 1 February 2014.

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All service police undertake training at the Defence College of Policing and Guarding (DCPG). This includes general training in the form of the Initial Military Police Training Course, undertaken by personnel at the start of their careers; the Volume Crime Investigation Course, undertaken by personnel who have served for three-four years; and the Serious Crime Investigation Course, which all members of the SIB must pass before joining it. These courses incorporate training on the handling of sexual offences at various levels, including elements on sexual offences legislation; investigative techniques; forensic awareness; dealing with witnesses and suspects; the preservation of evidence; and interaction with victims.

In addition, selected service police attend a range of specialist and advanced detective training at the DCPG and external, nationally recognised training providers (such as civilian police forces). This training includes the Senior Investigating Officer course, Crime Scene Analysis and Tier 3-5 Interviewing Courses, all of which are relevant to the investigation of a serious sexual offence.

Service police also attend training primarily designed to cover the investigation of sexual offences. The following table shows the numbers who have attended these courses:

NATO

Mr Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the origins are of the NATO target for allies to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defence; and if he will make a statement. [193766]

Dr Murrison: NATO Resource Guidance first emerged during the Cold War. NATO introduced the current guideline that allies should spend 2% of gross domestic product on defence in 2006.

Reserve Forces: Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) men and (b) women there were in the reserve forces in Brigg and Goole constituency in the latest period for which figures are available. [194259]

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Mr Dunne: Information on reserve forces is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Strategic Defence and Security Review

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the 60 questions relating to the future Strategic Defence and Security Review to which the Permanent Under-Secretary of his Department referred during his oral evidence to the Defence Select Committee on 25 March 2014. [194118]

Mr Philip Hammond: The cross-Government lead on the next NSS and SDSR sits with Cabinet Office. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is engaged with them and other interested Departments. MOD is in the very early stages of identifying those areas which may require further work or which we may wish to look at in 2015 as part of the Cabinet Office-led process. This evolving work supports the development of Government policy and I am therefore not able to provide this internal policy work.

Treasury

Air Passenger Duty

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects of the removal of air passenger duty (APD) on the number of passengers travelling between Belfast and Newark International; and if he will take that assessment into account when considering changes to levels of APD for other flights from and within the UK. [194123]

Nicky Morgan: The Government do not monitor passenger volumes on individual routes. The published statistics on air passenger duty, including information on passenger numbers by band, are available at:

https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx

The published statistics on airport passenger volumes are available at:

http://www.caa.co.uk/airportstatistics

Budget 2014 announced the reform of air passenger duty with the abolition of bands C and D from 1 April 2015. This will eliminate the two highest rates of air passenger duty charged on flights to countries over 4,000 miles from Britain, cutting tax for millions for passengers to travelling to China, India, Brazil and many other emerging markets. This will mean that flights to South Asia and the Caribbean will pay tax at the lower band B rate.

Air passenger duty is a relatively efficient and non-regressive tax, which makes an important contribution to the public finances.

All Party Groups

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups. [193566]

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Nicky Morgan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 300W.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how his Department calculates that 2.5 million eligible families would benefit from tax-free childcare in the consultation on Tax-free Childcare; and how his Department calculated the revised figure of 1.26 million eligible families in Delivering Tax-Free Childcare, the Government's response to the consultation on design and operation. [193329]

Nicky Morgan: The estimates from the consultation document have been refined using the latest survey data, removing overlaps with families with access to other policies, and reflecting the final policy following formal consultation.

Details of the number of families who are eligible for the scheme, what makes someone eligible for the scheme, and the definition of qualifying childcare costs be found in Delivering Tax-Free Childcare: the Government's response to the consultation on design and operation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293084/PU1607_Tax_free_ Childcare_response.pdf

Coinage

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely costs to businesses of the introduction of a new £1 coin. [193682]

Nicky Morgan: The Budget announced that the existing £1 coin will be replaced with a more modern and secure design. After 30 years in circulation, the current coin has become vulnerable to counterfeiting.

There will be a public consultation this summer that will focus on how to manage impacts on industry and other affected parties. The Government are committed to working with industry to minimise costs and disruption.

The Government plan for the new coin to be introduced in 2017. This timeline was decided expressly to allow industry three years to plan for the change.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what impact assessment he has made of his plans to introduce electronic Vehicle Excise Duty on (a) companies that trade cars and (b) the sale of second-hand cars; and if he will make a statement; [193786]

(2) what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the introduction of electronic Vehicle Excise Duty on (a) the transfer of personalised number plates and (b) car sale purchases. [193831]

Nicky Morgan: The autumn statement 2013 announced that the Government will legislate in Finance Bill 2014 to allow motorists to pay their vehicle excise duty (VED) by direct debit should they wish to do so, and to abolish the paper tax disc.

1 Apr 2014 : Column 626W

Both of these measures, which will come into effect from 1 October 2014, are designed to reduce tax administration costs and burdens on motorists. The Tax Information and Impact Note, published on 10 December 2013, estimated that the abolition of the tax disc could provide business with administrative cost savings of around £7 million per year. Business will no longer incur postage costs by re-posting the tax disc to drivers or from having to return the tax disc to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for a VED refund.

Under the move to a paperless tax disc, when a vehicle is sold the VED will no longer be transferable with that vehicle. The new vehicle buyer will need to purchase a new VED licence. This non-transferability of VED provides consumer protection by preventing a new vehicle owner unknowingly keeping an unlicensed vehicle if the previous vehicle owner subsequently seeks a refund from the DVLA. There will be no change to the process for transferring a personalised registration number plate when the vehicle is sold.

Occupational Pensions

Mr Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy that applicants for means- tested benefits aged 55 years and above will not be deemed for purposes of benefit eligibility assessment to have vested in the capital and potential income held within their defined contribution pension pots. [194190]

Mr Gauke: Under existing rules the capital value of pension investments is disregarded when assessing entitlement to working age income related benefits. Actual pension payments are deducted from both income-based and contributory benefits. When an individual is over the qualifying age for pension credit and has a pension fund that they have not yet accessed, a notional income is deducted from any benefit entitlement.

Smuggling

Jake Berry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs staff were employed on detection of (a) tobacco and (b) alcohol smuggling in each of the last five years. [193522]

Nicky Morgan: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not employ staff specifically to detect tobacco and alcohol duty fraud. Instead, multi-disciplinary resources are deployed flexibly according to risk across all taxes administered by the Department. To assure the correct payment of tobacco and alcohol duty this involves HMRC activity all along the supply chains for these goods, and operating in partnership with other agencies such at Border Force and in other EU member states. The total resource expended by HMRC in tackling these frauds in each year from 2008-09 to 2012-13, expressed as full-time equivalents (FTE), is as follows:

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These figures do not include staff in other organisations, such as Border Force, working to detect illicit tobacco and alcohol at the frontier.

Working Hours

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of employees in his Department of each (a) Civil Service pay grade and (b) gender work (i) reduced hours, (ii) flexi-time, (iii) from home, (iv) a compressed working week, (v) job share, (vi) term-time only and (vii) part-time. [193974]

Nicky Morgan: The proportion of employees in HM Treasury at each of the pay grades work part-time as at the end of February 2014, are listed in the table (i). See table (ii) for the proportion by gender.

All staff, apart from SCS, have the facility to work flex-time. However we do not record this-centrally.

HM Treasury have not requested any staff to work reduced hours.

The information requested on the proportion of employees in the department by civil service grade and gender who work, from home, a compressed working week, job share and term time only, would only be able to be provided at disproportionate cost, as we do not hold this information centrally.

Education

Academies

Mr Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list all academy sponsors with 10 or more academies. [R] [193818]

Mr Timpson: Sponsors with 10 or more academies are as follows:

Academies Enterprise Trust (AET)

Academy Transformation Trust

ARK Schools

Cabot Learning Federation

CfBT Education Trust

Clifton Diocese

David Ross Education Trust (DRET)

Diocese of Salisbury Academies

Diocese of Wakefield

E-ACT

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Elliot Foundation

Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust

Harris Federation

Kemnal Academy Trust, The (TKAT)

Northern Education Trust

Nottingham Roman Catholic Diocesan Education Service (NRCDES)

Oasis Community Learning

Ormiston Academies Trust

Outwood Grange Academies Trust

REAch2 Academy Trust

School Partnership Trust Academies (SPTA)

The Education Fellowship Trust

The Griffin Schools Trust

The Primary Academies Trust

United Learning.

Adoption: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber were adopted in each of the last five years. [194260]

Mr Timpson: The number of looked-after children in Yorkshire and the Humber who were adopted in the years ending 31 March 2009 to 2013 is shown in the table. Information at constituency level is not available.

This information has been taken from table LAE1 of the Statistical First Release "Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England (including adoption and care leavers)—year ending 31 March 2013". This Statistical First Release also includes information at local authority level and can be found on the Department's website via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption

Children: Day Care

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what meetings officials in his Department have had with officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the implications of the Consumer Rights Bill for (a) childcare voucher users and (b) providers of childcare services; and what the Civil Service grades of officials present were. [193793]

Elizabeth Truss: We are not aware of any meetings between officials from the Department for Education and those from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) specifically on the implications of the Consumer Rights Bill for providers of childcare services.

BIS consulted widely on consumer law reform in 2008 and 2012, and published a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny in 2013. BIS has also completed full impact assessments for the provisions in the Bill.

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Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on what dates the National Panel on Serious Case Reviews has met; and if he will publish the minutes of that Panel's meetings. [194096]

Mr Timpson: The national panel of independent experts on Serious Case Reviews has met on the following dates:

25 July 2013

9 September 2013

11 November 2013

13 January 2014

10 February 2014

10 March 2014.

The key output of the panel meetings is letters from the panel to Local Safeguarding Children Boards making recommendations on the cases put to them, about the application of the SCR criteria, the appointment of reviewers and the publication of SCR reports. The letters refer to sensitive material not in the public domain and would not therefore be routinely publishable.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had with members of the National Panel on Serious Case Reviews. [194097]

Mr Timpson: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and I had a meeting with the members of the panel of independent experts on Serious Case Reviews earlier this year.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what interaction the National Panel on Serious Case Reviews has had with the Local Safeguarding Children's Board Network. [194099]

Mr Timpson: The national panel of independent experts on Serious Case Reviews has met the chair of the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children Board Chairs twice, most recently on 10 March 2014.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education to whom the National Panel on Serious Case Reviews is accountable; and what the terms of reference of that Panel are. [194100]

Mr Timpson: The members of national panel of independent experts on Serious Case Reviews (SCR) were appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and are ultimately accountable to him, though they operate independently.

The role of the panel is set out in 'Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013)' as follows:

"The role of the panel will be to support Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB) in ensuring that appropriate action is taken to learn from serious incidents in all cases where the statutory criteria are met and to ensure that those lessons are shared through publication of final SCR reports. The panel will also report to the Government their views of how the SCR system is working".

The panel's remit will include advising LSCBs about:

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1. application of the SCR criteria;

2. appointment of reviewers; and

3. publication of SCR reports.

Education: Employment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to increase links between education and employment. [193671]

Matthew Hancock: The Government's aim is to ensure that young people are equipped with the skills, experience and qualifications that employers want. The introduction of 16-19 study programmes will expand the provision of genuine work experience and work-related learning for all post-16 students. We have invested in new apprenticeships that are more employer-led than ever before, and introduced traineeships to give young people the skills and experience they need to compete successfully for a job. From September 2014, the Tech Level qualifications will provide a high-quality vocational alternative to A levels, leading to a recognised occupation.

These and other reforms arising from Professor Alison Wolf’s 2011 review of vocational education have led to far-reaching improvements in vocational education. These include employer recognition of qualifications and simplified and better-funded arrangements for work experience.

Our reforms to GCSEs and A levels will secure rigorous, challenging qualifications which are responsive to the needs of students and employers. New GCSEs in English and mathematics, which will provide greater assurance of literacy and numeracy, will be taught from September 2015, with the first examinations in summer 2017.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Mr Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, columns 83-84W, on the School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, if he will make an assessment of the level of compliance with those regulations among state-funded schools and academies. [193749]

Mr Laws: If a parent, or other party, believes that a school is not complying with the requirements, they are entitled to raise this with the governing body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State.

Ofsted routinely checks school websites ahead of inspection.

Schools: Musical Instruments

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what proportion of all primary school age children in England were learning a musical instrument in (a) academies, (b) community schools, (c) free schools, (d) primary schools and (e) other schools in each of the last five years; [194088]

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(2) what proportion of all secondary school age children in England were learning a musical instrument in (a) academies, (b) community schools, (c) free schools, (d) primary schools and (e) other schools in each of the last five years; [194089]

(3) what the three most popular instruments are for primary school children in England who are learning an instrument in school; [194090]

(4) what the three most popular instruments are for secondary school children in England who are learning an instrument in school; [194091]

(5) what proportion of primary school children in England learning an instrument in school (a) paid a charge and (b) received their tuition free of charge in each of the last five years. [194092]

Elizabeth Truss: The information requested is not held by the Department for Education. A recent report¹ published by Arts Council England shows that in the academic year 2012/13, 437,975 pupils in years 1-9 received free whole class ensemble teaching. This is 8.6% of the national cohort. 430,998 pupils were in years 1-6 (12.4% of the cohort) and 6,977 were in years 7-9 (0.4% of the cohort).

Many other children learn instruments in and out of school, but these figures are not collected or held centrally.

¹Available at:

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/funding-programmes/music-education-hubs/

Science: Teaching Methods

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what conclusions he has drawn from the 3D Printer Project Report for enriching teaching across STEM and Design subjects in schools. [193768]

Elizabeth Truss: The schools involved in the 2012-13 pilot 3D Printer Project explored innovative ways of teaching STEM subjects, stimulating pupil interest and enriching the curriculum. Participating schools explored the potential benefits and challenges of using this technology in the curriculum and some shared their experiences with other schools wishing to introduce 3D printers. As set out in the report, feedback confirmed that 3D printers have significant potential as a teaching resource and can have a positive impact on pupil engagement and learning.

In October the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), commissioned a further 3D Printer Project, working with the Design and Technology Association and 42 teaching school alliances, to further develop our understanding of the educational opportunities offered by 3D printers. Like the pilot project, it is exploring new ways of teaching STEM subjects using a 3D printer, but with an emphasis on using it in ways that enhance learning over other approaches. The schools involved will develop and deliver continuous professional development (CPD) on using a 3D printer to teach STEM subjects to teachers across their teaching school alliances. We plan to make the best of the STEM teaching and CPD resources developed by the participants available to schools across England.

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Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2014, Official Report, columns 250-51W, on special educational needs, when he expects to make an announcement on the effect of reforms on funding for special educational needs. [193842]

Mr Laws: On 13 March, I announced proposals to allocate £350 million to our least fairly funded local areas in 2015-16. This is the biggest step towards fairer schools funding in a decade, and it puts us in a much better position to implement a national funding formula when the time is right.

To allocate this £350 million as fairly as possible, we selected the characteristics we think contribute most to the attainment of pupils and viability of schools, and set indicative minimum funding levels for each of these. These characteristics include deprivation and low prior attainment, both of which show some correlation with low-cost, high incidence special educational needs (SEN). We looked at the average value attached by local authorities to these characteristics and used these as a basis for our proposed minimum funding levels. Applying these minimum funding levels could mean that some of the least fairly funded local authorities with high numbers of these pupils see a benefit.

This additional £350 million applies to the schools block of the dedicated schools grant that local authorities receive. However, this is one of three notional blocks of funding, and local authorities are free to move money between their schools block, high needs block and early years block as they see fit. It is therefore possible that local authorities could choose to move the additional money to their high needs block to support children with high-cost special educational needs.

Our proposals are still at the consultation stage. For more information, please see the consultation at the following address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fairer-schools-funding-2015-to-2016

Trade Unions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision. [194037]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education is currently undertaking a review of the check-off union subscription provision.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what systems his Department has in place to monitor the implementation of the Government’s commitment to give due consideration to the UN convention on the rights of the child when making new policy and legislation; and if he will make a statement. [194240]

Mr Timpson: The Department for Education co- ordinates the UK’s submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), on behalf of

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other Government Departments and the devolved Administrations, for the committee’s five-year review of implementation of the UNCRC in the UK. This report will be submitted shortly and will include examples of action taken to ensure that new policies and legislation which impact on children are compliant with the UNCRC.

The Department has undertaken child’s rights impact assessments for the key policy and legislative changes in recent years, notably in respect of the Education Act 2011 and the Children and Families Act 2014. We also ensure that children’s rights issues are considered as part of the Home Affairs Committee clearance process.

University Technical Colleges

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) 14, (b) 15, (c) 16, (d) 17 and (e) 18 year olds enrolled at each university technical college in 2013-14. [194108]

Mr Timpson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 750W, for the number of pupils enrolled in university technical colleges in autumn 2013.

Breakdowns by age will be published in the Statistical First Release, 'Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014', in June 2014.

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Working Hours

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of employees in his Department of each (a) Civil Service pay grade and (b) gender work (i) reduced hours, (ii) flexi-time, (iii) from home, (iv) a compressed working week, (v) job share, (vi) term-time only and (vii) part-time. [193961]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education recognises the key role played by flexible working patterns in recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. Managers are required to ensure staff can achieve a good work-life balance and that business objectives are delivered through a positive approach to flexible working patterns. Working patterns are reviewed regularly to ensure that any arrangements meet business needs, The working patterns that are supported within the Department are:

(a) Compressed hours working

(b) Flexitime working

(c) Home working

(d) Job sharing

(e) Partial retirement

(f) Part-time working (also referred to as reduced hours working)

(g) Part-year working (also includes term-time working)

Working patterns (a) to (e) are agreed locally with line managers and, therefore, records are not held centrally.

The following table provides information on the pay grade and gender of employees working full-time, part-time, full-time part-year and part-time part-year:

Justice

Criminal Proceedings

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of time between judgement and sentencing in criminal trials in England was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the trends in the time taken. [192266]

Mr Vara: HMCTS can only answer this question for trials in the Crown court. The case management database for magistrates courts does not hold the date of conviction in a way we can calculate the time from conviction to sentence for all defendants so the only way we could answer the question would be to manually check each case file, which would incur disproportionate costs.

The Crown court database does and the following table shows the average length between the latest conviction date in a trial and the date of sentence. The trend has seen the time between conviction and sentence falling from an average of 35.8 calendar days in 2007-08 to 24.6 calendar days in the first half of 2013-14. When a trial has more than one offence, the jury may not reach verdicts against all on the same day, and the sentence cannot take place until all offences have a verdict.

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EU Justice and Home Affairs

Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with which countries the EU as a legal personality (1) is currently negotiating co-operation agreements in the field of justice and home affairs; [193454]

(2) has concluded co-operation agreements in the field of justice and home affairs. [193455]

Mr Vara: I refer to the response provided by the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), on 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 70W. In addition, JHA agreements have been concluded between the EU and Brazil, Ukraine and Moldova during the course of this Government, which build on the borders and immigration aspects of the Schengen system, in which the UK does not participate.

Fines

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total amount of fines levied on but uncollected from people found guilty of non-payment of (a) a television licence, (b) vehicle excise duty and (c) council tax was on 1 March 2014. [194111]

Mr Vara: It is not possible to identify from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals systems the value of fines that remain outstanding for specific offences. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost as identifying this would require a manual search of all fine accounts.

Forced Marriage

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many forced marriage protection orders have been granted with a power of arrest attached in each year since such orders came into force. [193701]

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Damian Green: Information on the number of forced marriage protection orders that have been granted in England and Wales with a power of arrest attached, for each year since such orders came into force, are available in table 2.8 of the Court Statistics Quarterly bulletin. The latest edition of this publication is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2013

Legal Profession: Industrial Disputes

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the action by barristers on (a) 6 January 2014 and (b) 7 March 2014; and what his policy is on imposing a costs sanction on the barristers involved. [191468]

Mr Vara: We have not yet made an estimate of the cost to the taxpayer of the action by barristers on 6 January and 7 March 2014. The question of costs is a matter for judges to consider in individual cases under the provisions set out in the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (as amended).

Offences Against Children

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section (a) 1, where the victim was a child, and (b) 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 in each of the last four years. [193577]

Damian Green: Our laws in these areas are robust and clear. The Government take very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children. Those who commit sexual offences are more likely to go to prison now than in 2010.

The number of defendants convicted of offences under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the victim was a child under 16, together with all offences under sections 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 can be viewed in the table. As the Sexual Offences Act 2003 replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 for these offences all proceedings reflect that Act too, as per the footnote.

Statistics in respect of victims of offences under section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003—cannot be broken down by age.

Also, my department's Court Proceedings Database holds information on criminal justice statistics only in England and Wales. Criminal Justice Statistics in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Likewise, Criminal Justice Statistics in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Government.

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1 Apr 2014 : Column 638W

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to sections (a) 1 and 2 where the victim was a child, and (b) 5, 6 and 7 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in each of the last four years. [193582]

Damian Green: Our laws in these areas are robust and clear. The Government take very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children. Those who commit sexual offences are more likely to go to prison now than in 2010.

The number of defendants convicted of offences under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the victim was a child under 16, together with all offences under sections 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 can be viewed in the table. As the Sexual Offences Act 2003 replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 for these offences all proceedings reflect that Act too, as per the footnote.

Statistics in respect of victims of offences under section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 cannot be broken down by age.

Also, my Department's Court Proceedings Database holds information on criminal justice statistics only in England and Wales. Criminal Justice Statistics in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Likewise, Criminal Justice Statistics in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Government.

Offences Against Children: Northern Ireland

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to articles (a) 5 and 6, where the victim was a child, and (b) 12, 13 and 14 of the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 in each of the last four years. [193578]

Damian Green: Our laws in these areas are robust and clear. The Government take very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children. Those who commit sexual offences are more likely to go to prison now than in 2010.

The number of defendants convicted of offences under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the victim was a child under 16, together with all

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offences under sections 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 can be viewed in the table. As the Sexual Offences Act 2003 replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 for these offences all proceedings reflect that Act too, as per the footnote.

Statistics in respect of victims of offences under section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 cannot be broken down by age.

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Also, my Department's Court Proceedings Database holds information on criminal justice statistics only in England and Wales. Criminal justice statistics in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Likewise, criminal justice statistics in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Government.

Offences Against Children: Scotland

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to sections (a) 1 and 2, where the victim was a child, and (b) 18, 19 and 20(1), (2)(a) and (3) of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 in each of the last four years. [193579]

Damian Green: Our laws in these areas are robust and clear. The Government take very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children. Those who commit sexual offences are more likely to go to prison now than in 2010.

The number of defendants convicted of offences under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the victim was a child under 16, together with all offences under sections 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 can be viewed in the table. As the Sexual Offences Act 2003 replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 for these offences all proceedings reflect that Act too, as per the footnote.

Statistics in respect of victims of offences under section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 cannot be broken down by age.

Also, my department's Court Proceedings Database holds information on criminal justice statistics only in England and Wales. Criminal Justice Statistics in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Likewise, Criminal Justice Statistics in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Government.

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Prisoners' Release and Escapes

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many of each category of prisoner released from prison in error since May 2010 are still at large; [190140]

(2) how many prisoners in each category of prisoner who have absconded from prisons since May 2010 remain at large; [190263]

(3) how many escapes by prisoners there have been while being transported, by category of prisoner, in each month since May 2010; [190287]

(4) how many absconds from prison there have been, by month and category of prisoner, since May 2010. [190288]

Jeremy Wright: Releases in error are taken very seriously and action has been taken to tighten processes and focus managers' attention in this area. Releases in error are infrequent and all incidents are subject to investigation. The majority of prisoners released in error are returned to custody quickly. In the 12 months to September 2013 there were 46 releases in error from prison, which equated to 0.06% of all discharges from prison. This compares to 68 in 2009-10.

The following table shows the number of prisoners who have not subsequently returned to custody following a release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013 and broken down by the security category recorded on the National Offender Management Information System. This information is accurate as of 4 March 2014.

It is important to note that not all prisoners released in error will be unlawfully at large and subject to recall. For example, they may be unconvicted prisoners released in error whose cases have been concluded since their release without a custodial sentence.

These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

The number of releases in error may change should further incidents be reported.

The number of absconds has come down sharply from a level of 947 in 2002-03 to 204 in 2012-13.

Table 2 provides a breakdown of the number of absconds, by month between May 2010 and March 2013. Table 3 shows the number of absconders still unlawfully at large, by category, having absconded between May 2010 and March 2013. It is not possible to provide details of absconds by category of prisoner. The category of prisoner at time of release in error is not recorded in incident reports and live data show details of the current security category only; it has therefore, only been possible to provide the category of those who are currently unlawfully at large (table 3). Prisoners held in immigration removal centres are not subject to security categorisation. Over 97% of prisoners who abscond are re-captured and returned to custody. On re-capture, the prisoner will be returned to a closed prison and referred to the police for consideration for prosecution for having been unlawfully at large.

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These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Escapes from transit include escapes from Prison Service and Contractor Escorts. The majority of escorts take place without incident and escapes whilst in transit are rare; there have been 10 since May 2010. This should be seen in relation to the 871,802 prisoners handled by the escort service in 2012-13 alone.

Table 4 shows the number of escapes in transit, in each month between May 2010 and March 2013. All these prisoners have subsequently been recaptured.

The number of both escapes and absconds have reduced significantly in recent years. Figures for the number of escapes and absconds since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls

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Probation: Islington

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of the Integrated Offender Management model piloted in the London borough of Islington on reoffending rates in that area. [186075]

Damian Green: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

Integrated Offender Management is an important approach to cutting crime and reoffending in local areas. One of the key strengths of the approach is that the local model should be responsive to local needs and priorities as identified by the agencies and the partners in the area. For this reason, we have not imposed any particular model of Integrated Offender Management on areas, nor do we performance manage from Whitehall the crime and reoffending outcomes that local partners in areas such as the London borough of Islington may be achieving through their local approach.

RSPCA

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of the evidence submitted by his Department to the independent review of the RSCPA's prosecutions activity being carried out by Mr Stephen Wooler. [193042]

Damian Green: The Ministry of Justice has not submitted evidence to Mr Stephen Wooler's independent review of private prosecutions by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, nor have we received a request to do so.