Consultants

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid. [195580]

Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice can provide spend for the provision of services with the top 10 consultancy firms for 11 months of the last financial year (2013-14) as March 2014 spend is not yet available. All spend is exclusive of VAT. The table shows the top 10 suppliers for consultancy for 2013-14 and spend.

Consultants can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not available inhouse. Consultancy spend is governed by strict Cabinet Office controls and any spend over £20,000 requires approval by the departmental board on behalf of the Secretary of State. Consultancy contracts in excess of nine months require further approval by the Cabinet Office.

Convictions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 in each of the last four years; [196442]

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(2) how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 in each of the last four years. [196441]

Jeremy Wright: Possession of indecent images of children is prohibited and the police and courts will rightly take robust action against those who flout the law. The number of offenders found guilty at all courts for the selected offences relating to illegal images of children in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.

Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.

Courts: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 703W, on translation services, how much was spent on interpreters in courts in each court in Lancashire in 2011, 2012 and 2013; which languages were interpreted; and how much was spent on interpreting each language. [196153]

Mr Vara: The Department does not hold centrally all of the information that has been requested. To provide the information would incur disproportionate cost.

Crime

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many new criminal offences have been created in each year since May 2010; and what the predicted effect was on the number of prisoners for each such offence. [188279]

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Simon Hughes: I have set out the number of criminal offences in England and Wales created by Government Departments. The numbers are collated by the Criminal Offences Gateway which scrutinises proposals on new and amended criminal offences for England and Wales.

The numbers are based on offences put through the Criminal Offences Gateway during the period 1 June 2010 to 31 May 2013 (the latest available data).

Further information can be found in the New Criminal Offences England and Wales:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-new-criminal-offences-statistics-in-england-and-wales-june-2009-may-2013

The numbers of new criminal offences, which include entirely new offences and existing offences which have been extended or amended in some way, are published annually by my Department in the statistical bulletin New Criminal Offences. The new criminal offences enforce Government policy in a range of areas, including to contain the spread of serious animal diseases and to criminalise squatting in a residential building.

712 criminal offences were created during the period 1 June 2009 to May 2010 which was the 12 months immediately prior to the establishment of the Criminal Offences Gateway.

New offences are needed for a number of reasons, for example, to update legislation that is now out of date, to underpin delivery of Government priorities and to set out clearly what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. The Government committed to putting in place a mechanism, an additional layer of scrutiny, for proposals to create new offences. This is the first time a Government have done so and committed to doing so publicly. The Government repealed 140 offences in the 12 months ending May 2013.

The information on the predicted effect on the number of prisoners for each relevant offence is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Crime: Victims

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the proportion of victims of crime who suffer from mental health problems in each of the last five years. [195654]

Damian Green: The Ministry of Justice does not publish information in relation to the proportion of victims who suffer mental health problems. Last year the Department consulted on a new Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. One of the proposals was that agencies in the Criminal Justice System must provide enhanced services to vulnerable victims, which include those who suffer from mental disorder within the meaning

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of the Mental Health Act 1983. The new Code, including this requirement, was published last October and came into force in December.

Dangerous Driving

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there have been for the offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving since its introduction in 2012; and what the average length of sentence handed out by the courts for that offence is. [196057]

Jeremy Wright: The maximum penalty for causing serious injury by dangerous driving is five years custody. Since the introduction of this offence on 3 December 2012, one person has been proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced at a magistrates court in England and Wales in 2012. There is too small a sample to provide a meaningful average custodial sentence length. We are keeping the law in this area under review. If any changes are needed, we will bring forward proposals.

Court proceedings data for this offence for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014 as part of the Criminal Justice Statistics 2013 publication. Please note that these data present the principal offences under which a defendant has been proceeded against. If a defendant has been proceeded against for two or more offences it is the offence with the higher or highest maximum penalty that is selected.

Doncaster Prison

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the payment by results pilot in HMP Doncaster has been terminated. [195833]

Jeremy Wright: The HMP Doncaster Payment by Results (PbR) pilot was established to test the introduction of PbR to reduce reoffending, in response to commitments made in the Coalition Agreement. The pilot has been running since October 2011, with offenders released from Doncaster prison given additional rehabilitation support to help turn their lives around.

The pilot predates the Transforming Rehabilitation programme and while it has provided important learning to inform our plans, the delivery model at HMP Doncaster is not fully aligned with these reforms. As a result, we have decided to bring the pilot to a close, to help ensure the effective transition to the new model for rehabilitation services and offender management in the South Yorkshire Contract Package Area. No further participants will enter the pilot beyond the end of 2014.

Employment Tribunals Service

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) when his Department plans to carry out a review on its policy on fees in the employment tribunal system; [196187]

(2) what plans his Department has to increase or lower the level of fees in the employment tribunal system. [195746]

Mr Vara: The Lord Chancellor is committed to reviewing the impact of the introduction of fees in the employment tribunals system. The Ministry of Justice is currently

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finalising arrangements for the timing and scope of this review, to enable the impacts to be properly assessed, and we will be making an announcement in due course.

Family Proceedings

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of presumption for contact in relation to the role of fathers in the family courts; and if he will make a statement. [194357]

Simon Hughes: Section 11 of the Children and Families Act 2014 requires courts to presume that a child benefits from the involvement of each parent who can be involved in a way which does not put the child at risk of harm. This is subject to the principle that the welfare of the child must be the courts’ paramount consideration. ‘Involvement’ may be direct or indirect and it is for courts to determine the most appropriate way for a parent to be involved in the light of the individual circumstances.

Section 11 of the Act will be commenced in the autumn. One of the aims of the policy is to encourage parents to resolve disputes without the need for court intervention. The Government therefore intend to consider the impact of the policy as part of wider work to assess the impact of the family justice provisions in the Act.

Hunting Act 2004

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions under the Hunting Act 2004 there were in 2013; how many of those prosecutions were successful; and what offences these prosecutions involved. [196479]

Damian Green: Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.

Legal Aid Scheme

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many law firms were permitted to resubmit their tenders to the then Legal Services Commission bid for a contract to provide publicly funded immigration services in the 2010 tender round after the deadline set out in the tender rules; [196221]

(2) how many bids to the Legal Services Commission for a contract to provide publicly-funded immigration services were rejected as incomplete in the 2010 tender round; [195843]

(3) on what date the Legal Aid Agency first informed Aman Solicitors that its bid was successful for a contract to provide publicly-funded immigration services in Luton in the 2010 tender round; [195844]

(4) which firm had its award of a contract to provide publicly-funded immigration services withdrawn in the 2010 tender round; [195845]

(5) how many (a) asylum and (b) non-asylum New Matter Starts were awarded to the firm that had its award of a contract withdrawn in August 2010. [195846]

Mr Vara: These questions relate to ongoing litigation against the Lord Chancellor and in the circumstances it would be inappropriate to respond at the current time.

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Magistrates Courts

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases were dealt with in magistrates courts in 2013 (a) in total and (b) for non-payment of a television licence. [194495]

Mr Vara: Statistics on prosecutions, convictions and sentencing for calendar year 2013, including those of installing or viewing a television receiver without the appropriate licence, are planned for publication in May 2014 as part of the Criminal Justice Statistics annual publication.

Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that there is adequate staffing in magistrates' courts to ensure the efficient and speedy provision of information to the bench. [196023]

Mr Vara: There are adequate legal advisers in the magistrates courts who provide speedy advice to magistrates in order to ensure the efficient administration of Justice.

We have resourcing models in place which help determine the aggregate staffing numbers required to manage anticipated work loads. Further, delivery directors ensure that resources are deployed effectively at individual courts.

Magistrates Courts: Wrexham

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what discussions (a) HM Courts Service and (b) his Department has had with North Wales police about future cell provision at Wrexham magistrates' court; [196268]

(2) if he will make provision for construction of secure accommodation at Wrexham magistrates' court to replace accommodation at Wrexham police station due to be closed by North Wales police in 2016. [196270]

Mr Vara: No detailed discussions have taken place between HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) or the Department with North Wales police with regards to future cell provision at Wrexham magistrates court. HMCTS is considering its options. Further discussions will take place once preferred options have been identified.

Any decision for new arrangements for dealing with custody cases at Wrexham magistrates court will be guided by the principles of access to justice and best value for the taxpayer.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will ensure that criminal cases continue to be considered at Wrexham magistrates' court over the next five years. [196269]

Mr Vara: HM Courts and Tribunals Service has no current plans to cease criminal work at Wrexham magistrate’s court.

Manchester Prison

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether prisoners at HM Prison Manchester have access to (a) library books on specialist subjects and (b) educational courses. [196234]

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Jeremy Wright: Prison library providers ensure that the range of reading and reference material available in each library reflects the needs and diverse nature of the prisoners held. They enable prisoners to receive, subject to the constraints of operating within a custodial environment, a service equivalent to that provided for library users in the community.

The prison library at HMP Manchester holds books on a number of specialist subjects and will consider requests for others where there is a particular need.

Offences against Children

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many child sex offenders were in prison in each year since 2003. [196054]

Jeremy Wright: From the data held centrally, it is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of sexual offences against children, because the prisoner offence details held centrally do not include information on the age of the victim. Such offenders are included with other sexual offences.

In order to provide data relating to child sex offenders in prison, it would be necessary to manually examine the individual prison records of over 10,900 sex offenders in prison as at 31 December 2013-this could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many complaints were made by imprisoned child sex offenders against (a) prison officers and (b) prison staff in each of the last 10 years. [196055]

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Personal Injury

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the Supreme Court's judgment in Summers v Fairclough Homes that exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims might be struck out in exceptional circumstances; and if he will make a statement. [196051]

Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to provide for first party and third party personal injury insurance fraud to be treated the same way by the courts. [196151]

Mr Vara: The Government are committed to reducing the number of fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, we are considering what specific reforms might be appropriate.

As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.

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Policy

Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement. [196466]

Mr Vara: The Ministry of Justice does not use calculations of (a) the value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention.

The Ministry of Justice uses a range of analytical approaches to assess and evaluate policies, including quantifying the benefits, in line with guidance provided by HM Treasury:

“The Green Book: appraisal and evaluation in central government”

“The Magenta Book” on designing an evaluation.

These are published on the HM Treasury website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-green-book-appraisal-and-evaluation-in-central-governent

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-magenta-book

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what sentence was received by each employee of the Prison Service found guilty in 2013 of criminal activity in the workplace. [192343]

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not hold records of employees found guilty of all types of criminal activity.

While the vast majority of its staff are honest and hard working, NOMS is committed to detecting, deterring and disrupting all corrupt behaviour by individuals working in prisons. A dedicated NOMS Corruption Prevention Unit was set up to ensure staff corruption is identified and tackled. As part of this work NOMS has compiled a central record of staff convicted of criminal offences which meet the NOMS definition of corruption.

This definition is that corruption occurs when a person in a position of authority or trust abuses their position for their or another person’s benefit or gain. This would include the misuse of their role in order to plan or commit a criminal act, or a deliberate failure to act to prevent criminal behaviour.

There were 23 convictions for corruption-related offences during 2013. A breakdown of the different sentences is provided as follows.

Sentences

Four years six months imprisonment

Four years imprisonment

Three years imprisonment

One year nine months imprisonment

One year four months imprisonment

One year one month imprisonment

One year imprisonment

Nine months imprisonment

Eight months imprisonment

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Six months imprisonment

Four months imprisonment

10 months imprisonment

12 month custodial sentence suspended for two years.

11 months custodial sentence suspended for a year

Nine months custodial sentence suspended for 12 months. 200 hours community service

Eight months custodial sentence suspended for two years and a six month residency order

Four months custodial sentence suspended for two years

Four months custodial sentence suspended for two years. 100 hours unpaid work

12 months Community Order. 150 hours unpaid work

100 hours community service and 12 months probation

Community Order. Ordered to pay £85 costs and £60 to complainants

The total number of convictions by year for corruption-related offences is shown in the following table. The number of convictions has remained broadly constant over the last five years.

The information provided has 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

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what shortfalls in staffing (a) including temporary cover and (b) excluding temporary cover against Target B3 staffing levels were in each prison since December 2013. [195223]

Jeremy Wright: The number of full-time equivalent Band 3 staff employed in each establishment of the Public Sector Prison Service of England and Wales, as at 31 December 2013, is published in the National Offender Management Service workforce statistics at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics

Staffing figures are published on a quarterly basis, and figures for 31 December 2013 are the most recently published figures. Figures as at 31 March 2014 will be published on the 29 May 2014.

Although vacancy numbers are reported to the centre, workforce planning is managed locally by prisons. There are a number of complexities around the reporting of vacancies, in particular variations to staffing levels arising from changes in prison function/role, changes to prison capacity and changes resulting from the prison benchmarking/efficiency programme. Given these complexities it is not possible to provide an accurate prison by prison breakdown.

A new workforce reporting tool is being implemented from April 2014 which will improve the consistency of reporting at prison level.

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Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what maximum number of staff of each grade could be provided by each prison supplying staff for detached duty in each month since December 2013. [195224]

Jeremy Wright: The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required. A nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme has been operating since 21 October 2013.

The number of staff available/maximum number of staff available for detached duty at any one time is a matter for operational judgment and takes account of overall staff numbers, levels of sickness, prisoner numbers and the regime and security requirements.

The average headcount of Band 3 staff who worked on detached duty during December 2013 was 190, this represents 1.3% of all Band 3 officers. The following table contains a list of prisons broken down by the full-time-equivalent staff allocated and grade, during December 2013.

Some allocations outside of the national scheme continued after October 2013 but are not included in the information provided. London region particularly allocated staff within their own region. Information is collected on the staffing allocated. On occasions the resource is not actually deployed due to changes in local circumstances.

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Staffing figures are provided as at the end of each quarter and the last available figures are for 31 December 2013. Information from after that date is therefore not provided.

All staffing figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with the department’s policy for presenting staffing data.

Prisoners

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the prison population was, by prison, on 19 March 2014; how many prisoners each prison was built for; and how many foreign national prisoners there are in each prison, by country. [194014]

Jeremy Wright: Individual prison population and capacity information is published monthly on the Ministry of Justice website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2014

These data are produced on the last working Friday of each month and therefore the information published is from the last working Friday in February (28^th) and not on 19 March as requested.

A table which will be placed in the Library identifies the number of declared foreign national offenders in each prison, by nationality, as at 31 December 2013. This is in line with the latest published figures.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible error(s) with data entry and processing.

All foreign national offenders sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office for them to consider deportation at the earliest possible opportunity.

Reducing the FNO population is a top priority for this Government. We are working hard to reduce the flow of FNOs into our prison system and increase the number of FNOs removed from the UK through prisoner transfer agreements (PTAs); the early removal scheme (ERS) and tariff expired removal scheme (TERS).

Prisoners' Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners serving (a) life and (b) indeterminate sentences for public protection were granted release on temporary licence in the latest period for which figures are available. [194678]

Jeremy Wright: Release on temporary licence is the process where, towards the end of his or her sentence, an offender can be released from a prison establishment on a temporary basis. This release has to be for a specific purpose, which may include training, employment,

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or maintaining family ties, and comes with strict conditions that must be met. All offenders are subject to a risk assessment before being released. Temporary release contributes to public protection by enabling release plans to be tested, under strict conditions, before the offender is released. It also allows prisoners to participate in necessary activities outside of the prison establishment. This helps them to adjust to life on release, which contributes to reducing reoffending.

On 10 March, the Government announced a package of measures to improve the consistency, risk assessment and monitoring of releases on temporary licence. The improvements will apply to all prisoners but, in addition, a new scheme of Restricted ROTL will be introduced for those prisoners who have committed serious crimes in the past. This will feature more stringent risk assessment procedures carried out by probation professionals, and more robust monitoring arrangements when this sort of offender is on temporary licence in the community.

In 2012, the latest period for which figures are available, 611 prisoners serving a life sentence, and 1,043 prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection, were granted release on temporary licence. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements he has put in place to inform victims of crime of the date when perpetrators of crime against them will be released from prison. [195652]

Damian Green: The Probation Victim Contact Scheme provides valuable support to victims of offenders who receive a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or more or a hospital order for a violent or sexual offence. The Scheme enables victims to be informed of key stages of an offender’s sentence, such as if they are transferred to open prison conditions. Victims will also be informed of the prospective date of release. The point at which this information is provided to a victim varies on a case by case basis.

Where the offender is serving a determinate sentence, the release date is fixed. Victims will be informed of the expected month of release very early following sentence and will be updated should this date change—for example, if the offender receives added days.

Where the offender is subject to discretionary release by the Parole Board, the victim will be informed early in the sentence of the month in which the offender will become eligible for consideration for release, and be informed of the Parole Board’s decision, including if this is to release the offender.

Victims also have a statutory right to make representations about licence conditions on release, to re-assure and protect them, and to be informed which conditions have been included on the licence as a result of their request. These will typically be exclusion zones to reduce the risks of unexpected contact, and a no contact condition.

Prisoners: Complaints

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost to the (a) public purse and (b) prison service is of processing a complaint by a prisoner against a prison officer. [196053]

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Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Publications

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the availability of books to prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [193995]

Jeremy Wright: There have been no changes in the availability of books in prisons. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access. Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time and additional volumes may be stored locally at the prison.

The National Offender Management Service works closely with schemes such as the Shannon Trust Reading Network, which includes peer mentoring.

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will ensure that restricted access to books for prisoners is not an obstacle to preparation for employment; and if he will make a statement. [195058]

Jeremy Wright: We firmly believe that giving offenders the skills and training they need to get and keep jobs on release reduces their likelihood of re-offending. This will include providing access to books, subject to the constraints of operating within a custodial environment.

Prisoners undertaking education courses (including distance learning) are provided with relevant course materials and set books.

Prisoners: Radicalism

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners in each prison have (a) started and (b) completed the Ibaana programme since it was introduced. [196380]

Jeremy Wright: The training to deliver the Ibaana programme has just been completed. Prisoners will be offered the programme in the coming months.

Prisons: ICT

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what security breaches associated with the Prisons ICT Academy programme there have been since 1 January 2014; when these first came to the attention of Ministers; what the (a) nature of and (b) outcome of their investigation was; and what illegal activities by prisoners were uncovered. [196383]

Jeremy Wright: We are aware of two security breaches within the Prison Information Technology Academies (PICTA) since 1 January 2014. These came to the attention of Ministers on 26 February 2014. As a precaution we immediately suspended the use of the PICTA workshops across the prison estate, pending an investigation which is still in progress. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment further at this stage. In addition we are increasing the security measures within PICTA workshops and we expect them to reopen in the near future.

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Prisons: Libraries

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many items were borrowed from prison libraries in each year from 2010 to 2013. [195806]

Jeremy Wright: The requested information is not held centrally and would need to be collated through enquiries at each prison in England and Wales. This would incur disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Publications

Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons withhold books from prisoners when they first arrive; and for what reasons such books are so withheld. [195609]

Jeremy Wright: On reception, prisoners may retain in possession authorised property appropriate to their Incentives and Earned Privileges level, subject to the limitations in place on the prison’s facility list and overarching controls on the total volume of property held.

Prisoners may hold up to 12 books in their cell at any one time and additional volumes may be stored locally at the prison.

Restrictions are applied through local discretion where a book would be inappropriate due to a prisoner’s offence type, or where the book is itself unsuitable, such as where it gives advice on avoiding detection or how to commit offences, or is pornographic or extremist. This is a matter for individual Governors and the information cannot be collected without incurring disproportionate cost.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions drugs were found in parcels containing books destined for prisoners in each of the last four years. [195805]

Jeremy Wright: Prisons employ a range of measures to detect, disrupt and deter the trafficking of drugs into prisons.

Details of how many occasions drugs were found in parcels containing books destined for prisoners in each of the last four years are recorded on a central incident reporting system as a drug-related incident. To establish a figure for the period in question would require the interrogation of over 18,000 individual electronic incident files. This could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Smoking

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of a smoking ban in prisons on the number of incidents of violence relating to cigarettes. [194411]

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) support the desirability of attaining a smoke free prison estate in the future and continue to work towards this objective. However, the timing of that implementation will take account of the operational realities of running safe, decent and secure prisons and

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in particular the impact any smoking ban may have on the general safety of staff and prisoners. Therefore the decision on timing to move to smoke free prisons will reflect an operational assessment of risk, which will include an assessment of potentially adverse impact on prisoner behaviour and how this risk can be minimised and effectively managed. This assessment is ongoing and the risks are being carefully considered to ensure effective plans and support are in place before introducing smoke free prisons.

The work by NOMS on moving to a smoke free prison estate will continue to be informed by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies in Nottingham University; by further assessments of air quality in prisons; and by the work with Public Health England and expertise from the New Zealand prison service which has introduced smoke free prisons.

Probation

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the assessment and allocation tools to be used by probation staff in England and Wales from 1 April 2014 have been finalised. [195831]

Jeremy Wright: We are carrying out extensive local testing of the key elements of the new transforming rehabilitation systems across a number of probation trusts. Findings are helping us to refine the associated tools and guidance. We have now completed testing of the new risk of serious recidivism (RSR) tool, which will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) or the national probation service (NPS), and we have begun the roll out of the current version of the tool to all trusts.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when supervision of prisoners on release serving less than 12 months will begin in England and Wales. [195834]

Jeremy Wright: The extension of statutory licence conditions and rehabilitation supervision to offenders sentenced to less than 12 months imprisonment is subject to the commencement of the relevant provisions in the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014. This change to the sentencing framework is a core element of the Ministry of Justice’s Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. Ministry of Justice officials are currently managing the transitional and implementation arrangements for the programme, including the timing for commencement of this part of the Act.

We are on course to award and mobilise the new contracts for delivering rehabilitation services by 2015.

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) whether the national probation service will be responsible for the provision of court reports after the introduction of the transforming rehabilitation agenda in England and Wales; [195848]

(2) what estimate he has made of changes to the number of fast delivery reports to magistrates courts in England and Wales after the introduction of the transforming rehabilitation agenda. [195847]

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Jeremy Wright: Pre-sentence reports currently fall into three categories; standard delivery (SDR), fast delivery (FDR), and same day (or oral) reports. This process allows courts the flexibility to deliver sentencing decisions in the appropriate time frame, depending on each individual case, reducing the number of adjournments and expediting the criminal justice process.

The transforming rehabilitation reforms will introduce a new risk of serious recidivism (RSR) tool which will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) or the national probation service (NPS) and complements the pre-sentence report process. Our testing with operational staff in trusts of the RSR tool indicates that it is straightforward to use, in line with our commitment to minimising bureaucracy for front-line staff.

The new national probation service (NPS) will be responsible for advice to courts and, prior to sentence, the NPS will advise courts on sentencing options for cases as part of a pre-sentence report (in accordance with the reserved function of advice to court under section 4 of the Offender Management Act 2007).

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what resources he will make available for interviews between a prisoner and a probation officer to allocate the case to the National Probation Service or a Community Rehabilitation Company after a sentence of imprisonment after the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation Agenda in England and Wales. [195849]

Jeremy Wright: The Transforming Rehabilitation transitional process taking place during April and May 2014 will allow us to refine all new procedures before the creation of CRCs and the NPS on 1 June 2014, and help to ensure the right resources are in place to carry out all associated tasks.

Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what guidance his Department has issued to magistrates on consideration of breach applications following the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda in England and Wales; [196021]

(2) what guidance his Department has issued to magistrates in Wales and England on the implications of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda for the functioning of the courts. [196019]

Jeremy Wright: The Department has engaged regularly with the magistracy on the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, via the National Sentencer Probation Forum and other meetings, and through the usual communication channels. Our intention is to ensure that the magistracy and sentencers more widely are fully informed of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and associated implications, including for breach applications. Training for the magistracy and any sentencing guidelines relating to the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 will be a matter for the independent Judicial College and the Sentencing Council respectively.

Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what effect the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda in magistrates' courts in England and Wales will have on report writing slots; [196022]

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(2) what steps he has taken to ensure that there will not be delays in the delivery of court reports to magistrates' courts in Wales and England following the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda. [196020]

Jeremy Wright: We are engaging with the magistracy and sentencers to ensure they are fully informed of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and associated implications. The new National Probation Service (NPS) will be responsible for advice to courts and, prior to sentence, the NPS will advise courts on sentencing options for cases as part of a pre-sentence report (in accordance with the reserved function of giving assistance to any court in determining the appropriate sentence to pass, under section 4 of the Offender Management Act 2007).

As now, the three categories of pre-sentence report, Standard Delivery (SDR), Fast Delivery (FDR), and Same Day (or Oral) reports, will allow Courts the flexibility to deliver sentencing decisions in the appropriate timeframe, depending on each individual case, reducing the number of adjournments and expediting the criminal justice process. The new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the NPS and complements the pre-sentence report process. The RSR will be straightforward to use and aims to reduce bureaucracy in the report writing process. We will ensure through the contracting process that CRCs work closely with the NPS so that cases where the offender is under CRC supervision are brought before the courts speedily and effectively.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to introduce training for magistrates and legal advisers following the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation Agenda in England and Wales. [196369]

Jeremy Wright: Responsibility for judicial training lies with the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary, and is exercised through the Judicial College, an independent body. The Ministry of Justice is keeping the Judicial College informed of implementation plans for the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 and wider Transforming Rehabilitation reforms to enable the College to deliver training as it sees fit.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance he has given magistrates in England and Wales on the introduction of the risk of serious recidivism tool into the National Probation Service following the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation model in England and Wales. [196370]

Jeremy Wright: The new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool will be used to inform the allocation of cases to either the National Probation Service (NPS) or a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC). We have begun the roll out of the tool to all Trusts, and have ensured that it is designed to minimise unnecessary bureaucracy so that staff working in the NPS or a CRC can spend more of their time managing and rehabilitating offenders.

The RSR tool is an aid for probation staff and we have not issued magistrates with specific guidance on it. However, the Department engages regularly with the

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magistracy about the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms via the National Sentencer Probation Forum, as well as through other regular communication channels. Our intention is to ensure that the magistracy and sentencers more widely are fully informed about the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms. Training for the magistracy and any sentencing guidelines relating to the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 is a matter for the independent Judicial College and the Sentencing Council respectively.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what plans he has to introduce specialisations in magistrates' courts in England and Wales following the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation Agenda; [196372]

(2) what plans he has to introduce individual case reviews following the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda into magistrates' courts in England and Wales. [196371]

Jeremy Wright: The Government have not yet decided on the future of the provision for case reviews. We have no plans to introduce specialisation in magistrates courts. However, the Government are currently undertaking a review of the role of magistrates with a view to ensuring that the magistracy remains the cornerstone of our justice system. A public consultation paper will be issued later in the year. We are engaging with the magistracy and sentencers to ensure they are fully informed about the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms.

Probation Trusts: Sick Leave

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether sickness rates in probation trusts in England and Wales have risen since January 2013. [195832]

Jeremy Wright: Information on the average levels of absence due to staff sickness in the Probation trusts is published annually, at national level, in the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts: Management Information Addendum.

A link to the latest published report for FY 2012/13 is provided as follows:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

The NOMS Annual Report and Accounts: Management Information Addendum for FY 2013/14 will be published on 31 July 2014.

Probation: Northumberland

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many organisations remain in the bidding process for the Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Company. [195090]

Jeremy Wright: In mid December 2013, the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition to bid for the regional rehabilitation contracts were announced. The list includes a mix of private and voluntary sector partnerships with more than 50 organisations represented. A list of the bidders who have been successful at this stage can be found at:

https://www.justice.gov.uk/transforming-rehabilitation/competition

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The process to award Community Rehabilitation Company contracts is ongoing and the details of which bidders are interested in bidding for each Contract Package Area (CPA) is commercially sensitive information, which it would not be right to make public at this stage as this would affect the bidding process for the overall competition. The contract winners for each Community Rehabilitation Company will be announced by the end of 2014.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which contracts his Department holds with (a) Capita, (b) A4E, (c) G4S, (d) Serco, (e) GeoAMEY, (f) Sodexo and (g) Mitie; when each contract started; how much each contract is expect to cost over its lifetime; when each contract is due to end; whether there are any options in the contract for extension; whether any financial penalties have been incurred by each contractor to date; and whether each such contract has a break clause. [177489]

Jeremy Wright: The answer to the question tabled by the right hon. Member will be answered in due course. The requested data are not held centrally in their entirety and answering the request will require approaching individual contract managers to gather and validate data.

Substantive answer from Jeremy Wright to Sadiq Khan:

I undertook to write to you when the information had been received.

The table contained within Annex A, which will be placed in the Library, details the live contracts that the Department holds with Capita, G4S, Serco, GeoAmey, Sodexo and MITIE. The table provides you with details on the start and end dates of these contracts, the estimated value of the contract as advertised when the procurement process was initiated, extension options and whether there is a break clause. Where information pertaining to any of these questions is already in the public domain, you will find for ease of reference links to the Hansard extracts.

There are no contracts between the Department and A4E.

The table within Annex A provides details on financial penalties where this information is already available in the public domain. To obtain this information for all the contracts listed would incur disproportionate costs.

The details for the legacy Electronic Monitoring contracts between the Department and G4S and Serco have not been provided to you due to the ongoing criminal investigation into issues relating to these contracts.

Rape: Victim Support Schemes

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) which rape support centres and helplines that received funding from the Rape Support Fund in any of the last three years will not receive any such funding in 2014-15; [194741]

(2) which rape support centres and helplines (a) nationally and (b) in each region will receive funding from the Rape Support Fund in 2014-15; and how much funding has been allocated in each case. [194742]

Damian Green: The Ministry of Justice remains committed to supporting organisations that deliver specialist support to female victims of rape and sexual violence and has committed £4.4 million per year over 2014-16 through the Rape Support Fund.

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Detail regarding all organisations funded through the Victim and Witness Fund, which includes the Rape Support Funds 2011-14 and 2014-16 can be found at gov.uk, the information provided includes the amount of funding awarded to each organisation. The documents are located in the transparency data section of the Publications tab at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/victims-and-witnesses-funding-awards

The document for the 2014-16 Rape Support Fund is divided into police and crime commissioning areas and includes the funding amounts awarded for both 2014-15 and 2015-16. The document was published on 8 April 2014.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what criteria were used to determine the funding allocation for rape crisis centres for the 2014-16 period; and on what grounds the funding for Hull Rape Crisis Centre was cut. [194745]

Damian Green: This Government have committed to increasing available funding for services for victims of crime by potentially raising up to an additional £50 million per year from offenders, almost doubling current funding if realised. Therefore more money than ever before will be available for services to support victims of crime, with a potential total budget of up to £100 million with offenders paying a much greater share.

The 2014-16 Female Rape Support Fund provides funding to organisations that successfully met the fund’s showstopper and quality criteria. The 2014-16 Rape Support Fund has awarded funding to 80 organisations.

The rape support funding is designed to be leveraged funding to cover part of each centre’s funding needs based on the annual income of each centre.

On this basis, Hull Rape Crisis Centre have been awarded £20,000 for both 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Shoplifting

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to increase sentences for shoplifting. [195904]

Jeremy Wright: The maximum penalty for theft is seven years’ imprisonment. The independent Sentencing Council is responsible for issuing guidelines which all courts must follow when determining the appropriate sentence in each case, within this maximum penalty. On 3 April, the Council opened a consultation on a new draft guideline for theft offences. The consultation period ends on 26 June 2014 and is open to everyone. The responses received will inform the definitive new sentencing guideline for theft offences in due course.

Stationery

Mr Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables. [196212]

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Damian Green: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) does not record levels of stock held of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners

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and

(d)

other office consumables. This information could be collated only at disproportionate cost.