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  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent each month on court buildings that were closed in the period up to their disposal since May 2010.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously and reducing holding costs. Spend for each month on court buildings that were closed in the period up to their disposal since May 2010 can only be provided at disproportionate costs.

    The total cumulative gross benefits expected from the Court Estate Reform Programme (CERP) are £152m over the Strategic Review (SR10) period, consisting of resource savings from court closures of £99m and gross capital proceeds of £53m from the sale of buildings.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2014, Official Report, column 326W, on young offenders, on what date each adult male establishment was first designated both as a prison and a young offender institution; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is not immediately available. I will write to the Rt Honourable member when all the relevant information is available.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect on prison numbers of Clause 25 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill.

    Mike Penning

    Knife crime is a scourge, and this Government has already introduced new offences of threatening with a knife in a public place or school in the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. We are also legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of adult cautions for certain offences, which includes knife possession.

    Clause 25 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill was introduced by back bench amendment in the House of Commons. On the 17 June the House of Commons passed the clause into the Bill at Report stage. The clause is now being considered in the House of Lords. We will publish an assessment of the impact of this clause on prison numbers, if it were to become law, in due course.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the monthly cost is of each court building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010.

    Simon Hughes

    The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously and reducing holding costs. The monthly cost of each court building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010 is detailed below. The majority of these courts were closed as part of the Court Estate Reform Programme (CERP).

    CERP is expected to deliver an estimated £99m resource savings plus £53m from the sale of buildings. Under this Government court buildings that were rarely used or no longer suitable were closed as part of our drive to cut waste. There are temporary costs associated with ensuring unused courts are kept secure and protecting the fabric of each building, as well as property tax rates payable to the local council. When disposing of surplus property assets we will always seek best value for the taxpayer.

    In addition to the courts announced for closure under CERP, the Ministry of Justice has closed and disposed of a number of court buildings as a result of the integration and co-location.

    Table: monthly cost of each court building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010 as at 30 June 2014

    Court Building

    Average monthly cost 1, 6

    Bishop Auckland Magistrates’ & County Court 2

    £2,893

    Bridgwater Magistrates’ Court 3

    £1,951

    Bridport Magistrates’ Court

    £1,839

    Burton-upon-Trent County Court

    £1,590

    Cirencester Magistrates’ Court

    £1,053

    Coleford Magistrates’ Court

    £1,423

    Dorking Magistrates’ Court

    £4,740

    Epping Magistrates’ Court

    £1,931

    Flint Magistrates’ Court

    £1,945

    Frome Magistrates’ Court

    £869

    Goole Magistrates’ Court 4

    £632

    Haywards Heath (Mid Sussex) Magistrates’ Court

    £7,255

    Honiton Magistrates’ Court

    £1,298

    Houghton Le Spring Magistrates’ Court 5

    £1,794

    Keighley (Bingley) Magistrates’ Court

    £5,171

    Lewes Magistrates’ Court

    £8,456

    Lyndhurst Magistrates’ Court

    £2,557

    Market Drayton Magistrates’ Court

    £3,898

    Oswestry Magistrates’ Court & County Court

    £1,958

    Pontefract Magistrates’ Court

    £4,940

    Rochdale Magistrates’ Court

    £9,974

    Selby Magistrates’ Court

    £6,055

    Sherbourne Magistrates’ Court

    £1,301

    Stoke-on-Trent Magistrates’ Court

    £9,040

    Totnes Magistrates’ Court

    £2,184

    Towcester Magistrates’ Court

    £1,184

    Weston Super Mare Magistrates’ Court

    £488

    Wimborne Magistrates’ Court

    £4,122

    Witham Magistrates’ Court

    £1,502

    Footnotes:

    1. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2013/14. Holding costs include rates, fuel and utilities, facilities management, telephony and other property costs.

    2. Bishop Auckland Magistrates’ Court and County Court building was sold on 11 August 2014

    3. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2012/13 and 2013/14 in order to address rates rebates in 2013/14

    4. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2012/13 and 2013/14 in order to address rates rebates and accounting adjustments made in 2013/14

    5. Monthly costs includes spend for associated office, The Villa.

    6. Costs are not comparable between financial years due to events such as rebates for rates, utilities, facilities management and telephony.

  • John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on devolving responsibility for tagging contracts to police and crime commissioners.

    Andrew Selous

    On 15 July the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced that the Ministry of Justice will be awarding contracts to four companies for delivery of the next generation of electronic monitoring services.

    These national contracts will be managed by the Ministry of Justice. Within the existing legislative framework, there are opportunities for Police and Crime Commissioners to make use of the capability within national contracts to support their local priorities in order to ensure that the taxpayers money is used efficiently. Police and Crime Commissioners may however make local arrangements depending on local priorities.

    Separate to these national contracts, the Secretary of State has agreed to allow the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to enter into arrangements to pilot the effectiveness of the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many whole time equivalent staff were employed at each magistrates’ and Crown court in England in each of the last five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I regret I am unable to collate the information required to answer this request within the normal time constraints of an ordinary written Parliamentary Question.

    Providing details for the requested period of five years requires an extensive manual search of legacy records and reports.

    I will write again in due course with the information available.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been made redundant by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) in each year since the foundation of HMCTS; and what the cost of redundancies at HMCTS was in each of those years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I can confirm that there have been no compulsory redundancies in HMCTS since its foundation in April 2011. There have been voluntary departures agreed in HMCTS since April 2011, as detailed in the HMCTS Financial Statement of Accounts. The number and cost of these voluntary departures are detailed below:

    Year

    Number of Voluntary Departures Agreed

    Cost (£)

    2011 – 2012

    1,268

    £54,817,000

    2012 – 2013

    408

    £22,259,000

    2013 – 2014

    73

    £3,087,000

    Up to 31 May 2014

    0

    0
  • Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) first-tier and (b) upper-tier tax tribunal judges there were in 2013-14; for how many days (i) first-tier and (ii) upper-tier tax tribunal panel members sat in that year; how many (A) first-tier and (B) upper-tier tax tribunal expert panel members there were in that year; and how much was paid to tax tribunal panel members in that year.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I refer the Honourable Member to the answers provided on 10 February 2014, Official Report, column 491W and 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 408W which contain the most up to date information on Judicial Numbers. Data for later periods will be contained in the next publication of Judicial Diversity Statistics, which is due for release at the end of July.

    For the period 1 April 2013–31 March 2014 panel members sat in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) for a total of 1272 days1. Members do not sit on Tax cases in the Upper Tribunal.

    1This figure is taken from internal Management Information and as such has not been quality checked to the same level as official statistics.

    In the financial year 2013/14, expenditure on all fee-paid judicial Office holders within the Tax jurisdiction was £1.8 million.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2014, Official Report, column 326W, on young offenders, how many young offenders were held in each establishment on the latest day for which figures are available.

    Andrew Selous

    This information is not immediately available. I will write to the Rt Honourable member when all the relevant information is available.

  • Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Leader of the House, how many days were allocated to business not introduced by a Government Minister in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr William Hague

    The statistics requested are not maintained as business is not always allocated on the basis of whole days. The number of days allocated to Opposition Days, Backbench business, select committee business and private Members’ bills each session is specified in the Standing Orders of the House. The number of hours spent each Session on different categories of business is recorded in the Sessional Returns.