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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 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of a magistrates’ court proceeding was in (a) all cases and (b) cases relating to the non-payment of the television licence fee.

    Damian Green

    The majority of criminal cases in the magistrates court are dealt with in a single day. Around two thirds of all cases are dealt with in a single hearing with 90% of television licence evasion cases requiring only one hearing, The Government has said that it will examine whether television licence evasion should be decriminalised.

  • Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he or his officials have had with the management of HM Prison Oakwood about staffing levels at that prison.

    Jeremy Wright

    Staffing levels at HMP Oakwood are regularly reviewed by both the Ministry of Justice and G4S. There are currently no plans to increase staffing levels at HMP Oakwood.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the ratio of prison officers to inmates by gender was in each (a) prison establishment and (b) category of prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

    Jeremy Wright

    Information on the ratio of prisoners to prison officers has been provided previously to the hon. Member for Tooting, Sadiq Khan. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 4 Mar 2014, Official Report, Column 805W.

    It is not possible to calculate a meaningful ratio of prisoners to staff based on gender. Any officer to prisoner ratio must take account of all available staffing, of either gender, in order to realistically represent the level of staffing.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 293W, on prisons: mother and baby units, what the reasons were for the time taken to provide a substantive answer day to the named day question tabled for answer on 10 February 2014.

    Jeremy Wright

    Officials in the Ministry of Justice have looked into the issue you have raised and we can confirm that the reason the above Answer was delayed was due to an administrative error.

    I apologise for this delay.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the proportion of offences where the victim surcharge is ordered and there is no victim.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice does not collate the information in the manner requested, and it is not possible to identify the amount of victim surcharge collected in relation to offences where there was no victim.

    The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. This centrally held information does not include details of the amount of victim surcharge imposed for the majority of cases. Below is a link to our most recent quarterly bulletin.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/282983/1-executive-summary-tables.xls

    “

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been given more than one life sentence on separate sentencing occasions in the last 10 years; and what the offences were for which they received those life sentences.

    Jeremy Wright

    A life sentence is mandatory for murder and discretionary life sentences are available to Judges for other very serious offences. This Government has introduced an automatic life sentence for a second very serious violent or sexual offence.

    Under a life sentence, the court determines the minimum period to be served in prison for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Once that period has been served it is for the Parole Board to determine if and when the offender may be released from prison on life licence and subject to recall for the rest of their life.

    Table 1 shows the number of offenders who have been sentenced to life in the 12 months ending September 2013 who previously had one or more previous life sentence on a separate sentencing occasion within the last 10 years, in England and Wales. The table also shows details of their latest and previous offences for which they received a life sentence.

    The number of offenders who receive a second life sentence is small. A number of life sentence prisoners commit offences in prison which result in a second life sentence. Some life sentence prisoners can also receive a second life sentence on conviction for offences committed prior to being imprisoned (e.g. a previous murder or rape). Only one of the offenders shown in Table 1 had been released from prison on life licence when he committed a further offence which resulted in a second life sentence.

    The figures provided have been drawn from an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Department. The PNC holds details of all convictions and cautions given for recordable offences committed in England and Wales. In addition, as with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been paid by his Department to Aspire to Change (A2C) since its formation; for what purpose each payment was made; what assessment he has made of the value for money of such expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

    Jeremy Wright

    Under Transforming Rehabilitation, we are opening up the market to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers, so that we get the best out of the public, voluntary and private sectors, at the local as well as national level. Managers in a number of Probation Trusts, including Essex, have set up mutuals so that they can bid to become owners of the new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). In line with wider Government policy, we have encouraged those Trusts that have been interested to consider the mutual option. All those developing mutuals have had the opportunity to bid for further advice, guidance and assistance through the Cabinet Office Mutual Support Programme (MSP). The MSP has allocated a total of £1.5million to support prospective mutuals with the greatest potential. Support to organisations has been provided in two phases. Phase 1 supported organisations to prepare them for the competition. Phase 2 is providing further support to those that passed the first stage of the competition throughout the negotiation phase and, if they are successful in the competition, support their transition to a mutual.

    We launched the competition to establish the owners of the 21 CRCs on 19 September 2013. Competition rules preclude this Department from contacting potential bidders other than through the competition process so that is, and will remain the only avenue for Aspire 2 Change Ltd. to communicate with the Department until the competition is completed.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) advice and (b) written guidance (i) he, (ii) Ministers and (iii) officials in his Department have given to Aspire to Change (A2C) since December 2013; and if he will make a statement.

    Jeremy Wright

    Under Transforming Rehabilitation, we are opening up the market to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers, so that we get the best out of the public, voluntary and private sectors, at the local as well as national level. Managers in a number of Probation Trusts, including Essex, have set up mutuals so that they can bid to become owners of the new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). In line with wider Government policy, we have encouraged those Trusts that have been interested to consider the mutual option. All those developing mutuals have had the opportunity to bid for further advice, guidance and assistance through the Cabinet Office Mutual Support Programme (MSP). The MSP has allocated a total of £1.5million to support prospective mutuals with the greatest potential. Support to organisations has been provided in two phases. Phase 1 supported organisations to prepare them for the competition. Phase 2 is providing further support to those that passed the first stage of the competition throughout the negotiation phase and, if they are successful in the competition, support their transition to a mutual.

    We launched the competition to establish the owners of the 21 CRCs on 19 September 2013. Competition rules preclude this Department from contacting potential bidders other than through the competition process so that is, and will remain the only avenue for Aspire 2 Change Ltd. to communicate with the Department until the competition is completed.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish his Department’s equality impact assessment of its policy on uniforms for male and female prisoners.

    Jeremy Wright

    The requirement for prisoners to wear uniform is set out in the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework, Prison Service Instruction 30/2013. During the review of this policy in 2013 an Equality Impact Assessment was completed and I have placed a copy in the Libraries of both Houses.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with 15 or more previous convictions were not sent to prison on conviction for (a) burglary and (b) violence against the person in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Jeremy Wright

    It has not been possible to obtain this information. I will write to the Honourable member in due course.