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27 Mar 2008 : Column 354W—continued
Tree Preservation Orders: Guildford
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2008, Official Report, column 1130W, on tree preservation orders: Guildford, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter of comfort produced by his Department in relation to disposal of the Epsom Road site. [196075]
Joan Ruddock: In my answer of 25 February 2008, Official Report, column 1130W, no mention was made of a comfort letter in respect of Tree Preservation Orders. However, if following the identification by the council of those trees from the joint survey considered worthy of protection, the Department considers such a letter necessary for the interim preservation of trees pending the sale, I see no reason not to publish said letter in the House of Commons Library.
Justice
Alternatives to Prison
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who (a) funds and (b) runs community-based options for substance misuse as alternatives to custody sentences. [196533]
Mr. Hanson: Combined funding from the Department of Health, Home Office and Ministry of Justice known as the pooled treatment budget (PTB) for drug treatment services is allocated annually to drug action team partnerships (DATs). Funding from PTB allocations is supplemented by mainstream funding from the national health service.
The Ministry of Justice contribution (£22 million in the current financial year) pays for the treatment and testing required to deliver the drug rehabilitation requirement (DRR) which is the main delivery route for drug interventions within community sentences and is one of 12 requirements available as part of a community order. The overall sentence is supervised and delivered by the national probation service. The treatment is commissioned locally in partnership with the drug action teams (DATs) and is delivered by a range of voluntary and public sector treatment providers. The national probation service also delivers accredited cognitive behavioural programmes for substance misusers.
Drug action teams receive additional funding—some £110 million in 2008-09—from the Home Office to support delivery of the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). DIP works with drug misusing offenders to move them out of crime and into treatment. While the programme is not a formal alternative to custody its emphasis is on working with offenders, particularly in the community, from their earliest point of contact with the criminal justice system.
Courts: Security
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what minimum level of training is required for security staff in courts; and if he will make a statement. [196528]
Maria Eagle: Security in courts is provided by designated court security officers, appointed by the Lord Chancellor who devolves this power to the Chief Executive of Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS).
The training requirements for court security officers is set out in the Court Security Officers (Designation) Regulations 2005 which were made by the Lord Chancellor exercising the powers conferred on him by section 51 of the Courts Act 2003.
Under these regulations, before a person is designated as a court security officer, he must provide evidence that he has completed training courses in the following:
(a) the duties and powers of a court security officer;
(b) risk assessment;
(c) safe working practices;
(d) managing stress when dealing with threatening situations; and
(e) techniques for restraining a person and removing them from the building.
In addition, security staff in courts are required to follow the guidance provided in the security policy document of Her Majesty's Courts Service: 'Safe and Secure'. This sets out the minimum standards for security in courts according to the function of the separate areas within each building.
Departmental Consultants
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent by his Department in 2007-08 on (a) consultants and (b) agency staff. [191951]
Maria Eagle: Expenditure with external consultants since the Ministry of Justice was established on 9 May 2007 is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, from April 2007 until September 2007, the former Department for Constitutional Affairs and those bodies that were formerly part of the Home Office and which are now part of the Ministry of Justice, spent £5.5 million on external consultants.
The use of agency staff is devolved to separate business areas within the Ministry of Justice. The following table provides a breakdown of the most current figures held by organisation:
| Organisation | Period | Value (£) |
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether confidential or personal information has been compromised through the loss of property from his Department since 1997. [193448]
Mr. Wills:
Except in exceptional cases, when it is in the public interest, it has been the policy of successive governments not to comment on breaches of security.
However, following the publication of the Data Handling Procedures in Government: Interim Progress Report on 17 December 2007, Official Report, column 98WS, all Departments will cover information assurance issues in their annual reports.
Departmental Empty Property
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many vacant properties his Department owns; how many of these have been vacant for longer than (a) three months, (b) six months and (c) 12 months; and what the value of each property is. [196290]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry owns one property that has been vacant for longer than three months, three that have been vacant for longer than six months and four that have been vacant for longer than 12 months. The estimated value of each property is set out as follows.
| Value (£) | |||
| Property | Vacant >3 months <6months | Vacant >6 months <12 months | Vacant >12 months |
All of the properties are non residential and are vacant awaiting sale. They are owned by Her Majesty’s Court Service.
In addition, the Prison Service owns residential properties. Numbers of vacancies vary but it is estimated to be between 25 and 30 at any one time and they are disposed of as soon as is practicable. Details of vacancies are not held centrally. Each individual prison establishment would need to be contacted to establish the exact number of vacancies which would be at a disproportionate cost to the Ministry.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2008, Official Report, columns 1203-4W, on departmental ICT, when he expects to publish the detailed and assured delivery plans. [196152]
Maria Eagle: An announcement on the delivery plan for Prison NOMIS project is expected by the end of April following the conclusion of commercial negotiations which are currently under way. Delivery plans for the other NOMIS programme constituent projects will follow after commercial negotiations specific to them are complete.
Departmental Pensions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of staff in his Department were making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions in each of the last two years. [193560]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice was created on 9 May 2007.
In February 2007, 32,589 staff were employed in the former Department for Constitutional Affairs, including the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry (staff), the Judicial Appointments Commission and Legal Services Ombudsman. 175 staff were contributing to recognised Additional Voluntary Contribution, partnership and stakeholder pension schemes. This total represents 0.54 per cent. of employees.
In February 2008, the Ministry of Justice, including HM Prison Service, the National Offender Management Service, Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, Youth Justice Board, Parole Board, Office of Criminal Justice Reform and National Probation Service employed 87,897 staff, of which 875 staff were contributing to recognised Additional Voluntary Schemes, partnership and stakeholder pension schemes. This total represents 0.99 per cent. of employees.
Marriage: Wales
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when legislative changes to eligibility for marriage in the Church of England will be implemented in Wales. [196160]
Mr. Wills: Changes to the rules about where people can marry in the Church of Wales are a matter for that Church to propose. The Church in Wales is disestablished and a separate member of the Anglican Communion from the Church of England. Church of England Measures cannot extend to the Church in Wales.
Offenders: Deportation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of foreign nationals sentenced to custody was recommended by the sentencing court for deportation on completion of sentence in each of the last 10 years. [187105]
Mr. Hanson: Information on what proportion of foreign nationals sentenced to custody were recommended by the sentencing court for deportation on completion of their sentence in each of the last 10 years is not available.
However, over 4,200 foreign national prisoners have been removed or deported from the UK in 2007.
Offenders: Employment Schemes
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much was spent on providing employment programmes for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [196123]
(2) what funding has been allocated for the provision of employment programmes for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences for 2008-09, broken down by funding source; and if he will make a statement. [196124]
Maria Eagle: Improving the skills and employment outcomes for offenders is one of our key objectives for reducing re-offending, and our priorities for action are set out in the ‘Reducing Re-Offending through Skills and Employment: Next Steps’ plan. The Ministry of Justice works closely with the Departments for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and Work and Pensions to take this forward.
We recently published a Prison Policy Update briefing paper which set out our intention to increase the range of employment programmes available to offenders inside prison. This will be done in partnership with the private, public and voluntary sectors, who generally fund the work or training programme delivered. Individual prisons may need to cover the cost of setting up the programme but this information is not held centrally.
Similarly, offenders in the community are given opportunities to carry out unpaid work with private, public and voluntary sector employers. Probation areas may need to cover the costs of establishing the relationships with employers but this information is not held centrally.
In addition to these links with employers, offenders have access to DWP programmes aimed at getting disadvantaged groups into employment such as New Deal and Progress2Work. Information about these programmes is offered via Jobcentre Plus advisers, including in prisons through their employment and benefit advisors.
Offenders: Rehabilitation
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much was spent on providing resettlement programmes for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [196125]
(2) what funding has been allocated for the provision of resettlement programmes for offenders (a) in custody an d (b) serving community sentences for 2008-09, broken down by funding source; and if he will make a statement. [196126]
Maria Eagle: The funding for the delivery of providing resettlement programmes is part of establishment baselines, therefore it is not possible to accurately disaggregate the cost of this work. Governors and area managers may allocate funds from their budgets to support local initiatives or partnerships with outside organisations or the voluntary sector to address particular needs however, this information is not recorded centrally.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on providing drug and alcohol treatment for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [196129]
Mr. Hanson: Drug treatment funding allocated to prisons in England and Wales over the past 10 years is shown in the following table. Prison funding used specifically for alcohol treatment is not separated out from overall drug treatment funding.
| Prison drug treatment( l) (£ million) | |
| (1 )This includes clinical interventions (detoxification and maintenance prescribing), CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare service), YPSMS (Young People's Substance Misuse Services) and intensive drug rehabilitation programmes. (2) Indicative. | |
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