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178591

registered interest
date	09/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Undocumented Workers: Sentencing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in each year since 2009 have received prison sentences for employing illegal immigrants.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
uin	223879
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Employers have had a duty to prevent illegal working since 1997 by carrying out specified document checks on people before they employ them. Since 2008, this duty has been underpinned by a civil penalty scheme. In May 2014, this Government introduced measures making it simpler to check the immigration status of potential employees and at the same time doubled the maximum civil penalty to £20,000 for the employment of an illegal worker. The increased maximum civil penalty better reflects the harm caused by employing illegal workers, the costs to wider society and the unfair economic advantage derived from the activity.</p><p> </p><p>Where an employer knowingly employs an illegal worker the maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.</p><p> </p><p>The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for offences related to employing illegal immigrants, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the table</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7">Offenders sentenced to immediate custody for offences related to employing illegal immigrants, England and Wales, 2009 to 2013 <sup>(1)(2)</sup></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Offence</td><td>Outcome</td><td>2009</td><td>2010</td><td>2011</td><td>2012</td><td>2013</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">Employing a person aged 16 and above subject to immigration control<sup> (3)</sup></td><td>Sentenced</td><td>29</td><td>4</td><td>2</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>of which</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Immediate custody</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">Employing a person knowing that they are an adult subject to immigration control <sup>(4)</sup></td><td>Sentenced</td><td>5</td><td>4</td><td>5</td><td>4</td><td>3</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>of which</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Immediate custody</td><td>1</td><td>.</td><td>2</td><td>1</td><td>.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">Employing accession state national subject to worker authorisation in accession period <sup>(5)</sup></td><td>Sentenced</td><td>.</td><td>1</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>of which</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Immediate custody</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td>.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>'-' = Nil</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="7">(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="7">(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="10">(3) An offence under Section 8 Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, amended Asylum and Immigration Act 2004</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="10">(4) An offence under S 21 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="10">(5) Offence under R12(1)(b) and (6) Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Ref: PQ 223879</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 24/02/2015 15:58:44 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

177577

registered interest
date	03/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Court Orders: Compensation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much compensation has been ordered to be paid by courts in North Wales in the last three years for which records are available; and how much of that sum has been recovered from those ordered to pay compensation.
tabling member constituency	Wrexham
tabling member printed	Ian Lucas
uin	223159
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. This is why there has been a year on year increase in the total amount of financial penalties collected over the last three years. The amount of money collected reached an all time high of £290 million at the end of 2013/14 and collections continue to rise. In 2013/14 the total outstanding balance of financial impositions reduced by £26.7m (5%) in the year.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the value of compensation orders imposed in North Wales over the last three years and the value that had been recovered by the end of the year imposed.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Compensation imposed</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Collected in same year of imposition</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Cancelled in same year of imposition </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Outstanding at end of year of imposition</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>£508,150</p></td><td><p>£174,652</p></td><td><p>£29,241</p></td><td><p>£304,258</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>£485,074</p></td><td><p>£184,810</p></td><td><p>£24,535</p></td><td><p>£275,730</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>£562,557</p></td><td><p>£200,850</p></td><td><p>£9,230</p></td><td><p>£352,478</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The value of the impositions that remain outstanding at the end of the year includes accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified (either because they were imposed close to the end of the year or because they had payment timescales set by the courts for beyond the end of the financial year) and those that were being paid by instalments on agreed payment plans.</p><p> </p><p>The values cancelled could be legal or administrative cancellations. Administrative cancellations only take place in certain circumstances and after all attempts to collect the amount outstanding have been made. These circumstances include where the offender has died, where they have emigrated with no prospect of return, where the offender has been sent to a mental institution for 12 months or more or where the offender cannot be traced and there has been at least 12 months from the point of imposition. It should be noted that administrative cancellations can be re-instated if the prospects of recovery improve (where, for example, a new address is found).</p><p> </p><p>Legal cancellations occur after the case has been reconsidered by a judge or magistrate and further evidence has been presented. Legal cancellations can be as a result of a successful appeal, a change in financial circumstances of the offender or a committal to prison for non payment. The majority of the cancellations applied within the same year of imposition will be as a result of legal cancellation.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 03/03/2015 12:33:20 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

176550

registered interest
date	28/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Courts: Closures
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which parliamentary constituencies closure of a court has been (a) proposed and (b) decided upon.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	222613
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Closure of courts is subject to Ministerial decision following public consultation. The MoJ consulted on the future of Abergavenny and Caerphilly Magistrates’ Courts in the constituencies of Monmouth and Caerphilly respectively. No Ministerial decision has yet been taken following that consultation.</p><p> </p><p>The MoJ consulted on the future of Rhyl County Court in the constituency of the Vale of Clwyd, and although it was decided to close that court, cases continue to be listed there while we consider whether moving to Prestatyn is still the best option.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service continues to keep the use of its estate under review to ensure it meets operational requirements.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 06/03/2015 17:03:38 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

175970

registered interest
date	27/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Open Prisons: Prisoner Escapes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued to open prisons on reducing the number of absconders.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	222143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) conducted a fundamental review of the policy and practice related of Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) last year. NOMS have subsequently introduced a system that enhances the assessment of serious offenders and restricts access to ROTL to cases where there is a clear resettlement purpose. The enhanced or “restricted ROTL” approach for serious offenders involves tighter eligibility and monitoring, more risk assessment including case file reviews by psychologists, and greater involvement by offender managers.</p><p> </p><p>Changes have also been made to the allocation of prisoners to open conditions; foreign national prisoners with ongoing immigration matters and prisoners who have absconded or failed to return from ROTL during their current sentence will not be transferred to open conditions or have further ROTL.</p><p> </p><p>NOMS closely monitors absconds to identify trends and patterns. All absconds or failures to return by restricted ROTL prisoners are the subject of an internal investigation by a senior manager. The lessons learned are considered by a central forum of open prison Governors under the chairmanship of the Deputy Director of Public Sector Prisons.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 03/02/2015 17:30:09 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

176159

registered interest
date	27/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Service
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which regions ranked best and worst with regard to prison staff shortfalls in the latest period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	222317
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>There is no specific ranking system used in regards to staffing shortfalls, which vary from month to month dependant on specific circumstances. However, at the date of the last published staffing data, 30 September 2014, the largest shortfall between benchmarked staffing level of officer grade staff and staff in post was in East Midlands region. Two regions, North East and Yorkshire and Humberside were showing as having no shortfall of officers at the latest published date.</p><p> </p><p>Staffing levels have been reviewed prison by prison as part of a ‘benchmarking approach’. Benchmark staffing requirements for each establishment have been agreed with the unions and the NAO has commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years. It delivers efficiencies while ensuring that public sector prisons operate safely, decently and securely. It delivers efficiencies while ensuring that public sector prisons operate safely, decently and securely. Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing role.</p><p> </p><p>The Prison Service has been returning to large scale recruitment as the period of closures and benchmarking has been coming to an end.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 02/03/2015 16:24:24 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

174250

registered interest
date	16/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which offences prisoners serving a sentence of 12 months or less had committed (a) on the latest date for which information is held and (b) during the latest year for which information is held.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	221109
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2015 answer text <p>Since 2010, offenders are more likely to go to prison and for longer. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent judiciary, taking account of all the circumstances of each case.</p><p> </p><p>Latest available information on the number of prisoners serving an immediate custodial sentence of 12 months or less, by offence group, in England and Wales can be viewed in the attached table.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has recognised the unacceptably high level of re-offending among offenders receiving short custodial sentences and has responded with provisions in the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, which for the first time requires all those serving custodial sentences to be subject to 12 months of supervision following their release. This means that every sentenced offender leaving prison will spend at least 12 months under supervision (during which time they will be liable to be sent back to prison if they breach their conditions) where previously around 45,000 have been released each year with no statutory oversight.</p><p> </p><p>These new statutory requirements have been combined with a significant new approach to rehabilitation under which Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) – which bring together the best of the public, private and voluntary sectors – are working in new and innovative ways to tackle re-offending and will be paid according to the results they achieve.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 03/03/2015 17:38:01 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous attachment 1 file name 221109 - Table.xls title Prison population under a custodial sentence
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

169007

registered interest
date	09/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Procurement
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which contracts worth more than £5 million his Department has signed since 1 September 2014; with whom such contracts have been signed; for what purpose; what the (a) annual and (b) total cost of each such contract is; and what the length of each such contact is.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	217819
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2015 answer text <p>When buying products and services we always seek best value for taxpayers' money and find savings were possible.</p><p> </p><p>Please refer to Annex A for the answer.</p><p> </p><p>I can confirm that 24 contracts worth more then 5 million have been signed since 1 September 2014.</p><p> </p><p>The Transforming Rehabilitation Programme successfully signed 21 contracts to run probation services for low and medium risk offenders across the whole of England and Wales in December 2014. These services replace the previous delivery of these services to low and medium risk offenders from probation trusts and will now also provide &quot;through the gate&quot; support and services to offenders serving sentences of less than 1 year. The contracts include a payment by results element to reward providers who are successful at reducing reoffending rates.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The contracts are for 7 years with a further 3 year extension option and an exit period available at the discretion of the Authority. The values stated for the Transforming Rehabilitation contracts are estimates based on a 7 year contract term. A range of values is provided indicating the value of the contract with no Payment by Results payable and with all available Payment by Results payable to the suppliers. Actual values are non-indexed and may vary depending on volumes, indexation and demand for services to the National Probation Service.</p><p> </p><p>The Contract Award date is the signed date.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 25/02/2015 13:53:38 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous attachment 1 file name Annex A - Cost of Contracts.XLS title Cost of Contracts
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

168351

registered interest
date	05/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Travel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 7 April 2014 to Question 190548, how much his Department has spent on first class (a) flight travel for Ministers and officials in each year since 2010 and (b) rail travel for Ministers and officials in 2014 to date.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Mr Andy Slaughter
uin	217566
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2015 answer text <p>Since 2013, the Ministry of Justice has prohibited first class travel and business class travel for flights of less than eight hours duration, except for flights of five hours and over where there is a compelling business need, such as where staff are required to go straight into a meeting following a flight or where they are required to work on a flight. An exception to this ban is to support the needs of some disabled staff carrying out their duties.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice publishes within its transparency data the costs of all flights taken by Ministers and Senior Civil Servants (<a title="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-cabinet-office" href="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-cabinet-office" target="_blank">http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-cabinet-office</a> / <a title="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/flights-booked-through-gps-framework-moj" href="http://data.gov.uk/dataset/flights-booked-through-gps-framework-moj" target="_blank">http://data.gov.uk/dataset/flights-booked-through-gps-framework-moj</a>) Flights taken by staff below this level are not centrally recorded.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Spend data from 2012 onwards for first class air travel is available through the Redfern travel contract. This data is provided below:</p><p>2012 £605.32</p><p> </p><p>2013 £0</p><p> </p><p>2014 £0</p><p> </p><p>In one instance, the MoJ booked a business class ticket. This ticket covered a four leg journey. On one of those legs, a passenger was seated in first class due to a lack of availability of a business class seat.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This includes expenditure by one of the MoJ’s Non Departmental Public Bodies (NDPB).</p><p> </p><p>This level of information prior to 2012 is not held centrally.</p><p> </p><p>The total Rail spend data through the Redfern travel contract for Ministers and officials, in 2014 to date is: £34,943.53. This has decreased by 99% since 2009, when the annual spend on rail travel for Ministers and officials[1] was £3,989,713, This shows a reduction of £1,589,275 over the period. The Secretary of State has put in place a ban on all first-class rail travel. An exception to this ban is to support the needs of some disabled staff in carrying out their duties, where it is reasonable to do so, and which exceptionally justify the use of first-class rail travel.</p><p> </p><p>[1] Spend information is available only for the period April to December 2009.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 12/03/2015 14:55:58 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

156416

registered interest
date	18/11/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Open Prisons
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what offence each of the prisoners held in open prisons on 31 May 2014 who had previously (a) absconded or escaped from prison and (b) breached a licence condition while released on temporary licence had committed; and how long each such prisoner's original prison sentence was.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	214860
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2015 answer text <p>Temporary release and open conditions can be valuable tools in the resettlement of prisoners in the community but never at the expense of public safety. We conducted a fundamental review of the policy and practice of release on temporary licence (ROTL) after serious failures last year. We have already made significant changes, including the introduction in May 2014 of a ban on transfer to open prison or ROTL for any prisoner who escapes, abscond, fails to return from ROTL or commits an offence whilst on ROTL during their current sentence.</p><p>Absconds and escapes have reached record lows under this Government. There are also, thankfully, few ROTL failures; only around one in a thousand releases in 2013 resulting in failure. Between April and June 2014 (the latest period for which data are available), there were a total of 69 recorded temporary release failures, 40% lower than the same quarter in 2013.</p><p>The tables attached show the number of prisoners in open prisons on 30 May 2014 who had previously absconded, escaped or breached temporary release conditions, broken down by offence and length of sentence. It is not possible, except at disproportionate cost to give data for 31 May. The data in the table is derived from a one-off exercise to look in detail at those prisoners who were in open conditions on 30 May, which was conducted as part of the review of temporary release. It should be noted that the definition of “open prison” for the purposes of this exercise included some prisons operating both open and closed conditions on the same site to ensure that all prisoners with a previous abscond, escape or serious ROTL failure were identified and assessed. It is therefore possible that a number of prisoners included in the totals were actually in closed conditions at the relevant time.</p><p>The change in policy for eligibility for open conditions mentioned above was not applied retrospectively. Offenders already in open conditions at that time were assessed by NOMS and the majority were allowed to remain in open conditions because of their current compliance with the regime and favourable risk assessment. However, any prisoners who were assessed to present an unacceptable risk in such conditions in light of their previous non-compliance were returned to closed prisons.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 02/03/2015 15:08:46 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous attachment 1 file name 214860 table.xls title Prisoners in open prisons who previously absconded
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies