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42553

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) men and (b) women convicted of benefit fraud in each of the last five years received a prison sentence; and what the average prison sentence was for those of each gender so convicted.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191465
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions operates a tough series of specific penalties for benefit fraud that run alongside the criminal justice system. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 toughened penalties for those who commit, or attempt to commit benefit fraud. We have introduced a financial administrative penalty as an alternative to prosecution which, for the first time, can be applied to attempted fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also introduced a tougher loss of benefit penalty to restrict benefits to people convicted of benefit fraud or who have accepted an administrative penalty. Benefits can be reduced for periods of 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 3 years, dependent on the number of benefit fraud offences committed within a specified period, where the latest offence results in a conviction.</p><p>Judges make their decisions independently of Government based on the facts of each case. The maximum penalty for fraud is 10 years in prison.</p><p>The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' court found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to benefit fraud, with sentencing outcomes and the average custodial sentence length by gender, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.</p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 191466 question first answered 09/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright attachment 1 file name 191466.XLS title Table 1
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42554

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women convicted of benefit fraud in each of the last five years received (i) a conditional discharge, (ii) a fine, (iii) a community order and (iv) a suspended prison sentence.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191466
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions operates a tough series of specific penalties for benefit fraud that run alongside the criminal justice system. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 toughened penalties for those who commit, or attempt to commit benefit fraud. We have introduced a financial administrative penalty as an alternative to prosecution which, for the first time, can be applied to attempted fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also introduced a tougher loss of benefit penalty to restrict benefits to people convicted of benefit fraud or who have accepted an administrative penalty. Benefits can be reduced for periods of 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 3 years, dependent on the number of benefit fraud offences committed within a specified period, where the latest offence results in a conviction.</p><p>Judges make their decisions independently of Government based on the facts of each case. The maximum penalty for fraud is 10 years in prison.</p><p>The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' court found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to benefit fraud, with sentencing outcomes and the average custodial sentence length by gender, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.</p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 191465 question first answered 09/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright attachment 1 file name 191466.XLS title Table 1
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42556

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the action by barristers on (a) 6 January 2014 and (b) 7 March 2014; and what his policy is on imposing a costs sanction on the barristers involved.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191468
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p>We have not yet made an estimate of the cost to the taxpayer of the action by barristers on 6 January and 7 March 2014. The question of costs is a matter for judges to consider in individual cases under the provisions set out in the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (as amended).</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42559

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of men in prison who have been victims of sexual abuse.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ's Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.</p><p> </p><p>The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 191434 191435 question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42560

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of (a) men and (b) women in prison who had alcohol-related issues prior to conviction.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191434
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ's Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.</p><p> </p><p>The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 191433 191435 question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42561

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of men and women in prison who have previously been in local authority care.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191435
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ's Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.</p><p> </p><p>The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 191433 191434 question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42562

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders received a driving ban alongside a prison sentence of a longer length in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191436
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>When the courts impose a driving ban and a custodial sentence at the same time, they already make some allowance for the length of time that the offender would normally serve in prison before becoming eligible for release, in order to ensure that disqualification has the desired impact. There are provisions in the Coroner's and Justice Act 2009 which will give this statutory force. These will be commenced in due course.</p><p> </p><p>We want to make sure that road traffic offenders face the full consequences of the punishment for their offence. When an offender commits a serious road traffic offence that attracts both a custodial sentence and disqualification from driving, it is essential for public confidence in the criminal justice system that the driving ban has full effect on the offender; he should not benefit from, in effect, a reduction in the length of the ban whilst he serves time in prison. These provisions will ensure that, as now, the court will determine the appropriate length of the ban for the purposes of the offence but it will then be required to extend the ban to take account of time to be spent in prison. This will ensure that there is consistency of action in every case and that driving bans bear equally on all offenders.</p><p> </p><p>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 records the period of disqualification into one of thirteen bands. As the exact length of driving ban is not available, it is not possibly to identify how many offenders received a driving ban alongside a prison sentence of a longer length. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MoJ. As such, the information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42563

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders received a driving ban before the age of 17 in each of the last three years; and in what proportion of such cases the ban expired before the offenders' 17th birthday.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191437
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The attached table sets out the number of driving disqualifications for all motoring offences at all courts, for offenders aged under 17 years, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012 (the latest data available). It is not possible to provide the more detailed information requested without incurring disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>A disqualification of an offender aged under 17 means they cannot apply for or be issued with a driving licence until their disqualification period has passed.</p><p> </p><p>Number of disqualifications for all motoring offences at all courts, for offenders aged under 17 years, England and Wales, 2008-2012(1)</p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p>Total Disqualifications Imposed</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>677</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>1021</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>1227</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>1791</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>2260</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>(1) 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.</p><p> </p><p>Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.</p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 03/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42614

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) men and (b) women were (i) investigated, (ii) given an administrative penalty, (iii) given a caution and (iv) convicted in court for benefit fraud in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191464
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The data requested is not collated in gender format. The table below represents the total numbers of investigations and outcomes following a benefit fraud investigation by the Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) in the last five years where available.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Outcomes following a benefit fraud investigation by DWP</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Fiscal Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Investigations Closed</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Administrative Penalties</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Cautions</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Convictions</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008-2009</strong></p></td><td><p>128,513</p></td><td><p>7,160</p></td><td><p>14,320</p></td><td><p>6,700</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009-2010</strong></p></td><td><p>150,146</p></td><td><p>7,249</p></td><td><p>15,117</p></td><td><p>7,040</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-2011</strong></p></td><td><p>154,819</p></td><td><p>7,625</p></td><td><p>15,574</p></td><td><p>8,598</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-2012</strong></p></td><td><p>165,387</p></td><td><p>7,364</p></td><td><p>15,939</p></td><td><p>9,861</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-2013</strong></p></td><td><p>130,853</p></td><td><p>3,863</p></td><td><p>2,906</p></td><td><p>not available</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Following a merger of DWP Prosecution Division with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in April 2012, conviction data for benefit fraud offences in England and Wales for 2012/13 is within ownership of CPS, and in Scotland the Procurator Fiscal. DWP data available for this period is not comparable to the data formatted and published by Prosecution Division in each year shown and if published could show a distorted view.</p><p> </p><p>The decline in the lesser penalties is due to DWP operational strategy to investigate in the most serious of cases, uncover the whole extent of the fraud and to prosecute wherever possible. The strategic approach to investigate in the most serious of cases and direct resources to the sternest penalty outcome of prosecution underpins the department's fraud and error principles to Prevent, Detect, Correct, Punish and Deter.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 18/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

43149

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much in victim surcharge has been imposed by adult courts since October 2012; and how much of that figure has been collected to date.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191969
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The amount of victim surcharge imposed and collected from October 2012 to September 2013 (latest published period) is set out below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Imposition month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Amount imposed</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Amount collected by end of September 2013</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2012</p></td><td><p>£1,253,491</p></td><td><p>£826,583</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 2012</p></td><td><p>£1,460,874</p></td><td><p>£941,311</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 2012</p></td><td><p>£1,263,756</p></td><td><p>£788,671</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2013</p></td><td><p>£1,900,543</p></td><td><p>£1,158,226</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2013</p></td><td><p>£1,869,900</p></td><td><p>£1,068,110</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2013</p></td><td><p>£2,086,393</p></td><td><p>£1,139,143</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2013</p></td><td><p>£2,424,548</p></td><td><p>£1,240,960</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2013</p></td><td><p>£2,543,344</p></td><td><p>£1,201,270</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2013</p></td><td><p>£2,556,998</p></td><td><p>£1,096,358</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2013</p></td><td><p>£2,982,204</p></td><td><p>£1,096,130</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2013</p></td><td><p>£2,707,508</p></td><td><p>£776,618</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2013</p></td><td><p>£2,626,937</p></td><td><p>£357,217</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£25,676,496</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£11,690,597</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The balance of the amount imposed that is remaining at the end of the period will include amounts that are being paid by instalments or were not due for payment by that time. The closer to the point of imposition the greater the proportion will be that remains outstanding as many offenders will be paying by instalments.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) takes the issue of financial penalty enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding impositions until certain they cannot be collected. Total collection reached an all time high at the end of 2012/13 and collection has continued to rise in this financial year.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS are actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 02/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies