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223678

registered interest
date	25/02/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of comparative per capita levels of legal aid spending in England and Wales and other jurisdictions.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	225411
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2015 answer text <p>A Ministry of Justice study published in 2011 (based on 2008 estimates) showed that England and Wales had the highest legal aid expenditure amongst countries with similar legal and judicial traditions.</p><p> </p><p>The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) publishes a biennial report “European judicial systems: efficiency and quality of justice” which contains the comparative per capita levels of legal aid spending. The Department contributes data to these reports and the most recent, published in 2014 using 2012 data, can be found at: www.coe.int/t/dghl/cooperation/cepej/evaluation/2014/Rapport_2014_en.pdf</p><p> </p><p>This report shows that England and Wales has the third highest allocated budget to legal aid (after Norway and N.Ireland) per inhabitant at <del class="ministerial">€41.55</del> <ins class="ministerial">£33.74 </ins>per head. The European average is <del class="ministerial">€8.63</del> <ins class="ministerial">£7.01 </ins>per head.</p><p /> <p><ins class="ministerial">The Sterling figures provided in this answer were calculated from the Euro figures in the CEPEJ report, using the conversion date of 01/01/2013 as used in the CEPEJ report. </ins></p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 06/03/2015 17:13:15 question first ministerially corrected 12/03/2015 16:36:51 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara previous answer version 48401 answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

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

175788

registered interest
date	26/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Smoking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will direct the National Offender Management Service to ban cigarette smoking on the prison estate.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	221967
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2015 answer text <p>Planning for implementation of a smoke free policy continues and this will include consideration of implementing arrangements at some early adopter sites instead of pilot arrangements.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 02/02/2015 17:26:03 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

175789

registered interest
date	26/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Smoking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the National Offender Management Service suspended the pilot scheme to ban cigarette smoking on the prison estate.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	221968
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2015 answer text <p>Planning for implementation of a smoke free policy continues and this will include consideration of implementing arrangements at some early adopter sites instead of pilot arrangements.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 02/02/2015 17:23:11 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

175790

registered interest
date	26/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Smoking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with the Prison Officers Association on the proposal to ban cigarette smoking on the prison estate.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	221970
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2015 answer text <p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) provides regular updates to the Prison Officers Association and other staff associations on plans to implement a smoke free policy in prisons as part of the agreed Whitley council arrangements. POA officials have also met separately with NOMS officials to discuss the plans and these meetings will continue.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 02/02/2015 17:20:35 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

175795

registered interest
date	26/01/2015
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Smoking
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to resume the pilot arrangements for banning cigarette smoking on the prison estate.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	222013
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2015 answer text <p>The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has confirmed its intention to move to a smoke free policy for prisons. No date has yet been confirmed for implementation of a smoke free policy.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 02/02/2015 17:18:10 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

171665

registered interest
date	18/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Young Offenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of changes in the numbers of young offenders in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the causes of those changes.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	219491
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>Reducing offending by young people is a key priority for the Ministry of Justice and the Government routinely publishes data on the number of cautioning and sentencing occasions for young people as part of the Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly report: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly</a> (see Table Q6.1).</p><p> </p><p>Table 1 below shows the numbers of cautioning and sentencing occasions for 10-17 year olds residing in England and Wales in each of the last five years, for the 12 months ending June.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>First Occasion</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Further Occasions</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>56,742</p></td><td><p>87,859</p></td><td><p>144,601</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>43,170</p></td><td><p>74,602</p></td><td><p>117,772</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>34,136</p></td><td><p>59,581</p></td><td><p>93,716</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>26,267</p></td><td><p>44,018</p></td><td><p>70,285</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>22,080</p></td><td><p>37,132</p></td><td><p>59,213</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The reduction in the numbers of cautions and sentences has been largely driven by the fall in First Time Entrants (FTEs) to the Youth Justice System (see First Occasion column in Table 1).</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice, in partnership with the Youth Justice Board and other Government Departments, keeps under review the effectiveness of all elements of the youth justice system, and associated services for young people and their families at risk of developing offending behaviour. [1]</p><br /><p>Notes to Table 1</p><p>(1) The first occasion on which offenders received a caution or conviction for offences committed in England and Wales. Where there were multiple offences on the same occasion, the primary offence as recorded on the Police National Computer would be counted.</p><p> </p><p>(2) Subsequent occasions on which offenders received a further youth caution, caution or conviction for offences committed in England and Wales. Where there were multiple offences on the same occasion, the primary offence as recorded on the Police National Computer would be counted.</p><p>(3) Cautions include juveniles receiving reprimands and warnings or youth cautions. Youth Cautions were introduced on April 8th 2013 replacing reprimands and warnings for young offenders. The guidance is published at the link http://www.justice gov.uk/out-of-court-disposals</p><p>(4) Includes offenders whose gender is not recorded on the Police National Computer.</p><p> </p><p>(5) Figures include offenders residing only in England and Wales at the time of their caution or conviction.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 05/01/2015 17:04:49 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

171667

registered interest
date	18/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prison Accommodation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the availability of places in the prison estate to safely accommodate those sentenced to custodial sentences by the courts.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	219492
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>This Government will always ensure that we have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and we continue to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p>We have a long term strategy for managing the prison estate which will provide more adult male prison capacity than we inherited from the previous Government. We also have a range of contingencies available to manage temporary or unexpected increases in the population.</p><p> </p><p>We are expecting to open over 2,000 adult male prison places in the coming months, which include 1,250 new places at four new house-blocks. We are also building a new prison in Wrexham that will increase capacity by a further 2,100 places by 2017.</p><p> </p><p>Taken together, these measures will enable us to accommodate safely those sentenced to custody by the courts.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 05/01/2015 17:31:02 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

171668

registered interest
date	18/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Kidnapping: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many UK parents have applied for the return of their child from another country under the 1980 Hague Convention in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	219489
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>We take every case of international parental child abduction very seriously and the Government works with other countries to help resolve cases in the best interests of the children involved as quickly as possible.</p><p>The table below shows the number of applications for return received from parents by the Central Authorities for England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in each of the last five years. The Central Authorities do not record the nationality of the applicant. Figures for 2014 have not yet been finalised.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Calendar year</p></td><td><p>England and Wales</p></td><td><p>Northern Ireland</p></td><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>214</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>236</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>150</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>167</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>200</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>214</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>220</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>246</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>222</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>243</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The Central Authorities are the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit for England and Wales, the Central Business Unit of the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service for Northern Ireland, and the Scottish Government for Scotland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 05/01/2015 13:55:33 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

170763

registered interest
date	16/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Squatting: Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with the Crown Prosecution Service on ensuring that prosecutions are made under squatting legislation.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	219044
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2015 answer text <p>Squatting in someone’s home can cause the rightful owner untold misery and it is right that the practice is now criminal. We worked closely with the enforcement agencies when preparing for the commencement of the offence of squatting in a residential building, created by section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Prosecutions will always be brought where appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 07/01/2015 17:39:02 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord