Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many super-injunctions are currently in effect in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
There is currently one super-injunction in force which was made in the Kings Bench Division of the High Court.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cyclists were (1) cautioned, and (2) convicted, for road traffic offences in each of the years 2010 to 2013 in the Cities of London and Westminster.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Like all road users, cyclists have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner, and when they fail to comply with any aspect of road traffic law they should be dealt with appropriately.
The number of offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of offences related to pedal cycles, in the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police Force Areas, from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the following table.
| Offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of offences related to pedal cycles(1), Metropolitan Police and City of London Police Force Areas, 2009 to 2013 (2)(3)(4)(5) | |||||
| Police force area | Outcome | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| Metropolitan Police | Cautioned | 21 | 14 | 13 | 13 |
| Proceeded against | 299 | 517 | 370 | 410 | |
| Found guilty | 239 | 414 | 303 | 319 | |
| City of London (6) | Cautioned | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| Proceeded against | 29 | 49 | - | - | |
| Found guilty | 20 | 38 | - | - | |
| '-' = Nil | |||||
| (1) Includes the following offences: | |||||
| Highways Act 1835 S78 - Riding to common danger | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S26 - Being towed | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 SS35 & 36 - Neglect of traffic directions | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S24 More than one person carried | |||||
| Highways Act 1835 S72 - Riding on footpath | |||||
| Pedal Cycles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1983 - No brakes - failure to comply with the regulations | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S28 - Reckless and dangerous driving by pedal cyclist | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S29 - Careless driving by pedal cyclist | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S30 - Pedal cyclist driving under the influence of drink and drugs | |||||
| Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 S17(4) - Using special road in contravention of regulations made by the Secretary of State | |||||
| Highways Act 1980 S137(1) - Wilful obstruction of the highway | |||||
| Theft Act 1968 S12(5) - Taking or riding a pedal cycle without consent etc | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S168(b) - Rider of a cycle failing to give name and address | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S81 - Lighting and reflector offences | |||||
| Road Traffic Act 1988 S163(3) - Failing to stop pedal cycle when required by constable | |||||
| (2) 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. | |||||
| (3) 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. | |||||
| (4) The offences shown relate only to pedal cycles. Cyclists may be cautioned or proceeded against for road traffic offences that can apply to vehicles in general and for these offences, cyclists cannot be separately identified from users of other kinds of vehicles. The results for those offences are not shown here. | |||||
| (5) For road traffic offences, cyclists may receive Fixed Penalty Notices. Those cases are not included in this table, so this table cannot be used as an estimate of all offences committed by cyclists | |||||
| (6) City of London Local Justice Area abolished on 31 December 2011, and merged into Central London Local Justice Area. These data recorded under Metropolitan Police henceforth | |||||
| Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | |||||
| Ref: PQC HL 5762 | |||||
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cyclists have been (1) cautioned, and (2) convicted, for road traffic offences in the last 12 months in the Cities of London and Westminster.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Department recognises that everyone who uses the highway has a responsibility to behave safely and with consideration for others.
The enforcement of cycling offences is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. Officers can issue verbal warnings, fixed penalty notices or report the road user for formal prosecution.
Court proceedings and cautions data for 2014 (which includes data on offenders cautioned and found guilty at all courts of offences related to pedal cycles) are planned for publication in May 2015. The same data for 2015 are planned for publication in spring 2016.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether current staffing levels of HM Prison Service meet the standard complement.
Answered by Lord Faulks
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 Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing role.
Benchmark staffing levels have been agreed in 85 public sector prisons. Amongst prison officers, the shortfall of staff in post against benchmarks for these establishments at 30 September 2014 was 4%.
Staffing levels have improved, but there remains a geographical variation and detached duty has been used to manage temporary shortages in particular locations. Such measures are always needed in such a large, widely spread organisation.
In addition HM Prison Service Reserve, consisting of former prison officers, has been established to support capacity changes and unplanned shortfalls in officer numbers.
The Prison Service has been returning to large scale recruitment levels as the period of closures and benchmarking has been coming to an end. As well as prison officers, we are also recruiting Operational Support Grades (uniformed staff who undertake a wide range of security based work) and instructors (who manage prisoners in workshop activities and training).
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the royal prerogative of mercy has been exercised in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively in the past five years; and of that number, how many, if any, in each of the countries have been without consultation with the relevant police authorities.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy may currently take one of three forms:
i) The grant of a Free Pardon;
ii) The grant of a conditional Pardon;
iii) Remission of all or part of a penalty by either a) a pledge of public faith, which most commonly occurs when an offender's release dates are incorrectly calculated or b) for meritorious conduct, such as saving the life of another offender/member of staff or coming to the aid of a member of staff.
By Constitutional convention, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (in succession to the Home Secretary) is responsible, in England and Wales (and the Channel Islands), for recommending to Her Majesty the Queen the exercise of the prerogative of mercy to grant a Royal Pardon. In Northern Ireland the responsibility lies with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for reserved matters and the Justice Minister for Northern Ireland for devolved matters, and in Scotland it is devolved to the First Minister. The Secretary of State for Defence also has the responsibility in relation to members of the armed forces.
In the past five years, only two free pardons were granted by Her Majesty the Queen in England in 2009 and 2014 respectively.
With regard to Remission Pardons the Royal Prerogative of Mercy has not been exercised on this basis. However, for England & Wales no records are held for the period prior to 1 February 2013.
In respect of the two free pardons that have been issued, the Police Authority was consulted in one of these decisions while the other pardon was granted posthumously and the Police Authority was not consulted.