Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) Welsh Government ministers and (c) Scottish Government ministers on the implementation of the children's funeral fund in England.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I have had discussions on implementation of the Children’s Funeral Fund with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance and the Minister of State for Immigration. I have not had discussions with Welsh or Scottish Government ministers. However, Ministry of Justice officials have had detailed discussions with officials in these Administrations.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2019 to Question 249229 on Wales Office: Contracts, how many contracts awarded by his Department on behalf of the Wales Office were awarded to companies based in (a) Wales, (b) the UK, (c) the EU and (d) the rest of the world in each of the last three years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants in his Department have been seconded to (a) the Department for Exiting the European Union and (b) the Department for International Trade in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The number of staff seconded to either a) the Department for Exiting the European Union and b) the Department for International Trade in each of the last 3 years is as follows:
Department for Exiting the European Union
2019 – 1
2018 – 0
2017 – 0
Department for International Trade
2019 – 0
2018 – 0
2017 - 0
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have served custodial sentences due to non-payment of council tax in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The number of people admitted to prison for non-payment of council tax to December 2018 can be viewed in Table A2.12 at the link below:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796916/receptions-2018.ods
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2019 to Question 238275 on Probation: Private Sector, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of probation services in each year between 2010 and 2015.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The total amount spent by the Ministry of Justice on probation services in England and Wales for the years requested is set out in a summary table below.
Financial Years | Probation Expenditure, nominal* |
2014/15 | £851,700,000 |
2013/14 | £804,500,000 |
2012/13 | £832,400,000 |
2011/12 | £819,800,000 |
2010/11 | £874,600,000 |
*Figures have been rounded and show actual costs
The expenditure prior to 2014/15 is for Probation Boards and Trusts. From 2014/15 onwards, responsibility for providing probation services transferred to the new National Probation Service (NPS) and 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). The cost increase in 2014/15 was for transition and mobilisation costs of setting up the NPS and CRCs, as well as closing down Probation Trusts, as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on contracts with private probation service providers in each (a) nation and (b) region of the UK in each year for which data is available.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The spend data below is the total spend by HM Probation and Prison Services to the Community Rehabilitation Companies in England and Wales for the years shown.
2015/16 | £528,700,000* |
2016/17 | £394,100,000* |
2017/18 | £373,300,000* |
Figures for 2018/19 have not been ratified and as such are not currently available.
*Figures rounded up to the nearest £100,000
The MoJ does not hold this information for Scotland or Northern Ireland as probation services are devolved.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many ministerial directions have been issued by Ministers in his Department in each of the last eight years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No ministerial directions have been issued by Ministers in the Ministry of Justice in the last eight years.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the factors contributing to the average length custodial sentences in Wales relative to England.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Sentencing decisions are a matter for the independent courts.
When deciding what sentence to impose the courts take into account all the facts of each case. This will include the seriousness of the offence, the culpability of the offender and aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council, which cover England and Wales.
The Ministry of Justice publishes criminal justice statistics, including sentencing and average custodial sentencing length, on a quarterly and annual basis. The latest quarterly statistics, to June 2018 are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2018
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of young adults sentenced to less than 12 months custody in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data for sentencing broken down by age, sex and location has been published up to December 2017 and can be found in the ‘Court outcomes by Police Force Area data tool’, available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx.
For Wales, filter the Police Force Area to Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales, South Wales.
For England, remove the above locations and ‘special/miscellaneous and unknown police forces’ from the Police Force Area filter.
For the number of young adults sentenced to less than 12 months custody:
For the number of females given immediate custodial sentences at magistrates’ court:
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many female offenders have been given immediate custodial sentences at magistrates courts in Wales in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data for sentencing broken down by age, sex and location has been published up to December 2017 and can be found in the ‘Court outcomes by Police Force Area data tool’, available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx.
For Wales, filter the Police Force Area to Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales, South Wales.
For England, remove the above locations and ‘special/miscellaneous and unknown police forces’ from the Police Force Area filter.
For the number of young adults sentenced to less than 12 months custody:
For the number of females given immediate custodial sentences at magistrates’ court: