Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what further plans he has to extend the scope for police officers to give evidence via video link during trials.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Use of video in criminal cases provides efficiencies which benefit all criminal justice agencies, and support victims and witnesses. In particular video links allow police officers to give evidence to the court from a police station, rather than attending a courthouse, making significant savings in working hours for the police.
The use of video within Police Forces is well established for the giving of evidence. HMCTS is also working with Police Forces to extend the use of video to applications for search warrants and other warrants.
The Government is investing over £700m to modernise the courts and tribunals. This investment will not only mean an extension in the extent of video usage by police, but also an increase in benefits.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability of category C prison spaces in the South East.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
This Government will always ensure that we have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts. We are investing £1.3 billion to reform and modernise the prison estate to make it even more efficient and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of (a) murder, (b) manslaughter, (c) causing death by dangerous driving and (d) infanticide in each of the last 10 years in England and Wales.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for murder, manslaughter, infanticide and causing death by dangerous driving in England and Wales from 2003 to 2013 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Generally, crime has fallen over this period, and conviction rates have remained broadly stable.
Since 2010 a greater proportion of convicted criminals are going to prison and their sentences are longer than ever before.
| Defendants found guilty at all courts for murder, manslaughter, infanticide and causing death by dangerous driving, England and Wales, 2003-2013(1)(2) | ||||||||||||
| Offences | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| Murder (3) | 277 | 361 | 394 | 372 | 369 | 439 | 376 | 346 | 343 | 356 | 314 | |
| Manslaughter (4) | 244 | 265 | 260 | 212 | 226 | 248 | 219 | 209 | 173 | 166 | 171 | |
| Infanticide (5) | - | . | 2 | 1 | 2 | . | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Causing death by dangerous driving (6) | 233 | 241 | 255 | 223 | 233 | 221 | 225 | 154 | 114 | 116 | 109 | |
| "-" Nil | ||||||||||||
| (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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. | ||||||||||||
| (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. | ||||||||||||
| (3) Includes all murder offences under Common Law and including by virtue of ss9/10 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 | ||||||||||||
| (4) Offences against the Person Act 1861 S.9 | ||||||||||||
| (5) Infanticide Act 1938 S.1(1) | ||||||||||||
| (6) Road Traffic Act 1988 as added by Road Traffic Act 1991 S.1 | ||||||||||||
| Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | ||||||||||||
| PQ 203223 Table | ||||||||||||
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are sufficient prison places to accommodate people who receive custodial sentences.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
We are building new accommodation at four existing prisons, changing the role of prisons we do not need for their original purpose, and bringing back into use capacity we did not need in the past. As a result, 2,000 additional prison places will have been opened by April next year, and there will be more adult male prison places at the end of this Parliament than this Government inherited.
A new 2,000 place prison in Wrexham will also be opened in 2017.