Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time was between (a) a crime being committed and an offender being sentenced, (b) sentencing and an appeal hearing, (c) end of trial to sentencing and (d) charge and the commencement of a trial in (i) England and Wales, (ii) London, (iii) each local justice area in London and (iv) each court in London in each year since 2010.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Information on average time between a crime being committed and an offender being sentenced, sentencing and an appeal hearing and end of trial to sentencing is not held.
Information on the average number of days taken from charge to main hearing for Crown Court criminal cases in England and Wales is published regularly as part of the Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly, found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics. The requested information can be found in the main tables, in Table T4.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the first drug scanner will be installed in a prison in England or Wales.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Government is committed to reducing the supply of drugs into prison. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) already deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We will continue to explore new methods of preventing drugs coming into prisons and new generation body scanners are seen as a valuable part of this.
The first machine has been purchased and will be installed in a prison during April 2015. There will be a programme of work, led by NOMS, to assess the most effective way to deploy body scanners across the estate, based on experience of their use in an operational setting. NOMS will be supported in this by the Centre for Applied Science and Technology.
The initial assessment will also provide valuable information for the subsequent tendering exercise. The precise costs of the wider programme will depend on the initial assessment and on the procurement exercise which will be undertaken to ensure that best value for money is obtained.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much is being spent on drug scanners for jails in England and Wales.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Government is committed to reducing the supply of drugs into prison. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) already deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We will continue to explore new methods of preventing drugs coming into prisons and new generation body scanners are seen as a valuable part of this.
The first machine has been purchased and will be installed in a prison during April 2015. There will be a programme of work, led by NOMS, to assess the most effective way to deploy body scanners across the estate, based on experience of their use in an operational setting. NOMS will be supported in this by the Centre for Applied Science and Technology.
The initial assessment will also provide valuable information for the subsequent tendering exercise. The precise costs of the wider programme will depend on the initial assessment and on the procurement exercise which will be undertaken to ensure that best value for money is obtained.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug scanners are being purchased for jails in England and Wales.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Government is committed to reducing the supply of drugs into prison. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) already deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We will continue to explore new methods of preventing drugs coming into prisons and new generation body scanners are seen as a valuable part of this.
The first machine has been purchased and will be installed in a prison during April 2015. There will be a programme of work, led by NOMS, to assess the most effective way to deploy body scanners across the estate, based on experience of their use in an operational setting. NOMS will be supported in this by the Centre for Applied Science and Technology.
The initial assessment will also provide valuable information for the subsequent tendering exercise. The precise costs of the wider programme will depend on the initial assessment and on the procurement exercise which will be undertaken to ensure that best value for money is obtained.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents there were of drugs being found in HM Prison (a) Belmarsh, (b) Feltham, (c) Isis, (d) Pentonville, (e) Thameside, (f) Wandsworth and (g) Wormwood Scrubs in each year from 2010 to 2014.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issue of all contraband in prisons extremely seriously and deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We do not tolerate drugs in prison and anyone caught with them will be punished and could face further prosecution.
There is growing evidence that there has been an increase in smuggling of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) into prisons. We have already announced a series of measures to crack down on this and will ensure Governors have the powers and support they need to tackle it.
In addition the Justice Secretary announced last week that NOMS will continue to invest in new technology, such as bodyscanners, to stop drugs getting into prisons.
The number of finds in each prison establishment for the calendar years 2010 through to 2014 is shown in the table below.
Table 1: Reported incidents of where a drug was found (1)
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
Belmarsh | 15 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 4 |
Feltham | 8 | 12 | 19 | 12 | 11 |
Isis (2) | 0 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 15 |
Pentonville | 51 | 87 | 46 | 41 | 101 |
Thameside (3) | - | - | 18 | 113 | 110 |
Wandsworth | 3 | 7 | 7 | 25 | 11 |
Wormwood Scrubs | 29 | 49 | 31 | 60 | 53 |
Source: National Offender Management Service NOMIS IRS
Key: ‘-‘ Establishment not operational
Notes on table:
(1) The table shows the number of reported incidents where a drug was declared to be found. More than one type of drug may be found in any one incident.
(2) Isis opened in July 2010
(3) Thameside opened in March 2012
All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were tagged using GPS tagging technology on 1 March 2015.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
On 1 March 2015 there were nine individuals subject to GPS tagging.
The programme to mobilise the contracts for the next generation of GPS tagging has begun. Testing of these tags in an operational setting is already underway. This will allow for greater use of this technology.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the victims' surcharge has been (a) imposed, (b) collected, (c) cancelled and (d) outstanding for people receiving a (i) conditional discharge, (ii) fine, (iii) suspended sentence, (iv) community sentence and (v) custodial sentence in each financial year since 2010.
Answered by Mike Penning
This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. The amount of money collected has risen year on year since 2012, and reached an all time high of £290 million at the end of 2013/14 and collections continue to rise.
The victim surcharge is an ancillary order made by the court when it sentences an offender. Revenue from the surcharge is ring fenced for victim services and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) distributes this through grants to Police and Crime Commissioners and centrally managed national victim services.
The Government set out its commitment to ensure offenders contribute more to the cost of victim support services and from October 2012 the victim surcharge on fines was increased and extended to a wider range of court disposals with the amount payable dependant on the seriousness of the sentence.
The table below shows the value of all victim surcharge orders made in each financial year since 2011/12 along with the amount of those impositions that were collected or cancelled in the same year of imposition and the amount that remained outstanding at the end of that year. This data is only available from 2011-12 onwards.
Year | Value imposed | Value collected in year of imposition | Value cancelled in year of imposition | Value outstanding at end of year of imposition |
2011/12 | £12,199,956 | £6,810,532 | £645,381 | £4,744,043 |
2012/13 | £15,508,307 | £7,607,886 | £888,027 | £7,012,395 |
2013/14 | £33,726,535 | £15,343,460 | £2,265,389 | £16,117,686 |
It is not possible to provide the figures above separated by adults, youths and organisations without carrying out a manual search of all victim surcharge accounts.
It is not possible to identify how many times the victim surcharge has been imposed, collected, cancelled and outstanding by the type of sentences. The Ministry of Justice does not collate the information in the manner requested and could only be obtained by undertaking a manual search of all financial accounts which would incur disproportionate cost.
The Ministry of Justice holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales but not the specific circumstances of each case. This also does not include details of the amount of victim surcharge imposed for the majority of cases. Below is a link to our most recent statistics.
The total value of victim surcharge impositions outstanding, regardless of imposition date, at the end of 2013/14 was £21,110,000.
The ‘value outstanding’ figures includes accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified (either because they were imposed close to the end of the year or because they had payment timescales set by the courts for beyond the end of the financial year) and those that were being paid by instalments on agreed payment plans. Outstanding balances of victim surcharge impositions can also relate to amounts imposed on offenders who have also been given a custodial sentence and the victim surcharge cannot be enforced until they are released.
The value cancelled includes both administrative and legal cancellations. It is not possible to split the figures between the two types of cancellation.
Administrative cancellations only take place in certain circumstances and after all attempts to collect the amount outstanding have been made. These circumstances include where the offender has died, where they have emigrated with no prospect of return, where the offender has been sent to a psychiatric hospital for 12 months or more or where the offender cannot be traced and there has been a least 12 months from the point of imposition. It should be noted that administrative cancellations can be re-instated if the prospects of recovery improve (where, for example, a new address is found).
Legal cancellations occur after the case has been reconsidered by a judge or magistrate and further evidence has been presented. Legal cancellations can be as a result of a successful appeal, a change in financial circumstances of the offender or a committal to prison for non payment.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value was of the victims' surcharge (a) imposed, (b) collected, (c) cancelled and (d) outstanding for (i) adults, (ii) youths and (iii) organisations in each financial year since 2010.
Answered by Mike Penning
This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. The amount of money collected has risen year on year since 2012, and reached an all time high of £290 million at the end of 2013/14 and collections continue to rise.
The victim surcharge is an ancillary order made by the court when it sentences an offender. Revenue from the surcharge is ring fenced for victim services and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) distributes this through grants to Police and Crime Commissioners and centrally managed national victim services.
The Government set out its commitment to ensure offenders contribute more to the cost of victim support services and from October 2012 the victim surcharge on fines was increased and extended to a wider range of court disposals with the amount payable dependant on the seriousness of the sentence.
The table below shows the value of all victim surcharge orders made in each financial year since 2011/12 along with the amount of those impositions that were collected or cancelled in the same year of imposition and the amount that remained outstanding at the end of that year. This data is only available from 2011-12 onwards.
Year | Value imposed | Value collected in year of imposition | Value cancelled in year of imposition | Value outstanding at end of year of imposition |
2011/12 | £12,199,956 | £6,810,532 | £645,381 | £4,744,043 |
2012/13 | £15,508,307 | £7,607,886 | £888,027 | £7,012,395 |
2013/14 | £33,726,535 | £15,343,460 | £2,265,389 | £16,117,686 |
It is not possible to provide the figures above separated by adults, youths and organisations without carrying out a manual search of all victim surcharge accounts.
It is not possible to identify how many times the victim surcharge has been imposed, collected, cancelled and outstanding by the type of sentences. The Ministry of Justice does not collate the information in the manner requested and could only be obtained by undertaking a manual search of all financial accounts which would incur disproportionate cost.
The Ministry of Justice holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales but not the specific circumstances of each case. This also does not include details of the amount of victim surcharge imposed for the majority of cases. Below is a link to our most recent statistics.
The total value of victim surcharge impositions outstanding, regardless of imposition date, at the end of 2013/14 was £21,110,000.
The ‘value outstanding’ figures includes accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified (either because they were imposed close to the end of the year or because they had payment timescales set by the courts for beyond the end of the financial year) and those that were being paid by instalments on agreed payment plans. Outstanding balances of victim surcharge impositions can also relate to amounts imposed on offenders who have also been given a custodial sentence and the victim surcharge cannot be enforced until they are released.
The value cancelled includes both administrative and legal cancellations. It is not possible to split the figures between the two types of cancellation.
Administrative cancellations only take place in certain circumstances and after all attempts to collect the amount outstanding have been made. These circumstances include where the offender has died, where they have emigrated with no prospect of return, where the offender has been sent to a psychiatric hospital for 12 months or more or where the offender cannot be traced and there has been a least 12 months from the point of imposition. It should be noted that administrative cancellations can be re-instated if the prospects of recovery improve (where, for example, a new address is found).
Legal cancellations occur after the case has been reconsidered by a judge or magistrate and further evidence has been presented. Legal cancellations can be as a result of a successful appeal, a change in financial circumstances of the offender or a committal to prison for non payment.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cumulative total is of (a) uncollected and (b) cancelled victims' surcharges.
Answered by Mike Penning
This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. The amount of money collected has risen year on year since 2012, and reached an all time high of £290 million at the end of 2013/14 and collections continue to rise.
The victim surcharge is an ancillary order made by the court when it sentences an offender. Revenue from the surcharge is ring fenced for victim services and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) distributes this through grants to Police and Crime Commissioners and centrally managed national victim services.
The Government set out its commitment to ensure offenders contribute more to the cost of victim support services and from October 2012 the victim surcharge on fines was increased and extended to a wider range of court disposals with the amount payable dependant on the seriousness of the sentence.
The table below shows the value of all victim surcharge orders made in each financial year since 2011/12 along with the amount of those impositions that were collected or cancelled in the same year of imposition and the amount that remained outstanding at the end of that year. This data is only available from 2011-12 onwards.
Year | Value imposed | Value collected in year of imposition | Value cancelled in year of imposition | Value outstanding at end of year of imposition |
2011/12 | £12,199,956 | £6,810,532 | £645,381 | £4,744,043 |
2012/13 | £15,508,307 | £7,607,886 | £888,027 | £7,012,395 |
2013/14 | £33,726,535 | £15,343,460 | £2,265,389 | £16,117,686 |
It is not possible to provide the figures above separated by adults, youths and organisations without carrying out a manual search of all victim surcharge accounts.
It is not possible to identify how many times the victim surcharge has been imposed, collected, cancelled and outstanding by the type of sentences. The Ministry of Justice does not collate the information in the manner requested and could only be obtained by undertaking a manual search of all financial accounts which would incur disproportionate cost.
The Ministry of Justice holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales but not the specific circumstances of each case. This also does not include details of the amount of victim surcharge imposed for the majority of cases. Below is a link to our most recent statistics.
The total value of victim surcharge impositions outstanding, regardless of imposition date, at the end of 2013/14 was £21,110,000.
The ‘value outstanding’ figures includes accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified (either because they were imposed close to the end of the year or because they had payment timescales set by the courts for beyond the end of the financial year) and those that were being paid by instalments on agreed payment plans. Outstanding balances of victim surcharge impositions can also relate to amounts imposed on offenders who have also been given a custodial sentence and the victim surcharge cannot be enforced until they are released.
The value cancelled includes both administrative and legal cancellations. It is not possible to split the figures between the two types of cancellation.
Administrative cancellations only take place in certain circumstances and after all attempts to collect the amount outstanding have been made. These circumstances include where the offender has died, where they have emigrated with no prospect of return, where the offender has been sent to a psychiatric hospital for 12 months or more or where the offender cannot be traced and there has been a least 12 months from the point of imposition. It should be noted that administrative cancellations can be re-instated if the prospects of recovery improve (where, for example, a new address is found).
Legal cancellations occur after the case has been reconsidered by a judge or magistrate and further evidence has been presented. Legal cancellations can be as a result of a successful appeal, a change in financial circumstances of the offender or a committal to prison for non payment.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many babies were born to women in prison in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Information on the number of women who have given birth in prison is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. To provide this information, a manual search of every female prisoner’s record would be required.