Page:Hansard (UK) - Vol 566 No. 40 August 29th 2013.pdf/104

1031W Jeremy Wright: Between 9 April and 4 June 2013 the Government consulted on a number of proposals to reform legal aid via the ‘Transforming Legal Aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system’ consultation. This included a proposed model of competitive tendering for criminal legal aid services. We have been clear we must continue to bear down on the cost of legal aid, including nearly £1 billion of taxpayers’ money spent on criminal legal aid a year, to ensure we are getting the best deal for the taxpayer.

One specific point in the consultation which has attracted significant response is the proposal to remove client choice in the model for competition for criminal litigation. The rationale for proposing this change was to give greater certainty of case volume for providers, making it easier and more predictable for them to organise their businesses to provide the most cost-effective service to the taxpayer. This was not a policy objective in its own right. We have heard clearly from the Law Society and other respondents that they regard client choice as fundamental to the effective delivery of criminal legal aid. We are therefore looking again at this issue, and expect to make changes to allow a choice of solicitor for clients receiving criminal legal aid. We will be launching a new consultation in the autumn.

Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid Agency records costs relating to firms by legal aid procurement area, which is broadly based on local authority boundaries. The information requested falls under the remit of the Legal Services Commission; however, the same applies as the information has historically been recorded by local authority. Therefore, the following information is provided in relation to the Flintshire local authority and the North Wales region, as the Flintshire local authority covers the area of Alyn and Deeside.

{{smaller block| Notes:

1.The costs include VAT and disbursements such as expenses, third party costs, and costs paid by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Services (HMCTS) on Crown Court cases.

$2$ The information does not include costs paid by the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, House of Lords, and Senior Court Costs Office. Solicitor advocates are treated as Barristers and costs paid to them are not included as part of the firm.

{{hansard/question|heading=Offenders: East of England|asked by=Mr Stewart Jackson|question=To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to review the provision of the multi-agency public protection regime in the East of England; and if he will make a statement.|number=163542}}

{{Anchor|1032W}}Jeremy Wright: There are no plans to review the provision of the statutory multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) in the East of England or elsewhere in England and Wales. Under the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, MAPPA will continue to operate for the assessment and management of known serious offenders, and all those offenders under statutory probation supervision and subject to MAPPA will be managed by the public sector probation service.

HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) undertake thematic and core inspection programmes that focus on frontline practice as well as organisational arrangements. Much of their work is undertaken jointly, with other Inspectorates.

HMI Probation has occasionally undertaken inspections specifically into MAPPA (2011) and related areas such as sexual offenders (2011). The effective operation of MAPPA is also considered, where relevant, as part of wider ″thematic″ inspections such as those due to be published during 2013-14, which include life sentenced prisoners, victims and integrated offender management.

{{hansard/question|heading=Prisons: Television|asked_by=Mr Llwyd|question=To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what profit has been made by prisons from charging prisoners for access to televisions in their cells in the latest period for which figures are available.|number=155650}}

Jeremy Wright: All in-cell TVs are Prison Service owned and their costs are recovered from prisoners. All the income derived from prisoners this way is used for the provision of in-cell television.

{{hansard/question|heading=Private Finance Initiative|asked_by=Alex Cunningham|question=To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many contracts for private finance initiative schemes his Department signed prior to May 1997; and what the total capital value of those contracts was.|number=164358}}

Mrs Grant: The information requested is not held centrally and to collate it would incur disproportionate cost. The Department has only existed in its current form since May 2007. Gathering the information you have requested would involve contacting the previous bodies which were subsumed into the Department, including but not limited to: The Home Office, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and Her Majesty’s Courts Service.

{{hansard/question|heading=Reoffenders|asked_by=Philip Davies|question=To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners released on temporary licence subsequently re-offended in the last four years;|number=165182}}

{{hansard/question|question=(2) how many (a) murders and (b) crimes of violence against the person have been committed by those released from prison on early release since 2008;|number=165190}}

{{hansard/question|question=(3) how many offences were committed by offenders serving a prison sentence in an open prison in the latest period for which figures are available; what the offence was in each case; and in which open prison each such offender was serving;|number=165409}}{{nop}} {{div col end}}