§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in (i) the last year and (ii) the previous five years small claims court hearings have taken place in HM prisons. [38589]
§ Ms QuinSmall claims hearings are known to have been held in five prisons. These have occurred infrequently and not all the prisons involved have maintained separate records of the hearings.
Four hearings have been confirmed as having been held in the last year and three in the previous five years.
§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the circumstances leading up to the holding of a small claims court hearing in HM Prison Long Lartin; and what was the total cost to public funds of the hearing. [38590]
§ Ms QuinThree small claims courts have been convened at Long Lartin prison over the last year in order to hear a total of ten cases brought by prisoners. Most, but not all, cases are brought against the prison mainly for property-related issues. Prisoners have the same rights as any citizen to make applications to the court and, whilst hearings such as this are not frequent occurrences, neither are they unusual.
Holding hearings within the prison, rather than at the county court, is both more secure and reduces significantly the overall costs by removing the need for the involvement of expensive police and prison escorts. Wherever possible, the court will schedule different cases from the prison to be heard on the same day in order to reduce costs further.
516W
A B Percentage difference Police capital 1998/99 (£ million) Police capital 1997/98 (£ million) A over B Major Minor Total Major Minor Total Minor Avon & Somerset 0.750 2.321 3.071 0.650 2.417 3.067 -4 Bedfordshire 0.620 0.891 1.511 1.729 0.928 2.657 -4 Cambridgeshire 0.000 0.958 0.958 0.519 0.998 1.517 -4 Cheshire 0.050 1.465 1.515 0.650 1.525 2.175 -4 City of London 0.000 0.642 0.642 0.000 0.668 0.668 -4 Cleveland 0.000 1.127 1.127 0.000 1.174 1.174 -4 Cumbria 0.877 0.891 1.768 0.000 0.928 0.928 -4 Derbyshire 3.750 1.398 5.148 1.300 1.456 2.756 -4 Devon & Cornwall 2.188 2.238 4.426 1.039 2.330 3.369 -4 Dorset 3.115 0.983 4.098 0.041 1.024 1.065 -4 Durham 1.258 1.051 2.309 0.000 1.094 1.094 -4 Dyfed Powys 0.000 0.727 0.727 0.000 0.757 0.757 -4 Essex 0.160 2.266 2.426 1.170 2.359 3.529 -4 Gloucestershire 0.000 1.019 1.019 0.000 1.061 1.061 -4 Greater Manchester 0.133 5.312 5.445 3.797 5.531 9.328 -4 Gwent 0.060 0.931 0.991 0.000 0.969 0.969 -4 Hampshire 1.109 2.545 3.654 0.419 2.650 3.069 -4 Hertfordshire 1.160 1.321 2.481 0.671 1.376 2.047 -4 Humberside 2.931 1.538 4.469 2.577 1.601 4.178 -4 Kent 2.000 2.436 4.436 4.780 2.537 7.317 -4 Lancashire 0.011 2.436 2.447 0.022 2.537 2.559 -4 Leicestershire 0.000 1.490 1.490 0.120 1.552 1.672 -4 Lincolnshire 0.100 1.058 1.158 1.058 1.102 2.160 -4 Merseyside 1.000 3.532 4.532 3.600 3.678 7.278 -4 Metropolitan Police 19.600 23.325 42.925 24.288 24.288 48.576 -4 Norfolk 3.007 1.103 4.110 4.200 1.149 5.349 -4 Northamptonshire 0.775 0.955 1.730 1.430 0.994 2.424 -4 Northumbria 6.430 2.754 9.184 6.643 2.868 9.511 -4 Records are not kept of the cost of convening small claims courts at Long Lartin prison and cannot be estimated with any accuracy.