To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the monetary value was of each of the 10 largest (a) court-ordered payments and (b) out of court settlements made to prisoners by (i) the National Offender Management Service and (ii) Her Majesty's Prison Service in the last five years; and what the nature of the claim was in each such case. (313117)

The 10 largest court awards and out of court settlements made as a result of civil litigation brought by prisoners or former prisoners against the Prison Service/custodial side of the National Offender Management Service for the period 1 April 2004 to 25 January 2010 are detailed in the following table. Such claims are only settled on the basis of strong legal advice from Prison Service's appointed solicitors and/or barristers. Taking indefensible cases through to court only results in more expense to the public purse. Therefore, NOMS loses very few prisoner cases at court and this accounts for the difference in the figures between court awards and out of court settlements. Details of claims against individual probation boards/trusts are not recorded centrally and to provide the information would require looking through the records of each individual board or trust which would entail disproportionate costs.