| Home Page |
Column 485
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 23 February 1993
HOME DEPARTMENT
Juvenile Offenders
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation he has undertaken to date with the Magistrates Association on the way to deal with persistent juvenile offenders aged between 12 and 15 years.
Mr. Jack : We intend to consult widely, including with the Magistrates Association, before bringing detailed legislative proposals before Parliament.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the maximum custodial sentence available to the courts for a persistent juvenile offender aged (a) 14 years or under and (b) 17 years in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1992.
Mr. Jack : There is no legal definition of a persistent juvenile offender. The information in the table therefore relates to the maximum lengths of custodial sentences available for all juvenile offenders subject to statutory criteria being met. The maximum length of custodial sentences, other than detention under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, for the relevant ages in the specified years are as follows :
Date |Sentence
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979
Under 14 |No custodial sentence
14 year old (males) |Detention centre-6 months
17 year olds |Borstal training-2 years
|Imprisonment-maximum term was the
| same as a court could have imposed
| for the offence in the case of an adult
Up to 1 October 1992
Under 14 |No custodial sentence
14 year old (males) |Detention in young offender institution-4
| months
17 year olds |Detention in young offender institution-
| maximum term was the same as a
| court could have imposed for the
| offence in the case of an adult
After 1 October 1992
Under 14 |No custodial sentence
14 year olds |No custodial sentence
17 year olds |Detention in a young offender institution
| -12 months
At all relevant times, section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 has permitted courts :
to impose long-term detention on 14 to 17-year-olds for any offence which carries a 14-year maximum sentence for adults ; and, to impose long-term detention on 10 to 13 year olds following their conviction for murder or manslaughter.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent re-assessment he has made
Column 486
of his Department's evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the effect of custody in a penal setting on young offenders.Mr. Jack : At the Committee's request, my Department is preparing a supplementary memorandum of evidence which will deal, inter alia, with the matter to which the hon. Member refers.
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to bring forward firm proposals to tackle juvenile crime.
Mr. Jack : The Government have already introduced a wide range of measures which aim to prevent young people from committing crime. In the Criminal Justice Act 1991, which was implemented on 1 October 1992, we have recently strengthened the powers of the court in relation to defendants under the age of 18.
Both in absolute terms and as a proportion of all known offenders, the number of juvenile offenders has declined in recent years. But the Government are not complacent. We are currently working on additional measures which should enable the courts to deal more effectively with the small number of juveniles who persistently re-offend and for whom existing measures appear not to be working. My right hon. and learned Friend will be announcing his proposals about this shortly.
Sentencing
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the restrictions on taking previous convictions into account when sentencing offenders.
Mr. Jack : The Criminal Justice Act 1991 introduced new provisions relating to previous convictions which reflected existing Court of Appeal guidance. It is too early yet to make a meaningful assessment of the effect of the Act, which came into force on 1 October 1992. However, we will be monitoring closely the effects of this new Act.
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to revise upwards the minimum value of the sentencing unit ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The principle of the unit fine scheme, which applies to offences committed on or after 1 October 1992, is that fines should cause equal hardship for the well-off and less well-off by depriving an offender of a number of units of his disposable weekly income. One unit is intended to represent a third of the sum left to an offender after essential living expenses have been deducted from his take-home weekly income. For those with very low incomes, who have £12 a week or less after essential living expenses are deducted, there is normally a minimum unit value of £4.
The operation of the unit fine scheme is being carefully monitored. It is too early to say whether any aspect of it will need to be revised.
European Forum on Refugees
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on matters discussed and decisions taken at the European forum on refugees held in Budapest on 15 and 16 February.
Column 487
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend attended the European conference on uncontrolled migration in Budapest on 15 and 16 February, which approved a series of recommendations for tackling illegal immigration from and through central and eastern Europe. I have placed a copy of the agreed document in the Library of the House. The conference also agreed, among other things, that an informal working party drawn from a small group of participating states should be established to monitor implementation of the recommendations and in particular to carry forward work on promoting readmission agreements.
Football Grounds (Policing)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will meet the chairman of Port Vale football club to discuss consistency and clarity in police charging policy for attending football matches.
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend has not received a request for such a meeting. Charges for policing football matches are a matter for the police authority concerned.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when and on what basis police charges were introduced for policing inside football league grounds.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Charging for additional police services is a long-standing principle, authorised by statutes going back at least to the 19th century. It is not known precisely when charging for policing football matches began, although the practice predated the Police Act 1964, section 15 of which provides the current authority for such charges.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the guidelines to ensure consistency and clarity in police charges for policing league football matches.
Mr. Charles Wardle : A guidance circular on the subject was issued to all police authorities and forces in May 1991. That guidance recommended a basis for calculating police costs suggested by the Audit Commission and one of its main aims was to promote the consistency of practice recommended by Lord Justice Taylor.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the cost per spectator of policing football matches for each team in the second division.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I will write to the hon. Member.
Gloucestershire Constabulary
Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether the level of the Gloucestershire constabulary's establishment takes sufficient account of the residence of members of the royal family in the county of Gloucestershire ; and if he will make a statement on the criteria used in making his assessment.
Mr. Charles Wardle : It is for the chief constable to assess the level of officers needed to police royal residences in
Gloucestershire. My right hon. and learned Friend looks to Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary for
Column 488
advice when considering applications for increases in police establishments. That advice takes account of any protection responsibilities which a force may have.Immigration Detention Centres
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) at which United Kingdom airports and sea ports his Department is extending current immigration detention facilities ;
(2) what plans his Department has for detention centres to house detainees under the Immigration Act 1971 ; and what construction is currently taking place.
Mr. Charles Wardle : A vacant prison service establishment at Campsfield house, Kidlington, near Oxford will be redeveloped during 1993 to provide at least 120 additional places for Immigration Act detainees. Other possible sites, including sites close to Heathrow and Gatwick airports, are under consideration, but no final decision has yet been taken.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all detention centres or prisons in the United Kingdom in which people are currently detained under the Immigration Act 1971.
Mr. Charles Wardle : In addition to immigration service places of detention at Harmondsworth, the Queen's building at Heathrow, the Beehive at Gatwick, Stansted airport and Manchester airport, the following prison establishments currently hold persons detained under the Immigration Act 1971 :
Northern Ireland (as at 18 February 1993)
Crumlin Road
Scotland (as at 18 February 1993)
Gateside
Barlinnie
Craiginches
Saughton
England and Wales (as at 31 December 1992)
Bedford
Belmarsh
Birmingham
Brixton
Dorchester
Durham
Exeter
Gloucester
Haslar
Holloway
Holme House
Leeds
Leicester
Lewes
Lincoln
Pentonville
Woodhill
Wormwood Scrubs
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are currently detained under the Immigration Act 1971 ; and what was the total number of people detained in (a) 1990, (b) 1991, (c) 1992 and (d) for the first month of the current year.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information is not available in the form requested, but on 18 February there were 558 people detained under the Immigration Act 1971, including those detained temporarily in police cells. The total number of
Column 489
such people initially detained during 1992 and January 1993 was as shown in the table. Equivalent figures are not available for 1990 or 1991.Initially detained |Number --------------------------------------------------------- In 1992 |<1>6,413 In January 1993 |<1>510 <1>These figures exclude those detained at ports of entry who did not claim asylum and who were detained for fewer than seven days. Records of such cases are not kept centrally.
Relate
Sir Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial support he will give to enable Relate to evaluate the effectiveness of its work in preventing marital breakdowns and in reducing the damaging consequences therefrom.
Mr. Jack : I have recently offered Relate a sum of £33,000 towards the cost of extending the evaluative work so far undertaken.
Publicity
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 June 1992 to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson), Official Report, column 406, what is his Department's (a) current outturn estimate for publicity expenditure for 1992-93 and (b) budgeted publicity expenditure for 1993-94.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : (a) The current outturn estimate for 1992-93 is £12,395 ; (b) The proposed publicity budget for 1993-94 is £8,962.
Unemployed Offenders
Mr. Purchase : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of offenders appearing before the courts in Wolverhampton was unemployed in 1990 and 1991.
Mr. Jack : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Mansfield (Mr. Meale) on 15 January 1993, Official Report, column 826.
Fraud Trials
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reconsider the recommendations of the Roskill report about fraud trials following the conclusion of the case of R. v. Ward.
Mr. Jack : The Government have already accepted and implemented most of the recommendations of the Roskill report, in the Criminal Justice Acts of 1987 and 1988.
Nevertheless, in the light of continuing concern about length and expense of some trials, on 3 December 1992, the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Home Office and the legal secretariat to the Law Officers issued a consultation paper seeking views on a number of proposals for the reform of practice and procedure in long criminal trials, particularly those involving fraud. The consultation paper asks for responses by 28 February 1993.
Any further reforms in this area will also need to take account of relevant conclusions or recommendations from the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, which is due to report later this year.
Column 490
Prison Staff (Assaults)
Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults, major and minor, on prison staff have taken place at each prison establishment in England and Wales between April 1992 and February 1993.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The available information relates to offences of assault on prison officers, or other members of staff, which were punished under the prison discipline system and is given in the table. Data for offences punished in January and February are not yet available.
Offences<1> of assaulting a member of Prison Service staff<2> proved at
adjudications in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales
in April to December 1992: by establishment at which punished.
Offence
Establishment at |Assault |Attempted Assault<3>|Total
which punished
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All establishments |1,554 |153 |1,707
All male establishments |1,388 |148 |1,536
Remand Centres |168 |30 |198
Brinsford |15 |3 |18
Cardiff |4 |- |4
Dorchester |1 |- |1
Exeter |1 |1 |2
Feltham |37 |6 |43
Glen Parva |19 |2 |21
Hindley |13 |6 |19
Holme House |1 |- |1
Low Newton |2 |- |2
Moorland |43 |4 |47
Norwich |1 |- |1
Rochester |20 |7 |27
Stoke Heath |8 |1 |9
Swansea |3 |- |3
Total Local Prisons |557 |63 |620
Bedford |6 |- |6
Balmarsh |74 |12 |86
Birmingham |35 |6 |41
Bristol |5 |2 |7
Brixton |26 |5 |31
Bullingdon |16 |1 |17
Canterbury |6 |1 |7
Cardiff |13 |2 |15
Chelmsford |12 |1 |13
Durham |26 |4 |30
Exeter |10 |2 |12
Elmley |26 |1 |27
Gloucester |3 |- |3
Highdown |13 |- |13
Holme House |15 |2 |17
Hull |8 |- |8
Leeds |40 |4 |44
Leicester |6 |3 |9
Lewes |11 |- |11
Total short sentenced YOIs |4 |1 |5
Hollesley Bay |2 |- |2
Werrington |2 |- |2
Wetherby |- |1 |1
Total Juvenile YOIs |6 |1 |7
Feltham |2 |1 |3
Onley |3 |- |3
Werrington |1 |- |1
Total Female establishments |166 |5 |171
Total Local Prisons |118 |5 |123
Holloway |47 |2 |49
Low Newton |6 |- |6
New Hall |15 |- |15
Pucklechurch |8 |2 |10
Risley |42 |1 |43
Total Closed Training Prisons |27 |- |27
Bullwood Hall |7 |- |7
Cookham Wood |5 |- |5
Styal |15 |- |15
Total Closed YOIs |21 |- |21
Bullwood Hall |14 |- |14
New Hall |1 |- |1
Styal |6 |- |6
Parkhurst |7 |2 |9
Portsmouth (Kingston) |1 |- |1
Ranby |3 |- |3
Risley |1 |- |1
Rochester |1 |- |1
Shepton Mallett |5 |- |5
Stafford |34 |2 |36
Stocken |9 |- |9
Swaleside |28 |3 |31
The Verne |5 |- |5
Wakefield |8 |3 |11
Wayland |14 |- |14
Wellingborough |1 |- |1
Whitemoor |36 |9 |45
Wymott |7 |- |7
Total Open Prisons |13 |1 |14
Ford |2 |- |2
Hewell Grange |1 |- |1
Kirkham |2 |- |2
North Sea Camp |2 |- |2
Rudgate |1 |- |1
Standford Hill |1 |1 |2
Sudbury |4 |- |4
Total all YOIs |167 |19 |186
Total Closed YOIs |157 |16 |173
Aylesbury |31 |3 |34
Castington |18 |1 |19
Deerbolt |9 |5 |14
Dover |15 |- |15
Feltham |18 |3 |21
Glen Parva |9 |1 |10
Hollesley Bay |5 |- |5
Huntercombe |2 |- |2
Moorland |12 |1 |13
Northallerton |6 |- |6
Onley |12 |1 |13
Portland |6 |- |6
Stoke Heath |11 |1 |12
Swinfen Hall |3 |- |3
Total Open YOIs |- |1 |1
Hatfield |- |1 |1
Lincoln |13 |- |13
Liverpool |11 |- |11
Manchester |7 |1 |8
Norwich |15 |1 |16
Pentonville |25 |2 |27
Preston |7 |1 |8
Reading |15 |- |15
Shrewsbury |5 |- |5
Swansea |2 |- |2
Wandsworth |26 |5 |31
Winchester |27 |- |27
Wolds |16 |- |16
Wood Hill |1 |- |1
Wormwood Scrubs |36 |7 |43
Total Closed Training Prisons |483 |35 |518
Acklington |18 |- |18
Albany |9 |1 |10
Aldington |1 |- |1
Brockhill |4 |- |4
Blundeston |30 |1 |31
Camp Hill |8 |- |8
Channings Wood |3 |- |3
Coldingley |9 |- |9
Dartmoor |21 |3 |24
Erlestoke |3 |- |3
Everthorpe |3 |- |3
Elmley |1 |- |1
Featherstone |5 |2 |7
Frankland |19 |2 |21
Full Sutton |66 |1 |67
Garth |33 |1 |34
Gartree |3 |- |3
Grendon |3 |- |3
Haverigg |3 |- |3
Highpoint |7 |- |7
Lancaster |4 |- |4
Lindholme |10 |1 |11
Littlehey |7 |- |7
Long Lartin |25 |3 |28
Maidstone |8 |- |8
Mount (The) |9 |1 |10
Norwich |1 |- |1
Nottingham |10 |- |10
<1> Provisional figures.
<2> Includes prison officers and prison staff other than of prisoner officer grade.
<3> Including attempting, inciting or assisting.
Wolds Prison (Escape)
Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the circumstances which led to the escape of an inmate from the Wolds prison on 23 January.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The prisoner was unaccounted for at a routine security check at 17.00 on 23 January. In accordance with standard procedures, the police were informed as soon as it was suspected that an inmate might be missing and an extensive search of the entire prison was undertaken, including roof spaces and roof tops. The prisoner appears to have used some items of women's clothing in order to leave in the guise of a female visitor. In this way he would avoid the security procedures to which all male visitors were subjected. The prisoner gave himself up to the prison two days later. An internal review of the incident and procedures has taken place and all the recommendations for immediate action to prevent a recurrence have been put in place. The Home Office deputy controller monitored the incident from the outset.
Consultants
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the contracts awarded by his Department to (a) Coopers and Lybrand management consultants, (b) Touche Ross management consultants, (c) Price Waterhouse management consultants, (d) Ernst and Young management consultants, (e) Chrichton Roberts Ltd., (f) KPMG management consultants and (g) Leopold Joseph management consultants, with the total cost of the contracts with each contractor, for (i) the past 12 months and (ii) 1991- 92.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Details of the contracts awarded by my Department during the past 12 months and for 1991-92 to the specified companies are as follows :
Column 493
Consultant |1991-92 |1992-93 |Total value
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coopers and Lybrand |Restructuring of HMIC Matrix |Triple CJS Pilots Project
|Market Testing Review
|PSIF MIS Project
Touche Ross |Consultancy work for catering |Consultancy work for catering
| contract |contract
|Study into effective shift systems for|Immigration service survey of staff
| the Police Service | attitudes
|Survey into motivation amongst |Review of shiftworking patterns in
| police constables | the Immigration Service
|Spectrum sizing survey
|TAC Project |£332,713
Price Waterhouse |Systems Review |-
|Systems Review
|Marketing Survey: Police activity
| sampling
|Mass software project
Ernst and Young |Validation of IT Strategy |Police roles and responsibilities
|Court Escort: area survey |Value and vision for the Prison
|Consultancy assistance in ensuring |Service
| VFM from the Court Escort |ICL Domain Review
| Service
|PROMIS Spits Survey
|Holmes Project |-
Chrichton Roberts |- |- |-
Ltd.
KPMG |Review of financial arrangements for |Study for PNCO
| the funding of Regional Crime
| Squad in England and Wales |£81,250
Leopold Joseph |- |- |-
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts for consultancies were awarded to his Department over (a) the last 12 months and (b) 1991-92.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The number of contracts for consultancies awarded by my Department for the last 12 months was 113 and for 1991-92 the number was 202.
Rule 43 Prisoners
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women were on rule 43 in prisons in (i) England and Wales, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Northern Ireland on 12 February.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The following table shows the number of males and females, both adults and young persons, removed from association under rule 43 of the prison rules and rule 46 of the young offender institution rules on 12 February, in prison service establishments in England and Wales.
|Rule 43/46 own |Rule 43/46 Good|Total
|protection |order and
|discipline
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Males |1,570 |241 |1,811
Females |22 |7 |29
|------- |------- |-------
Total |1,592 |248 |1,840
Column 494
The table does not include inmates in designated vulnerable prisoner units where rule 43 and 46 restrictions do not apply. Responsibility for prisons elsewhere in the United Kingdom rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.Winchester Prison
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date X-ray and metal detection devices were installed at Winchester prison ; and on what date they became fully operational.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : X-ray machines were delivered to Winchester on 1 May 1992 and 29 June 1992. One became operational on 20 October 1992. The second will be installed and brought into operation once the necessary alterations to the gate lodge building have been completed. These alterations are scheduled to commence in 1993-94.
A metal detector portal has been operational at Winchester since 1980.
Criminal Justice Act 1991
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to review the working of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and its effectiveness in deterring crime ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The Criminal Justice Act which came into force on 1 October last year contained a range of
Column 495
provisions designed to establish a coherent sentencing framework based on the principle that the sentence should match the seriousness of the offence. The effects of the Act are being carefully monitored and evaluated as information becomes available.Mr. Maurice Bland
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Mr. Maurice Bland will be transferred from Lindholme to an open prison.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Secretary of State has accepted the recommendation by a discretionary lifer panel of the Parole Board that Mr. Bland should be transferred to an open prison. A decision on the most suitable location for Mr. Bland will be made within the next few days and he will be moved as soon as possible thereafter.
Small Firms (Regulations)
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all those regulations affecting small firms which have been abolished by his Department in each year since 1979.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Such statistics have never been assembled before. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is finalising a centralised record of Government regulations against which progress on deregulation will be monitored in future. The Home Office will contribute to this record.
| Next Section
| Home Page |