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Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners on average were being held in each of the police stations in South Yorkshire (i) for each month since January 1993 and (ii) for each day in February and March 1994 ; and if he will make a statement as to what causes he has identified for any trends in these figures.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 28 March 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the numbers of prisoners held in police stations in South Yorkshire from January 1993 to date.
During the period from 1 January 1993 to 8 February 1994, no prisoners were held in police stations in South Yorkshire. The attached table shows the position from 9 February 1994 to 22 March 1994.
Since 1 January 1994, the prison population in England and Wales has risen by over 3,300. This has caused considerable pressure on prison accommodation, particularly in the north of England.
Date |Police station |Actual
|number
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|14
10 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|19
11 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|3
12 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|3
13 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|3
14 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|9
15 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|20
16 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|22
|Rotherham |3
17 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|25
18 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|1
19 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|1
20 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|1
21 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|4
22 February 1994 |Nil |-
23 February 1994 |Nil |-
24 February 1994 |Nil |-
25 February 1994 |Nil |-
26 February 1994 |Nil |-
27 February 1994 |Nil |-
28 February 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|15
1 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|16
2 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|18
3 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|16
4 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|11
5 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|14
6 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|14
7 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|30
8 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|21
9 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|22
10 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|25
11 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|4
12 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|8
13 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|8
14 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|20
|Thorne |10
|Rotherham |15
15 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|26
|Thorne |10
|Rotherham |15
16 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|26
|Rotherham |15
|Thorne |12
|Doncaster |4
17 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|26
|Thorne |12
|Doncaster |13
|Rotherham |16
18 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|25
|Rotherham |15
|Thorne |10
19 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|25
|Thorne |12
|Doncaster |4
|Rotherham |16
20 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|25
|Thorne |12
|Doncaster |4
|Rotherham |16
21 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|25
|Thorne |11
|Rotherham |15
|Doncaster |10
22 March 1994 |Sheffield, Bridge st.|17
|Thorne |10
|Doncaster |11
|Barnsley |4
|Rotherham |13
Mixed-Sex Prisons
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mixed-sex prisons there are in England and Wales ; if he will list their locations ; and what consideration he is giving to increasing their number.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 28 March 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about mixed sex prisons in England and Wales.
The following three Prison Service establishments in England and Wales currently and routinely hold both males and females : Durham, Risley (near Warrington) and Low Newton (near Durham). Male and female prisoners are held separately.
There are, at present, no plans to increase the number of establishments holding both males and females.
Doncaster Prison
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, by category, the establishment number of prisoners to be held at Doncaster prison when it is opened.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 28 March 1994 :
HM Prison Doncaster
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about Doncaster prison.
Doncaster has a certified normal accommodation of 771 places. As a local prison serving the courts, the population mix will fluctuate with the number and age of prisoners committed to it. It is expected that two thirds of the prisoners will be male young offenders and one third adult males. The population will include those on remand, those convicted awaiting sentence, those sentenced awaiting allocation to a training prison and some who will serve their entire sentence in the prison.
Joy Gardner
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the report sent by the Police Complaints Authority to the Crown Prosecution Service concerning the
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death of Joy Gardner will include an investigation into the role of immigration officials involved in Mrs. Gardner's case in the period up to the attempted deportation.Mr. Charles Wardle : No. The report of the investigation by the assistant chief constable of Essex police, which was supervised by the Police Complaints Authority, is concerned with any possible criminal and disciplinary consequences of the actions of police officers.
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when his Department was first made aware that Joy Gardner was still in the United Kingdom after her six month visa had expired ; (2) how and by whom his Department was first made aware that Joy Gardner was still in the United Kingdom after her six months visa had expired ; and from what other sources he later received the same information.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The Immigration Department first became aware that Mrs. Gardner was still in the United Kingdom after expiry of her leave to enter when her husband visited the public inquiry office in Croydon on 11 September 1990 and applied on her behalf for leave to remain on the basis of marriage. This was the only source from which the information that she had overstayed was received.
Volunteering
Mr. Alan Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to involve representatives of local government in the planning and oversight of the "Make a Difference" initiative on volunteering.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I very much hope that local government will want to play a full and active part in "Make a Difference". My officials have already met local authority associations to discuss ways in which local government can be involved, and several local government representatives attended the launch on 1 March.
National Lottery Charities Board
Ms Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce the members of the proposed National Lottery Charities Board.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. and learned Friend hopes to announce the chairman very shortly. He will then be discussing with him or her the appointment of the 16 board members and will make these as soon as possible.
Youth Detention
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much it costs per head to detain youths in (a) prisons and (b) other forms of detention centres ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martyn Jones, dated 28 March 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent question about the cost of detaining young offenders.
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Young people remanded to prison are held in local prisons and remand centres at an average weekly cost of £526. Sentenced young offenders are held in closed young offender establishments at an average weekly cost of £634 or open ones at £492.Isle of Man
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. and learned Friend has not had the opportunity to meet the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man.
Fire Safety Inspections
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fire safety inspections were undertaken by fire services in England and Wales in the past year ; how many complaints were received about the conduct of these inspections ; and how many complaints were found to be justified.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The total number of inspections carried out by fire services in England and Wales during the calendar year January to December 1992 was 840,724.
During the period January to March 1993, some 225,505 inspections were carried out. Figures for the calendar year January to December 1993 are not yet available.
A survey of brigades in 1993 showed that 81 complaints were received about the conduct of inspections. On investigation, 50 of those complaints were found to be justified.
Prisoners
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average proportion of category A prisoners and category B prisoners within the prison population in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the average proportion of category A prisoners and category B prisoners within the prison population in each of the last ten years.
The information for 30 June of each year is given in the attached table. Information on category A prisoners is available for the period requested but information on category B prisoners is only readily available from 1991 onwards.
Population of category A and B prisoners in Prison Service
establishments on 30 June, 1984-1993
Security category
Category A Category B
On 30 June |Number |Percentage |Number |Percentage
|of adult |of adult
|sentenced |sentenced
|population<1> |population<1>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984 |417 |1.6 |n/a |n/a
1985 |429 |1.6 |n/a |n/a
1986 |458 |1.7 |n/a |n/a
1987 |656 |2.2 |n/a |n/a
1988 |644 |2.1 |n/a |n/a
1989 |664 |2.2 |n/a |n/a
1990 |564 |2.0 |n/a |n/a
1991 |592 |2.0 |4,822 |16.4
1992 |597 |2.0 |4,751 |15.8
1993 |578 |2.1 |5,149 |18.4
<1> Some sentenced prisoners will have had no category assigned to them. A small
number of category A and category B prisoners may be young offenders rather than
adults.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average number of prisoners in each of the last 10 years (a) serving life sentences, (b) serving sentences of over 10 years, (c) serving sentences of over four years and (d) serving sentences for crimes of a violent or sexual nature.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what was the average number of prisoners in each of the last 10 years (a) serving life sentences, (b) serving sentences of over 10 years, (c) serving sentences of over four years and (d) serving sentences for crimes of a violent or sexual nature. The available information is for 30 June each year and is published annually in successive volumes of "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (Tables 1.8 and 1.9 of the latest volume, for 1991, Cm 2157 give annual data for the period 1981 to 1991). A copy of this publication is available in the House of Commons Library. Provisional information for 1992 and for 1993 where available is given in the attached table.
Sentenced population in Prison Service establishments on 30 June<1>
Length of sentence |1992 |1993
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life |3,000 |3,095
Over 10 years less than life |1,399 |n/a
Over 4 years less than life<2> |9,965 |n/a
Offence
Violent or sexual offences<3> |10,233 |<4>10,700
<1>Provisional figures.
<2>Includes those serving a sentence of over 10 years.
<3>As recorded. Some 13 per cent. of the sentenced population in 1992 and 6 per cent.
in 1993 had no offence recorded centrally.
<4>Estimated.
Evidence (Video Link)
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to allow adult victims of sexual offences to give evidence by video link, subject to judicial discretion ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The Government have no plans to introduce such legislation, but we have undertaken to review the position of vulnerable adult witnesses following
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the completion of research into the effectiveness of new provisions relating to the evidence of children, which were introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 1991.Blakenhurst Prison
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoner custody officers are currently employed at Blakenhurst ; and how many have resigned or been sacked since the prison opened ;
(2) how many prison custody officers have been employed at Blakenhurst by United Kingdom Detention Services since it opened ; and if he will provide details ;
(3) what information he has as to how many former members of the state prison service now work at Blakenhurst ;
(4) what is the grade of the Crown Monitor at Blakenhurst prison ; (5) how many disturbances have taken place at Blakenhurst since it opened ; and if he will give details.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994 : HM Prison Blakenhurst
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about Blakenhurst prison.
Since its opening a total of 308 people have been employed as prisoner custody officers at Blakenhurst. 30 people have resigned and two have been dismissed. There are 276 prisoner custody officers currently employed at the prison ; 13 former members of the Prison Service work there.
The Controller is a Governor III grade Crown servant.
There have been a total of two disturbances and five occasions on which there have been peaceful acts of indiscipline at Blakenhurst since its opening. The details are listed in the attached Annex.
Police (Training)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the training given to (a) special constables and (b) regular police officers upon joining, after two years in post and thereafter.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The training of special constables is a matter for individual chief officers but usually takes place either at weekends or as part of a series of evening training sessions. Initial induction is followed by a basic training programme and development courses as appropriate.
All regular police officers go through a 31-week foundation course immediately they join, partly in force and partly at one of the district training centres. During their two-year probationary period, they spend a further six weeks following centrally produced training programmes, in addition to any further specialist or general training which their forces may provide locally.
On promotion to sergeant, officers attend a six-week sergeants development course, run by groups of forces on a regional basis. A further regionally run inspectors management development course follows promotion to
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inspector. Some specialist training--such as detective training, advance driving courses and dog training--is also organised on a regional basis.A comprehensive programme of development related to the roles and responsibilities of more senior officers is provided by the Police Staff college, Bramshill. In addition to this leadership programme, the college offers a range of short courses and also runs an accelerated promotion course for officers of high potential. Other establishments which provide national training facilities are the Crime Prevention Centre and the specialist support unit for community and race relations.
In addition to the training mentioned above, individual forces provide their own training either directly or through external courses.
Suspect Escorts
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost in each of the past three years of transporting under police escort suspects from the area in which they were arrested back to the area where the alleged crimes took place for trial ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : This information is not collected.
Trials
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the use of technology to enable all people charged with crimes to be tried in the area in which they were arrested ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : We have no current plans to use technology in the way suggested. The Government do, however, keep under review developments in this sector, and are examining a number of ways in which the conduct of court business might be aided by the use of new technology.
Prisoner Escapes
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the estimated number of prisoner escorts in each of the last five years ; and what proportion of those involved the use of custom-built cellular vehicles ;
(2) how many prisoners escaped from prison escorts in each of the last five years ; and how many of those escapes were from custom-built cellular vehicles ;
(3) how many escapes have occurred from Group 4 prisoner escorts since April 1993 ; and if he will give details of each case ; (4) how many category A prisoners have escaped from prison service escorts in the last five years ; and how many of those escorts involved cellular vehicles.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about escapes from escorts, and the estimated number of prison escorts over the last five years, and the proportion in which custom built cellular vehicles were used.
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The information you requested is not recorded centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.Escapes from prison escort over the last five years and the number of escapes from cellular vehicles--the following table lists all escapes from escort of prisoners supervised by Prison Service staff from both the public and private sectors and from the private escort contract. It does not, however, include prison escorts conducted by the police forces in England and Wales.
Year |Number
|of
|inmates
------------------------
1989 |118
1990 |119
1991 |144
1992 |147
1993 |<1>192
<1> Thirty of these
escapes would have been
the responsibility of
police escorts in
previous years and are
not reflected in prior
year figures.
Information about escapes from Prison Service cellular vehicles is not readily available and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.
Escapes from Group 4 since April 1993 with details of escapes. From 1 April 1993 to 28 February 1994 40 inmates escaped from Group 4 prisoner escorts.
The following table provides details of the escapes :
Location of escape |Number of
|prisoners
------------------------------------------------------------
Attendance at court |31
En route from vehicle |8
Outside hospital |1
|-------
Total |40
Before Group 4 undertook prisoner escort work, 34 of the above inmates who escaped would have been the responsibility of police escorts.
This information is derived from the Incident Management Support Unit, a part of the Directorate of Custody.
Category A' prisoners and escapes from Prison Service escorts over the last 5 years.
No Category A' prisoner has escaped from a Prison Service escort in this period.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have escaped while under escort from Preston prison in the past 12 months ; how many of those escapes were from private taxi hire ; and how many of those escapes were from custom-built cellular vehicles.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the escape of prisoners whilst under escort from Preston prison in the past 12 months.
During the past year three prisoners from Preston prison have escaped whilst under escort. Two of these escapes were whilst the prisoners concerned were receiving treatment in an outside hospital. In the first of these incidents the prisoner was recaptured almost immediately by the escorting prison officers. In the later incident the prisoner was recaptured by the police within three hours of his escape. The remaining incident involved the escape of a prisoner from a privately hired bus. This prisoner was subsequently recaptured by the police some six weeks after his escape.
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There have been no escapes from private taxi hire vehicles or custom built cellular vehicles during the past year.Prisoner Escorts
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff Group 4 employ to carry out prisoner escort duties in Humberside and the east midlands.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994 : Court Escort and Custody Service in Humberside and the East Midlands--
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the court escort and custody service in Humberside and the East Midlands.
Group 4 have a current operational strength of 334 prisoner custody officers, including supervisory officers, for the prisoner escort and court custody duties required under the contract. This excludes senior managers at their area headquarters.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Securicor will begin escorting prisoners in London ; and in what area of London this service will first be handed over to Securicor.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 28 March 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the court escort and custody service contract in the Metropolitan Police District.
The contract with Securicor will be introduced in five phases, commencing on 27 June 1994. The contract will commence in North East London and will cover Pentonville and Holloway prisons.
Prisoner Populations
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what has been the average certified accommodation and the average prisoner population for each month at Blakenhurst since the prison opened ;
(2) what was the average prisoner populations and the average certified normal accommodation at The Wolds for each month since April 1992.
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