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(c) 3 years(d) Mr. Alan Haselhurst, MP
Chairman of National Lottery Charities Board
(a) The Right Hon. Peter Lloyd, MP
(b) Salary, civil service grade 3 pro rata (2-2 days per week) (c) Term of appointment not more than five years
(d) Vacant
Information about other appointments, including chairmen of boards of visitors and local review committees, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of public appointments made by his Department in 1993 were of (a) Asians and (b) black people ; and if he will list their names.
Mr. Howard : As at 1 September 1993, of 1,875 appointments to Home Office non-departmental public bodies where the ethnic origin of the appointee was known, 4.2 per cent. of appointees were Asian and 3.6 were black. An undertaking was given when the information was collected that individuals would not be identified.
South Yorkshire Police
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were available in (a) the South Yorkshire police authority area and (b) by each division for beat duties in 1993 ; what are the projected figures for the current year ; and what are the comparable figures for those allocated to desk duties.
Mr. Charles Wardle : At the end of 1993, 1,694 officers were deployed to beat duties in the South Yorkshire police area as a whole. Information is not held centrally on deployments at divisional level, or on projected deployments. Data held on other police activities do not distinguish the proportion allocated to desk duties.
Schizophrenia
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he will take to ensure that severely disturbed victims of schizophrenia in need of treatment are not kept in police cells in lieu of psychiatric care.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The codes of practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 require police custody officers immediately to call the police surgeon to examine a person in their custody who appears to be suffering from a mental disorder. Persons who are detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 for their own protection or for that of others should be assessed as soon as possible by a psychiatrist and an approved social worker to ensure that they receive any necessary care and treatment. Under section 136 the police are empowered to remove persons to a place of safety, which the Government recommend should be a hospital rather than a police station, with a view to providing appropriate facilities for the care of the mentally disordered.
Mr. Horam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will increase the funding for the course on mental illness run for police officers by the National Schizophrenic Fellowship ; and what plans he has for improving the training in mental illness available to police officers generally.
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Mr. Charles Wardle : I understand that the Association of Chief Police Officers is currently in touch with the National Schizophrenic Fellowship and is looking at ways of funding a national training video. The Home Office intends to issue further guidance shortly to those working in the criminal justice system generally about dealing with cases involving mentally disordered persons. In particular, chief officers of police will be asked to examine existing force policy and practice, including current training provision.
Blakenhurst Prison
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners rioted at Blakenhurst prison, Birmingham, on or around 24 February : why it was necessary to call in the Prison Officers Association to rescue the situation ; and how many other riots or disturbances have occurred at privately run prisons.
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. Michael Meacher, dated 30 March 1994 :
HM PRISON BLAKENHURST
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the incident at Blakenhurst prison on 24 February.
A total of 111 prisoners was in the particular houseblock where the incident occurred, but not all were actively involved in the subsequent events.
No member of the Prison Officers Association was called or required to attend the incident, other than any Blakenhurst staff who may be members of the Association. Sixty-one prisoners were transferred temporarily to other prisons establishments. This is normal practice in such an event and Blakenhurst, as an integral part of the Prison Service, has received prisoners from other establishments when they have experienced difficulties.
You also requested information on disturbances at the contracted out prisons. Details of incidents, including acts of concerted indiscipline, at Wolds between the opening of the prison and 29 June 1993 have already been provided to Parliament (Official Report : 26 July 1993, column WA 75-79). Since that time there have been three instances of concerted indiscipline, making a total of 28 incidents in all. There have been a total of seven acts of concerted indiscipline at Blakenhurst since its opening.
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Prison Service is to withhold any part of the payment to United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. in respect of the contract to manage Blakenhurst prison ; how much money is to be withheld ; and for what reason.
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 Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 30 March 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about Blakenhurst prison.
It is intended to take an appropriate financial remedy under the terms of the contract in relation to the incident on 24 February. The amount has not yet been finally settled.
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Brian Charrington
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what part will be played by his Department in the investigation by Thames Valley police into the conduct of the Brian Charrington case by Cleveland police force.
Vehicles (North Yorkshire Police)
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicles leased to the north Yorkshire police are currently mothballed ; why these vehicles are not being used to police the county ; from whom the vehicles are leased ; how much it has cost to replace the mothballed vehicles with other vehicles ; how much it would have cost under the terms of the leasing agreement to keep on using the leased vehicles ; and whether he intends to issue advice to chief constables about the terms for leasing vehicles.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The procurement and use of police vehicles is a matter for chief officers of police and their police authorities. Guidance notes providing advice on vehicle fleet management, including leasing arrangements, have been issued by the Treasury's central unit on procurement. Copies of the relevant notes--Nos. 24a to 24e and 37--are available in the Library.
Youths (Reoffending)
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what are the reoffending rates for the various different forms of treatment of convicted youths up to the age of 18 years ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what are the reoffending rates for youths sentenced to periods of detention in (a) prisons and (b) other forms of detention ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The available information is for reconvictions within two and four years of commencement of probation or community service orders and within two and four years of discharge from Prison Service establishments. Reconviction statistics relate to "standard list" offences as defined in appendix 4 of "Criminal Statistics England and Wales, 1992", Cm 2410. Estimates of reconviction rates are shown in the table for samples of males aged 17 or under when they commenced supervision under the probation service in 1987 and for a sample of males discharged from Prison Service establishments in 1987 aged 17 or under on sentence.
Asylum Seekers (Sudan)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reconsider his decision to return unsuccessful asylum seekers to Sudan ; and what account he has taken of the human rights situation in that country.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Circumstances in both northern and southern Sudan, including the human rights situation, are kept under continual review, but we see no reason at present to change our practice on returning unsuccessful asylum seekers to Sudan.
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Young Offenders (Employment)
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of young offenders finds gainful employment upon release from (a) prison and (b) other custodial sentences.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : This information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Police Officers (Assaults)
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults upon police officers are recorded in each of the years 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1993 in total and by constabulary using (a) automatic weapons, (b) knives or (c) other weapons.
Mr. Maclean : The information is not collected centrally.
Civilian Hours
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours per week are worked by civilians in functions which were previously police jobs (a) in total and (b) per person.
Mr. Charles Wardle : These figures are not kept centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Transferred Police Functions
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what functions formerly performed by the police service have been transferred to (a) traffic wardens and (b) civilians since 1980.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The powers of traffic wardens to carry out certain police functions in relation to traffic offences are set out in the Functions of Traffic Wardens Order 1970. This was amended on 1 June 1993 to enable wardens to authorise the clamping or removal of illegally parked vehicles and to empower them to deal with endorsable parking offences.
No police functions have been formally transferred to civilian staff. It is the responsibility of chief officers to allocate staff to suitable posts.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what jobs are currently performed by civilians which previously were police functions.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The specific information sought is not held centrally. However, a number of areas have been identified in which civilian staff could provide support services to police officers and these are listed. It is, of course, for chief officers to decide how best to organise their staff.
Aliens Registration
Buildings Maintenance
Catering
Closed Circuit Television/Audiovisual services
CID Support
Communications
Computers
Coroner
Court Liaison
Court Security
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Criminal Records OfficeDogs
Drivers
Equal Opportunities
Finance
Fingerprints/Photos
Firearms and Explosives
Fixed Penalties
Gaoler
HOLMES Unit
Juvenile Liaison
Licensing
Marine
Mounted Horses
Personnel
Plan Drawing
Property
Prosecutions (Administrative Support Units)
Protection Administration
Research/Planning/Analysis
Scenes of Crimes Officers
Special Branch Administration
Statistics
Stores and Suppliers
Traffic Support
Traffic Warden Administration
Underwater
Vehicle Fleet Management
Warrants
Welfare
Other Administration/Clerical
Slopping-out
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each prison in England where slopping-out is still in practice ; and if he will state his plans and estimated date for ending slopping-out for each prison.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 March 1994 :
ACCESS TO SANITATION
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the Prison Service's programme to end slopping-out. Only 27 of 131 establishments are without 100 per cent. access to sanitation throughout 24 hours but, as you will note from the following table, in many cases this involves small numbers of cells. The dates in the table are the dates on which we currently plan to take the last of these cells at each establishment out of use for the installation of sanitation, at which point slopping-out will end at those establishments. Population changes and other operational factors may require adjustments to some of those dates, which are kept under regular review.
The Prison Service continues to give very high priority to completing the sanitation programme as planned. Ninetyper cent. of prisoners now have 24 hour access to sanitation and this should increase to over 95per cent. by December 1994. We aim to achieve 100per cent. access nationally by February 1996.
Prison establishments without 100 per cent. 24 hour access to sanitation
Establishment |Number |Planned
|of cells |end date
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aylesbury A, B and C wings |210 |3/95
Birmingham hospital |18 |7/94
Brixton G wing |173 |10/95
Brockhill C, D and F wings |72 |10/94
Bristol B wing |102 |7/94
Chelmsford D wing |33 |6/94
Dartmoor C and E wings |167 |2/96
Durham A, C and B (North) wings |202 |9/94
Erlestoke Wessex wing |60 |6/94
Everthorpe Seg unit |10 |11/94
Exeter C wing and hospital |97 |6/94
Grendon G and H wings |28 |6/94
Hindley A nd B wings |124 |1/95
Hollesley Bay Seg unit |11 |5/94
Leeds A, C and D wings |508 |2/96
Lewes C and G wings |130 |1/95
Liverpool A, H and K wings |347 |2/96
Long Lartin D wing |77 |8/94
Moorland hospital |7 |5/95
Norwich hospital |15 |4/94
Parkhurst M wing |40 |2/96
Pentonville A wing |153 |3/95
Preston A, C and D wings |346 |2/96
Standford Hill Seg unit |4 |4/94
Wandsworth A, B wings and hospital |288 |2/96
Winchester B wing |108 |8/94
Wormwood Scrubs A and B wings |333 |9/94
Competitive Bids
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was (a) the total money spent, (b) the percentage of that money allocated according to decisions made by Ministers on competitive bids and (c) the percentage of that money allocated according to some statistical measure of need in the last available operational year of (i) safer cities, (ii) section 11 grants, (iii) ethnic minority business initiative and (iv) ethnic minority grant.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Safer Cities estimated out-turn for 1993-94 is £6 million. I am unable to give precise figures until the tendering process for the second phase of safer cities projects is complete. All safer cities projects have been chosen having regard to statistical data on crime rates.
Section 11, Ethnic Minority Business Initiative, Ethnic Minority Grant : In the 1992-93 financial year, £129 million was spent under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966, £4 million under ethnic minority grant and £0.4 million under the ethnic minority business initiative. In all instances, grant is allocated to projects approved for funding strictly on the basis of the assessment of particular need identified in an application, and of the objectives and targets set out for addressing that need.
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