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Youth Treatment Service
Mrs. Lait : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will publish the report of the 1993 social services inspectorate inspection of the youth treatment service and the second annual report of the youth treatment service group ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis : Copies of these reports have been placed in the Library today. I have accepted the recommendations in both reports and have asked the chief executive of the youth treatment service to implement them as soon as possible. This requirement is included in the "1994-95 Service Annual Plan for the YTS", a copy of which has also been placed in the Library today.
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Psychotherapists
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she has any proposals to establish a national register for
psychotherapists ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis : We support self-regulation by the profession and have welcomed the initiatives taken by the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapy and the British Confederation of Psychotherapists to establish their own registers.
Lumpectomies
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will seek from her United States counterpart the information he holds about the dangers of lumpectomies ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Decisions on treatment protocols for breast disease are matters for the professions.
Hospital Appointments, Dewsbury and Huddersfield
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is her estimate of the number of general practitioner referrals for hospital treatment who are waiting to get on the waiting list for first appointments in the Dewsbury and Huddersfield area ; (2) how many people are waiting for their first out-patient appointment with a consultant in (a) the Dewsbury area and (b) the Huddersfield area.
Dr. Mawhinney : There are no waiting lists for first out-patient appointments and no information is held centrally on the time taken between a general practitioner referral and first appointment. The hon. Member may wish to contact the local hospitals for details.
Community Care
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the minimum recommended frequency of visits by home helps/care assistants to people having been assessed as needing social care support in their own homes.
Mr. Bowis : The amount of support will depend on the assessed need of each individual.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether contracts with National Health Service trusts constitute contracts with the independent sector for the purpose of community care special transitional grant.
Mr. Bowis : Yes. The conditions attached to the special transitional grant define the independent sector as a body which is not owned, controlled or managed by a local authority.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Scott Inquiry
Mr. Byers : To ask the Attorney-General what have been the costs to his Departments of (a) providing legal advice to witnesses appearing before the Scott inquiry, (b) drawing up evidence to be submitted to the Scott inquiry, (c) officials and legal advisers attending the Scott inquiry and (d) other related costs.
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The Attorney-General : The following costs have been identified :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The amounts in (a), (b) and (c) do not include the costs of staff in the Treasury Solicitor's Department which have been charged to client departments or the costs of staff who have provided legal advice within my departments in the normal course of their duties.
PRIME MINISTER
Friendly Governments
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister when Her Majesty's Government introduced the practice of not commenting on the policies of other friendly Governments ; and if he will list those Governments Her Majesty's Government regard as friendly.
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The Prime Minister : I have nothing further to add to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Wallsend (Mr. Byers) on 31 March, Official Report, column 908.
Health Service Visits
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list each hospital, general practitioner practice or other national health service site (a) he has visited since 1 April and (b) which he plans to visit before 9 June.
The Prime Minister : I have made one visit, to Basildon hospital on Tuesday 5 April. No other visits are planned before 9 June.
Civil Servants (Business Appointments)
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Prime Minister how many civil servants in his Department applied in each year since 1986 through the business appointments system to take up an outside appointment (a) as an independent consultant, (b) in a firm of consultants and (c) in other employment ; how many were referred to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments ; and how many were granted.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 3 May 1994] : The information for the areas covered by the Cabinet Office and the Office of Public Service and Science votes is set out in the table.
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------------------------ 1986 |2|-|-|2|1|1|1 1987 |3|-|-|3|3|3|- 1988 |6|-|-|6|6|-|6 1989 |3|1|-|2|1|3|- 1990 |5|-|1|4|3|4|1 1991 |7|-|1|6|5|7|- <1>1992 |2|1|1|-|-|2|- 1993 |5|2|2|1|-|5|- <1> In 1992 the Cabinet Office took on responsibility for the science functions of the former DES and the Treasury businesses ( Her Majesty's Stationery Office; Central Office of Information; Chessington Computer Centre; and the CCTA.
Pakistan
Mr. Cox : To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to meet the Prime Minister of Pakistan to discuss matters of interest to Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 5 May 1994] : I hope to meet the Prime Minister of Pakistan again later this year.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Tuberculosis (Prisons)
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in England and Wales have been diagnosed in each of the past five years as having tuberculosis ; in how many cases the disease was judged to be in its infectious stage ; in how many cases it is judged that infection took place in custody ; and if he will make a statement about the Prison Service's policy in this regard.
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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 A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 6 May 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to respond to your recent Question on tuberculosis in prisons.
Records of the number of prisoners in England and Wales who have required "treatment or special precautions" for active tuberculosis are recorded by prison medical officers and are reported to Prison Service Headquarters on an annual basis. The figures for the last four years are as follows :
|Numbers
------------------------
1988-89 |22
1989-90 |11
1990-91 |13
1991-92 |13
1992-93 |28
In all of the cases the disease was judged to be in its infectious stage. Because of the capacity of this infection to become active after years of dormancy and because of the very variable
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incubation period prior to manifest illness, it is not possible to determine how many of these cases of infection have taken place in custody.The Prison Service recognise tuberculosis as a re-emerging problem. The Director of Health Care for prisoners has issued guidance to prison doctors reminding them of the need to undertake careful screening and examination of prisoners on first reception with tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in mind. Further detailed guidance specific to tuberculosis has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Health and the Tuberculosis Sub-Committee of the British Thoracic Society, and has been issued to prison doctors together with separate advice to prison staff relating to occupational health.
Executive Release Powers
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the maximum number of prisoners currently in prison who would qualify for release should the Home Secretary choose to exercise the powers of executive release granted to him by the Criminal Justice Act 1992.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Secretary of State for the Home Department has powers under section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 to order that persons who are serving a sentence of imprisonment, other than imprisonment for life or an offence detailed in schedule 1 to the Act, may be released earlier, but not more than six months earlier, than they would otherwise be so released.
Provisional information on the population at the end of December 1993 shows that if the Home Secretary were to invoke such powers up to about 9,000 prisoners would be eligible for release.
Stasic Chrenowski
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Stasic Chrenowski, also known as Stanislaw Chrzanowski, a resident in the United Kingdom, is being investigated by the police for wartime Nazi crimes against humanity ; what is the current state of the investigation ; and if the information which has come into the public domain has been referred to the appropriate unit of the police who are investigating these wartime crimes.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The investigation of allegations against possible war criminals living in England and Wales is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police war crime unit. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on any case which may be the subject of an on-going police investigation.
Prisoners (Assaults)
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults by prisoners on other prisoners have occurred in each of the past five 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 A. J. Butler to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 6 May 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking how many assaults by prisoners on other prisoners have occurred in each of the past five years.
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The information you have requested is published in the Prison Service Corporate Plan for 1994-97. For ease of reference the information requested, including the updated provisional figures for 1993-94, is given in the table below.Assaults<1> on prisoners 1989-90 to 1993-94 Year |Number ------------------------- 1989-90 |1,932 1990-91 |1,912 1991-92 |2,007 1992-93 |2,062 <2>1993-94 |2,437 <1> Proved at adjudication, including any attempted assaults and inciting and assisting other prisoners in an assault. <2> Provisional figures.
Pregnant Prisoners
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what advice is given on security to staff escorting pregnant prisoners to and from court and to and from hospital facilities ; (2) if he will now review security procedures applicable to women giving birth while in prison custody ; and if he will make a statement ;
Mr. Peter Lloyd : [holding answer 4 May 1994] : 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 A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 6 May 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the Prison Service's security policy for women under escort who are in labour or pregnant.
The general guidance on security applies equally to both sexes. The principal means of ensuring security on escorts is through the use of handcuffs or the closeting chain. The guidance gives discretion to governors to handcuff a woman when escorting her outside the prison is there are reasonable grounds for believing that she is likely to pose security or control problems.
When any prisoner is escorted to hospital under restraint, the guidelines allow the handcuffs to be removed with the authorisation of a governor or Principal Officer and require them to be removed at the point where treatment begins if the doctor so requests. In such cases the escorting officers are expected to try to maintain security by other means, such as blocking potential escape routes. We have reviewed the guidance in the light of the recent case where a prisoner's handcuffs were not removed while she gave birth, but believe it remains appropriate. The guidance enables senior staff at the prison to consider each case in the light of the circumstances. It also makes it clear that the handcuffs must be removed in any case if the doctor treating the patient so requests.
It is clear that the local arrangements in this particular case did not work satisfactorily. The procedures at the establishment have been reviewed and more detailed instructions will be given to escorting staff in future. I have apologised to Mrs. Edwards. Advice on the procedures for escorting prisoners is given in the Manual on Security, copies of which are in the Library.
Prison Statistics
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prison auxiliaries and civilian grades have been employed at each prison establishment in each of the last five years ;
(2) what is the proportion of (a) male and (b) female prison officers who are aged (i) 18 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 40 years, (iii) 41 to 55 years and (iv) over 55 years ;
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(3) if he will list the number of assaults on prison officers, and the rate of assaults on prison officers per 100 prisoners, at each prison establishment in England and Wales ;(4) how many working days in each of the last 10 years have been lost to the prison service because of assaults on staff ; (5) at what prison establishments creche facilities are provided for staff ; and what are his plans to provide such facilities in the future ;
(6) how many prison officers work in the prison service of England and Wales ; in what establishments they work ; and at what grade ; (7) how many people from the ethnic minorities work as (a) prison officers, (b) prison auxiliaries, and (c) civilian works staff ; and at what grade and at what establishments they work ;
(8) how many women prison officers currently work in the prison service ; at what establishments ; and at what grade ;
(9) how many assaults on prison officers in each of the past five years involved weapons ;
(10) how many prison officers in each of the last 10 years have been medically retired following an assault :
(11) how many women prison officers have been physically or sexually assaulted in each of the last five years.
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 Brian Landers to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated May 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions asking for a breakdown of Prison Service staff by age, sex, grade and ethnic origin, and about assaults. The information you requested is set out in tables which have been laid in the library of the House. Physical and sexual assault on women prison officers
Our recording of assaults does not distinguish between those on male and female staff, or between sexual and other types of assault. Working days lost due to assault
Our information on the impact of assaults on staff is not as detailed as it might be, and we are considering the extent to which it can be improved. We do not record separately the amount of sick leave taken as a consequence of assault. Available figures for total sick leave taken per uniformed officer, for whatever cause, are 13.47 days in 1991-92, 12.75 days in 1992- 93 and 13.05 days (provisional figure) in 1993-94.
Medical retirement due to assault
We do not have separate figures for members of staff who have been granted medical retirement as a result of assault, but the total numbers of Prison Officers who have been medically retired from the Prison Service since 1992 (reliable information for earlier years is not available) are 240 in 1992, 251 in 1993 and 95 in 1994 (as at 29 April).
As we have explained in our recent correspondence, we do take assaults on members of staff very seriously, and the numbers of all assaults, of whatever kind, is one of the Service's key performance indicators. Reducing violence in prisons is one of the top priorities identified in our Corporate Plan.
We endeavour to help any member of staff on long term sick leave, for whatever reason, by counselling and advice from line management or from our staff care and welfare service.
Creches in prisons
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The Prison Service has one workplace nursery at Holloway prison, which is used by staff at Holloway and Pentonville prisons. It will shortly be expanding, to offer a total of 44 places.To enable other governors to consider the need for childcare facilities for their staff, the Prison Service Guide to Setting Up a Nursery was published in 1993. This guide drew on the Service's experience in setting up the nursery at Holloway and on more general guidance issued by the Cabinet Office in 1992 on childcare in the Civil Service. A number of establishments are now surveying local demand for and feasibility of childcare facilities.
Prison Service staff in London and Croydon have access to nurseries run by the Home Office and other government departments and the Service has very recently bought five places in the British Rail network of nurseries around the country.
DEFENCE
Scott Inquiry
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what have been the costs to his Department of providing (a) legal advice to witnesses appearing before the Scott inquiry, (b) drawing up evidence to be submitted to the Scott inquiry, (c) officials and legal advisers attending the Scott inquiry and (d) other related costs.
Mr. Aitken : The cost to MOD of providing legal advice to witnesses giving evidence to Lord Justice Scott's inquiry has still largely to be determined. Some bills have yet to be submitted and others are still receiving consideration within my Department. The known cost of legal advisers attending the inquiry on behalf of the MOD witnesses currently stands at £12,000. Sixty-six current and former MOD officials and Ministers have been asked to give written or oral evidence to the inquiry. They have given this evidence on a personal basis and have not been supervised by the Department in its preparation. There is therefore no central record of the time spent or cost incurred in the provision of such evidence ; serving MOD officials prepared and gave their evidence as part of their official duties. The direct central cost of the provision of evidence and information from MOD to the inquiry is estimated to be £128,000, which represents the cost of the inquiry liaison unit within MOD and the costs of photocopying and general presentation of the information.
Ministry of Defence Police
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what consideration he has given to employing ex-service personnel to replace Ministry of Defence police and civilian guards ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what consideration he has given to the future financing of the Ministry of Defence police ;
(3) what plans he has to introduce performance-related pay for Ministry of Defence police ;
(4) what assessment he has made of the current performance of the Ministry of Defence police ;
(5) what plans he has to change the arrangements for control of Ministry of Defence police operations ; and if he will make a statement ;
(6) what plans he has to reduce the capability of the Ministry of Defence police to deploy armed officers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : As indicated in my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Dorset, West (Sir J. Spicer) on 15 December 1993, Official Report, columns 738-39, a wide-ranging review is being carried out into the future
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role, aims, objectives, structure and pay of the Ministry of Defence police. This review, which is continuing, has been closely co-ordinated with the defence costs study. Formal recommendations have yet to be put to Ministers.The MDP fulfils its current duties with a very high level of professionalism and my Department has no plans to change the arrangements for control of MOD police operations. MDP will continue to be funded by my Department at levels consistent with the requirements for its services.
Training Colleges
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the total number of courses run at the Royal Naval college, Greenwich, over the past two years ; how many people have participated ; and from which (a) services and (b) countries they came.
Mr. Hanley : Over the past two years, 120 courses have been run at the Royal Naval college, Greenwich. There have been 2,183 participants on these courses, including 61 representatives from 30 foreign and Commonwealth countries. United Kingdom participants were from all three services, together with civilians and contractors.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is his estimate of the costs involved in closing the Royal Naval college at Greenwich and relocating the staff college to Camberley, including the costs of redundancy and relocation expenses, and of meeting the delapidation obligations at the premises currently occupied by the Royal Naval college ;
(2) what is the estimate of the potential savings to his Department which could be achieved by closing the Royal Naval college at Greenwich, taking into account the redundancy and relocation expenses (a) on the assumption that alternative uses for the current premises can be found and (b) on the assumption that no such alternative use can be found and that the costs of on-going maintenance and upkeep of the buildings will continue to be met from central funds ;
(3) what estimate he has made of the feasibility and cost of maintaining two service staff colleges at Camberley and Greenwich, as against the maintenance of all three current establishments ; (4) what consideration he has given to the future uses of the buildings currently occupied by the Royal Naval college at Greenwich, and the costs involved in the upkeep and maintenance of these buildings ;
(5) what estimate he has made of the feasibility and cost of locating all three service staff colleges at Greenwich in the premises currently occupied by and adjacent to the Royal Naval college.
Mr. Hanley : I have given no formal consideration to these issues. Staff training in all three services has, however, been looked at as part of the defence costs study, but no decisions have yet been made by Ministers.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are currently employed by his Department at the Royal Naval college, Greenwich (a) in the supervision and management of the college, (b) in teaching, study and related research activities and (c) in the provision of ancillary and support services.
Mr. Hanley : The figures requested are as follows :
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|Number
---------------------------------------------------
Supervision and Management |30
Teaching, Study and related Research |99
Ancillary/Support Services |<1>118
<1> Departmental staff plus approximately 150
civilian contract support staff.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the (a) direct and (b) indirect benefit to the United Kingdom of the attendance of overseas service personnel at courses run at the Royal Naval college, Greenwich.
Mr. Hanley : The direct benefit of overseas personnel attending courses at the Royal Naval college, Greenwich is the generation of valuable receipts ; around £500,000 being generated during financial year 1993- 94. The presence of international officers on courses run by the college also broadens the experience and understanding of all United Kingdom course members. The indirect benefits include the fostering and strengthening of our defence relations with friendly and allied countries through the useful exchanges of ideas and views with officers from other countries' armed forces.
Landing Platform Docks
Mr. Davidson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy in respect of the provision of ships for the British amphibious capability ; and when it is expected that orders will be placed for one or more new landing platform docks.
Mr. Aitken : The Government have made it clear in the past, including in the recently published "Statement on the Defence Estimates", that they recognise the importance of an effective amphibious capabililty, and are currently making a sizeable investment in this area as a result. Progress continues on the design and construction of the landing platform helicopter, which we ordered last May. Responses to the invitation to tender for the ship life extension programme for the first of the three older landing ships logistics, RFA Sir Bedivere, are currently being evaluated. The project definition studies for the landing platform dock replacement--LPD(R)--have now been completed, and the results are being examined. We hope to be in a position to make a decision on the issue of an invitation to tender for the design and build of the first of class-- LPD(R)01--later this year. Subject to the successful outcome of the competition, we would expect an order to follow during the course of next year.
Security
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the use of private detective agencies and security companies by his Department.
Mr. Hanley : I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave the hon. Member for Clwyd, South-West (Mr. Jones), on 3 May, Official Report, column 474, about private detective agencies.
It is my Department's practice to employ private security companies to guard establishments where it is considered to be appropriate and cost- effective to do so.
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