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Column 286
Spring HillStocken
Stoke Heat
Swaleside
Swinfen Hall
Thorn Cross
Thorp Arch
Wakefield
Werrington
Wetherby
Whitemoor
Winchester
Wormwood Scrubs
Wymott
Fine Defaulters
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) female fine defaulters and (b) male fine defaulters were received into prisons in England and Wales in 1993 ; (2) what percentage of receptions into prisons in England and Wales in 1993 were fine defaulters.
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 A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 20 July 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions asking how many (a) female fine defaulters and (b) male fine defaulters were received into prisons in England and Wales in 1993 and what percentage of receptions into prisons in England and Wales in 1993 were fine defaulters.
Provisional information for 1993 shows that 21,280 males and 1,340 females were received into Prison Service establishments for fine default accounting for 30 per cent. of all persons received under sentence.
Prison Drug Programmes
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 6 July, Official Report, column 203, what assessment has he made of the effectiveness of drug addiction programmes in prisons ; and what plans there are to increase the number of drug programmes available to prisoners.
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 20 July 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question on drug addiction programmes in prisons.
The Prison Service are commissioning an external research team to evaluate a drug treatment programme that has been running in one establishment for over two years.
An external researcher has also been commissioned to provide a literature review of different types of drug treatment programme used in the Prison Service, other prison systems and/or the community. The results of these two pieces of research will help to inform the Prison Service Strategic Plan on which treatment programmes are best suited to prisons and how many programmes will be required.
Prison Accommodation
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the (a) certified normal accommodation, (b) operational capacity and (c) actual population at each prison in England and Wales at the latest available date.
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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 20 July 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the capacity and population of prisons in England and Wales.
The attached table shows the certified normal accommodation (CNA), operational capacity and actual population of each prison on 30 June 1994.
Certified normal accommodation, operational capacity and population
in prisons in England and Wales on 30 June 1994
|Certified normal
|accommodation |Operational
Establishment |in use |capacity |Population
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acklington |658 |658 |597
Albany |436 |436 |427
Aldington |127 |127 |118
Ashwell |404 |404 |388
Askham Grange |126 |127 |100
Aylesbury |230 |233 |228
Bedford |303 |329 |294
Belmarsh |841 |841 |712
Birmingham |562 |850 |790
Blakenhurst |649 |649 |612
Blantyre House |95 |95 |94
Blundeston |408 |408 |395
Brinsford |446 |446 |439
Bristol |423 |473 |426
Brixton |484 |668 |597
Brockhill |111 |120 |79
Bullingdon |635 |635 |615
Bullwood Hall |125 |125 |120
Camp Hill |378 |441 |400
Canterbury |184 |275 |271
Cardiff |334 |450 |430
Castington |300 |300 |276
Channings Wood |594 |594 |569
Chelmsford |230 |393 |348
Coldingley |292 |292 |282
Cookham Wood |120 |120 |120
Dartmoor |538 |538 |497
Deerbolt |450 |450 |385
Doncaster |771 |120 |169
Dorchester |138 |232 |212
Dover |316 |316 |246
Downview |287 |291 |279
Drake Hall |255 |255 |226
Durham |399 |577 |629
East Sutton Park |94 |94 |84
Elmley |627 |627 |603
Erlestoke |250 |250 |243
Everthorpe |228 |228 |223
Exeter |274 |473 |385
Featherstone |599 |599 |566
Feltham |842 |842 |784
Finnamore Wood |106 |106 |11
Ford |536 |536 |450
Frankland |447 |432 |426
Full Sutton |604 |576 |551
Garth |512 |512 |504
Gartree |277 |277 |265
Glen Parva |767 |788 |769
Gloucester |211 |271 |255
Grendon |190 |186 |181
Guys Marsh |240 |180 |176
Hollesley Bay |365 |365 |298
Haslar |131 |131 |143
Hatfield |180 |180 |177
Haverigg |381 |381 |362
Hewell Grange |156 |179 |168
Highdown |549 |549 |529
Highpoint |679 |679 |610
Hindley |280 |319 |307
Holloway |517 |532 |483
Holme House |649 |649 |594
Hull |328 |430 |366
Huntercombe |226 |225 |210
Kingston |154 |154 |137
Kirkham |644 |620 |551
Kirklevington |74 |74 |71
Lancaster Farms |364 |364 |364
Lancaster |260 |246 |256
Latchmere House |145 |145 |142
Leeds |814 |1,168 |1,108
Leicester |192 |348 |335
Lewes |282 |377 |306
Leyhill |410 |410 |398
Lincoln |444 |628 |627
Lindholme |567 |567 |539
Littlehey |593 |583 |553
Liverpool |931 |1,267 |1,169
Long Lartin |362 |362 |350
Low Newton |198 |343 |253
Maidstone |485 |485 |476
Manchester |850 |850 |850
Moorland |635 |635 |621
Morton Hall |168 |168 |165
New Hall |169 |169 |180
North Sea Camp |201 |201 |108
Northallerton |150 |219 |159
Norwich |327 |476 |384
Nottingham |222 |222 |207
Onley |520 |520 |450
Oxford |107 |120 |46
Parkhurst |306 |266 |229
Pentonville |559 |765 |742
Portland |420 |420 |330
Preston |382 |545 |489
Pucklechurch |56 |81 |62
Ranby |347 |347 |348
Reading |182 |205 |150
Risley |751 |716 |700
Rochester |294 |330 |208
Rudgate |287 |300 |268
Send |113 |113 |111
Shepton Mallet |158 |211 |170
Shrewsbury |168 |307 |301
Spring Hill |210 |210 |211
Stafford |358 |530 |511
Standford Hill |384 |384 |389
Stocken |396 |396 |389
Stoke Heath |300 |300 |267
Styal |180 |209 |227
Sudbury |413 |348 |351
Sudbury (Foston Hall) |96 |96 |92
Swaleside |512 |512 |499
Swansea |155 |220 |209
Swinfen Hall |182 |182 |182
Thorn Cross |209 |209 |177
The Mount |484 |484 |490
The Verne |552 |538 |528
The Wolds |320 |368 |359
Thorp Arch |166 |166 |164
Usk |241 |241 |234
Wormwood Scrubs |714 |1,050 |850
Wakefield |718 |718 |693
Wandsworth |821 |1,033 |866
Wayland |580 |580 |543
Wellingborough |344 |314 |308
Werrington |110 |110 |101
Wetherby |196 |196 |174
Whatton |216 |216 |212
Whitemoor |534 |524 |486
Winchester |368 |492 |396
Woodhill |566 |566 |507
Wymott |432 |384 |376
|---- |---- |----
Total |48,942 |52,767 |48,897
Entry Clearance
Mr. Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average wait for all Bangladeshi applicants for entry clearance in each of the last four years.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information available centrally is of waiting times to first interview. This is published in table 2.5 of the Home Office "Statistical Bulletin" issue 9/94, "Control of Immigration : Statistics--Third and Fourth Quarters and Year 1993", a copy of which is in the Library.
Game Licences
Sir Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to abolish the requirement for those who kill game to hold game licences.
Mr. Howard : I have decided that the licensing requirements for those who take or kill game, contained in the Game Act 1831 and the Game Licences Act 1860, should be abolished. Such abolition will also apply in Scotland.
Firearms Licences
Sir Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to establish a national firearms licensing board.
Mr. Howard : The proposal to establish a national firearms licensing authority to take over the administration of firearms licensing from the police was the subject of a public consultation paper in 1992, following a brief feasibility study. That study indicated that it would be feasible to introduce a national civilian-operated system which could be more cost- effective and achieve greater consistency in decision making.
A comprehensive revision of the original feasibility study has now been completed and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. It concludes that the establishment of a national licensing authority would generally improve the efficiency of the system, improve the quality of service to shooters in some areas and bring a consistency of approach to decision making. It did not address the question of how this could best be achieved but made a number of suggestions to improve the administration of the firearms licensing system.
However, the report also indicates that the original study, because of its limited remit, significantly underestimated the amount of work involved in the licensing system and that the staffing required for a national authority would be substantially higher than the levels originally proposed. The original study estimated start-up costs of £2.5 million and annual running costs of approximately £6 million. The revised study estimates that start-up costs would amount to about £4.1 million with an annual running cost in excess of £10 million. This is substantially more than the estimated cost of operating the current police system, which in 1994-95 is £7.6 million.
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The report also identifies the need for a significant amount of continued police involvement in firearms licensing, the risk of duplication of effort and the difficulties involved in the interface of any licensing authority and the police.After careful consideration of all the factors involved, I have decided not to proceed with the proposal to establish a separate firearms licensing authority. I accept that despite the efforts of police licensing departments there is still considerable scope for improving the efficiency and the consistency of approach of the existing firearms licensing system to the benefit of both the shooting fraternity and the police. Now that the future direction of the licensing system is settled, we must concentrate on building upon the improvements already achieved and I will be pursuing with the Association of Chief Police Officers and Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary how existing "best practice" guidelines can be more consistently implemented.
Similar action will be taken on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Prison Staff
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a breakdown of (a) staff posts and (b) actual numbers in post in each prison in England and Wales by rank, gender and race.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 26 May 1994] : 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 20 July 1994 The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about staff posts and numbers in post in prisons in England and Wales. Table A lists target staffing figures (TSF) or funded posts and total staff in post at each prison on 30 April 1994. On 1 April 1993 Prison Service Headquarters devolved to governors the responsibility for recruiting prison officers and, subject to the maximum set by target staffing figures, deciding the number and mix of staff within their running costs budget. For historical reasons, some TSFs reflect former complements which were unfunded. Establishments now generally use funded posts, ie the number of posts assumed in setting the budget, as their yardstick for staffing purposes.
A breakdown of prison officer grades in post at every prison, showing the numbers in each grade who are women or member of ethnic minorities is at tables B and C. A breakdown of other staff could only be produced at disproportionate cost. The readily available information in table D shows the numbers in each grade who are women or members of ethnic minorities for the Service as a whole. The figures for Doncaster, which opened on 27 June, have not been given as it is not yet fully staffed.
A copy of these tables has been placed in the House of Commons library.
EU Citizens
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many United Kingdom citizens live and work in other EU member states ; and how many citizens of each other EU member states live and work in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I have been asked to reply.
Estimates of the number of foreign nationals from each EU member state who are in employment and living in the
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United Kingdom are available from the labour force survey and are shown in the table. Information on the number of United Kingdom nationals working in other EU member states is not held centrally.Numbers of foreign nationals of each EU member state in the United Kingdom United Kingdom-Spring 1993 Number aged 16 or over living in the United Kingdom and in employment Nationality |Thousands ---------------------------------------------------- Ireland |223 Italy |41 France |27 Portugal |18 Federal Republic of Germany |14 Netherlands |11 Spain |11 Greece |10 Denmark |<1>- Belgium |<1>- Luxembourg |<1>- Source: Labour Force Survey. <1>Estimates below 10,000 not shown.
Identity Cards
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has that identity cards containing electronicallystored information have contributed to a reduction in fraud in countries where they have been used.
Mr. David Davis : I have been asked to reply.
My Department holds no evidence of the contribution to the reduction in fraud levels relating to ID cards containing electronically stored information.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has instigated into the percentage or degree of error inherent in reading electronic identity cards. Mr. David Davis : I have been asked to reply.
No research has been instigated into the percentage or degree of error inherent in reading electronic ID cards. In the context of a wider study on smart cards, Office of Public Service and Science officials have discussed the error rates relating to cards used within the banking sector. The false rejection rate is believed to be in the order of one in 100,000 uses.
SCOTLAND
Skin Cancer
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice he has received from the Association of Dermatologists on education about skin cancer in schools.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. Friend has not received any advice from the Association of Dermatologists on education about skin cancer in schools.
NHS asset Sales
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in each case since 1991-92 of land having been sold by a health board or NHS trust, whether the land was (a) donated to the NHS, (b) donated to a body pre-dating the creation of the NHS or (c) bought with public funds.
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Mr. Stewart : Comprehensive information of the kind requested is not held centrally. This sort of detail is usually obtainable only from deeds, which are delivered to the purchaser on sale, and even these will not necessarily contain the appropriate information.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will require health board and NHS trusts to make public their decisions on what to do with the proceeds of sales of surplus land and buildings ; and if he will require them to be used for improving patient services.
Mr. Stewart : It is for the NHS body managing the sale to consider what publicity should be given to decisions on the use of proceeds. For many years it has been the position that these proceeds should be used for the improvement of patient care.
Disabled People
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what role will be played by his Department in any consultation on disability ; and what plans he has to publish a consultation paper on countering unfair discrimination against disabled people in Scotland.
Mr. Stewart : My right hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security and Disabled People announced the publication of a consultation document on 15 July. The Scottish Office contributed to its preparation. In welcoming its publication, my noble and learned Friend the Minister of State, Scottish Office, invited everyone in Scotland with an interest in the issue, especially disabled people themselves, to let us have their views.
Child Care
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total public expenditure on out-of-school services for children from the age of five for each year since 1989-90 ; and what was the total public expenditure on these services as a percentage of the gross domestic product for Scotland for each of these years.
Mr. Stewart : Details of public expenditure on out-of-school services have not been separately identified. Indications are, however, that the number of such schemes is growing. This is being assisted by the Government's £45 million initiative aimed at encouraging the establishment of viable out-of-school and holiday schemes for school age children and by the support provided under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 for the Scottish Out-of-School Childcare Network.
Nursery Education
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total public expenditure on (a) nursery schools and classes and (b) children under five in reception classes, in each year since 1989-90 ; and what was the total public expenditure on these services as a percentage of the gross domestic product for Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The latest available information about public expenditure on nursery schools and classes since 1989-90 is :
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|£ million
------------------------------
1989-90 |39.69
1990-91 |45.25
1991-92 |51.23
1992-93 |56.03
That expressed as a percentage of estimated Scottish GDP is :
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1989-90 |0.11
1990-91 |0.11
1991-92 |0.12
1992-93 |0.13
Information on expenditure related to children under five who attend primary schools is not recorded separately.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the total amount of funding allocated by his Department to Highlands and Islands Enterprise for development initiatives in Kintyre (a) in the current financial year and (b) over the past three financial years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The allocation of funds to specific areas for economic and social development purposes is the responsibility of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Prison Service
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the cost to the nearest £10,000 of market testing and related operations in the Scottish Prison Service.
Lord James-Douglas Hamilton : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Scottish Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Mr. Tam Dalyell, dated 20 July 1994 :
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about the cost of market testing and related operations in the Scottish Prison Service.
The best estimate of cost to date, including staff time and consultancy fees in connection with market testing and related operations in the Scottish Prison Service, is approximately £950,000.
Special Advisers
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many special advisers have (a) joined and (b) left his Department in each of the last five years.
Mr. Lang : My Department has employed two special advisers over the last five years, one of whom left in 1990 and was replaced.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will publish the names of the employers joined by special advisers who left his Department in each of the last five years ;
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(2) how many special advisers who left his Department in each of the last five years became (a) management consultants and (b) joined a firm of consultants.Mr. Lang : There is no requirement for special advisers to provide details of their employers after leaving Government service.
Foreign Prisoners
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the official foreign language prison documents that are available to foreign prisoners being held in prisons.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Scottish Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Dr. Norman Godman, dated 20 July 1994 :
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about official foreign language prison documents available to foreign prisoners being held in prisons.
The Scottish Prison Service provides "Notes for Guidance of Prisoners on Reception into Prison" in a number of languages. There is also available to foreign prisoners a Home Office Immigration and Nationality Department information leaflet which provides information on prisoners' rights and welfare matters. An SPS Prisoner's Information Pack is in course of preparation and consideration is being given to its translation in other languages.
In every establishment a member of staff has been appointed to act as Ethnic Minority Liaison Officer with responsibility for monitoring the welfare and progress of foreign prisoners. Their role includes interviewing such prisoners on admission and arranging interpreter facilities for prisoners with language difficulties.
Homelessness
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to make a statement following the responses to his consultation paper "Tackling Homelessness".
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. Friend received a large number of detailed responses to the consultation paper which he will consider carefully before making decisions to deal with homelessness in Scotland.
Wheelchairs
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many disabled persons were provided with powered wheelchairs by the Wheelchair Service in each of the past five years ; and how many such applications were turned down in the same period of time ; (2) how many wheelchairs have been distributed to disabled people in each of the past 10 years ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) what is the expected life of a wheelchair issued by the Wheelchair Service ; and after what interval a user may seek a replacement.
Mr. Stewart : The information is not held centrally.
On average 5,500 new wheelchairs, both manual and powered, are purchased annually for NHS patients, but wheelchairs can be issued and re-issued on more than one
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occasion in the course of a year if returned as being no longer required. There is no stipulated period for replacement of a wheelchair since this will depend on usage, the condition of the chair and whether repair is possible. It is for the staff in wheelchair centres to decide when a replacement chair would be appropriate.Food Poisoning
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of food poisoning were reported in Scotland in each year since 1979.
Mr. Stewart : The numbers of cases of food poisoning notified by doctors to health boards are set out as follows :
|Number of
Year |notifications
------------------------------------------
1979 |2,657
1980 |2,299
1981 |2,920
1982 |2,880
1983 |2,632
1984 |2,391
1985 |1,967
1986 |2,436
1987 |2,480
1988 |2,998
1989 |3,197
1990 |3,024
1991 |2,938
1992 |3,317
1993 |3,255
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of laboratory reports of salmonella in foodstuffs in Scotland in each year since 1979 ; and what is the latest available figure for this year.
Sir Hector Monro : Information on the number of such reports of salmonella in foodstuffs is not held centrally ; data are available on reported cases of salmonellosis, but these do not distinguish between cases originating from food or other sources.
Operating Theatres
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the latest figures for operating theatre sessions postponed or cancelled in each of the past four years because there were insufficient appropriate operating theatre staff available in (a) Strathclyde and (b) Scotland as a whole.
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