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Housing Association
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many Housing Association properties have been built since 1979; how many of these have since been wholly sold to the tenant; how many are part-owned by the tenant; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: Housing associations built some 253,000 and rehabilitated 173,000 homes between 1979 and the end of June 1994. In the same period, associations sold some 81,500 properties outright to tenants, 28,400 on a shared-ownership basis, and 8,800 under the do-it-yourself shared ownership scheme. Some of these sales were of pre-1979 properties: separate figures for post-1979 properties are not available.
Albert Dock
Mr. Parry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who will own Albert dock after the Merseyside development corporation ceases to exist; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Paul Beresford: The Merseyside development corporation is looking at a number of options for transferring the freehold. These include setting up a management company in which the freehold would be vested and management arrangements in which all long
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leaseholders, including the residents' association, would be involved.Civil Servants
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff in his Department have reported an offer of employment from an outside employer since February 1993 as required under the civil service management code; and how many of these reports were followed up by an application to join the company concerned.
Sir Paul Beresford: Information on offers of outside employment to staff below grade 3 is not recorded centrally in this Department. Since February 1993, no officer at grade 3 or above has reported such an offer, although three officers in these grades have applied under the business appointment rules to take up posts after retirement.
Air Quality
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he proposes to take to promote further improvement in air quality.
Mr. Gummer: I am publishing a wide-ranging statement of the Government's strategic policies for improving air quality at 9 am tomorrow, when copies will be placed in the Vote Office and the Libraries of the House.
Environment Council
Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Environment Council on 15 and 16 December 1994.
Mr. Gummer: I attended the Environment Council in Brussels on 15 and 16 December with my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside. The Council reached a common position on the directive on polychlorinated biphenyls in a form acceptable to the United Kingdom. The Council decided by a qualified majority on a list of hazardous waste as required by directive 91/689. The UK and Italy voted against because the list contains wastes which, under certain circumstances, are not hazardous, and thereby contrary to the directive.
Council conclusions were agreed on a Community strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which, inter alia, reflected the view reached at the European summit at Essen on the possibility of an optional carbon and energy tax. Council conclusions were also agreed on the preparation of an EU position for the first conference of the parties to the framework convention on climate change.
During the discussion of the Commission's annual report on the implementation of Community law my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside emphasised the need to consider the effectiveness of existing Community legislation in the real world and suggested that there should be an assessment of each piece of environmental legislation to see how successful it had been in meeting its objectives.
There were helpful discussions to prepare the EU position for the next meeting of the Commission for sustainable development and on the draft biocides
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directive. Council conclusions were also agreed on transport and the environment following a useful debate during which I highlighted the very positive measures which the UK Government have already taken in this area.Regional Enterprise Grants
Mr. Ian Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, what resources will be available for the regional enterprise grants scheme in 1995 96.
Mr. Curry: The regional enterprise grant scheme will continue to operate on the basis of existing criteria in 1995 96 as part of the single regeneration budget. A maximum of £13.7 million will be available for existing and new commitments during the year.
EDUCATION
Pupil-to-teacher Ratios
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the pupil-to-teacher ratio as at January 1994 for each local education authority in (a) the primary sector, (b) the secondary sector and (c) overall.
Mr. Robin Squire: The information requested is shown in the table.
Pupil:teacher ratios for maintained primary and secondary
schools and overall
in each local education authority in England-January 1994
Pupil:teacher
ratio
within schools
|Primary |Secondary |Overall
|(including |(including |pupil:
|grant- |grant- |teacher
LEA |maintained)<1>|maintained)<1>|ratio<2>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corporation of London |15.0 |N/A |14.3
Camden |20.5 |15.3 |16.2
Greenwich |21.0 |16.4 |17.3
Hackney |19.9 |14.6 |16.3
Hammersmith and Fulham |18.9 |15.2 |15.6
Islington |20.3 |15.4 |14.0
Kensington and Chelsea |17.7 |12.5 |14.5
Lambeth |19.1 |14.8 |15.8
Lewisham |21.5 |16.2 |17.0
Southwark |22.4 |17.0 |18.0
Tower Hamlets |18.0 |14.2 |14.6
Wandsworth |19.8 |14.7 |15.9
Westminster |17.6 |15.5 |14.2
Barking and Dagenham |22.1 |17.1 |18.2
Barnet |21.0 |15.0 |16.2
Bexley |23.5 |16.5 |18.7
Brent |22.0 |15.9 |17.6
Bromley |24.4 |16.2 |18.1
Croydon |21.8 |16.9 |17.9
Ealing |21.3 |16.3 |18.2
Enfield |22.5 |16.6 |18.0
Haringey |20.4 |13.9 |16.4
Harrow |20.5 |15.7 |17.3
Havering |23.1 |16.5 |18.0
Hillingdon |22.1 |16.4 |18.3
Hounslow |21.1 |16.2 |17.5
Kingston upon Thames |23.5 |16.0 |16.9
Merton |20.2 |16.1 |17.2
Newham |24.3 |17.1 |20.0
Redbridge |22.9 |16.6 |17.9
Richmond upon Thames |20.6 |16.9 |17.3
Sutton |24.4 |16.9 |18.7
Waltham Forest |21.9 |15.9 |17.9
Birmingham |23.3 |16.3 |18.1
Coventry |22.7 |15.8 |17.5
Dudley |22.5 |16.7 |18.3
Sandwell |22.5 |15.9 |17.2
Solihull |23.3 |16.4 |17.8
Walsall |22.4 |15.8 |17.5
Wolverhampton |21.3 |15.4 |16.6
Knowsley |23.5 |16.9 |19.7
Liverpool |23.4 |15.9 |19.1
St. Helens |22.0 |15.3 |17.5
Sefton |23.2 |16.4 |18.3
Wirral |22.6 |16.3 |18.0
Bolton |22.0 |16.1 |17.9
Bury |23.4 |17.1 |19.4
Manchester |22.3 |15.7 |18.6
Oldham |22.9 |15.6 |18.2
Rochdale |24.3 |16.9 |19.3
Salford |23.7 |16.6 |19.5
Stockport |23.6 |16.4 |19.2
Tameside |24.9 |17.4 |20.0
Trafford |24.4 |16.2 |19.4
Wigan |22.9 |15.8 |17.8
Barnsley |24.2 |17.1 |19.1
Doncaster |23.5 |16.3 |18.2
Rotherham |21.3 |15.8 |17.5
Sheffield |22.4 |16.5 |18.3
Bradford |21.3 |17.3 |16.6
Calderdale |23.7 |16.3 |17.9
Kirklees |22.1 |15.8 |17.7
Leeds |23.4 |16.0 |18.6
Wakefield |23.1 |16.3 |18.6
Gateshead |21.6 |15.7 |16.6
Newcastle upon Tyne |22.9 |16.5 |18.5
North Tyneside |23.1 |17.0 |18.1
South Tyneside |23.2 |17.0 |18.6
Sunderland |22.1 |16.1 |17.8
Isles of Scilly |14.0 |8.8 |10.7
Avon |23.1 |16.2 |18.0
Bedfordshire |22.0 |17.2 |18.1
Berkshire |22.9 |16.0 |17.6
Buckinghamshire |23.0 |16.8 |18.6
Cambridgeshire |23.3 |17.1 |18.1
Cheshire |23.9 |16.8 |19.1
Cleveland |23.8 |17.0 |18.5
Cornwall |23.3 |17.3 |19.1
Cumbria |22.5 |16.0 |18.0
Derbyshire |23.3 |15.7 |17.7
Devon |22.9 |16.4 |18.8
Dorset |23.4 |17.2 |19.6
Durham |22.9 |16.6 |18.2
East Sussex |22.3 |16.1 |17.7
Essex |22.8 |17.1 |18.8
Gloucestershire |22.5 |17.7 |18.4
Hampshire |22.4 |16.4 |18.8
Hereford and Worcester |22.2 |17.3 |18.3
Hertfordshire |22.2 |15.7 |17.7
Humberside |24.3 |17.5 |19.2
Isle of Wight |22.3 |17.6 |17.4
Kent |23.9 |16.7 |18.7
Lancashire |23.0 |16.1 |17.8
Leicestershire |22.5 |16.4 |17.7
Lincolnshire |23.3 |15.8 |17.9
Norfolk |21.9 |15.7 |17.7
North Yorkshire |22.9 |16.0 |17.4
Northamptonshire |22.6 |16.6 |17.7<3>
Northumberland |24.3 |18.1 |18.8
Nottinghamshire |22.9 |15.8 |18.0
Oxfordshire |21.5 |16.8 |17.4
Shropshire |23.1 |16.1 |18.0
Somerset |22.6 |16.6 |17.6
Staffordshire |25.1 |17.5 |19.7
Suffolk |21.6 |16.2 |16.9
Surrey |21.8 |16.8 |18.9
Warwickshire |22.1 |16.1 |17.7
West Sussex |22.0 |16.5 |17.9
Wiltshire |22.9 |16.7 |17.9
England |22.7 |16.4 |18.1<3>
<1> Excluding all unqualified teachers and teachers providing short term cover as
well as teachers absent for a term or more but including the latter's qualified
replacements, if any.
<2> The overall pupil:teacher ratio is measured across the three maintained school
types-nursery, primary and secondary. The figures include all qualified teachers (
including those not in schools and teachers providing short term cover), student
teachers, instructors and licensed teachers employed by local education
authorities.
<3> Includes an estimate of the full-time equivalent of teachers employed by
Northamptonshire LEA.
Surplus School Places
Mr. Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is her latest estimate of the number of surplus places in primary and secondary schools in (a) Nottinghamshire and (b) England.
Mr. Robin Squire: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for St. Ives (Mr. Harris) on Friday 9 December 1994, Official Report, columns 410 14.
Book and Equipment Expenditure
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was spent by each local education authority on books and equipment in 1993 94 prices in (a) 1979 80 and (b) 1993 94.
Mr. Robin Squire: The following table sets out expenditure in 1993 94 prices by LEAs in England on books and equipment at LEA-maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in 1979 80 and 1992 93, the latest year for which figures are available. These figures are drawn from LEAs' own returns of their expenditure to the Department of the Environment. Equivalent information is not available for grant-maintained schools.
Expenditure on books and equipment in 1979-80 and 1992-93
by
LEA (in 1993-94 prices)
|Nursery, |Nursery,
|primary and|primary and
|secondary |secondary
|1979-80 |1992-93
|£000s |£000s
-----------------------------------------------------------
ILEA |43,087 |-
Corporation of London |0 |24
Camden |0 |1,702
Greenwich |0 |1,526
Hackney |0 |808
Hammersmith |0 |847
Islington |0 |1,232
Kensington and Chelsea |0 |787
Lambeth |0 |331
Lewisham |0 |5,919
Southwark |0 |1,856
Tower Hamlets |0 |3,942
Wandsworth |0 |1,251
Westminster |0 |4,252
Barking |1,102 |2,666
Barnet |2,431 |3,990
Bexley |2,446 |1,779
Brent |3,031 |2,087
Bromley |2,418 |1,919
Croydon |2,673 |2,832
Ealing |2,488 |1,626
Enfield |2,231 |1,239
Haringey |2,240 |365
Harrow |2,036 |2,835
Havering |2,288 |2,974
Hillingdon |2,171 |2,167
Hounslow |1,791 |2,970
Kingston upon Thames |920 |1,189
Merton |1,301 |2,166
Newham |2,623 |3,043
Redbridge |1,877 |3,377
Richmond upon Thames |897 |1,269
Sutton |1,412 |1,060
Waltham Forest |2,649 |1,904
Birmingham |7,449 |12,626
Coventry |2,961 |3,060
Dudley |1,579 |2,258
Sandwell |2,774 |2,689
Solihull |1,587 |3,169
Walsall |2,589 |3,525
Wolverhampton |2,437 |1,910
Knowsley |1,854 |1,995
Liverpool |4,618 |3,678
St. Helens |1,313 |2,453
Sefton |2,533 |3,227
Wirral |2,744 |3,030
Bolton |2,397 |4,104
Bury |1,676 |1,837
Manchester |6,040 |4,980
Oldham |2,042 |3,263
Rochdale |2,112 |1,641
Salford |2,305 |440
Stockport |2,474 |4,270
Tameside |1,847 |2,587
Trafford |1,374 |2,092
Wigan |2,882 |4,157
Barnsley |2,117 |2,945
Doncaster |3,034 |0
Rotherham |1,818 |2,612
Sheffield |5,141 |4,561
Bradford |3,633 |4,561
Calderdale |1,434 |2,346
Kirklees |2,492 |5,708
Leeds |4,689 |6,001
Wakefield |2,419 |3,238
Gateshead |1,934 |2,511
Newcastle upon Tyne |2,744 |2,492
North Tyneside |1,797 |36
South Tyneside |2,115 |1,797
Sunderland |3,005 |3,874
Isle of Scilly |13 |5
Avon |5,974 |14,342
Bedfordshire |5,450 |7,122
Berkshire |5,473 |9,936
Buckinghamshire |4,890 |7,700
Cambridgeshire |4,815 |8,698
Cheshire |6,857 |9,268
Cleveland |5,879 |6,754
Cornwall |3,366 |5,429
Cumbria |3,500 |4,456
Derbyshire |7,425 |8,759
Devon |6,253 |12,447
Dorset |4,022 |5,544
Durham |4,121 |4,676
East Sussex |5,273 |7,784
Essex |12,136 |15,367
Gloucestershire |3,285 |5,096
Hampshire |9,142 |20,274
Hereford and Worcester |4,833 |7,919
Hertfordshire |8,672 |2,707
Humberside |7,847 |11,924
Isle of Wight |1,090 |1,420
Kent |13,196 |9,135
Lancashire |9,734 |20,806
Leicestershire |6,836 |15,985
Lincolnshire |3,797 |7,299
Norfolk |5,746 |5,752
North Yorkshire |5,389 |10,301
Northamptonshire |4,775 |7,352
Northumberland |2,902 |3,012
Nottinghamshire |8,477 |11,989
Oxfordshire |5,165 |6,560
Shropshire |2,782 |1,007
Somerset |3,025 |4,384
Staffordshire |10,261 |11,643
Suffolk |4,542 |16,827
Surrey |4,848 |5,917
Warwickshire |3,133 |6,230
West Sussex |5,476 |10,129
Wiltshire |4,242 |6,876
Total |406,716 |522,438
Civil Servants
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many staff in her Department have reported an offer of employment from an outside employer since February 1993 as required under the civil service management code; and how many of these reports were followed by an application to join the company concerned.
Mr. Forth: Since February 1993, nine staff in this Department have reported an offer of employment from an outside employer, as required under the civil service management code. In each case, applications have been made to join the company concerned.
Ministerial Visits, Bradford
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what is the purpose of her visit in March to Bradford city technology college; and if she will make a statement;
(2) if she will visit local authority schools when she visits Bradford in March;
(3) how many invitations to visit maintained schools in Bradford she has received since her appointment from (a) the hon. Member for Bradford, West and (b) Bradford local education authority; and what has been her response to those invitations;
Column 518
(4) how many of (a) her predecessors, (b) Ministers from her Department and (c) other Ministers have visited Bradford city technology college since it opened.Mr. Robin Squires: My right hon. Friend will be visiting Dixons city technology college in Bradford on 1 March. She likes to visit schools when time permits and this will be her first visit to a CTC. A programme for the day has yet to be settled but my right hon. Friend very much looks forward to visiting local authority schools if this can be arranged.
Between July and November last year, my right hon. Friend received three invitations from the hon. Member and three from the local authority to visit schools in Bradford. Other pressures ruled out an early visit to Bradford and many other parts of the country. My right hon. Friend did, however, meet the hon. Member and representatives of Bradford local education authority on 26 September in London and my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Mr. Forth) made a full day's visit to local authority schools in Bradford in November 1993. Dixons city technology college opened in September 1990 and has been visited by two previous Secretaries of State for Education, including for the occasion of the official opening. It has also been visited by my right hon. Friend the Member for Enfield, North (Mr. Eggar).
Voluntary-aided Schools
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will update the table of underspending and overspending on grants to voluntary- aided schools published on 28 January 1994, Official Report , columns 413- 14 , to include the relevant figures for 1993 94; what changes have been made to her Department's approval, monitoring and in-year reallocation procedures; to what extent such changes have contributed to any reduction in 1993 94 underspending; and whether there are reasons to expect either underspending or overspending to be reported for 1994 95.
Mr. Robin Squire: Details of aided school capital and repair grant budget provision, final outturn and percentage of underspend or overspend for the years 1990 91 to 1993 94 are as follows:
|Budget |Outturn |Per cent.
Year |£ million |£ million |under/overspend
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Repairs:
1990-91 |35 |41.8 |19 overspend
1991-92 |47.5 |49.1 |3 overspend
1992-93 |55 |36.8 |33 underspend
1993-94 |48 |37 |23 underspend
Capital:
1990-91 |71 |64 |10 underspend
1991-92 |84.2 |63.9 |24 underspend
1992-93 |96.6 |81.3 |16 underspend
1993-94 |84<1> |79.5 |<1>3 underspend
<1>£2 million was transferred in year to GM schools capital budget to meet
commitments for projects at voluntary aided schools which became
grant-maintained during the year. The percentage rate of underspend shown is
therefore based on a budget figure of £82 million.
A number of detailed changes have been introduced to the Department's internal procedures and these are being reviewed further in preparation for the introduction of a new computer system in the course of the next financial
Column 519
year. Administrative work relating to the approval of building projects has been moved from London to Darlington and integrated with the work of grant allocation and monitoring. A series of seminars has been held to improve LEA and voluntary bodies' understanding of the grants system and procedures that they must follow. The comments of seminar delegates on the existing system are being taken into account. Detailed written guidance setting out procedures will shortly be issued to schools, LEAs and voluntary bodies.In the current year the latest estimate is for a small overspend on the capital budget, balanced by a similar underspend on the repair budget, but my hon. Friend will be aware that a high proportion of grant falls to be paid near the end of the financial year. Allowing for the fact that the expenditure is responsive to demand, I believe that the procedural changes introduced over the last two years have made an important contribution to the reduced underspend in 1993 94 and to the improvement which is in prospect for the current year.
Education Information
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans she has to require privately operated schools (a) to provide and (b) to publish the same information as local authority schools are obliged to provide under the Publication of Information (Standards of Performance) direction 1994.
Mr. Forth: I am not aware of this direction. The proprietors of independent schools are required by the Education (School Performance Information) (England) Regulations 1994 to provide information identical to that provided by maintained schools for publication in the annual school and college performance tables.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Prisoners
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the offence for which each prisoner, at present being held in a special secure unit, was sentenced;
(2) how long each prisoner who was held in a special secure unit in prisons in England and Wales on 10 January has been held in such a unit.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 18 January 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the offences for which each prisoner at present being held in a Special Secure Unit was sentenced and how long those prisoners had been held in such a unit.
The information on the eight prisoners currently held in Special Secure Units is given below:
|Length of time in
|Special Secure Unit
Offences for which |at 10 January 1995
convicted
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Attempted Murder and Robbery |2 years
2. Importation of Drugs
3. Attempted Murder and Conspiracy to
Cause Explosions |1 years 3 months
4. Conspiracy to Cause Explosions and
Possession of Firearms and Explosives |3 years and 1 month
5. Attempted Murder (2 counts) and
Possession of Firearms |1 year 9 months
6. Possession of Explosives with Intent
and Conspiracy to Cause Explosions |2 months
7. Armed Robbery (2 counts), Using a
Firearm to Resist Arrest, Possession of a
Firearm with Intent, and Assault with
Intent to Resist Arrest |9 months
8. Possession of Firearms with Intent |1 year 10 months
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females remanded in custody in 1994 spent (i) up to one week, (ii) one to two weeks, (iii) two to four weeks, (iv) four to eight weeks, (v) eight weeks to three months, (vi) three to six months, (vii) six months to 12 months and (viii) over 12 months in prison before their case was concluded; how many were found not guilty in each section; and what were the figures for each year since 1990.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General for the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 18 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many (a) males and (b) females remanded in custody in 1994 spent (a) up to one week, (b) one to two weeks, (c) two to four weeks, (d) four to eight weeks, (e) eight weeks to three months, (f) three to six months, (g) six months to 12 months and (h) over 12 months in prison before their court case was concluded; how many were found guilty in each section; and what were the figures for each year since 1990.
The readily available information is given in the attached tables, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. I regret that no information is available on the numbers found not guilty.
Remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments on 30 June 1990: by length of time since first reception<1> England and Wales Number of persons<2> Length of time since first remand into a Prison Service |Males |Females establishment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All lengths |8,750 |350 Less than 1 week |800 |50 1 week |- |- More than 1 week up to and including 1 month |2,000 |100 More than 1 month up to and including 3 months |2,650 |100 More than 3 months up to and including 6 months |2,050 |100 More than 6 months up to and including 12 months |1,100 |50 More than 12 months |200 |- <1>Time since first reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment. This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes time spent in police cells beforehand. <2>Rounded estimates which therefore may not add to the totals.
Remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments on 30 June 1991: by length of time since first reception<1> England and Wales Number of persons<2> Length of time since first remand into a Prison Service |Males |Females establishment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All lengths |8,900 |400 Less than 1 week |1,000 |50 1 week |10 |- More than 1 week up to and including 1 month |2,050 |100 More than 1 month up to and including 3 months |2,850 |100 More than 3 months up to and including 6 months |1,800 |100 More than 6 months up to and including 12 months |1,000 |50 More than 12 months |200 |- <1>Time since first reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment. This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes time spent in police cells beforehand. <2>Rounded estimates which therefore may not add to the totals.
Remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments on 30 June 1992: by length of time since first reception<1> England and Wales Number of persons<2> Length of time since first remand into a Prison Service |Males |Females establishment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All lengths |9,200 |350 Less than 1 week |800 |50 1 week |100 |- More than 1 week up to and including 1 month |1,850 | 50 More than 1 month up to and including 3 months |3,150 |100 More than 3 months up to and including 6 months |2,000 | 50 More than 6 months up to and including 12 months |1,150 |50 More than 12 months |200 |- <1> Time since first reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment. This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes time spent in police cells beforehand. <2> Rounded estimates which therefore may not add to the totals.
Remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments on 30 June 1993: by length of time since first reception<1> England and Wales Number of persons<2> Length of time since first remand into a Prison Service |Males |Females establishment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All lengths |10,250 |400 Less than 1 week |850 |50 1 week |150 |- More than 1 week up to and including 1 month |2,100 | 100 More than 1 month up to and including 3 months |3,250 |150 More than 3 months up to and including 6 months |2,250 | 100 More than 6 months and up to and including 12 months |1,300 |40 Over 12 months |400 |10 <1>Time since first reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment. This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes time spent in police cells beforehand. <2>Rounded estimates which therefore may not add to the totals.
Remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments on 30 June 1994: by length of time since first reception<1> England and Wales Number of persons<2> Length of time since first remand into a Prison Service |Males |Females establishment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All lengths |12,150 |550 Less than 1 week |850 |50 1 week |150 |- More than 1 week up to and including 1 month |2,150 | 100 More than 1 month up to and including 3 months |3,800 |150 More than 3 months up to and including 6 months |2,550 | 100 More than 6 months up to and including 12 months |1,900 |100 More than 12 months |750 |50 <1>Time since first reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment. This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes time spent in police cells beforehand. <2>Rounded estimates which therefore may not add to the totals.
AIDS Advisory Service
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the recommendations made by the Prison Service AIDS advisory committee; and when he expects to respond.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: 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. Harry Cohen, dated 18 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about publishing the recommendations made by the Prison Service AIDS Advisory Committee.
The report of the Committee and its recommendations are extensive and require careful consideration. It is not yet possible to provide a response date.
A copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House once decisions on the recommendations have been reached.
HM Prison, Everthorpe
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the recommended establishment of inmates that HM Prison, Everthorpe should hold; what it was when the prison was opened; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will list by category the number of inmates held at HM Prison, Everthorpe on 2 January; what the figures were for each year since 1990: and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for these matter has been delegated to the Director General for the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 18 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about Everthorpe prison.
Everthorpe had previously held young offenders but was converted to hold 304 adult prisoners and re-opened in October 1991. In July 1994 a new education block was built and the original one converted into a hostel for up to 14 prisoners, bringing its
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potential capacity to 318. Between 1991 and 1994 work to upgrade the accommodation, including installing toilets in cells, meant that on average about 75 per cent. of the cells were usable.On 2 January this year there were 229 category C and 32 category D prisoners at Everthorpe. It is not possible to distinguish between those categories for earlier years. On the same date in each of the five years to 1994 the number of prisoners at Everthorpe was 344, 252, 169, 222 and 216 respectively.
The Home Secretary has already made a statement about Everthorpe prison in his speech of 10 January [Hansard Col. 31].
Drug Addicts
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each metropolitan borough council in south Yorkshire, how many children were identified as drug addicts in each year since 1988 by type of drug; and what assessment he has made of the incidence of drug addiction amongst children in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Under the Misuse of Drugs (Notification of and Supply to Addicts) Regulations 1973, doctors are required only to notify the Home Office if they attend persons they know, or have reasonable grounds to suspect, are addicted to cocaine or any of 13 opiate drugs. Since 1988, the Home Office has received only one such notification from south Yorkshire--Rotherham--for a child under the age of 16 which referred to an addiction to cocaine.
Diamorphine
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many doctors currently prescribe diamorphine for drug addicts in each metropolitan borough council in south Yorkshire; and what were the figures for each year since 1990.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Under the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs (Notification of and Supply to Addicts) Regulations 1973, as amended, doctors may be licensed to prescribe diamorphine in the treatment of addiction. Currently available records, from 1991 only, indicate that no applications have been received from doctors in any of the south Yorkshire metropolitan borough councils.
Europol Database
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the legal status of the proposed Europol large database in The Hague; by whom and by what mechanism it is controlled; what transfers of United Kingdom information and data to Europol are proposed; what proposals there are for inaccurate data to be accessed, challenged and corrected; what legislation is required to facilitate United Kingdom involvement in the project; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean: The Europol drugs unit in The Hague is based on the ministerial agreement signed by Ministers of the interior and justice in Copenhagen in June 1993. It has no central database. Negotiations are continuing on the draft convention, which will establish the full Europol. A draft text was submitted for scrutiny on 17 November 1994.
Prison Riots
Mrs Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where and when riots have occurred in
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prisons, over the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what has been the cost of repairing damage caused and of relocating prisoners in each case.Mr. Michael Forsyth: 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 Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 18 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the occurrence of riots in prisons over the last ten years and the cost of repairing damage caused and of relocating prisoners in each case.
The number of disturbances since 1984 are shown in the table below:
Year |Number --------------------------- 1984-85<1> |38 1985-86 |38 1986-87 |45 1987-88 |42 1988-89 |67 1989-90 |67 1990-91 |105 1991-92 |149 1992-93 |142 1993-94 |146 1994-13/1/95 |96 <1>For this year only the figures are for a 15 month period.
The attached tables provide details of:
(a) the more serious disturbances since 1988; and
(b) the cost of building repair work
We have been able to obtain detailed information on disturbances before June 1988.
In some cases where serious damage was caused, the opportunity was taken to refurbish beyond merely repairing the damage caused by a disturbance. This might mean refurbishing a complete wing or, in the case of Manchester, refurbishment of the whole prison. Where this occurred, it is shown on the table.
The cost involved in transferring prisoners to other establishments as a result of a serious disturbance is not available centrally.
|Cost of
|damage
Prison |£000 |Comments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 June 1988 to
31 March 1989
Hindley |0
Haverigg |217.8
Lindholme |100.8
Northeye |0 |Estimated cost £4.13m-prison
| closed
Whatton |0
Canterbury |0
1 April 1998 to
31 March 1990
Spring Hill |0.5
Risley |5,000 |Cost of replacing/refurbishing
| wing
Brixton |0
Kirklevington |10
1 April 1990 to
31 March 1991
Frankland |0
Blundeston |3.2
Manchester |25,000 |Excludes full refurbishment costs
Bristol |2,600
Cardiff |27.4
Pucklechurch |59.6
Dartmoor |185.6
Glen Parva |22.3
Portland |0.7
Stoke Heath |11.2
Norwich |0
Full Sutton |3.5
Acklington |11.4
Kirklevington |10
Acklington |1.5
Full Sutton |3
1 April 1991 to
31 March 1992
Full Sutton |22
Full Sutton |3
Norwich |5
Full Sutton |0
Frankland |20
Frankland |3
Lindholme |15
Moorland |196.1
Brinsford |58
Durham |19.7
Kirklevington |20
Haslar |0
Nottingham |0
Whitemoor |0
Wymott |150
1 April 1992 to
31 March 1993
Durham |5
Full Sutton |164.8 |Includes repairs from incident in
| 1991/92
Frankland |1
Full Sutton |1.3
Lindholme |3
Holme House |6.3
Moorland |22
Dartmoor |0
Highpoint |2.4
Reading |145
Wolds |5
Whitemoor |2.5
Acklington |5.2
Parkhurst |19.8
Leeds |75
Full Sutton |6
1 April 1993 to
31 March 1994
Wymott |5,000 |Excludes costs of rebuilding
| wings
Whitemoor |17
Wolds |23
Haverigg |1
Everthorpe |0
Styal |1.3
Acklington |1
Bullingdon |1
Whitemoor |0.6
Blakenhurst |25
Lindholme |2
1 April 1994 to
13 January 1995
The Verne |0
Styal |2.3
Haslar |0
Highpoint |1.5
Haslar |0
Guys Marsh |0
Everthorpe} |130 |Estimated
Everthorpe
Swaleside |1
Armed Response Units
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police authorities currently have armed response units;
(2) how many non-fatal injuries have resulted from the deployment of armed response units in each police authority area in each of the past five years;
(3) how many members of armed response units have been killed or injured in each police authority area in each of the last five years;
(4) how many deaths have resulted from the deployment of armed response units in each police authority area in each of the past five years;
(5) how many people have been killed or injured by police marksmen in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Maclean: The following information is available centrally. On 31 December 1993, 33 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales operated armed response vehicles. The number of people killed or injured as a result of shots fired by authorised police firearms officers, including armed response vehicle officers, in England and Wales between 1984 and 1993-- figures for 1994 are not yet available--was as follows:
|Killed |Injured
-----------------------------------------------------------
1984 |- |5
1985 |2 |2
1986 |no deaths or
| injuries
1987 |5 |6
1988 |- |3
1989
Metropolitan Police |2 |-
1990
Metropolitan Police |3 |-
1991
Cheshire |1 |-
Northumbria |1 |1
West Mercia |1 |-
Metropolitan Police |- |1
1992
Metropolitan Police |1 |3
West Yorkshire |1 |-
Suffolk |1 |-
Durham |- |1
Surrey |- |1
Sussex |- |1
South Yorkshire |- |1
1993
Kent |- |1
Devon and Cornwall |1 |-
Metropolitan Police |2 |1
The number of Metropolitan police armed response vehicle officers injured during the first three years the force operated these vehicles were one in 1991, none in 1992 and two in 1993. None was killed. Corresponding figures are not centrally available for the rest of England and Wales although statistics for notifiable offences in which a police officer on duty was injured by a firearm are set out in table 3A of the published criminal statistics for England and Wales 1993, Cmnd 2680.
News International
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the last two years immigration officials have visited or contacted the News International plant in Wapping; and what has been the outcome.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Details of contacts made with commercial organisations by the divisions and directorates in the immigration and nationality department of the Home Office are not collated centrally and the information requested is not, therefore available.
Immigration
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to amend his policy on family reunion for people granted exceptional leave to remain; and what representations he has received on this subject.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Representations have been received from the Refugee Council, United Nations Association and representatives of religious organisation, but we have no plans to amend our policy.
Police, Northumberland
Mr. Ronnie Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the ratio of police officers to (a) population and (b) crimes in the Northumberland police authority area.
Mr. Maclean: The report of Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary for 1993 gives a ratio of one police officer to every 399 persons in Northumbria.
Taking recorded crime for the year to June 1994 and force establishment at 30 June 1994, there were 58 crimes per police officer in Northumbria.
Prison Suicides
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suicides there were in prisons in each year since 1990.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General for the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Column 528
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 18 January 1995:The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your Question about suicides in prison.
Table one below gives the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales for the years 1990 to 1994 inclusive, and 1995 to 12 January.
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