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Prisons (Education)
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of Prison Service education facilities is provided by private contractors. [394]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 24 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what proportion of Prison Service education facilities is provided by private contractors.
There are currently separate contracts for the provision of education services at 123 Prison Service establishments and these are held by 46 different organisations. The great majority of these are colleges of further education, together with one university and three local authority education departments. Four contractors are constituted as private companies. These are Dartington Tech, Direct Training Services Ltd, Mill Wharf Education Services and Secure Education and Training (which is a wholly owned subsidiary of North Oxfordshire College). In addition, two of the four privately-managed prisons have private sector organisations providing the education services.
Private Security Firms
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details of private security firms under contract to his Department, indicating whether or not they are members of the industry's self-regulating organisations. [139]
Mr. Howard: The following private security firms are currently employed by my Department:
Armaguard Ltd.
Aviation Security Consultants
Burns International Security Services Ltd.
Care Security Systems Ltd.
Chubb Alarms Ltd.
Defenco Security Services
Group 4 Court Service Ltd.
Group 4 Prison Services Ltd.
Group 4 Securitas (Security Express)
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Group 4 Total Security Ltd.
Lisburn Security Services
Maritime Aviation Security Services
Premier Prison Services Ltd.
Reliance Security Service Ltd.
Scrottons Aviation Security
Securicor Custodial Services Ltd.
Securicor Ltd.
Securicor Security Services Ltd.
Securiguard Services Ltd.
Security Ulster Ltd.
Security Wales Ltd.
Sigma Security Ltd.
Shorrock Security Guards Ltd.
UK detention Services Ltd.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Terrorists
Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list those convicted terrorists who will be released from Ulster's jails before Christmas as a result of changes in remission rules, indicating the crime they were convicted of and the length of sentence imposed. [64]
Sir John Wheeler: Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Northern Ireland Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. Alan Shannon. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. D. Shannon to Rev. Ian Paisley, dated 23 November 1995.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to this Parliamentary Question in which you asked for a list of convicted terrorists who will be released before Christmas as a result of changes in remission rules.
It remains our policy not to divulge information about individual prisoners and their crimes but I can advise you that it is anticipated that 94 prisoners who were convicted of scheduled offences will be released on licence before Christmas 1995 as a result of the changes in remission rules brought in by the Northern Ireland (Remission of Sentence) Act 1995.
I hope this information is helpful.
Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what proposals he has to improve the quality of the buildings in the Belfast institute of further and higher education; [1111]
(2) when the Belfast Institute of further and higher education commissioned an economic appraisal to address the institute's most pressing accommodation needs in accordance with his request; what were its findings, and what action has been taken. [1112]
Mr. Ancram: The Belfast education and library board completed a major review of the institute's accommodation needs in 1991 which produced a preferred option of a new building on a new site at a cost of some
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£70 million. Because of the magnitude of this proposal, the board was asked to examine how the accommodation needs could be provided on a phased basis. An economic appraisal to address the most pressing accommodation needs is currently being prepared by the board and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Health Spending
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will itemise how much (a) NHS trusts, (b) general practitioner fundholders, (c) regional health authorities and (d) district health authorities spent on health care from non-NHS providers in each year since 1991-92 in each region. [2416]
Mr. Moss: In Northern Ireland integrated health and personal social services are supplied by health boards, health and social services trusts and general practitioner fundholders.
| NHSSB £ | SHSSB £ | EHSSB £ | WHSSB £ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-93 | 377,056 | 159,871 | 4,876,322 | 364,100 |
| 1993-94 | 279,013 | 172,350 | 3,177,081 | 820,278 |
| 1994-95 | 65,190 | 631,752 | 2,693,070 | 1,143,911 |
The accounts of health and social services boards were revised in 1992-93 to take account of the separation of the purchaser/provider functions. Consequently, the information in the table on expenditure is not available prior to this date. The first six health and social services trusts in Northern Ireland were established with effect from 1 April 1993, a further seven trusts were established with effect from 1 April 1994. The accounts of the trusts, within each board area, indicated expenditure on purchases from non-NHS/HPSS providers as follows:
| 1993-94 £ | 1994-95 £ | |
|---|---|---|
| Northern area | Nil | Nil |
| Southern area | Nil | 4,048 |
| Eastern area | Nil | 36,509 |
| Western area | Nil | Nil |
General practitioner fundholders' expenditure on the purchase of health and personal social services from non-NHS/HPSS providers was as follows:
| 1994-95 | |
|---|---|
| £ | |
| Northern area | 86,518 |
| Southern area | 1,067 |
| Eastern area | 165,510 |
| Western area | 67,769 |
Prior to 1994-95 the accounts of general practitioner fundholders did not separately record expenditure on purchases from non-NHS/HPSS providers. Consequently, the information in the table on purchase is not available prior to this date.
24 Nov 1995 : Column: 385
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Spiro Family
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will ask the consul general in Los Angeles if he might be prepared to interview Mr. Alain and Mr. Arthur Ivy on the question of what knowledge they have as to the circumstances surrounding the death of the Spiro family. [2073]
Mr. Hanley: It is for the United States police authorities to conduct any interviews relevant to the incident.
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the consul general in Los Angeles has, within the last eight weeks, asked the San Diego county sheriff when he intends to release the medical examiners' report into the circumstances surrounding the death of the Spiro family in the United States of America. [2072]
Mr. Hanley: Consular officials in Los Angeles requested copies of the police and autopsy reports on 19 October following the conclusion of police investigations. We expect them in the next few weeks.
Sri Lanka
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's current policy on the sale of military equipment to Sri Lanka; when the latest embargo was lifted; and what considerations underlay this action. [2070]
Mr. Hanley: We maintain strict controls on all exports of military equipment to Sri Lanka. We examine each case on its merits, paying particular attention to the Sri Lankan Government's human rights record. A total embargo on arms sales to Sri Lanka was lifted in October 1992, following evidence that the Sri Lankan Government had improved their human rights record.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to ban the sale of arms to Sri Lanka. [2051]
Mr. Hanley: We maintain strict controls on all exports of military equipment to Sri Lanka. We examine each case on its merits, paying particular attention to the Sri Lankan Government's human rights record, and bearing in mind their right to defend themselves against military attack.
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