| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
HOME DEPARTMENT
Prisons (Mechanical Restraints)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since January 1990 inmates at Her Majesty's Prison, Holloway, have been (a) detained in a strip cell and (b) restrained by body belts for (i) medical or (ii) non-medical purposes. [8440]
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. Martin Redmond, dated 22 January 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of occasions inmates at Holloway prison have been detained in a strip cell and restrained by bodybelts for medical or non-medical purposes.
Mr. McMaster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he intends to issue to (a) departments (b) executive agencies, (c) non-departmental public bodies and (d) outside
22 Jan 1996 : Column: 54
bodies and arm's-length organisations which he has responsibility for, or an interest in, regarding the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995; and if he will make a statement. [9221]
Mr. Howard:
I refer to the reply to the hon. Member's question given on 15 January 1996, Official Report, column 417, by my hon. Friend the Minister for Disabled People. I, too, will ensure that my Department and bodies for which it is responsible are made aware of their responsibilities under the Act.
Mr. Steinberg:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the total cost of, and reasons for, replacing the locks at Her Majesty's prison, Frankland; [9266]
Miss Widdecombe:
Responsibility for these matters 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 A. J. Pearson to Mr. Gerry Steinberg, dated 22 January 1996:
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the helplines, or schemes which include a helpline service, for which his Department provides any funding, stating which are (a) independent organisations, (b) run by his Department or agencies of his Department or (c) of another classification; how many calls each received in each of the last five years; and how much money each received from his Department in each of the last five years. [9804]
Mr. Howard:
My Department funds a number of telephone inquiry lines which the public can ring for advice. It has not been possible in all cases to attribute costs, but details which are readily available are as follows:
22 Jan 1996 : Column: 53
The number of occasions since January 1990 that prisoners have been restrained are shown in the attached tables.
Year Non-medical
1990 9
1991 1
1992 13
1993 13
1994 17
1995 14
Year Medical Non-medical
1990 0 0
1991 0 0
1992 0 0
1993 0 0
1994 0 1
1995 1 1
(2) where the master key to the locks of Her Majesty's Prison Frankland was found. [9265]
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions about the replacement of the locks at Frankland prison.
The keys to the security locks of Frankland prison were compromised by the loss of a cell key. In the circumstances it was decided to replace all cell locks and other pass locks in use in the prison.
The cost of locks and labour in fitting them was £93,500. The missing key has not yet been found.
| Calls | Funding | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helpline | Run by | Year | Number | Year | £ |
| The National Volunteering Helpline(11) | Independent company | 1995 | 14,000 | 1995 | 130,000 |
| The Prison Service Victim Helpline(12) | Agency | 1994 1995 | 24 238 | 1994 1995 | (13)9,000 12,000 |
| Prisoner Location Service | Agency | 1993 1994 1995 | 48,000 60,000 68,000 | 1995 | (14)60,000 |
| UK Passport Agency inquiry lines | Agency | 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 | 1.5 million 1.5 million 1.6 million 2.1 million 2.3 million | 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 | 750,000 760,000 800,000 890,000 910,000 |
| Immigration and Nationality telephone inquiry bureau | Department | 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 | (15)358,000 395,000 436,000 458,000 501,000 | -- -- -- -- -- | -- -- -- -- -- |
| Nationality Directorate telephone inquiry bureau | Department | 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 | 205,080 202,000 225,000 240,000 218,000 | (16)140,000 | -- -- -- -- -- |
| Office of the Data Protection Registrar inquiries line | NDPB | 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 | 38,000 42,000 44,000 48,000 66,000 | -- -- -- -- -- | -- -- -- -- -- |
(11) Commenced 1 March 1995. The helpline is run by Network Scotland with a grant from the Home Office.
(12) Commenced 5 December 1994. Excludes additional running costs of £4,000-£5,000 incurred as a one-off basis in the first four and a half months of the service only.
(13) Includes start-up costs of £8,000.
(14) Estimated cost for 1995. In previous years separate costs have not been recorded.
(15) Figures do not include recorded messages.
(16) Estimated cost for 1995. In previous years separate costs have not been recorded.
22 Jan 1996 : Column: 55
22 Jan 1996 : Column: 55
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public response he has made to the publication by Amnesty International last June of "Playing Human Pinball-Home Office Practice in Safe Third Country Asylum Cases"; if he will place copies in the Library of letters he has sent to Amnesty International in reply to letters from it concerning matters contained in the pamphlet; and if he will make a statement. [10660]
Mr. Kirkhope: My predecessor wrote to Mr. David Bull, director of Amnesty International, on 27 July in response to this report. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Library.
Mr. Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average time taken by his Department to reach substantive decisions on asylum applications lodged since the coming into force of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993, when applications are made (a) at a port of entry, (b) by persons given leave to enter the United Kingdom for a limited period and (c) by persons liable to removal as illegal entrants; [10080]
- (2) what is the average time taken by his Department between receipt of an asylum application under the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 and the carrying out of substantive interview with the asylum seeker when applications are made (a) at a port of entry, (b) by persons given leave to enter the United Kingdom for a limited period and (c) by persons liable to removal as illegal entrants. [10081]
Mr. Kirkhope: Information on the average time taken during 1995 to reach a substantive decision on those asylum applications submitted after the implementation of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 is given in the table. Reliable information on the time between application date and interview date is not held centrally.
22 Jan 1996 : Column: 56
| Average decision time | |
|---|---|
| 1995 | Months |
| Port cases | 8.6 |
| In-country cases previously granted leave to enter(18) | 13.4 |
| Illegal entrants | 7.6 |
| All cases decided(19) | 9.5 |
(17) Excludes without foundation refusals and refusals under paragraph 340 of immigration rules.
(18) Includes those who applied after deportation action had been initiated.
(19) Excludes those cases where the applicant's immigration status was unknown at the time of application.
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library all material issued on behalf of Her Majesty's Government to the UN human rights committee concerning the appeal rights of asylum seekers. [10623]
Mr. Kirkhope: The fourth periodic report by the United Kingdom to the committee, dated October 1994, which included a description of asylum appeal rights under the 1993 Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act, is already available in the Library. The committee's record of oral evidence by United Kingdom officials to the committee on 21 July 1995 about the report will be placed in the Library when it becomes available.
Mr. Marlow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the Tamil asylum seekers arriving in the United Kingdom on 13 February 1989 (a) have been repatriated and (b) have been given leave to remain or are remaining in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [10460]
Mr. Kirkhope: The information requested is not readily available.
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the Home Office circular dated 13 January 1994 setting out the circumstances in which the Home Office may exercise its
22 Jan 1996 : Column: 57
discretion and consider asylum cases substantively in potential safe third country cases. [10661]
Mr. Kirkhope: I have done so today.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |