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Small Firms
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firms with fewer than (a) 100, (b) 50, (c) 20 and (d) 10 employees were used by his Department in each of the last five years. [29440]
Mr. Howard: The information required to answer this question is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Performance Bonds
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's policy on the use of performance bonds; in what circumstances they are used; what was the total sum paid by bond in each of the last five years; and if his Department requires bonds from businesses with under (a) 100, (b) 50 and (c) 20 employees. [29422]
Mr. Howard: My Department follows advice on the use of performance bonds which is set out in the central unit on procurement's guidance note No. 48, "Bonds and guarantees", copies of which are available in the Library. This guidance makes clear that bonds are no substitute for considered judgments about the risks of a particular contract and the capabilities and financial resources of the available contractor.
My Department has not received any payments from performance bonds in the last five years.
Goods and Services
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department paid to the private sector for goods and services in 1995-96. [29455]
Mr. Howard: Information for 1995-96 in the form requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. A new accounting system, introduced from 1 April, should provide a means to answer such questions in the future.
European Year Against Racism
Mr. Bernie Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's policy regarding the European Commission's proposal for a Council decision designating 1997 as European Year Against Racism. [29943]
Mr. Kirkhope: The United Kingdom has expressed its support in principle for a European Year Against Racism. We are now discussing with other member states of the European Union how this can best be taken forward.
Ballot Papers
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discretionary powers are available to those responsible for the local administration of (a) local government, (b) general and (c) European elections to (i) issue copies of appropriate ballot papers to
20 May 1996 : Column: 21
electors together with poll cards and (ii) arrange for the symbols of the main political parties to be displayed on ballot papers; and if he will make a statement. [29748]
Mr. Sackville: Under current electoral legislation
- (i) there is nothing to prevent a returning officer from issuing a poll card together with a postal ballot paper for local, parliamentary or European parliamentary elections to an elector who is an absent voter and entitled to vote by post as proxy at the election; we understand, however, that because of different timing requirements this is not normal practice;
(ii) there are no discretionary powers available to returning officers to add party political symbols to the ballot paper.
Scientists and Engineers
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 11 March, Official Report, column 442, how many professional scientists and engineers of each category were employed at each grade in each of his Department's agencies in each year since 1991. [29837]
Mr. Howard: No professional scientists or engineers have been employed by the UK Passport Agency or the Fire Service College in the period in question. The numbers of staff in these categories in the Prison Service and the Forensic Science Service are set out in the following tables. Figures are not available in the form requested for 1991 and 1992, nor in the case of the Prison Service for 1993.
| Grade | Discipline | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Forensic science | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |
| 7 | 60 | -- | -- | -- | |
| Senior scientific officer | 139 | -- | -- | -- | |
| Higher scientific officer | 154 | -- | -- | -- | |
| Scientific officer | 104 | -- | -- | -- | |
| Assistant scientific officer | 85 | -- | -- | -- | |
| -- | Senior forensic scientist | -- | 196 | 196 | 187 |
| -- | Forensic scientist | -- | 141 | 155 | 154 |
| -- | Assistant forensic scientist | -- | 206 | 177 | 269 |
| Total | -- | 548 | 553 | 538 | 618 |
| Grade | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineer Grade 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Engineer senior professional and technology officer | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Engineer higher professional and technology officer | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Engineer professional and technology officer | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| Engineer chemical SPTO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Engineer civil Grade 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Engineer civil SPTO | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Engineer civil HPTO | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Engineer civil PTO | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Engineer electrical PTO | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Engineer electronic Grade 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engineer electronic SPTO | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engineer electronic HPTO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Engineer mechanical PTO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Engineer mechanical SPTO | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Engineer mechanical HPTO | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Engineer mechanical Grade 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Engineer production Grade 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Engineer production PTO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Telecommunications HPTO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Telecommunications PTO | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mechanical and electrical SPTO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mechanical and electrical HPTO | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mechanical and electrical PTO | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Pharmaceutical SPTO | 25 | 26 | 32 |
| Pharmaceutical PTO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 71 | 75 | 86 |
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Lockerbie
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the implications for the Lockerbie investigation of developments at the forensic science laboratory in Kent. [29972]
Mr. Howard: An independent scientific review is to be conducted by Professor Brian Caddy which will consider the instances where contamination might have taken place from the particular centrifuge in question. It would be quite wrong to attempt to pre-empt the results of that review by indulging in speculation concerning what those results might be. It is a matter of public record that residues of both RDX and PETN, which are components of a high performance plastic explosive, Semtex, were identified in debris from the Lockerbie disaster by the forensic explosive laboratory. I understand from my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate that the evidence which forms the basis of the charges against the two Libyans does not depend on the identification of the high performance plastic explosive which destroyed the aircraft at Lockerbie.
Prison Service (Performance)
Dame Angela Rumbold: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Prison Service will publish its plans for 1996 to 1999; and what key performance indicators will measure the service's performance in 1996-97. [30446]
Miss Widdecombe: The Prison Service is today publishing its plan for 1996-99. The six strategic objectives of the period are:
- (1) to achieve unit cost reductions of 10.2 per cent. and to contain capital spending by encouraging greater private sector involvement while maintaining the balance between security, control, purposeful regimes, and support for staff.
(2) To sustain a permanent step improvement in performance on escapes, building on what we achieved in 1995-96; in particular to complete the programme of work to enhance security for category A and high profile category B prisoners, and to achieve a significant reduction in escapes from escorts.
20 May 1996 : Column: 23
- (3) To maintain control and a safe environment for staff and prisoners in the face of cost reductions and operational pressures; specifically, to carry through work on incentives, the drugs strategy and prevention of suicide.
(4) To maintain balanced regimes which support control and include affordable, effective activities to reduce risk of re-offending.
(5) To meet basic health care needs of the population, and to target particularly the transfer of mentally ill prisoners to hospital.
(6) To strengthen effectiveness of staff at all levels and specifically to increase the effectiveness of financial controls and systems.
With the agreement of colleagues in the Treasury and the Office of Public Service, as required by the Prison Service framework document, we have decided to make changes to the service's key performance indicators.
These changes aim to:
These are:
20 May 1996 : Column: 24
unlocking only for eight or nine hours. There will be an increased target for purposeful activity of 26.5 hours per week for 1996-97, compared with 25.5 hours per week for 1995-96.
In addition, the plan will include additional performance information covering:
For 1996-97, we have decided that the service should drop two of its existing key performance indicators.
recognise that the service has achieved some of its key performance targets in full;
reflect the emerging priorities for the service in the coming years; and
take account of the recommendations made by Sir John Learmont on performance indicators.
In their place, the service has three new KPIs covering:
KPI4 (access to sanitation): the service achieved its target of ensuring that all prisoners have 24-hour access to sanitation on 12 April 1996; and
KP 7 (access to minimum visits): all prisoners have had the opportunity to exceed the minimum visiting entitlement for the last two years, so KPI7 has been fully achieved.
We have also decided that the service's existing KPI on time unlocked should be amended. Currently, this measures the proportion of prisoners held in establishments that unlock all prisoners for at least 12 hours per weekday. The director general has advised me that some establishments have experienced problems, including drugs trafficking and intimidation of vulnerable prisoners, where prisoners are unlocked in the evenings without constructive activities being available to keep them occupied. We judge a lower threshold to be more appropriate, but with an increased target for purposeful activity. Therefore, from 1996-97, the KPI will measure the proportion of prisoners who are held in establishments that unlock all prisoners on standard or enhanced regimes for more than 10 hours per weekday. This will maintain pressure for improvement in those establishments
the proportion of random drug tests that prove positive. This new indicator was recommended by Sir John Learmont and will measure the service's performance in achieving one of its key priorities, dealing with drug abuse in prisons;
the number of prisoners who complete programmes accredited as being likely to reduce the risk of re-offending. This new indicator will measure the service's performance in fulfilling one of its primary functions: preparing prisoners for release;
the number of days per year staff spend in training. This new indicator was recommended by Sir John Learmont. It will encourage the service to improve its performance on staff training, which in turn will lead to improvements in performance across the board.
Taken together, these changes will give the Prison Service a challenging set of targets across the range of its activities while allowing it to focus on its top priorities of custody, control, tackling drug abuse and working to reduce re-offending.
a breakdown of assaults showing separately those on staff and on prisoners and others;
the number and distribution of self-inflicted deaths
staff turnover and sickness rates; and
the rate of reduction in the headquarters overhead.
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