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Prisons (Standing Orders)

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the current prison standing orders which apply to prisons in England and Wales; and which public officials are denied access to prisons for inspection purposes under those standing orders. [9166]

Miss Widdecombe: 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. Max Madden, dated 16 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about whether a copy of prison standing orders will be placed in the library of the House, and which public officials are denied access to prisons for inspection purposes under those standing orders.

16 Dec 1996 : Column: 453

Copies of the current standing orders have already been placed in the library of the House. There is nothing in those orders which deny access to public officials who duties legitimately necessitate visiting a prison for the purposes of inspection.

Patrick Christopher Lynch

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when an application by Patrick Christopher Lynch detained at HMP Parkhurst to be repatriated to the Republic of Ireland was received; when the application was referred to the appropriate authorities in the Republic; what response has been received; when he expects a decision to be made; and if he will make a statement. [9175]

Miss Widdecombe: A request for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland, made by Christopher Lynch, was received at Prison Service headquarters on 17 April 1996. Requests are decided only after consideration of all relevant information by the two states concerned. An initial decision on whether to refer Mr. Lynch's repatriation request to the appropriate authorities in the Republic of Ireland will be made once all the relevant information requested has been received and considered.

Prisoners (Needle Sharing)

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received, in each of the last three years, and the current year to date, about the extent of needle sharing between HIV positive and other prisoners in prisons in England and Wales. [9167]

Miss Widdecombe: 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. Max Madden, dated 16 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about reports received in each of the last three years and the current year to date, about the extent of needle sharing between HIV positive and other prisoners in prisons in England and Wales.

There have been no reports of incidents of needle sharing between HIV prisoners and other prisoners in prisons in England and Wales during the current year or the previous three years.

Prison Medical Service

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the expenditure on the prison medical service for the current year; what is the projected expenditure over each of the next three years; and what proportion of such expenditure is devoted to the costs of drug treatment. [9169]

Miss Widdecombe: 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. Max Madden, dated 16 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what is the expenditure on the Prison Medical Service for the current year; what is the projected expenditure over each of the next three years; and what proportion of such expenditure is devoted to the costs of drug treatment.

16 Dec 1996 : Column: 454

The delivery of the health care to prisoners in accordance with set standards has been devolved to prison establishments. Governors must therefore allocated appropriate resources from within their establishment budgets. For this reason it is not possible centrally to differentiate health care staff cost from the overall Prison Service budget, nor forecast precise future expenditure.

The expenditure for specialist services and medical suppliers is however known, and for the last financial year is set out in the attached table.
Health care expenditure 1995-96

	£ million
Locums	4.15
Dentist	1.90
Opticians	0.47
Psychiatrists	1.44
Medical/pharmacy supplies	4.45
Total	12.42




For drug treatment and testing initiatives, the following money was secured from the 1995 Public Expenditure Survey.




				£ million
	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1990-00
Testing	4,880	6,090	7,340	7,340
Treatment	5,440	5,571	5,710	5,710
Total	10,320	11,661	13,050	13,050




These monies are in addition to that already being spent by prisons on existing rehabilitation programmes.

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons Dr. Rosemary Wool's appointment as chief medical officer of the prison medical service ended; when Dr. Wool left the service; and if he will make a statement. [9204]

Mr. Howard: Dr. Wool was due to retire on her 60th birthday, the normal retirement age for Home Office employees. As arrangements to find a successor had not been completed by then, Dr. Wool was granted an eight month extension of service and retired on 31 March 1996. A permanent successor has yet to be appointed and the post is currently filled on a temporary basis.

Prisoners (Northern Ireland)

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the denial of (a) compassionate leave and (b) normal parole facilities to prisoners detained in Northern Ireland on temporary transfer. [9170]

Miss Widdecombe: Representations are received occasionally from various sources, including prisoners, legal representatives, hon. Members, Members of the European Parliament and the public, about applications from prisoners for compassionate temporary release and parole. Some of these concern prisoners temporarily transferred to prisons in Northern Ireland.

Bradford Riots (Inquiry Evidence)

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the evidence submitted by an official in his Department to the Bradford commission inquiring into matters in the aftermath of the Bradford riots. [9178]

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Mr. Kirkhope: Yes. A copy has now been placed in the Library.

Category A Women Prisoners

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category A women are in (a) Holloway and (b) Belmarsh prisons (i) on remand and (ii) after conviction; and how many ae pregnant. [9273]

Miss Widdecombe: 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. Peter Bottomley, dated 16 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about Category A women in Holloway and Belmarsh prisons.

On 12 December 1996 there were three Category A women in Holloway prison and none in Belmarsh prison. Of those in Holloway prison two were convicted and one unconvicted. The unconvicted prisoner is known to be pregnant.

Category A Remandees

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category A remandees have subsequently been granted bail before court hearings during the last five years. [9275]

Miss Widdecombe: 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. Peter Bottomley, dated 16 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of category A prisoners who have subsequently been granted bail before court hearings during the last five years.

The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Telephone Tapping

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many office telephone taps have been authorised by chief constables in each of the constabularies in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement; [8858]

(2) what is his policy in respect of decisions by chief constables to tap the office telephones of senior employees of police authorities. [8857]

Mr. Howard: The interception of a communication in the course of its transmission by a public telecommunications system requires a warrant issued by the Secretary of State under the Interception of Communications Act 1985. A decision by a chief constable to monitor calls on a private telephone system operated by the police is not covered by the 1985 Act; such a decision is an operational matter for the chief

16 Dec 1996 : Column: 456

constable concerned. There is no central record of such authorisations and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for The Home Department, what notification he received of the decision of the chief constable of Merseyside to tap the office telephone of Ms Alison Halford when employed by the Merseyside Police Authority; and if he will make a statement. [8856]

Mr. Howard: It is not the practice of the Government to confirm or deny allegations that interception has taken place in any particular case. Any decision by a chief constable to monitor calls on a private telecommunications system operated by the police is an operational matter which would not require notification to the Home Office.

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