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Prison Accommodation

Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of prisoners sharing three to a cell designed for one in each month this year. [9104]

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. George Howarth, dated 18 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners sharing three to a cell designed for one this year.

No prisoners have been required to share three to a cell designed for one this year. There have been no prisoners held three to a cell designed for one since March 1994.

Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of prisoners sharing two to a cell designed for one in each month this year. [9102]

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 746

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. George Howarth, dated 18 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners sharing two to a cell designed for one in each month this year.

The information is given in the attached table.

Months	Number of prisoners sharing two to a cell designed for one
January 1996	8,448
February 1996	9,256
March 1996	8,626
April 1996	8,324
May 1996	8,430
June 1996	9,202
July 1996	9,236
August 1996	8,726
September 1996	8,938
October 1996	10,120

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 747

Shooting Clubs

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he plans to publish guidance concerning the criteria which shooting clubs must meet to obtain licences under the Firearms (Amendment) Bill; [8907]

(2) if he will place in the Library a draft of the criteria for the granting of licences to shooting clubs under the Firearms (Amendment) Bill; and if he will provide all shooting clubs with a copy of the draft criteria; [8917]

(3) what period of time he intends to allow to shooting clubs to comply with section 16 of the Firearms (Amendment) Bill; and what estimate he has made of the average period required to obtain planning and building regulation approvals for changes to club premises. [8918]

Miss Widdecombe: The requirements for the licensed pistol clubs envisaged by the Bill are being drafted. I will seek the views of the Firearms Consultative Committee and the British Shooting Sports Council on them, and will place the draft in the Library. My Department will publish the new requirements when they have been finalised and will also ensure that all existing shooting clubs that are approved under section 15 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 are informed of them.

A shooting club that wishes to have a licence under clause 16 of the Bill will be able to apply for that at any time after the Bill has come into force. The time it will take for clubs to obtain any necessary building consents will depend on individual circumstances.

Prison Assaults

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average assault rate in each prison during the first six months of the current financial year. [9109]

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. George Howarth, dated 18 December 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the average assault rate in each prison during the first six months of the current financial year.

Annualised assault rates for each prison for the period April to September 1996 are given in the attached table. The number of assaults has been annualised and then expressed as a proportion of the average population for that period.

Establishment	Assault rate
	Percentage
Acklington	3
Albany	1
Aldington	3
Ashwell	5
Askham Grange	2
Aylesbury	28
Bedford	6
Belmarsh	23
Birmingham	8
Blakenhurst	11
Blantyre House	0
Blundeston	9
Brinsford	23
Bristol	9
Brixton	12
Brockhill	0
Buckley Hall	4
Bullingdon	13
Bullwood Hall	49
Camp Hill	2
Canterbury	4
Cardiff	10
Castington	23
Channings Wood	2
Chelmsford	9
Coldingley	2
Cookham Wood	23
Dartmoor	6
Deerbolt	19
Doncaster	21
Dorchester	11
Dover	24
Downview	1
Drake Hall	1
Durham	6
East Sutton Park	0
Eastwood Park	39
Elmley	10
Erlestoke	4
Everthorpe	1
Exeter	9
Featherstone	5
Feltham	42
Ford	0
Frankland	11
Full Sutton	8
Garth	6
Gartree	2
Glen Parva	27
Gloucester	30
Grendon	1
Guy's Marsh	6
Haslar	1
Hatfield	5
Haverigg	0
Hewell Grange	0
Highdown	9
Highpoint	5
Hindley	26
Hollesley Bay	13
Holloway	25
Holme House	6
Hull	24
Huntercombe	15
Kingston	0
Kirkham	1
Kirklevington	0
Lancaster	3
Lancaster Farms	20
Latchmere House	0
Leeds	10
Leicester	14
Lewes	15
Leyhill	0
Lincoln	6
Lindholme	1
Littlehey	5
Liverpool	5
Long Lartin	9
Low Newton	28
Maidstone	0
Manchester	8
Moorland	17
Morton Hall	1
Mount	3
New Hall	25
North Sea Camp	0
Northallerton	15
Norwich	14
Nottingham	6
Onley	19
Parkhurst	9
Pentonville	10
Portland	10
Preston	9
Ranby	2
Reading	24
Risley	6
Rochester	11
Send	1
Shepton Mallet	5
Shrewsbury	1
Stafford	8
Standford Hill	1
Stocken	3
Stoke Heath	19
Styal	7
Sudbury	1
Swaleside	5
Swansea	10
Swinfen Hall	19
Thorn Cross	20
Usk	0
Verne	1
Wakefield	3
Wandsworth	6
Wayland	0
Wealstun (Closed)	2
Wellingborough	3
Werrington	88
Wetherby	13
Whatton	1
Whitemoor	18
Winchester	6
Wolds	14
Woodhill	9
Wormwood Scrubs	9
Wymott	1

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 749

Contracting Out

Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy for depositing in the Library documents concerning the contracting out of services; how many documents have been deposited in the Library since 1992 in the categories (a) invitation to tender, (b) draft contracts and (c) binding contracts signed by both parties; how many draft contracts contain performance targets for the contractor; and in how many cases a draft contract has been altered as a result of representations from hon. Members following deposition in the Library. [8915]

Mr. Howard: It is not general policy to deposit documents concerning the contracting out of services in the Library, but invitations to tender and contracts for both design, construction, management and finance schemes and the operation of prisons are placed in the Library, subject to the removal of pricing and other commercially sensitive details.

Since 1992, four invitations to tender, relating to Her Majesty's prisons Wolds, Blakenhurst, Buckley Hall and Doncaster, and six contracts, relating to Her Majesty's

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 750

prisons Wolds, Blakenhurst, Buckley Hall, Doncaster, Bridgend and Fazakerley, have been deposited in the Library.

All Home Office contracts specify the level of service required and, in appropriate cases, performance targets.

No draft contracts have been deposited, or altered as a result of representation from hon. Members.

Prisoner Transfers

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the implementation of the recommendations of the interdepartmental working group chaired by Lord Ferrers in respect of the transfer of prisoners from prisons in Great Britain to similar institutions in Northern Ireland. [9688]

Miss Widdecombe: In his statement of 23 November 1992, the then Minister of State indicated that the Government had accepted in full the recommendations of the interdepartmental working group, and set out the arrangements which would apply to the transfer of prisoners between jurisdictions. These have worked satisfactorily and have been upheld in judicial review hearings. There is regular contact between officials in Great Britain and Northern Ireland about the implementation of the transfer arrangements, about which Ministers are kept fully informed. My right hon. and learned Friend has reviewed the current legal provisions relating to transfers and has made provision in the Crime (Sentences) Bill, currently before Parliament, for changes to these, as recommended by the interdepartmental working group.

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