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Sheep Annual Premium
Mr. David Nicholson:
To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many representations his Department has received since 1 January 1996, relating to application forms allegedly
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completed and sent, but not received by his Department for (a) sheep annual premium and (b) other grants administered by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [16168]
Mr. Boswell:
The information requested is not held centrally and could be extracted locally only at disproportionate cost.
Prison Escort Services
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what procedures exist to monitor the number of hours worked in one session of work by drivers employed by firms contracted to carry out prison escort services; [15153]
- (2) what checks are carried out on the (a) health and (b) character of drivers employed by firms contracted to carry out prison escort services; and what procedures are used to monitor these factors; [15151]
(3) what limits are placed on the number of hours worked per shift by drivers employed by firms contracted to carry out prison escort services. [15150]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for these matters 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 February 1997:
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Mr. Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each current contract for prison escort services indicating (a) the company, (b) the value of the contract, (c) its area of operation and (d) its duration. [15152]
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.
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The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about drivers employed by private sector companies who are responsible for escorting prisoners.
Most prisoner movements under escort are to and from court and are now virtually all undertaken by specialist court escort contractors.
The contracts require full compliance with the provisions of relevant Road Traffic and Road Safety legislation. Each company is required to hold an Operator's Licence and its procedures and records are subject to inspection by the Department of Transport. There is no additional routine inspection by court escort monitors of the hours worked by drivers or of their shift patterns although such records must be made available on request.
The health of drivers is primarily a matter for the contractor, both on recruitment and subsequently, although again there is an overriding requirement to comply with all relevant legislation. Drivers of the larger vehicles must hold Passenger Carrying Vehicle Licences (PCVs).
Drivers employed by companies contracted to provide a court escort service must be certificated as Prisoner Custody Officers under the Criminal Justice Act 1991. This involves such enquiries as are deemed necessary into the background and character of each applicant. Without such certification employment cannot commence. The provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act do not apply.
There are also contracts issued for the provision of vehicles and drivers for the transportation of prisoners for other purposes. These too reflect the need to comply with all appropriate legislation.
| Area | Contractor | Start | Final phase | End(19) | Value(20) £ million | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Wales and south-west England | Reliance custodial services | 1 April 1996 | 1 October 1996 | 30 September 2003 | 60 |
| 2 | South and south-east England | Premier prison services | 6 May 1996 | 1 November 1996 | 31 October 2003 | 61 |
| 3 | London Metropolitan | Securicor custodial services | 1 June 1994 | 26 June 1995 | 30 June 1999 | (21)92 |
| 4 | East Anglia | Group 4 court services | 1 July 1995 | 1 January 1996 | 31 December 2000 | 42 |
| 5 | West Midlands and central Wales | Group 4 court services | 3 June 1996 | 2 December 1996 | 1 December 2003 | 51 |
| 6 | North Wales and north-west England | Group 4 court services | 7 August 1995 | 5 February 1996 | 4 February 2001 | 65 |
| 7 | East Midlands and Humberside | Group 4 court services | 5 April 1993 | --(22) | 4 April 1998 | (23)45 |
| 8 | North England | Group 4 court services | 7 April 1997 | 7 July 1998 | 6 July 2004 | (24)49 |
Notes:
(19) This is the end date for the contract, however, all contracts include options for an extension up to a maximum duration of 14 years.
(20) The value is the estimated total value for the initial duration of the contract based on first year prices.
(21) The value of the Securicor contract for area 3 takes account of a re-resourcing activity which took place before the end of phase 1.
(22) The area 7 contract was not phased in, full operation commenced on the start date.
(23) Area 7 was the first contract and included a facility for the resource levels to be reassessed after implementation. The value takes account of this re-resourcing exercise.
(24) The area 8 contract includes a non mandatory option for establishments to utilise the contract for external movements. The value detailed above includes an estimated cost for external movements.
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Criminal Records
Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the voluntary sector regarding proposals in the Police Bill [Lords] to charge volunteers for access to criminal record checks; and if he will make a statement. [15149]
Mr. Maclean: We have received many representations from the voluntary sector about the charging of fees for criminal record checks.
In response to these representations, my right hon. and learned Friend announced to the House, during Second Reading of the Police Bill [Lords] on 12 February, that we shall seek to amend the Bill to introduce an order-making power to enable free checks to be provided for specific groups, such as volunteers, when the money could be made available to cover the costs.
Prison Medical Service
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the expenditure on the prison medical service from each year since 1990 (a) in
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cash terms, (b) in standard price terms based on the current year and (c) in cash and standard prices per head of the prison population; and what is the planned expenditure for future years under the same headings.[15234]
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. Jim Cousins, dated 18 February 1997:
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The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about expenditure on the prison medical service each year since 1990 and how much we plan to spend in future years.
Expenditure on health care has been devolved to prison establishments. Governors allocate appropriate resources from within their establishment budgets, to ensure that health care is delivered to prisoners in accordance with set standards. For this reason it is not possible accurately to differentiate health care staff costs from the overall Prison Service budget nor to forecast precise future expenditure. Estimated expenditure for health care for the years 1990/91-1994/95 (the last year for which such an estimate was made) are set out in the attached table. The figures given are at 1994/95 prices.
| 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated expenditure £ million (1994-95 prices) | 54.764 | 58.217 | 58.403 | 58.215 | 59.269 |
| Average per inmate | 0.00123 | 0.00129 | 0.00133 | 0.00127 | 0.00120 |
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Prison Deaths
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many self-inflicted deaths occurred in HM prisons in each year from 1990 to 1993 (a) in total and (b) per head of the prison population.[15393]
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.
| Calendar year | Total self inflicted deaths | Average population | Rate of self inflicted deaths per 100,000 population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 50 | 44,975 | 111 |
| 1991 | 42 | 44,809 | 94 |
| 1992 | 41 | 44,719 | 92 |
| 1993 | 47 | 44,552 | 105 |
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