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Prison Population
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average yearly prison population since 1987. [15982]
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 HM Prison Service dated 18 February 1997:
Mr. Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the prison population for each month since January 1995; [15981]
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.
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what was the average yearly population since 1987.
The average prison population in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales for each year since 1987 was as follows:
1987: 48,426
1988: 48,872
1989: 48,500
1990: 44,975
1991: 44,809
1992: 44,719
1993: 44,552
1994: 48,621
1995: 50,962
1996: 55,281.
(2) how many (a) unconvicted remand prisoners and (b) convicted but unsentenced remand prisoners there were in each month since January 1995. [15983]
(25) Figures include those held in police cells. This ended in June 1995.
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Fire Service (Lancashire)
Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were working in the fire service in Lancashire in (a) 1996 and (b) 1979.[16155]
Mr. Sackville: Information on the staffing of fire brigades is published in the annual reports of Her Majesty's chief inspector of fire services. The reports in question are for 1978 (Cm 7605, page 55) and 1995-96 (Cm 3493, page 14)--copies of which are in the Library.
Police Computer Systems
Mr. Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to harmonise computer systems throughout police forces in England and Wales. [15786]
Mr. Maclean: My right hon. and learned Friend launched the national strategy for police information systems--NSPIS--in November 1994. A principal aim of this blueprint agreed with the police service is the development of common, compatible computer systems for use by all police forces. Such systems will make a significant contribution to operational effectiveness, reduce police paperwork and provide better value for money. The first NSPIS application--vehicle procedures--is now available. Other systems currently being developed within the strategy are for:
Custody
Case preparation
Command and control
Crime reporting
Management information
Large major inquiries (HOLMES)
National legal database.
Mandatory Drug Tests
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mandatory drug tests were carried out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; and how many tests were performed in total in each month since weekend testing began. [15975]
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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Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 18 February 1997:
Mr. Sweeney:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that if a person appears before a court in England or Wales (a) the police and (b) the court will be made aware of outstanding (i) bail and (ii) breaches of bail in another court. [15785]
Mr. Maclean:
The Government recognise the importance of accurate and timely information about bail to enable the police and the courts to make appropriate decisions. The inter-agency bail issues steering group, which we reconvened last summer, is examining what practical steps can be taken to improve information flows. Under the group's direction, work is nearing completion on an assessment of the impact of the changes made by the bail process project, which we set up to assess and enhance the flow of information between the criminal justice agencies. The results will be published in due course.
Mr. David Nicholson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what have been the costs to date to (a) the Devon and Cornwall police and (b) other police authorities of policing the road construction on the A30-A303 between Exeter and Honiton. [15927]
Mr. Maclean:
I understand from the chief constable that Devon and Cornwall constabulary's costs to date are estimated to be in the region of £750,000. No costs have been incurred by other police authorities.
Mr. Nicholson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received reporting trespass on (a) privately owned land and (b) publicly owned land in the vicinity of the A30-A303 Exeter-Honiton road works. [15929]
Mr. Sweeney:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve the efficiency of the police through the use of information technology. [15787]
Mr. Maclean:
Part IV of the Police Bill contains provisions to establish the police information technology organisation as an executive non-departmental public
18 Feb 1997 : Column: 524
body. This new independent tripartite framework will lead to the improved delivery of cost-effective, responsive and timely information technology services to the police.
PITO is responsible for promoting the delivery of national police information services and taking forward the national strategy for police information systems--NSPIS--by co-ordinating the development of local information technology systems. Local computer applications being developed under NSPIS, enhancements to the police national computer and major projects to provide the next generation of automated fingerprint identification and radio systems are amongst the PITO programmes which will improve efficiency and ensure that information technology is fully harnessed in the fight against crime.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his current estimate of the average number of people each week involved for the first time in a serious criminal offence; and what was the equivalent figure in 1987. [15839]
Mr. Maclean:
Information routinely available centrally relates to the number convicted of a standard list offence for the first time.
The latest available figures are for 1994, when the estimated weekly average for such convictions was 2,300. The equivalent figure for 1987 was 2,900.
Offences included in the "standard list" are given in appendices 4 and 5 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1995" (Cm 3421).
These include all indictable and some of the more serious summary offences.
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of mandatory drug tests carried out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Mandatory drug testing (MDT) data are not held in a form which allows us readily to provide the information requested.
In addition, a number of errors have come to light concerning the MDT data. Independent research has been commissioned to investigate these errors and it may take a little while before we are able to provide detailed figures, in which we have full confidence.
However, I should like to stress that we do not anticipate the effect of these errors to be particularly large on the overall statistics. Bearing in mind these commetns we can give an estimate for random mandatory drug tests carried out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Around 6,100 such tests were conducted in the period between 1 April 1996 and 31 October 1996, out of an estimated total of 32,000 random tests undertaken.
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