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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 4 July 1997
HOME DEPARTMENT
Young Offenders
Mr. Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) girls and (b) boys aged under 18 years were sentenced to prison custody by each magistrates court and Crown court area in England and Wales by (i) offence and (ii) length of sentence for the last four years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [6330]
Mr. Michael: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the tables show in less detail the number of offenders aged 10 to under 18 sentenced to immediate custody for all offences by sex, type of court, type of offence group and length of sentence in England and Wales from 1992 to 1995. Copies of these tables have been placed in the Library.
Offenders of this age are not committed to prison but to young offender institutions or to secure child care establishments.
Mr. Burnett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) girls and (b) boys aged under 18 years have been placed into local authority secure accommodation in England and Wales following sentence or remand into custody by (i) age of the offender
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and (ii) category of offence for the last four years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [6327]
Ms Joyce Quin:
The placement of juveniles in local authority secure accommodation on remand by a court is a matter for individual local authorities. The Department of Health collate statistics on such placements. They are published annually and are available in the Library.
| Age | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | April 1997 to June 1997 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-13 years | 0 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 8 |
| 14 years | 16 | 28 | 60 | 101 | 26 |
| 15 years | 30 | 47 | 49 | 34 | 6 |
| 16 years | 32 | 28 | 13 | 15 | 4 |
| 17 years | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 86 | 107 | 127 | 167 | 44 |
Prisoners (Self-harm)
Mr. Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the rate of incidents of self-harm which have occurred in women's prisons and female young offender institutions in England and Wales in each establishment for each year since 1990. [6332]
Ms Joyce Quin:
The information is not available in the format requested. The attached table shows the incidents of self-harm which occurred in each prison holding female adult prisoners and young offenders in England and Wales for each financial year since 1990.
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| Prison | 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Askham Grange | 22 | 25 | -- | -- | -- | 5 |
| Brockhill | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Bullwood Hall | 16 | 31 | 47 | 125 | 126 | 206 |
| Cookham Wood | 4 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 32 | 49 |
| Drakehall | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| Durham | -- | 1 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 35 |
| East Sutton Park | 2 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | 3 |
| Eastwood Park | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 61 |
| Holloway | 77 | 69 | 125 | 296 | 386 | 192 |
| Low Newton | 41 | 26 | 47 | 38 | 31 | 25 |
| New Hall | 118 | 113 | 105 | 157 | 325 | 260 |
| Pucklechurch | 47 | 56 | 74 | 117 | 65 | -- |
| Risley | 47 | 47 | 47 | 26 | 69 | 105 |
| Styal | 253 | 217 | 159 | 365 | 156 | 108 |
| Winchester | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Totals | 630 | 601 | 624 | 1,158 | 1,216 | 1,054 |
| Total female prison population | 1,560 | 1,590 | 1,510 | 1,640 | 1,870 | 2,010 |
Note:
The increase in the number of incidents of self-harm between 1992-93 and 1993-94 coincided with the introduction of an improved reporting procedure and mirrors an increase in the overall total for Prison Service establishments as a whole.
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Abbas Radiom Case
Sir Richard Body: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the implications of the Abbas Radiom case at the European Court of Justice for future rulings by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [6596]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The implications of this judgment will be taken into account by the High Court when it resumes its consideration of Mr. Radiom's application for judicial review of the decision to exclude him from the United Kingdom.
Mobile Phones (Drivers)
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the adequacy of police powers to take action against drivers using mobile phones whilst driving. [6228]
Mr. Michael: The Government and the Association of Chief Police Officers consider that existing powers in road traffic legislation enable the police to deal properly with enforcement issues arising from the use of mobile phones when driving.
Under regulation 104 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, the police can prosecute or issue fixed penalty notices to drivers who do not exercise proper control of their vehicles. Use of a mobile phone when driving can also result in prosecution for the offence of careless and inconsiderate driving or dangerous driving.
The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is considering measures to raise drivers' awareness of the danger associated with using mobile phones.
Mr. Burnett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to publish reports into the deaths of prisoners held in prison custody in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [6295]
Ms Joyce Quin:
We care currently reviewing our policy on the disclosure of investigation reports.
Mr. Ian Taylor:
To ask the Secretary for the Home Department if he will estimate the savings to central Government funds from transferring responsibility for that part of Elmbridge currently in the Metropolitan police area to the Surrey police area. [6222]
Mr. Michael:
The Commissioner informs me that in view of the complexity and the number of factors and underlying assumptions which would need to be taken into account, it is not possible to make such an estimate.
Assisted Places Scheme
Mr. Reed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places, at what
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schools and at what cost, were provided under the assisted places scheme in Leicestershire in (a) 1995-96 and (b) 1996-97. [6221]
Mr. Byers:
The number of assisted places taken up and the cost of those places for each participating school in Leicestershire in academic years 1995-96 and 1996-97 are given in the following table:
| School name | Academic year 1995-96 | Academic year 1996-97 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dixie Grammar School | Number of assisted pupils | 0 | 7 |
| Cost of places £000s | 0 | 22 | |
| Leicester Grammar School | Number of assisted pupils | 53 | 65 |
| Cost of places £000s | 172 | 225 | |
| Leicester High School for Girls(1) | Number of assisted pupils | 0 | 13 |
| Cost of places £000s | 0 | 43 | |
| Loughborough Grammar School | Number of assisted pupils | 123 | 140 |
| Cost of places £000s | 345 | 390 | |
| Loughborough High School | Number of assisted pupils | 94 | 103 |
| Cost of places £000s | 231 | 269 | |
| Oakham School | Number of assisted pupils | 33 | 39 |
| Cost of places £000s | 160 | 196 | |
| Ratcliffe College | Number of assisted pupils | 80 | 80 |
| Cost of places £000s | 362 | 345 |
(1) These schools joined the Assisted Places Scheme in September 1996.
Religious Schools
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many applications his Department has received from religious schools requesting Government funding in the last 12 months; when he received a request from the Islamia Schools Trust for grant-maintained status; and if he will make a statement. [6582]
Mr. Byers: In the last 12 months, fourteen applications have been received from independent religious schools to enter the maintained sector of education--twelve to become grant-maintained (GM) schools, and two to become voluntary aided (VA). Of these, five GM proposals and one VA proposal have been approved, and one GM proposal has been rejected. The remaining seven proposals are under consideration. The proposal from the Islamia Schools Trust was published on 9 January 1997. We shall be making a decision on this and the other proposals as soon as we can.
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