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Traffic Wardens
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will extend the powers of traffic wardens to the enforcement of a range of moving traffic offences; and if he will make a statement. [11228]
Mr. Michael: The Department is keen to encourage the police service to make the most efficient use of its traffic warden resources.
There are no plans at present to extend the functions of traffic wardens, but we are considering a proposal from the Association of Chief Police Officers that wardens should be given the power to stop vehicles so that they can assist the Vehicle Inspectorate and other enforcement agencies with the conduct of road checks.
Special Secure Units
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons which contain special secure units; how many places are available in each; and what is the annual cost of maintaining (a) a prisoner in a special secure unit and (b) a category A prisoner. [11105]
Ms Quin: Those prisons which are equipped with special secure units and the places available in each are as follows: Belmarsh, 48 places; Full Sutton, eight places; and Whitemoor, 14 places. There are currently 40 prisoners held in special secure units.
The average cost per prisoner place in a special secure unit is estimated to be approximately £61,000 per annum 1 . Convicted category A prisoners are held in one of five dispersal prisons. The average cost per prisoner place in a dispersal prison is £33,000 per annum 1 .
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Mr. Gale:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 June, Official Report, column 247, what plans he has to fund new CCTV projects in 1998-99; what plans he has to extend the CCTV challenge competition; when new bids for CCTV will be considered; and if he will make a statement. [12232]
Mr. Michael:
As I indicated in my reply to a question from the right hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mrs. Bottomley) on 19 June, Official Report, column 247, we are considering whether there should be another round of the closed circuit television challenge competition in 1998-99 as part of our review of spending programmes. An announcement will be made later in the summer.
Sir Peter Lloyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the average length of prison sentence passed on adult males by Crown courts in (a) 1992, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996 for (i) violent offences, (ii) sexual offences, (iii) burglary, (iv) robbery, (v) theft and handling, (vi) drugs offences and (vii) motoring offences; [12224]
Mr. Michael:
The information is published in the Home Office statistical bulletin issue 16/97 "Cautions, Court Proceedings and Sentencing England and Wales 1996". This was published on 16 July 1997 and tables 9 and 7 refer.
The 1996 data are "estimated", with final figures becoming available in the autumn. 1997 data will not be available until mid-1998.
Copies of the bulletin are available in the Library.
Mr. Malins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what revised specification for provision of medical services has been prepared for immigration detainees in Campsfield house; and if he will make a statement. [12007]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Earlier this year, advice was sought from the director of public health in the Oxfordshire health authority in preparing a revised specification for the provision of medical services at Campsfield house. This included enhanced attendance by a doctor, additional nursing staff, including the appointment of a registered mental nurse, stress management clinics, and the availability of a female doctor for those detainees who specifically requested one. Effecting these enhancements commenced on 15 January and they were fully in place by 1 March 1997.
I am assured that the health services at Campsfied house are comparable with those provided for Oxfordshire residents by a general practitioner. A detainee who wishes
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to see a specialist will, if the medical circumstances of his case warrant it, be referred to a specialist and any such decision will be taken by the doctor treating him.
Mr. Livingstone:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation of the medical effects of the CS gas solvent, methyl isobutyl ketone, has been made by officials of his Department and the police scientific development branch since 1990; how many published or internal reports have been written by his Department on this subject since 1990; and how many of these reports are currently unclassified. [12180]
Mr. Michael:
The Home Office police scientific development branch, together with the Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence, fully evaluated all scientific data relating to methyl isobutyl ketone, MIBK, before police trials of CS spray canisters containing this solvent were conducted last year. The Home Office has not produced any reports, either internally or published, about MIBK.
The ideal solvent for use in CS spray will present no risk to health--in particular, the eyes--and will evaporate as soon as it has done the job of delivering the CS irritant to the target. I am told that MIBK is the solvent which comes closest to achieving this. It occurs naturally in oranges, grapes and vinegar. It has many applications, including use as a food additive. It has been used in CS sprays in France for many years without serious difficulty: in particular, extensive research there has shown that it has a low toxicity to the eyes. Its only drawback is that it has a relatively low volatility, which means that it remains on the skin of someone sprayed for a short time before evaporating and may cause de-fatting and blistering.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a boundary commission responsible for regional boundaries in England. [12098]
Mr. George Howarth:
It is our intention that the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England should be given the responsibility of making recommendations as to the regional boundaries to be used in England for the 1999 elections to the European Parliament.
Mr. Alan Williams:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by whom the cost of policing in and around Highgrove, Tetbury, on Friday 18 July was met; and if he will make a statement. [12231]
Mr. Michael:
The cost of policing in and around Highgrove on 18 July was met by Gloucestershire constabulary in the normal way.
Sir Peter Lloyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the percentage change in prisons unit costs between 1995-96 and 1996-97; and what is the planned percentage reduction in each of the next three years. [12221]
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 577
Ms Quin:
The unit cost used by the Prison Service is net current expenditure per uncrowded prisoner place--the total certified normal accommodation of all prisons. To ensure comparability between years, adjustments are made to exclude payments to local authorities under section 53 of the Young Persons and Children's Act 1933, and to allow for transfers of work to or from the Service. Payments for prisons designed, constructed, managed and financed by the private sector are also excluded, as are the places so provided.
On this basis, the percentage change in unit costs in real terms between 1995-96 and 1996-97 is minus 3 per cent. This is based on forecast outturn for 1996-97.
The planned percentage reductions in real terms over the next three years are:
These figures are subject to revision in the light of my right hon. Friend's reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, North (Mr. Hopkins) on 24 July, Official Report, column 682, that the service will be allowed to spend £43 million extra this year and next to increase capacity to meet the rise in prisoner numbers. Changes in inflation assumptions would also affect the figures.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his latest cash estimate of expenditure on the Prison Service in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99; and how these figures differ from those implied by the departmental spending plans set out in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1997-98"; and if he will make a statement. [11247]
Ms Quin
[holding answer 29 July 1997]: The "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1997-98" did not set a separate figure for Prison Service expenditure.
1 Costs are based on figures obtained for the financial year ending 31 March 1997 and represent the cost per accommodation place certified to hold prisoners in an establishment.
(2) what proportion of offenders sentenced for indictable offences were sentenced to custody (a) at all courts, (b) at Crown courts and (c) in magistrates courts, in each year from 1992 to 1996 and in each month of 1997. [12223]
1997-98 1 : -1.1 per cent.
1998-99 2 : -2.3 per cent.
1999-2000 2 : 0.4 per cent.
1 Compared to previous year forecast outturn.
2 Compared to previous year provision.
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