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Prisoner Releases (Home Detention Curfew)

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice has been issued to prison governors concerning the arrangements for probation supervision of persons released on home detention curfew. [72357]

Mr. George Howarth: Prison governors have been advised that, where a prisoner is due to be subject to supervision by the Probation Service upon his or her discharge from custody, supervision will commence on the date that the prisoner is placed on home detention curfew. The duration of the supervision is unaffected by the home detention curfew, as the date that the supervision ends is set at the three quarter point of sentence less the period spent on home detention curfew, in accordance with the requirements of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

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Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what home circumstances reports have been requested in respect of potential release on home detention curfew where prisoners have convictions for (a) sexual offences, (b) arson and (c) offences of violence. [72369]

Mr. George Howarth: No prisoner can be placed on home detention curfew without a home circumstances report from the Probation Service, whatever the prisoner's convictions. The Prison Service may also ask the Probation Service to comment on other issues of concern as appropriate, for instance due to the nature of the offence. The only cases where it is not necessary to obtain a home circumstances report are where it is apparent at an early stage in the assessment process that the prisoner is clearly unsuitable for home detention curfew.

No offender required to register under Part I of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 will be assessed for home detention curfew other than in exceptional circumstances. If the offender is considered for home detention curfew, a rigorous enhanced risk assessment will be undertaken, including consideration of the proposed curfew address.

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In addition, such an offender would be placed on home detention curfew only following authorisation by the Director General of the Prison Service.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the prisoners released on home detention curfew on or after 28 January 1999 are subject to supervision. [72352]

Mr. George Howarth: The information requested is not yet available. I will write to the hon. Member when it has been collated.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what prison risk assessment on inmates eligible for release on home detention curfew is carried out prior to a request for a probation home circumstances report; and if any advice has been given to clarify procedures. [72358]

Mr. George Howarth: Advice on the risk assessment of inmates eligible for the home detention curfew scheme is given in Prison Service Order 6700, a copy of which is in the Library. Before comments from the home probation service are requested, (a) the prisoner will have been asked to provide details of his or her home address, (b) information on the prisoner's suitability will have been sought from a member of prison staff in daily contact with the prisoner, and (c) the member of staff conducting the initial risk assessment will have reviewed the documentation available to determine whether there are any particular issues on which the Probation Service should be invited to comment.

If it is decided from this review of the documentation that the prisoner is clearly unsuitable for home detention curfew and that information from the home probation service would add nothing to the assessment, the reviewing officer can forward the assessment to the governor for confirmation of this decision without the involvement of the home probation service. The decision not to seek input from the home probation service must be confirmed by the governor.

Prisoner Discharges (Mental Hospitals)

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate (a) the number of prisoners discharged to the care of mental hospitals in each of the last three calendar years, (b) the average length of each discharge and (c) the numbers of prisoners discharged to each receiving hospital; and if he will make a statement on the financial arrangements between prisons and hospitals for such discharges. [72609]

Mr. George Howarth: The latest relevant available information relates to numbers of prisoners transferred to hospitals as restricted patients and is as follows:

Table 1: Numbers of prisoners transferred to the care of mental hospitals as restricted patients in years 1995 to 1997

	1995	1996	1997
Transferred from prison to hospital after sentence(13)	249	264	251
Transferred from prison to hospital while unsentenced or untried(14)	473	481	494
All transfers from Prison Service establishments	722	745	745

(13) Transfers from Prison Service establishments under section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983 with restrictions under section 49

(14) Transfers under section 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

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These figures do not include transfers to hospital where the prisoners are not admitted as a restricted patient or where prisoners are immediately admitted to hospital following discharge from prison at the completion of sentence.

Discharges of prisoners to hospital are for an indeterminate amount of time. This means that it is not possible to calculate the average length of each discharge. It is, however, possible to tabulate at the end of each year the number of transferred prisoners who have been held in hospital for different periods of time.

Table 2: Restricted patients detained in hospital at the end of the year who had been originally transferred from Prison Service establishments by period spent in hospital

	1995	1996	1997
Unsentenced or untried
Under 3 months	111	91	99
3 to 6 months	34	25	42
over 6 months	39	53	89
All sentenced or untried	184	169	230
Patients transferred after sentence
Under 2 years	176	161	152
Over 2 to 5 years	94	97	94
Over 5 to 10 years	55	56	66
Over 10 to 20 years	44	57	66
Over 20 years	11	11	11
All patients transferred after sentence	380	382	389
All patients detained who were originally transferred from Prison Service establishments	564	551	619

The table relating to the numbers of prisoners discharged to each receiving hospital in the year 1995 to 1997 is lengthy so a copy has been placed in the library.

The Prison Service meets the costs of a prisoner's health care inside prison walls itself. That would include any assessment or treatment for mental disorder. If a prisoner needs to be admitted to an outside hospital for treatment for mental disorder, either while in prison custody or on release, the costs of such treatment would be borne by the NHS.

Au Pairs

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictions on hours of work apply to au pairs; and if he will make a statement. [71969]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Under the Immigration Rules, overseas nationals living in the United Kingdom as au pairs may help in the home for no more than five hours a day, with two days off per week, in return for a reasonable allowance.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to issue updated guidance on the employment and status of au pairs. [71968]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: There are no plans at present to change the immigration status of overseas nationals living in the United Kingdom as au pairs or to change the guidance.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the immigration status of au pairs; and if he will make a statement. [71967]

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Mr. Mike O'Brien: Under the Immigration Rules, an au pair must be unmarried, aged between 17 and 27 and without dependants, and come from one of the designated countries. They may stay in the United Kingdom for up to two years, living as part of an English speaking family and learning the language. They may help in the home for more than five hours a day, with two days off per week, in return for a reasonable allowance.

Offenders (Mental Illness)

Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those people convicted of crimes in England and Wales in (a) 1998 and (b) each of the previous two years had previously been admitted to National Health Service mental illness hospitals and units with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses. [72290]

Mr. George Howarth: The information requested is not available centrally. National Statistics about convicted offenders do not categorise in terms of the past mental and psychological problems of offenders.

Information is available on offenders who are admitted to hospital under the provisions of mental health legislation. In 1997, the number of mentally disordered offenders admitted to hospital under a court order, or by direction of the Home Secretary restricting their discharge, was 1,074. Most of these admissions related to patients with a diagnosis of mental illness or mental illness with another disorder (986 in total). Schizophrenia psychosis is a form of mental illness, but the statistics do not record diagnoses to this level of detail.

Reconviction rates for restricted patients are available. The reconviction rate for standard list offences within two years of discharge for patients discharged between 1977 and 1993 was 12 per cent., with the rate for those with a diagnosis of mental illness being 7 per cent. Standard list offences consist of all indictable offences and some of the more serious summary offences.

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