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Female Prisoners (Prescription-only Drugs)
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many doses of prescription- only (a) psychotropic, (b) hypnotic, (c) other drugs acting on the central nervous system and (d) other drugs were prescribed in each prison holding female prisoners in the most recent year for which figures are available. [84946]
Mr. George Howarth: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Pharmaceuticals are generally purchased locally and managed using a number of systems. Also, prescription records are kept within individual prisoner medical files,
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making it difficult to aggregate information about total usage of individual drugs, or families of drugs, in a meaningful way.
The Prison Service, in deciding on the range of management information about health care activity that is collected from prisons, tries to strike a balance between the costs involved, including the administrative burden on prison staff, and the possible benefits. However, increasing use of Information Technology offers the opportunity to broaden the range of statistics that can be readily available and this matter is kept under review.
Mr. Stinchcombe:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unconvicted prisoners in England and Wales exercised their right to vote in the recent local government elections and elections for the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament. [84947]
Mr. George Howarth:
The figures for the number of unconvicted prisoners who exercised their right to vote in the recent local government elections and elections for the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Stinchcombe:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by prison the number of prisoners (a) assessed for release on home detention curfew, (b) released and (c) recalled. [84942]
Mr. George Howarth:
The table gives the information requested up to the end of April according to the Prison Service's inmate information system. The number of prisoners assessed for home detention curfew at each establishment is estimated from the population extracts for the end of each month for prisoners who had a calculated home detention curfew eligibility date within the relevant period. The number actually assessed may be more or less due to the transfer or reception of prisoners during the month.
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Bookmakers
Mr. Cunliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what decision he has taken on the composition of the Bookmakers Committee. [85651]
Mr. George Howarth:
On 3 December 1998, we sought the views of interested bodies on proposals for reconstituting the Bookmakers' Committee. Having taken careful account of the views expressed we have decided to make those changes. We believe that this will improve the Committee's ability to represent bookmakers' interests in a balanced way in carrying out its task of recommending to the Horserace Betting Levy Board the levy rates to be paid by bookmakers for the benefit of horseracing.
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Therefore, I have today made regulations to establish the following membership:
| Seats | |
|---|---|
| Betting Office Licensees Association Ltd | 2 |
| National Association of Bookmakers Ltd | 2 |
| British Betting Office Association Ltd | 2 |
| Ladbroke Racing Ltd | 2 |
| Willian Hill Organisation Ltd | 2 |
| Coral Racing Ltd | 2 |
| Total | 12 |
In providing for the three companies which in 1998-99 contributed nearly 80 per cent. of the total levy yield to have half of the seats on the Committee, we are redressing their previous under-representation while at the same time recognising the extent to which there are many smaller firms whose ability to pay needs to be properly represented. In reaching this decision, we have sought to achieve a reasonable balance between the different bookmaking interests and organisations. The factors taken into account were the size of organisations' membership, the number of off-course shops, the leviable turnover and the levy paid. We do not believe that the new structure will give any companies double representation on the Committee. Nor do we believe that continuing representation of the Scottish Independent Bookmakers Association is justified, given the small number of members, some of whom also belong to other trade associations. We believe that the new constitution will still take proper account of the interests of small independent bookmakers, whether in Scotland or South of the Border.
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