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HOME DEPARTMENT
Passport Agency (Compensation)
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much compensation the Passport Agency has paid to applicants who made complaints in (a) each of the last 12 months and (b) each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [87435]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Passport Agency's compensation policy is to reimburse the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by customers as a direct consequence of clear operational errors, or failure to provide an acceptable level of service by means of an ex-gratia payment. Each case is considered carefully on its merits. It is not the Agency's normal policy to make compensation payments for distress and inconvenience arising from such errors and failures.
The information requested on compensation payments made by the Agency is shown in the table.
| Year | Total number of complaints where compensation paid | Total compensation paid (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 1,517 | 42,357 |
| 1997-98 | 1,622 | 43,876 |
| 1998-99 | 2,313 | 76,311 |
Within the last 12 months the position is as follows:
| Date | Number of complaints where compensation paid | Total compensation paid (£) |
|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | 160 | 5,256 |
| July 1998 | 266 | 7,460 |
| August 1998 | 244 | 6,079 |
| September 1998 | 188 | 7,234 |
| October 1998 | 194 | 7,453 |
| November 1998 | 180 | 8,127 |
| December 1998 | 179 | 7,166 |
| January 1999 | 181 | 5,785 |
| February 1999 | 196 | 7,955 |
| March 1999 | 245 | 5,453 |
| April 1999 | 256 | 7,748 |
| May 1999 | 219 | 7,551 |
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parliamentary questions have been tabled to his Department for written answer on a named day since 15 April; and what percentage of them received a substantive response on that day. [87331]
Mr. Straw: Between 15 April 1999 and 18 June 1999, a total of 173 "Named Day" parliamentary questions were tabled for answer by my Department. Of these, 96 per cent. (166) received a substantive reply on that date.
Correspondence
Jane Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the location of an Ethiopian asylum seeker whose identity has
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been provided to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for asylum in a letter dated 15 June. [87423]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
I have written to my hon. Friend.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 9 June 1999, Official Report, columns 332-33, on the London River Police, what operational assessment the Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police has made of the workload increase for the river police over the millennium public holiday; and if he will make a statement. [87403]
Kate Hoey:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that his operational planning assumes there will be a high level of activity on the river over the millennium public holiday. However, organisers of many proposed events have not yet confirmed the extent of these events. There will be a need for maximum operational deployment of river police both to police the areas involved and to support other agencies, such as the Port of London Authority.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 9 June 1999, Official Report, columns 332-33, on the London River Police, if the river police are currently deployed on a 24 hour shift pattern; and what changes to the current pattern are proposed for the millennium public holiday. [87404]
Kate Hoey:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that the river police are currently deployed on a 24-hour shift pattern; and that 24-hour cover will be provided throughout the millennium period, with the number of officers on duty at any time reflecting the operational demand.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures have been put in place to ensure public safety on London rivers over the millennium public holiday. [87406]
Kate Hoey:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that there are ongoing discussions on the joint measures that may be necessary between the Port of London Authority, who are responsible for river safety, and the Metropolitan Police Service. It would be premature to make final decisions on the total resources to be deployed, or on operational plans.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the implementation of the multi-agency strategy to deal with the monitoring and observation of paedophile activity. [87498]
Mr. Boateng:
On 15 February 1999, Official Report, columns 601-13, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced the Government's intention to consider the case for legislation in relation to dangerous people with severe personality disorder. A consultation paper on this will be published shortly. He also said that we would look to the national steering group on dangerous offenders to help the various agencies working with sex offenders to plan together for the safe resettlement of offenders into the community. The
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Steering Group has met twice and I can report the following progress: an early warning system has been put in place to allow proper time to prepare for a dangerous person's re-entry into the community; and a support group made up of staff from the operational services will begin work in July to support the Steering Group in its work.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 24 May 1999, Official Report, column 30, on young offenders, for what reasons he will not seek funding from local education authorities for the education of young offenders who are in custody. [87640]
Mr. George Howarth:
It would be extremely complex, costly and time consuming to seek funding from local education authorities for the education of young offenders who are in custody.
Young people are often in prison for a very short time and school budgets are set for the whole year, dependent generally on the number on roll in January.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 24 May 1999, Official Report, column 32, on education at Feltham Young Offenders' Unit, for what reasons the number of teaching hours purchased for 1999 is less than in 1998. [87643]
Mr. George Howarth:
Although there has been a small reduction of 105 in the number of teaching hours purchased for 1999, the number of education hours has not decreased. The new education contract which came into effect on 1 January 1999, allows the governor to also purchase testing and assessment of prisoners from the education contractor to ensure that education programmes are focused on their needs. 192 such hours will be purchased in 1999. Previously this assessment was included in the teaching hours.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of young juvenile and young offenders convicted of sexual offences are enrolled under a sex offender treatment programme; and what was the percentage in each of the last three years. [87621]
Mr. George Howarth:
The information is not available in the form requested. However, the expected number of offenders under 21 convicted of sex offences who will complete an accredited sex offender treatment programme (SOTP) in 1999-2000 is 36.
The number of such offenders under 21 received into the prison system and the number of completions of a sex offender treatment programme by such offenders, are given in the table.
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| Receptions of offenders under 21 convicted of sex offences | Completions of SOTP by offenders under 21 in young offender institutions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 145 | 37 |
| 1997-98 | 191 | 48 |
| 1998-99 | (1)196 | 48 |
(1) Provisional
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of young offenders and juveniles were held on remand in (a) Feltham young offenders' unit and (b) other young offenders' units for eight weeks or more in each of the last three years and in the period from November 1998 to May 1999. [87619]
Mr. George Howarth: The available information is given in the table.
| Juveniles (2) | Young offenders (3) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length of time since first remand into prison | HMYOI/RC Feltham | Others | HMYOI/RC Feltham | Others |
| 30 June 1996 | ||||
| Up to 8 weeks | 54 | 62 | 49 | 51 |
| 8 weeks or more | 46 | 38 | 51 | 49 |
| 30 June 1997 | ||||
| Up to 8 weeks | 59 | 61 | 46 | 53 |
| 8 weeks or more | 41 | 39 | 54 | 47 |
| 30 June 1998 | ||||
| Up to 8 weeks | 53 | 60 | 53 | 53 |
| 8 weeks or more | 47 | 40 | 47 | 47 |
| 30 November 1998 | ||||
| Up to 8 weeks | 57 | 60 | 52 | 52 |
| 8 weeks or more | 43 | 40 | 48 | 48 |
| 30 April 1999 (4) | ||||
| Up to 8 weeks | 61 | 62 | 54 | 54 |
| 8 weeks or more | 39 | 38 | 46 | 46 |
(2) Persons aged 15-17 years
(3) Persons aged 18-20 years
(4) Latest available provisional figures
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 24 May 1999, Official Report, column 30, on young offenders, when the revision of the selection criteria for staff working with offenders aged under 18 years will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the revised criteria. [87639]
Mr. George Howarth:
The particular skills required by new entrant prison officers who will work with young offenders aged under 18 include, tolerance, commitment and the ability to deal with and positively influence the behaviour of young people. These requirements have been reflected in additions to the competence questionnaire which forms part of the application form and in additional exercises at the job simulation assessment centres used in the recruitment of prison officers.
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The recruitment process for new prison officers to work in the under 18 estate in preparation for the introduction of the Detention and Training Order in April 2000 began earlier this month, and incorporates these additional selection criteria.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what part education plays in rehabilitation programmes for young offenders and juveniles in young offenders' units. [87618]
Mr. George Howarth:
The main thrust of the Prison Service education policy is the improvement of basic and key skills through the prison education core curriculum which includes basic skills, information technology, social and life skills and English for speakers of other languages. The curriculum's emphasis on improving the employability of young offenders and juveniles increases their rehabilitation prospects.
The Prison Service is a co-signatory to the National Framework Document to assist in the development of local agreements to improve the employment prospects of offenders.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the studies he has commissioned into rehabilitation programmes for juveniles and young offenders and the consequent recommendations he has made about such programmes. [87620]
Mr. Boateng:
The Home Office has a long established policy of developing, implementing and evaluating rehabilitative programmes for young offenders, either directly or by commissioning them from outside bodies and academics.
A wide range of such programmes have been examined over a long period of time--including programmes addressing offender behaviour (for example sex and violence offenders), particular offender problems (for example drugs and alcohol abuse problems), educational and numerical deficits, social skills deficits, parenting and other offending issues.
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