| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Prison Staff (Assaults)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults on prison staff there were in each of the London prisons in 1999. [113602]
Mr. Boateng:
Official statistics on assaults in prisons are provided by the Research, Development and Statistics Directorate of the Home Office. These are based on proven adjudications of assault dealt with by prison disciplinary procedures and the information is provided in the table. There is no central collation of information
13 Mar 2000 : Column: 85W
concerning cases of assaults by prisoners that were pursued through the courts. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
| Prison establishments in Greater London | Number of proven offences |
|---|---|
| Belmarsh | 86 |
| Brixton | 66 |
| Downview | 2 |
| Feltham | 109 |
| High Down | 65 |
| Holloway | 111 |
| Latchmere House | -- |
| Pentonville | 128 |
| Wandsworth | 60 |
| Wormwood Scrubs | 46 |
| Total | 673 |
(19) Provisional
Animal Experiments
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there were under the Animal Scientific Procedures Act 1986 in 1999; and if he will make a statement. [113601]
Mr. Charles Clarke: There were no prosecutions during 1999.
Updated advice on infringements, offences and penalties will be provided in the extended Home Office Guidance on the Operation of the 1986 Act, which I plan to bring to the House shortly. Sections 22, 23 and 24 of the Act set out the offences and penalties. Infringements vary in gravity from major offences to minor technical breaches of licence and certificate conditions and a range of sanctions is available to the Secretary of State from which the measures best suited to preventing a recurrence can be selected.
At an early stage in the investigation of a suspected breach of the controls, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate review whether a criminal offence has been committed and whether its gravity is likely to justify referral for prosecution. This depends on its origins, scale and consequences for animal suffering. Thus, deliberate infringements will be viewed more seriously than those due to negligence, ignorance, confusion or adherence to inappropriate instructions from those in authority over the alleged guilty party; repeated failures will generally be viewed more seriously than single incidents; and any unnecessary animal suffering will significantly increase the gravity of any infringement.
Ms Oona King:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria he is proposing for a police/community consultative group working well; and if such criteria will be agreed in consultation with PCCGs. [113645]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Under section 96 of the Police Act 1996, the responsibility outside London for consulting local people on their priorities for policing and for securing their co-operation with the police in crime
13 Mar 2000 : Column: 86W
prevention rests with the police authority. From 3 July 2000, the responsibility in the Metropolitan Police District for ensuring this happens will pass to the Metropolitan Police Authority. In making arrangements for public consultation, the police authority must consult the Chief Officer of police for that police area. It is for the police authority to determine what criteria it will use to assess whether and to what extent individual Police Community Consultative Groups (PCCGs) help it to fulfil its statutory responsibility. In assessing the effectiveness of all its arrangements for public consultation, including the use of PCCGs, the police authority will, from 1 April, be under the duty of securing Best Value.
Ms Oona King:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if a dedicated member of the Metropolitan Police Authority will be responsible for the development strategy of police/community consultative groups. [113646]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Under section 96 of the Police Act 1996, as amended by paragraph 103, schedule 27 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, the statutory responsibility for consulting Londoners in the Metropolitan Police District will from 3 July 2000 fall to the Metropolitan Police Authority. This duty falls on the police authority collectively. It will be a matter for that authority as to whether its members are encouraged to specialise in particular areas of the Metropolitan Police Authority's statutory functions such as community consultation. However, under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972, the Metropolitan Police Authority will not be able to delegate a statutory responsibility to an individual member.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners committed suicide in cells in magistrates courts in the last year for which figures are available. [113731]
Mr. Boateng:
There were five self-inflicted deaths in cells in magistrates courts in 1999. The two inquests held to date have concluded with verdicts of misadventure and suicide.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines he has issued to prisons and young offender units on the rights of representation for juveniles in internal disciplinary adjudications, with special reference to the Human Rights Act 1998. [113917]
Mr. Boateng:
General guidance on access to legal representation for all prisoners is set out in the Prison Service's discipline manual, a copy of which is available in the Library. This was issued in 1995 and takes account of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the recorded number of racial incidents reported in the Metropolitan Police authority area during 1999. [113836]
13 Mar 2000 : Column: 87W
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has advised me that 22,105 racial incidents were reported within the Metropolitan Police District during the calendar year 1999.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) of 17 January 2000, Official Report, column 541, what estimate he has made of the amount, for each police force in England and Wales and for each year of the project, to be deducted from the central police grant to be spent on the Public Safety Radio Communications Project. [109239]
Mr. Charles Clarke
[holding answer 8 February 2000]: The table contains the core service charges for the Public Safety Radio Communications Project (PSRCP) for each police force in England and Wales for each year
13 Mar 2000 : Column: 88W
of the project. As had previously been announced, these core service costs will be funded centrally by means of deduction from total police grant provision.
We are doing all we can to ensure that the police have adequate resources to play their key part in tackling crime and disorder and improving community safety. Over the three-year period, commencing from the 1999-2000 financial year, the police service will receive an additional £1.24 billion in central Government funding. This is a significant increase for the police at a time when the Government need to maintain firm control over public expenditure. The Public Safety Radio Communications annual service charges will be reduced by the £50 million that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has obtained from the Capital Modernisation Fund specifically for the PSRCP. Consideration of the financial pressures on forces will also be taken into account in the overall level of resources to be provided for the police service in future years as part of the year 2000 Spending Review.
13 Mar 2000 : Column: 87W
13 Mar 2000 : Column: 89W
13 Mar 2000 : Column: 91W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |