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Prison Industries
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total (a) expenditure of and (b) income from prison industries involved in commercial contracts was in the last five years. [128300]
Mr. Boateng: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) on 8 May 2000, Official Report, column 302W.
It is not possible to break down expenditure between commercial contracts and that used for products for internal consumption.
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the contracts held by the Prison Service for commercial work from prison industries; and if he will make a statement. [128299]
Mr. Boateng: The Prison Service has commercial contracts to supply goods and services to the organisations listed. Contracts with commercial companies to supply work for prisoners may be sourced centrally by the Prison Service's Enterprise and Supply Services, but many are entered into locally by individual establishments. Information on contracts for commercial work is not collected centrally and a comprehensive list could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
- Ministry of Defence--woodwork and clothing
- Atomic Weapons Establishment--protective clothing
- Komplete Safety--clothing
- Royal Air Force Staff College--laundries
- South West London Community NHS Trust--laundries
- Tower Hamlets Healthcare--laundries
- Rank Holiday Division--laundries
- North Middlesex Hospital--laundries
- Axis--milk supply
- Zenith--milk supply
- Milk Link--milk supply
- Defence Evaluation and Research Agency--data transcription
- Graphic Data--photographing data.
Prison Wages
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level is of prison wages; under what circumstances higher wages can be paid; and if he will make a statement. [128301]
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Mr. Boateng: A Prison Service national framework sets the minimum level of pay for employed prisoners at £4.00. The minimum for those in training is set at £2.50. Above the prescribed minimum rates, levels of pay are set at the discretion of the Governor, and will vary depending upon the regime in place, the type of work available and links with other relevant schemes, for example incentives and earned privileges.
Remand Prisoners
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average (a) number of remand prisoners and (b) proportion of the prison population consisting of remand prisoners in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [128168]
Mr. Boateng [holding answer 29 June 2000]: The information requested is given in the table. This information (up to 1998) is also published in "Prison Statistics England and Wales", a copy of which is in the Library.
| Year | Average remand population | Total average population | Remands as a percentage of total average population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 10,499 | 48,610 | 21.6 |
| 1990 | 9,904 | 45,636 | 21.7 |
| 1991 | 10,157 | 45,897 | 22.1 |
| 1992 | 10,090 | 45,817 | 22.0 |
| 1993 | 10,660 | 44,566 | 23.9 |
| 1994 | 12,357 | 48,794 | 25.3 |
| 1995 | 11,375 | 51,047 | 22.3 |
| 1996 | 11,613 | 55,281 | 21.0 |
| 1997 | 12,131 | 61,114 | 19.8 |
| 1998 | 12,567 | 65,298 | 19.2 |
| 1999 | 12,520 | 64,771 | 19.3 |
Prisons (Purposeful Activity)
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total amount was of public expenditure on purposeful activity in prison in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [128298]
Mr. Boateng: It is not possible to isolate accurately and calculate the total cost of the wide range of disparate activities which comprise purposeful activity. Although the level of such activity is comprehensively monitored, many of the costs cannot be meaningfully separated from the overall budget of running an establishment, for example staff costs.
An indication of the investment in purposeful activity is provided by the following central allocation for specific elements of purposeful activity.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 36,956,087 |
| 1996-97 | 34,507,378 |
| 1997-98 | 36,174,320 |
| 1998-99 | 39,049,875 |
| 1999-2000 | 47,445,945 |
(23) Covers payments to education providers, payments for libraries and for education materials
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| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 24,680,000 |
| 1996-97 | 27,080,000 |
| 1997-98 | 28,442,000 |
| 1998-99 | 28,889,000 |
| 1999-2000 | 26,695,000 |
(24) Covers expenditure on raw materials and small tools and maintenance, but not staff costs or overheads
Prisoners (Suicides)
Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners committed suicide in 1998; and of these suicides how many were caused by hanging. [128517]
Mr. Boateng: There were 83 self-inflicted deaths in prison custody in 1998. Of these, 80 were caused by hanging.
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Police Response Times
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if police response times are calculated on the same basis in each police force area in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [122284]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 15 May 2000]: No. Each police area has a different method for measuring response times. Details for 1998-99 are contained in the Audit Commission Report "Police and Fire Services Local Authority Performance Indicators 98/99".
Asylum Seekers (Sierra Leone)
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons from Sierra Leone have applied for asylum in the last 12 months; and how many of these applications have been granted. [128738]
Mrs. Roche: The available information is given in the table.
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| Applications | Decisions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Port | In country | Total decisions | Grants of asylum | Grants of ELR | Total refusals | Grants of ELR under backlog criteria (25), (26) | Non compliance refusals under backlog criteria(26), (28) | |
| June 1999 | 95 | 40 | 55 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| July | 140 | 85 | 60 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| August | 80 | 50 | 30 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| September | 130 | 60 | 65 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| October | 95 | 45 | 50 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| November | 85 | 50 | 35 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| December | 100 | 75 | 30 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| January 2000 | 75 | 50 | 30 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| February | 105 | 45 | 65 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| March | 105 | 40 | 60 | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- | (30)-- |
| April | 75 | 25 | 45 | 120 | * | 30 | 10 | 80 | -- |
| May | 105 | 25 | 80 | 155 | 20 | 60 | 30 | 35 | 10 |
| Total to date | 1,190 | 585 | 605 | 275 | 25 | 90 | 40 | 115 | 10 |
(25) Figures rounded to nearest 5 with * = 1 or 2.
(26) Information is of initial determination decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
(27) Cases decided under pragmatic measures aimed at reducing the pre '96 act asylum backlog.
(28) May include a small number of cases where asylum has been granted.
(29) May include a small number of cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
(30) Not applicable
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