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Family Visitor Visa
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the fall in the number of family visitor visa appeals. [4749]
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Angela Eagle: Statistics from the Immigration Appellate Authority show that the number of family visitor appeals is rising. So far this year, the Authority's intake breaks down as follows:
| January | February | March | April | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 117 | 134 | 281 | 210 | 372 | 513 |
We attribute the rising figures to the fact that it was likely to take some months for appellants to develop confidence in the scheme, and to seasonal factors.
Police Pensions
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost of paying police pensions was in each of the last five years; and what proportion of that cost was met by (a) contributions and (b) Treasury subvention. [4811]
Mr. Denham: The total cost of paying police pensions for each of the last five years is set out in the table. Police officers pay pension contributions of 11 per cent. of salary at present. The pension scheme is operated on 'pay-as-you-go' terms. Officers' contributions comprise about 26 per cent. of the gross cost of pensions paid each year.
The balance of cost is met from each police authority's police account. This is funded mainly from central grants and council tax precepts.
| Year | Net pensions expenditure |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 749,003 |
| 1997–98 | 874,897 |
| 1998–99 | 900,643 |
| 1999–2000 | 948,000 |
| 2000–01 | 1,029,454 |
Source:
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
Actuals 1996–97 to 1999–2000 and Estimates for 2000/01
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reform police pension arrangements; and if he will make a statement. [5779]
Mr. Denham: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 25 June 2001, Official Report, column 48W.
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Prison Service will introduce a key performance indicator on reducing reoffending rates; and if he will make a statement. [4842]
Beverley Hughes: The Prison Service is committed to reducing the rates of reoffending by prisoners on release. Because data on reoffending rates rely on self-reporting by offenders, reconviction rates are the best proxy measure. The Home Office published a new Public Service Agreement on 3 November 2000 which sets a joint target for the Prison and Probation Services to reduce by 2004 the rate of reconvictions of all offenders punished by imprisonment or by community supervision by 5 per cent. compared to the predicted rate. Because the
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reconviction data do not become available for over two years after the offender's release, the Key Performance Indicators for the Prison Service (the management tool for delivering this target) are based on delivering the annual outputs (educational qualifications, accredited offending behaviour programmes, and reducing drug use) which evidence shows will reduce the level of reconvictions.
Prisons
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were studying for degree courses in 2000–01. [4841]
Beverley Hughes: All degree courses for prisoners are run by the Open University through a joint scheme which is managed by the Prisoners Learning and Skills Unit in the Department for Education and Skills. The total figure in June 2001 was 407.
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons have a telephone system which is operated by a remote call centre. [4834]
Beverley Hughes: There are no establishments which operate in this way.
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are held in prison establishments (a) over 25 miles, (b) over 50 miles, (c) over 100 miles and (d) over 150 miles from their committal court town. [4844]
Beverley Hughes: The following information is based on the distance that prisoners are held from their committal court town. The data were collected on 10 April 2001 and are set out in the table in the nearest format to that requested. There are in the region of 25,000 prisoners held under 25 miles from their committal court town.
| Distance from committal court | Number of prisoners(43) |
|---|---|
| Between 25 and 50 miles | 15,000 |
| Between 50 and 100 miles | 15,000 |
| Between 100 and 150 miles | 6,000 |
| Over 150 miles | 5,000 |
| Total over 25 miles | 41,000 |
(43) Rounded to nearest thousand
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a breakdown for each prison of positive mandatory drug tests in 2000–01 by type of drug. [4845]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the results of the random mandatory drug testing programme is shown in the table. The information includes the four most frequently encountered drug groups: cannabis, opiates, cocaine and benzodiazepines. Also included is information on numbers of prisoners tested and positive results for all drugs.
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Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish for each prison the results achieved by the Prison Service on each of its key performance indicators during 2000–01. [4847]
Beverley Hughes: The final Key Performance Indicators (KPI) result achieved by each prison is given in the tables which have been placed in the Library. The overcrowding and education KPIs are formulated in terms of overall Prison Service results and are not applicable to individual prisons. Private prisons are not required to submit sickness data.
Figures for cost per place reflect establishment costs only and do not include Headquarters overheads. These figures are not comparable with the Prison Service cost per place KPI. Cost per place figures for private prisons include an element of capital repayment and are therefore not comparable with the public sector.
Her Majesty's Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 2000–01 (HC29) contains the service's overall performance and will be published shortly.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if every prison in England and Wales has a probation service operating within the prison; and if he will make a statement. [4786]
Beverley Hughes: Central records are not kept of the numbers of probation staff seconded to prisons. The last relevant census took place in October 1999 and confirmed that seconded probation staff operated in all prisons.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the longest period of time was an (a) male and (b) female prison inmate has been held in a segregation unit in a prison in England and Wales. [4785]
Beverley Hughes: As this information will take more time to collect than that allowed for an answer to a parliamentary question, I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of uniformed prison officers from ethnic minority communities are working in prisons in England and Wales. [4787]
Beverley Hughes: The percentage of uniformed officers working in prisons in the Prison Service from minority ethnic communities is shown in the table.
| 30 June 2001 Total staff Minority ethnic staff | Percentage minority ethnic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prison officers | 18,465 | 543 | 2.94 |
| Senior officers | 3,773 | 65 | 1.72 |
| Principal officers | 1,239 | 15 | 1.21 |
| Total | 23,477 | 623 | 2.59 |
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies for prison officers there are at each grade at Wandsworth prison. [4884]
Beverley Hughes: As at 17 July, there were 33 prison officer vacancies and five senior officer vacancies at Wandsworth. There were no vacancies at principal officer level. Despite several local recruitment campaigns, Wandsworth prison has not yet been successful in
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combating shortfalls in prison officer grades. This is due to the cost of living in London and competition from other employers. The Prison Service has recently introduced a local pay scheme to help attract staff. Under this scheme, Wandsworth attracts the current maximum local pay addition of £3,000.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of people serving a prison sentence who suffer from mental illness; and if he will make a statement. [4883]
Beverley Hughes: A survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales, undertaken in 1997 by the Office for National Statistics, showed that some 10 per cent. of sentenced women and 7 per cent. of sentenced men had a functional psychosis. Some 63 per cent. of sentenced women and 40 per cent. of sentenced men had a neurotic disorder.
Applying these rates to the current population would indicate that around 3,800 sentenced prisoners would be suffering from a functional psychosis and around 22,000 from a neurotic disorder. Some prisoners will have both conditions.
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