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Asylum Detainees

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women are being held in detention in England and Wales pending the hearing of their asylum appeal; and if he will make a statement. [2525]

Angela Eagle: The latest available information on the number of asylum seekers detained under Immigration Act powers relates to 30 June 2001. As of that date, 1,205 males and 30 females (to the nearest five) were being held in detention in England and Wales under Immigration Act powers who are recorded as having claimed asylum at some point. These figures include persons held in immigration detention centres and Prison Service establishments, some of whom are detained under dual immigration and other powers, and exclude the Oakington reception centre, for which gender information is not available.

Information on which of these are pending the hearing of their asylum appeal is not available and could be obtained only by examining individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Oakington Reception Centre

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of asylum applications sent to Oakington reception centre who have a negative initial decision, have had that decision overturned on appeal; and if he will make a statement. [1510]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 5 July 2001]: On the basis of provisional Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) data up to 23 September, 5 per cent. of all those applicants sent to Oakington reception centre, who have had an appeal determined, have had their initial decision overturned by adjudicators of the Immigration Appellate Authority.

15 Oct 2001 : Column: 902W

Kosovo

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with the Department for International Development on policies to support the rural economy in Kosovo to help reduce the pressure of economic migration to (a) the UK and (b) other countries in the European Union. [5283]

Angela Eagle: Our Departments have engaged in extensive discussion on all aspects of the Kosovo crisis. In 1999–2000 the United Kingdom committed £110 million to humanitarian assistance, including support to Kosovan refugees in neighbouring countries. In January 2000 it was agreed the UK would commit a further £5 million a year to a longer-term programme of technical assistance, including mine clearance and improvements to community infrastructure. We also participate in the work of the European Commission, which focuses on helping to restart the rural community, including by providing agricultural inputs and audits for farmers and other rural workers.

The aim of the Government's engagement in the Balkans is to promote peace and stability and alleviate poverty in the region. Providing stability and economic opportunities for the people of Kosovo is an essential pre-requisite to reducing emigration pressures.

Cleansing Tablets (Prisons)

Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when the evaluation of the pilot project into the provision of cleansing tablets in prisons to reduce transmission of HIV and hepatitis viruses will be made available; [5529]

(2) when the pilot project on the provision of cleansing tablets in prisons to reduce transmission of HIV and hepatitis viruses will be expanded throughout the country. [5527]

Beverley Hughes: The pilot project run by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has finished. The Prison Service is about to report on the findings and I shall write to my hon. Friend when I have considered the recommendations.

Condoms

Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will list the prisons in England and Wales that distributed condoms to inmates in the last year for which figures are available. [5526]

Beverley Hughes: This information is not currently collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Special Constables

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables were recruited in the Thames Valley force; and how many special constables left the force, in each year from 1996 to 2000. [5759]

Mr. Denham: The recruitment and wastage figures for Thames Valley Special Constabulary for the period 30 September 1996 to 30 September 2000 are set out in the tables.

15 Oct 2001 : Column: 903W

Year	Recruitment	Wastage
1996	185	168
1997	173	220
1998	74	122
1999	65	101
2000	46	114

Source:

Statistics provided by Research, Development and Statistics Department

The Government are committed to increasing the special constabulary and we are looking carefully at radical improvements in their management, welfare and deployment as part of the police reform process.

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what roles are performed by special constables in the West Midlands Police Force. [7087]

15 Oct 2001 : Column: 904W

Mr. Denham: Special constables perform a variety of duties in the West Midlands Police Force. These include high-visibility foot patrol, supporting regular officers at public events, crime prevention initiatives and traffic- related duties. Specials also perform driving duties, following up inquiries and attending to non-urgent call-outs.

Private Finance Initiative

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the PFI contracts entered into since 1997, indicating (a) the value of the PFI, (b) the name of the successful contractor, (c) those PFIs which have benefited from refinancing arrangements, (d) the value of the benefit accrued to the company concerned and (e) the extent of the clawback. [4532]

Mr. Blunkett: From the best information available, I list the details requested.

Title	(a) Value £ (exc. VAT)	(b) Name of successful contractor	(c) Benefited from refinancing?	(d) Value of benefit accrued to company aconcerned	(e) Extent of clawback
IT2000 (Sirius)	360 million	ICL Alcedo Ltd. (Prime Contractor ICL UK Ltd.—key sub-contractors: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Global Crossing	No	n/a	n/a
Criminal Record Bureau	400 million	Capita	No	n/a	n/a
Passport Application Support System—Front End	100 million	Siemens Business Services	No	n/a	n/a
Passport Application Support System—Back End	300 million	Security Printing and Systems Ltd.	No	n/a	n/a
Medway Secure Training Centre (STC)	48.5 million	Rebound ECD Ltd. (Group 4 and Tarmac (now Carilion))	No	n/a	n/a
Rainsbrook STC	43.6 million	Rebound ECD Ltd.	No	n/a	n/a
Hassockfield STC	48.2 million	Medomsley Training Services Ltd. (Premier Prison Services and Kvaerner Construction)	No	n/a	n/a
Airwave	2.5 billion	BT	No	n/a	n/a
Quantum—Prison Service IT and telecommunication services	200 million	EDS	No	n/a	n/a
HMYOI Ashfield	121 million	Pucklechurch Custodial Services Ltd.	No	n/a	n/a
HMP Forest Bank	197 million	Agecroft Prison Management Ltd.	No	n/a	n/a
HMP Rye Hill	154 million	Onley Prison Services Ltd.	No	n/a	n/a
HMP Dovergate	240 million	Moreton Prison Services Ltd.	No	n/a	n/a
Heat Energy Services at:	7 million	Energy Services (UK) Ltd.	No	n/a	n/a
HMP Blundeston	7 million
HMP Camp Hill	6 million
HMP Chelmsford	10 million
HMP Dartmoor	8 million
HMYOI Deerbolt	6 million
HMP Lewes	8 million
HMP Parkhurst	2 million
HMP Usk/Prescoed	—
Total	4,766.3 million

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the economic penalties imposed on private sector firms in each of the last five years for failures to deliver in relation to key performance indicators in projects involving the Private Finance Initiative; and if he will make a statement. [5733]

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 20 July 2001]: Information on the detailed operation of individual contracts is not held centrally and could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.

Life Sentence Prisoners

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many life sentence prisoners are being held in prisons in England (a) whose last place of residence before sentence was in Wales or (b) who have requested a transfer to prison in Wales; [5200]

(2) are being held in prisons in Wales (a) whose last place of residence before sentence was in England and (b) who have requested a transfer to prison in England; [5201]

(3) how many life sentence prisoners are (a) held in prisons in England who were sentenced in Wales and (b) held in prisons in Wales who were sentenced in England; [5199]

(4) how many life sentence prisoners are held in prisons in (a) England and (b) Wales. [5198]

15 Oct 2001 : Column: 905W

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 19 July 2001]: Provisional information shows that on 31 August 2001 there were 30 life sentence prisoners in prisons in Wales, and 4,925 in prisons in England. Of the 30 in prisons in Wales, provisional information shows that 21 were committed at courts in England, and of those in prisons in England 193 were committed in courts in Wales.

There are no data held centrally of the last place of residence for a prisoner before they were sent to prison in England and Wales. Offenders tend to be sentenced in a court nearest to their place of residence so the numbers give an approximation of whether the last place of residence was in England or Wales. Data on requests for transfers are not held centrally by the Prison Service.

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