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Female Prisoners
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the female prison population (a) have children and (b) have children under the age of four years. [28764]
Beverley Hughes: The last major survey of mothers in prison was at the end of 1994. The findings were included in Home Office Research Study 162, "Imprisoned women and mothers", first published in 1997.
61 per cent. of the population surveyed were mothers of children under 18. 30 per cent. of these had children under five years.
Research conducted for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prison's thematic review, "Women in Prison", published in 1997, indicated that 66 per cent. of the population surveyed were mothers, with over a third of the mothers having one child or more under five.
Segregation Cells
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been held in segregation cells in each of the prisons in the juvenile estate since April 2000. [29602]
Beverley Hughes: Provisional data on the number of children held in segregation during the stated period are given in the table. The length of stay is dependent on the reason and will vary from no more than a few hours to a carefully prescribed number of days.
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| Number | |
|---|---|
| Ashfield | 134 |
| Brinsford | 55 |
| Castington | 882 |
| Feltham | 154 |
| Hindley | (63)90 |
| Hollesley Bay | 504 |
| Huntercombe | 487 |
| Lancaster Farms | 228 |
| Onley | 661 |
| Portland | (65),(66)124 |
| Stoke Heath | 660 |
| Thorn Cross | 78 |
| Werrington | 0 |
| Wetherby | 380 |
(65) From July 2001
(66) Previous records held by police for investigation
MI5
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the policy of MI5 is in respect of release of its post-1945 records to the Public Record Office. [30665]
Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 29 January 2002]: The Security Service systematically reviews and where appropriate releases historical records to the Public Record Office in accordance with the criteria agreed with them and endorsed by the Advisory Council.
The Security Service has reviewed and released all archived files covering the first world war. Moving on to the second world war, the second phase in its release programme, the service released in November 2001 its fourth tranche of files on the period up to the end of that war. The service is reviewing its inter-war records in preparation for further releases. It will then move on to the period after the second world war. The timing of this depends on the resources that the service is able to devote to the process.
Surveillance
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to paragraphs 14.1, 14.2 and 14.3 of the report of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner for 2000–01, (1) for what reasons no codes of practice had been issued under section 71(1) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and if he will make a statement; [31377]
- (2) if he will list the public authorities entitled at 1 January to carry out surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and which of those authorities have exercised such powers since the introduction of the Act; [31374]
(3) pursuant to paragraph 2.4 of the report of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner for 2000–01, to what reasons he ascribes the delay in recruiting assistant surveillance commissioners; what the appropriate establishment is for the Commissioner's Office; and on what date he expects this to be achieved; [31375]
(4) what guidance has been provided to the Chief Surveillance Commissioner in respect of the determining of applications made to him by public authorities which
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- involve eliciting matters subject to (a) legal privilege, (b) confidential personal information and (c) confidential journalistic material; and if he will make a statement. [31376]
Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 29 January 2002]: The three part-time assistant surveillance commissioners approved to support the Chief Surveillance Commissioner were appointed on 1 May 2001, the five inspectors were appointed during April 2001. The office of the surveillance commissioners is fully up to strength.
The public authorities entitled to carry out covert surveillance under Part II of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000 are those listed in schedule 1 of the Act and the British Broadcasting Corporation which was added by order on 16 March 2001. All those public authorities have (as far as records indicate) used the powers available to them under Part II of RIPA.
The draft codes of practice on covert surveillance and covert human intelligence sources have been issued in draft and were publicly consulted on. The consultation process finished on 17 November 2000. It raised a number of complex issues which required detailed consideration. The draft codes will be before the House shortly. The draft code of practice on covert surveillance provides guidance on authorisations involving confidential information which consist of matters subject to legal privilege, confidential personal information and confidential journalistic material.
Drug Addicts
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered young drug addicts aged 16 to 24 years there are by region, expressed as (a) a percentage figure and (b) the total number, ranked in descending order according to percentage figures for the latest date available. [30597]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The term "registered addict" has no generally agreed definition in the United Kingdom. However, the Department of Health has published information on the number of drug misusers in treatment in England in 2000–01. The information available is in the following table. No comparable figures are available for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
| Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| England | 37,453 | 100 |
| Northern and Yorkshire | 8,031 | 21 |
| London | 6,512 | 17 |
| North West | 5,020 | 13 |
| South West | 4,552 | 12 |
| West Midlands | 3,918 | 10 |
| Trent | 3,784 | 10 |
| South East | 3,346 | 9 |
| Eastern | 2,290 | 6 |
Source:
Department of Health Statistical Bulletin 2001/33: Statistics from the Regional Drug Misuse Databases on drug misusers in treatment in England, 2000–01 (tables 5 and 6). Available at www.doh.gov/ public/sb0133.pdf
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria he applies in deciding whether the creation of a new NDPB is justified. [30461]
Mr. Leslie: In "Quangos: Opening the Doors", published in June 1998, the Government stated that they would ensure that a new non-departmental public body is only set up where it can be demonstrated that this is the most cost-effective and appropriate means of carrying out the given function. This remains Government policy and the analysis in each case will depend upon the specific circumstances.
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of (a) large and (b) small NDPBs are covered by the Efficiency report published by the Cabinet Office. [30464]
Mr. Leslie: The executive NDPBs 1999 report, which was last published in March 2000, covers only the larger executive NDPBs. The threshold for inclusion was expenditure of £15 million and above in financial year 1998–99.
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many and what percentage of (a) large and (b) small NDPBs produce an annual report; and of those what percentage in each case is a public document; [30463]
- (2) how many (a) large and (b) small NDPBs release summary reports of meetings with (i) the general public, (ii) local authorities and (iii) Government Departments; [30465]
(3) how many (a) large and (b) small NDPBs consult their users by means of (i) questionnaires, (ii) public meetings and (iii) other forms; [30466]
(4) how many and what percentage of advisory NDPBs have formed their own codes for board members; and how many, and what percentage, operate registers of interest; [30468]
(5) how many and what percentage of (a) large and (b) small NDPBs publish information on their role and work programme on the worldwide web. [30470]
Mr. Leslie: The Government set out their policy on making the operation of non-departmental public bodies more open in "Quangos: Opening the Doors", published on 29 June 1998, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Detailed information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
I anticipate that the next edition, "Public Bodies 2001", will be published shortly.
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of (a) large executive, (b) small executive and (c) advisory NDPBs are under the jurisdiction of the parliamentary ombudsman. [30467]
Mr. Leslie: All executive NDPBs are brought within the jurisdiction of the parliamentary ombudsman, unless there are exceptional reasons for not doing so, or they are already within the jurisdiction of another ombudsman.
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Those advisory NDPBs that exceptionally have direct dealings with members of the public are also brought within the ombudsman's jurisdiction.
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether NDPBs are obliged to submit a description of functions to the annual publication of "Public Bodies". [30469]
Mr. Leslie: In "Quangos: Opening the Doors", published in June 1998, the Government stated that future editions of "Public Bodies" would include a description of the functions of each body listed. In line with this, a description of each individual body's terms of reference was included in "Public Bodies 1998" and has been similarly included in subsequent editions.
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