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UK Detention Services

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when contracts with UK Detention Services Ltd. will be signed for new prisons at (a) Ashford and (b) Peterborough. [40060]

Beverley Hughes: The contracts for the prisons at Ashford and Peterborough are due to be signed at the end of March 2002 and the middle of April 2002 respectively.

Prisons

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the staffing levels are for each category of staff at HMP Rye Hill; what the prisoner population is at HMP Rye Hill; and what plans there are to deal with overcrowding at HMP Rye Hill. [40063]

Beverley Hughes: The number of certificated staff at Rye Hill prison is 164 and that of support staff including sub-contractors is 78. As at 28 February 2002 the prison held 618 prisoners. The certified normal accommodation is 600. The contractually approved operational capacity is 660.

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the staffing levels are for each category of staff at HMP Dovegate; what the prisoner population is; when HMP Dovegate is expected to reach full capacity; what plans there are to deal with overcrowding; what research is being commissioned by the contractor into the outcomes at HMP Dovegate; which organisation is carrying out the research; and if he will make a statement. [40062]

Beverley Hughes: The staffing levels at Dovegate prison are shown in the table.

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	Main prison	Therapeutic community
Managerial	91	25
Prisoner custody officer	150	61
Support	83	9
Total	324	95

The main prison's population was 594 on 28 February 2002. The certified normal capacity is 600. Discussions on increasing this capacity within the contractual limits for overcrowding are under way. There are currently 81 participants in the therapeutic community and it is planned to reach the operational capacity of 200 by July 2002.

The contractor is in the process of letting a six-year research contract to Surrey university during which three topics in respect of the therapeutic community will be studied: the mechanism of individual change in relation to the therapeutic process, the behaviour of residents when they return to the prison system and the reconviction and re-offending rates of residents when they are released into the general community.

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the staffing levels are for each category of staff at HMP Blakenhurst; how staffing levels have changed since the Prison Service assumed management of the prison; what changes to the regime have occurred since the Prison Service assumed management of the prison; and if he will make a statement. [40065]

Beverley Hughes: The current staffing levels at Blakenhurst prison are 14 managers, 208 operational grades, 64 other directly employed staff and 24 catering and educational staff, a total of 310. This is comparable to the planned complement of approximately 322 employees (including contracted out personnel) of the former contractor, United Kingdom Detention Services (UKDS) before the change in management.

Major changes in regime under Prison Service management include: a revision of the prison's daily visits timetable and the introduction of a booked visits scheme; the introduction of a Personal Officer Scheme; the revision of the prison's incentives and earned privileges scheme and of the anti-bullying strategy; the refocusing of education on the acquisition of basic skills and employment skills; the introduction of a new pre-release course addressing resettlement issues; an increase in domestic work for prisoners; the redevelopment of prison workshops with the opening in March of two new workshops providing work for 60 prisoners; and the introduction of an industrial cleaning course for 15 prisoners.

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the staffing levels were for each category of staff at HMP Doncaster immediately prior to the commencement of the latest contract with Premier Custodial Group Ltd; what the staffing levels are for each category of staff at HMP Doncaster; and what the prisoner population is at HMP Doncaster. [40064]

Beverley Hughes: The number of staff at Doncaster prison immediately before, and after, the new contract is shown in the table.

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	Old contract	New contract
Managerial	58	67
Prisoner custody officer	320	273
Support	256	279
Total	634	619

The population at Doncaster as at 1 March 2002 was 1,003.

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the present staffing levels are for each category of staff at HMP Wandsworth; and what vacancies exist in each category. [40513]

Beverley Hughes: The figures are given in the table.

Grade category	Staff in post on 28 February 2002	Vacancies on 28 February 2002
Accountant	1	—
Administrative	59	6
Chaplaincy	3.5	1
Healthcare	33.5	3.5
Industrial	25.5	—
Non industrial	28	6
Operational support grade	103	—
Psychology	8	1
Officer grades	391.5	31.5
Governor grades	12	—
Grand Total	666	49

Offenders (Electronic Monitoring)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders are being electronically monitored in the Greater London area. [40512]

Beverley Hughes: On 28 February 2002, a total of 528 persons were being electronically monitored in the Greater London area.

Design Champion

Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the role is of the Design Champion in his Department. [40528]

Angela Eagle: I am the Ministerial Design Champion for the Home Office. I will review the Department's capital works programme, the design quality aspects of that programme in relation to the Government's wider objectives, and in particular the prevention of crime. I aim to sponsor at least two projects within the Department's remit, and to oversee a departmental action plan to improve design quality across the Department and sponsored bodies. It is important to encourage a commitment to better public building and to ensure that high-quality design is part of an efficient and effective procurement process.

Sex Offenders

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people are on the Sex Offenders Register in each constituency in Essex, broken down by type of offence; [39497]

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(2) how many people are on the Sex Offenders Register in Essex, broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnic group, (c) original nationality at birth and (d) age, broken down by those aged (i) below 40, (ii) 40 to 59 and (iii) 60 years and above. [39495]

Beverley Hughes: The Sex Offenders Act 1997 requires offenders cautioned for, convicted of, or found not guilty by reason of insanity of an offence specified in Schedule One to the Act to provide certain details to the police. There is, however, no "register" of sex offenders, as such; nor are sex offenders subject to the requirements of the Act separately identified as such in criminal statistics.

Until recently, data on the number of sex offenders subject to the requirements of the Act were collated biannually on a national basis from the police national computer. However, this arrangement has been overtaken following guidance issued by the Home Office in respect of the provisions in section 67 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. The guidance requires information about the number of sex offenders subject to the Act's requirements in each police area to be published on an annual basis starting in 2002 and local systems are being put in place to deliver this. Until these systems are in place information on numbers of sex offenders subject to the Act's requirements could be obtained only by a specific exercise by the particular police force concerned. We have no plans to require publication by constituency or to break down published figures further.

Prison Education

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prison workers receive an environmental allowance; whether prison education workers receive such an allowance; whether the money paid to those contracted to deliver prison education includes an element to pay environmental allowances; and if he will review these prison education contracts to ensure that the conditions under which prison education lecturers operate are taken into account. [40654]

Beverley Hughes: Prison environmental allowances are paid only to nursing and pharmacy grades employed under national health service Whitley terms and conditions. No other directly employed Prison Service staff receive an environmental allowance. Those contracted through a third party to deliver education do not qualify for an environmental allowance from the Prison Service. The composition of pay rates for staff employed by third party contractors is a matter for the contractor. What the Prison Service is buying is the provision of a range of education services to a particular standard and volume.

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms exist for prison education workers to appeal against the decision of prison governors to exclude them on the grounds of a breach of prison rules and regulations; and what plans the Government and Prison Service have concerning such mechanisms. [40413]

Beverley Hughes: Prison governors have a statutory right to exclude any representative of the education contractor from their establishment on the grounds of maintaining good order and discipline or security. The

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contractor is required to co-operate with any investigation relating to security and to make any staff available to be interviewed as part of such an investigation. Education workers have the right to representation either by the contractor or by a third party acceptable to both the contractor and establishment.

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