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Disorderly Conduct

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of disorderly conduct were reported in 1997 and each subsequent year in (a) Preston, (b) Blackburn, (c) Lancashire, (d) the North West, (e) Wales and (f) the UK. [45794]

Mr. Denham: The Information requested is not available.

Crimes Against Tourists

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes against tourists in London have been reported in each of the last five years. [45956]

Mr. Denham: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Police (East Midlands)

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers serving in the

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(a) Leicestershire and (b) Nottinghamshire constabularies were previously employed in the Metropolitan Police. [46211]

Mr. Denham: I am told by the Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary (David Wyrko) that there are 65 officers in the force who previously served with the Metropolitan Police.

I am told by the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire (Stephen Green) that information about the previous forces of officers who have joined on transfer is not routinely collated centrally. The force does, however, have a record that 12 officers transferred into the force from the Metropolitan Police in 2001–02.

Police Reform Bill

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the ACPO concerning the Police Reform Bill. [46210]

Mr. Denham: We had extensive discussions with The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) when formulating the provisions of the Bill. Those discussions, have continued following the introduction of the Bill in another place.

Antisocial Behaviour

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities make use of mediation and restorative justice services in tackling antisocial behaviour. [46572]

Mr. Denham: The information requested is not held centrally.

Prison Suicides

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners who have attempted suicide died whilst being transferred to hospital in the last three years; and if he will make a statement; [48672] (2) how many people have (a) committed and (b) attempted suicide whilst in prison in the last five years; how many of these were on a life sentence; how many were in for more than 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [48549]

Beverley Hughes: The total number of self-inflicted prisoner deaths and reported incidents of self-harm in establishments in England and Wales are set out in the given tables.

Information relating to the number of prisoners who have died whilst being transferred from prison establishment to hospital is not kept separately.

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary (Mr. Blunkett), the Director General of the Prison Service (Martin Narey) and I take every self-inflicted death and incident of self-harm in prison custody very seriously.

The Prison Service's new three-year suicide prevention strategy commenced in April 2001 and aims to make prisons safer for all who live and work there. There is an early focus on pilots in five establishments with a range of changes being made, including physical improvements to reception and induction areas, and more first night

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support centres and safer cells. Suicide Prevention Co-ordinators have been trained and appointed at 30 high-risk prisons, and revised risk assessment tools are being devised.

The Prison Service's internal review into the prevention of suicides and self-harm found that those serving life sentences are at higher risk than those with determinate sentences. Research to find out at what stage in their period of custody life sentenced prisoners are most at risk, and how the self-inflicted deaths of life-sentenced prisoners differ to those in other sentence categories, is now being planned.

1. Self-inflicted deaths at establishments in England and Wales 1998–2002

Year	Number of Deaths	Lifer Prisoners	Already served 10 years or more
1998	82	8	0
1999	91	4	1
2000	81	3	0
2001	72	7	1
2002	19	0	0
Total	345	22	2

2. Self-harm incidents at establishments in England and Wales 1998–2002

Year	Number of Incidents
1998	3,207
1999	3,721
2000	5,227
2001	7,486
2002	2,119
Total	21,760

up to and including 08/04/02

Notes:

1. Not all self-inflicted deaths result in an inquest verdict of suicide.

2. Data in above table include all attempted suicides. Self-harm incidents are not categorised by intent for data collection purposes or by prisoner status.

3. Self-harm incidents do not equate to numbers of prisoners as an individual prisoner may self-harm more than once.

Professor Michael Barber

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the work of Professor Michael Barber in his role as advisor on crime; [51214]

(2) if Professor Michael Barber continues in his role as a Home Office advisor on crime; and if he will make a statement; [51212]

(3) to which of his recent crime fighting initiatives Professor Michael Barber has contributed; and if he will make a statement; [51215]

(4) if he will place in the Library copies of the research undertaken by Professor Michael Barber in his capacity as the Government's adviser on crime; and if he will make a statement. [51438]

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 19 April 2002]: Professor Michael Barber is head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit which is working closely with the Treasury

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and other Delivery Departments to ensure that the Government achieve their delivery priorities during this Parliament across the key areas of public service: health, education, crime, asylum and transport. He reports to my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister (Mr. Blair), and is not separately an adviser on crime.

Sentences (Drug Smuggling)

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the maximum custodial sentence for the smuggling of (a) class A controlled substances, (b) class B controlled substances, (c) class C controlled substances, (d) alcohol and (e) tobacco. [51216]

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 19 April 2002]: The maximum custodial sentence for the smuggling of Class A controlled drugs is life imprisonment; that for smuggling of Class B controlled drugs is 14 years' imprisonment; that for smuggling Class C controlled drugs is five years' imprisonment. The maximum custodial sentence for the smuggling of alcohol and tobacco is also seven years' imprisonment.

Released Prisoners (Accommodation)

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people aged under 18 have been released from prison with no fixed abode in each year since 1998; and from which prisons. [49981]

Beverley Hughes: Information on the accommodation of prisoners after release is not recorded centrally for all prisoners. However a survey of prisoners' resettlement has recently been carried out for the Prison Service. This involved interviews with a representative sample of about 2000 prisoners shortly before discharge. It will provide information about the proportion reporting in the last two-three weeks of sentence that they have no accommodation to go to on release. Results will be available shortly.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the Geneva Conventions will be applied to prisoners captured by UK forces in Afghanistan; and whether such prisoners will be handed directly to US forces. [45409]

Mr. Hoon: The Geneva Conventions will be applied to prisoners captured by United Kingdom troops in Afghanistan. Any such prisoners would be handed to the Afghan Interim Authority.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which (a) machine guns, (b) light machine guns and (c) assault rifles are in service with the Royal Marines deployed in Afghanistan. [52899]

Mr. Hoon: 45 Commando Group Royal Marines is equipped with General Purpose Machine Guns and 50 Calibre machine guns. The Light Support Weapon and the Minimi provide their light machine gun capability.

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The SA80 A2 assault rifle is the standard individual weapon for the Royal Marines, although the Brigade Reconnaissance Force is equipped with M16 owing to its specialist role.

Radar

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the upgrading of the software of the radar in Fylingdales and Menwith Hill; how long it is expected to last; how much it is expected to cost; and if he will make a statement. [52119]

Mr. Hoon: We have not received a request from the United States for assistance with the deployment of a missile defence system. It would be premature, therefore, to make an assessment of the work that might be required to upgrade the facilities at RAF Fylingdales or RAF Menwith Hill for missile defence purposes, and how long such work might take. The costs associated with any such upgrading would be first and foremost a matter for the United States.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the proposed time scale is for a decision on the development of X-band radar in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [52097]

Mr. Hoon: We have no indication of the timing of any possible requests from the United States to build an X-band radar in the UK, nor do we work on the assumption that such a radar would necessarily be sited in the UK. I cannot therefore give a timescale for any UK decisions which might be required.

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