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7 Nov 2002 : Column 837W—continued
Offenders (Safety)
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the safety of and conditions for offenders kept in court cells and transported in prison vans in London is being monitored while inspections by the Greater London Lay Observers Panel are suspended. [79068]
Hilary Benn: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Open Prisons
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the regime in open prisons; and if he will make a statement. [77393]
Hilary Benn: Open prisons hold large numbers of short-term prisoners who have been carefully assessed and identified as low risk.
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In addition to their role with short-term prisoners, open prisons contribute towards the resettlement of prisoners coming towards the end of medium and long-term sentences, including life sentence prisoners. This aspect of their work involved the selection and oversight of prisoners engaged in unpaid community work and, for those within 12 months of their parole eligibility date, in full-time paid employment. These opportunities are only available to prisoners who have passed a stringent risk assessment process, and whose progress and behaviour are subject to constant review.
The arrangements for the resettlement role of open prisons are contained in the National Framework of Requirements for Resettlement Regimes which was issued in November 2001. The Prison Service will shortly review the way in which the National Framework has operated during its first 12 months.
Parliamentary Questions and Letters
Mr. Burstow To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) parliamentary questions and (b) letters to him from hon. Members in this session remain unanswered, broken down by those which are (i) one month old, (ii) two months old, (iii) three months old, (iv) four months old and (v) over six months old. [79943]
Hilary Benn: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Passport Agency Contracts
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the total savings to public funds of the Private Finance Initiative contract for Passport Agency contracts by comparison with a non-Private Finance Initiative alternative. [49651]
Beverley Hughes: The original business case for replacing the obsolete passport production system (PIMIS) and improve the efficiency, effectiveness and security of the passport document compared a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) solution with non-PFI which resulted in the PFI solution being #32 million cheaper to public funds over the proposed 10 years of any system:
| # million | |
|---|---|
| Upgrade to digital in-house system | 371 |
| PFI solution | 339 |
Since the business case was completed in July 1997 there have been many changes to the Agency, with major initiatives including modernisation, anti-fraud and customer service improvements. The flexibility within the PFI contract has allowed the Agency to drive forward on these initiatives in the most economical fashion calling on our private sector partners' expertise and achieving improvements through a controlled and negotiated contract change control process.
Now that the PFI solution is fully in place at all seven passport offices an efficiency strategy for the remaining years of the contract is being formulated with efficiencies expected to be realised for financial year 2002–03 onwards.
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Police (Civilian Employment)
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many civilians per thousand population are employed by each police force; [79137]
-
(2) how many civilians are employed by each police force. [79144]
Mr. Denham: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Police (Overtime)
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average overtime rates were per officer for each police force in the UK in the last year for which figures are available; and what the latest figures are for the cost of overtime in each police force. [25106]
Mr. Denham: The Office of Manpower Economics (OME) undertakes an annual sample survey of police officers' pay, including overtime pay for constables and sergeants, on behalf of the Police Negotiating Board for the United Kingdom.
The latest figures available from the survey show average weekly overtime payments made to constables and sergeants in the different regions, in respect of the pay period—two weeks, four weeks or a calendar month—which included 6 November 2001. These are calculated from grossed up figures by dividing the total overtime payments received by the officers in the rank by the total number of officers in that rank.
The results of the sample survey are set out in the first set of tables.
The Home Department has collected figures for the cost of overtime in 2001–02 for each police force in England and Wales. The figures are set out in the final table.
| Overtime pay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Rest day with less than 8 days notice | Rest day with between 8 and 14 days notice | Other overtime |
| London | 39.63 | 4.70 | 45.36 |
| Ulster | 16.73 | 9.43 | 95.51 |
| Scotland | 10.18 | 2.13 | 26.62 |
| Metropolitan authorities | 6.55 | 10.33 | 17.70 |
| Shire counties | 8.52 | 5.43 | 18.90 |
| Wales | 2.07 | 1.67 | 16.71 |
| Overtime pay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Rest day with less than 8 days notice | Rest day with between 8 and 14 days notice | Other overtime |
| London | 40.19 | 6.24 | 40.37 |
| Ulster | 17.04 | 11.38 | 91.40 |
| Scotland | 9.35 | 3.38 | 28.76 |
| Metropolitan authorities | 9.84 | 13.83 | 18.90 |
| Shire counties | 14.47 | 10.20 | 21.98 |
| Wales | 2.59 | 0.00 | 18.11 |
7 Nov 2002 : Column 840W
| Overtime pay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Rest day with less than 8 days notice | Rest day with between 8 and 14 days notice | Other overtime |
| London | 15.38 | 2.92 | 82.31 |
| Ulster | 54.40 | 2.57 | 142.72 |
| Scotland | 26.24 | 0.89 | 79.90 |
| Metropolitan authorities | 13.83 | 4.59 | 49.91 |
| Shire counties | 14.24 | 2.77 | 54.27 |
| Wales | 4.22 | 0.43 | 65.90 |
| Overtime pay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Rest day with less than 8 days notice | Rest day with between 8 and 14 days notice | Other overtime |
| London | 18.38 | 6.95 | 88.85 |
| Ulster | 54.98 | 10.56 | 166.22 |
| Scotland | 16.83 | 0.49 | 75.13 |
| Metropolitan authorities | 59.58 | 8.58 | 64.05 |
| Shire counties | 20.00 | 3.39 | 62.76 |
| Wales | 8.99 | 0.00 | 64.63 |
7 Nov 2002 : Column 841W
Police (Pay)
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress in the Police Negotiating Board towards reform of police pay and allowances; what the timetable is for agreement; and what proposals under consideration would require primary legislation. [29680]
Mr. Denham: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Police Checks (Vehicles)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the percentage of police checks on vehicles that have failed due to vehicles not being registered with DVLC. [79028]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 6 November 2002]: The police carry out checks on vehicles for a number of purposes. Information on such checks and their results is not held centrally. Vehicle registration and the accuracy of the vehicle registration record are matters for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
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