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2 Dec 2002 : Column 589W—continued

Police Investigations

Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many investigations in the last year resulted in the police taking no further action; and if he will make a statement. [83682]

Mr. Denham: During 2001–02, 1,291,396 recorded offences were detected by the police of which 199,567 1 (15 per cent.) were detected with no further action by the police. This means that 4 per cent. of all recorded crime is detected in this way. More detailed information on method of detection is published in table 8.02 of XCrime in England and Wales 2001–02". A copy of this publication is available in the Library.

The figures for crimes detected with no further action by the police above exclude those undetected crimes that are not investigated beyond initial reporting.

The current methods of detection are:





The XOther" category are those in which the case is not proceeded with –ie there is no legal sanction against the offender.


Police Numbers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are attached to each Basic Command Unit in England and Wales. [83674]

Mr. Denham: Information on the number of officers in each Basic Command Unit (BCU) is provided annually (31 March) by each police force to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. The tables setting out the position for 31 March 2002 have been placed in the Library.

Policing by each BCU would additionally be supported by officers deployed to other operational roles, such as traffic officers, police support units and dog and mounted sections.

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Police Technology

Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has commissioned into the development of less lethal technologies for use by the police. [83681]

Mr. Denham: The Home Office's Police Scientific Development Branch have published two reports, in April 2001 and November 2001, detailing their research into less lethal technologies for the police.

Previous Convictions

Mr. Malins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the changes his proposals for revealing previous convictions to a jury will make to the law on similar fact evidence. [82084]

Hilary Benn: The Government proposes to place the admissibility of evidence of previous misconduct on a statutory basis in a Criminal Justice Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on 21 November. Our proposals will ensure that all evidence of bad character, including previous convictions, is admissible where it is relevant to a matter at issue in a trial. This will represent a fundamental change to the current law on previous misconduct, including the similar fact rule. There will be a discretion to exclude evidence of bad character if its prejudicial effect exceeds its probative value. However, the proposed scheme will create a clearly inclusionary approach under which relevant bad character evidence will not be excluded unless the court is satisfied that there is good reason to do so.

Our proposals will also offer new protection to witnesses, to guard against unnecessarily wide ranging and humiliating attacks on their character. The current rules offer no such protection.

Prison Deaths

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inquests into deaths in (a) police and (b) prison custody resulted in a verdict of neglect in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [83683]

Mr. Denham: The Home Office publishes annual statistics of deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police. There have been no inquest verdicts of neglect but a number where neglect has been a contributory factor, which are shown in the table.

Year Total number of deaths in police custodyNumber of inquest verdicts where neglect was a contributory factor Inquest verdicts Inquest verdicts awaited
19924800
19933100
19943900
1995–965021. Accidental death contributed to by neglect 2. Natural causes contributed to by neglect0
1996–975721. Drug abuse contributed to by neglect 2. Accidental death—aggravated by neglect0
1997–98691Accidental death contributed to by neglect0
1998–996721. Natural causes contributed to by self-neglect 2. Non-dependent abuse of drugs aggravated by neglect1
1999–2000701Accident contributed to by neglect1
2000–01531Death by misadventure with contributory neglect8
2001–0270054

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The Prison Service has only been collecting data on neglect riders to inquest verdicts since the beginning of 2001. In that time there have been four inquest verdicts with neglect riders. All four verdicts were returned in 2002, three of them referring to deaths in 2001. This does not include one case of natural causes aggravated by self-neglect.

Prison Hospital Beds

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons do not have (a) in-patient beds and (b) 24 hour nursing care. [83181]

Hilary Benn: Health services in the following prisons are based on primary care and have no in-patient beds or 24 hour nursing care:


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Prison Nurses

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) nurses and (b) prisoners there are in each prison in the UK; and what the ratio is of nurses to prisoners. [83179]

Hilary Benn: The information available for England and Wales is set out in the table. It relates only to nursing staff or other staff with nursing experience working in prison health care that are employed by the Prison Service. Information about the numbers of prisoners in each establishment in England and Wales is available in the Home Office quarterly publication XPrison Population Brief", a copy of which is on the

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Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prisons1 .html. Matters concerning Scotland are for the devolved administration to answer. While the

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institutions in Northern Ireland are dissolved, responsibility rests with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office.

Nurses and health care officers in prison establishments as at 31 October 2002

Area Est. GroupPrincipal officerSenior officerPrison officerNursing grades
East Midlands (North)
Lincoln1466
North Sea Camp1
Nottingham2413
Ranby151
Sudbury12
Whatton1
East Midlands (North) Total361524
East Midlands (South) Ashwell4
Gartree1266
Glen Parva2231
Leicester11312
Onley210
Stocken16
Wellingborough5
East Midlands (South) Total441374
Eastern
Bedford1111
Blundeston212
Chelmsford12116
Grendon536
Highpoint117
Littlehey125
Norwich12518
The Mount16
Wayland133
Eastern Total2141874
High Security Prisons
Belmarsh13537
Durham1624
Frankland2118
Full Sutton1444
Long Lartin215
Wakefield13113
Whitemoor269
Woodhill131312
High Security Prisons Total41848122
HQ
Area off—Kent, Surrey, Sussex1
HQ1
Standards Audit Unit21
Training and Development11
HQ Total3004
Juvenile Establishments
Hollesley Bay124
Huntercombe32
Werrington1126
Wetherby119
Juvenile Establishments Total13821
Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Blantyre House11
Canterbury1143
Coldingley112
Dover114
Elmley1279
Ford12
Highdown1216
Lewes237
Maidstone113
Rochester1144
Standford Hill12
Swaleside11123
Kent, Surrey and Sussex Total6132563
London
Brixton141318
Feltham2223
Latchmere House1
Pentonville2536
Wandsworth13332
Wormwood Scrubs221130
London Total61135139
North London
Acklington17
Castington113
Deerbolt12
Holme House12421
Kirklevington2
North East Total13555
North West
Buckley Hall
Garth21913
Haverigg113
Hindley11815
Kirkham13
Lancaster
Lancaster Farms22
Liverpool192631
Manchester41125
Preston13138
Risley1113
Thorn Cross12
North West Total91862123
South West
Bristol1416
Channings Wood1122
Dartmoor1239
Dorchester28
Erlestoke3
Exeter22118
Gloucestershire1139
Guys Marsh113
Leyhill113
Portland223
The Verne3
Weare2
South West Total6121779
Thames Valley and Hampshire
Aylesbury119
Bullingdon1510
Haslar3
Kingston121
Parkhurst121115
Reading136
Winchester4910
Thames Valley and Hampshire Total1103154
Wales
Cardiff11515
Swansea12412
Usk/Prescoed4
Wales Total23931
West Midlands
Birmingham14914
Brinsford22
Featherstone23
Shrewsbury6
Stafford152
Stoke Heath14
Swifen Hall111
West Midlands Total161762
Women's Prisons and YOIs
Askham Grange3
Brockhill 10
Bullwood Hall11
Cookham Wood5
Drake Hall6
East Sutton Park2
Eastwood Park114
Foston Hall10
Highpoint North1114
Holloway38
Low Newton1112
Morton Hall1
New Hall20
Send4
Styal23
Women's Prisons and YOIs Total113173
Yorkshire and Humberside
Everthorpe12
Hull1818
Leeds31137
Lindholme127
Moorland1397
Wealstun14
Yorkshire and Humberside Total1103075
Grand Total511323361,173

2 Dec 2002 : Column 597W


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