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9 Dec 2002 : Column 125W—continued
Women Prisoners
Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women are in prison for (a) drug offences, (b) drug trafficking offences and (c) supply offences; and of these groups of women, what percentage (i) have dependent children, (ii) are UK nationals and (iii) are non-UK nationals giving countries of nationality. [82861]
Hilary Benn: Information on the number of women in prison for drug supply offences, unlawful import/export and other drugs offences, and the nationality of these prisoners, is contained in the table.
Statistics on whether women currently in prison for drugs offences have dependent children is not available.
Previous Home Office research (Caddie & Crisp, Imprisoned women and mothers, 1994, Home Office Research Study 162), found that 61 per cent. of women in prison were mothers of children aged under 18 and/or were pregnant. 28 per cent. of sentenced mothers in this study were in prison for drugs offences.
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9 Dec 2002 : Column 127W
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women are held in prisons in England and Wales, broken down by the offences they are held for. [83670]
Hilary Benn: The requested data are shown in the following table. Female prisoners held in prisons in England and Wales on the 31 October 2002, broken down by offence.
| Offence Group | Number of female prisoners |
|---|---|
| Total | 4,427 |
| Violence against the person | 695 |
| Sexual offences | 21 |
| Burglary | 305 |
| Robbery | 481 |
| Theft and handling | 726 |
| Fraud and forgery | 133 |
| Drugs offences | 1,497 |
| Other offences | 460 |
| Offence not recorded | 108 |
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were received into prison in each of the last three years, broken down by offences. [83671]
Hilary Benn: The number of women first received into prisons in England and Wales over the last three years by offence type is given in the table.
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Young Offenders
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department will take following the High Court decision that the Children Act 1989 applies to children held in prison; what assessment his Department has made of the (a) additional training required of prison officers and (b) additional costs to the Prison Service; what time schedule his Department is working towards to implement the High Court ruling in prisons and young offender institutions across England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [85406]
Hilary Benn: The Court upheld and endorsed the Prison Service's policy in relation to juveniles in custody. One sentence in its policy, which was to be changed regardless of the outcome of the judgment, has been found to be wrong. This will now be changed in the context of the judgment. There is undoubtedly a need for more consistency in the provision for young people across the prison estate and work is under way to ensure that this happens. There has been considerable investment across the juvenile estate and resources have been put into all establishments; however, these funds must be allocated according to specific needs and priorities.
The Prison Service has already in place a Child Protection Protocol through which Governors have been required to introduce arrangements to protect children from significant harm, in line with its wish to reflect the principles of the Children Act 1989 and safeguard the welfare of those in its custody. The Court's judgment has found that it is for local authorities to co-operate with the Prison Service in carrying out their duties, subject to the necessary requirements of imprisonment.
Young Offenders Institutions
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; and of those, how many have been held for (a) longer than seven and (b) 28 days. [83824]
Hilary Benn: The information is not held centrally and I shall therefore write to my hon. Friend when it is available.
9 Dec 2002 : Column 129W
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Bain Inquiry
Mr. Galloway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the remuneration and expenses paid to each of the members of the Bain Inquiry into the firefighters; and if he will make a statement. [85317]
Mr. Raynsford: Sir George Bain does not wish to be remunerated for his role as chairman of the independent review of the fire service. Sir Anthony Young is being remunerated at a rate equivalent to the daily rate for members of the Central Arbitration Committee. The employers of Sir Michael Lyons are being reimbursed at his usual rate for his time spent working on the review. All three members have their reasonable expenses reimbursed in accordance with the arrangements which normally apply for such inquiries and reviews.
Mr. Galloway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost was to public funds of the Bain Inquiry into the firefighters' wage claims; and if he will make a statement. [85318]
Mr. Raynsford: The independent review has not yet completed its work so it is not possible to give a figure for the total costs involved in the review.
British Fire Service
Mr. Wood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the 2001 Pathfinder report into the British Fire Service will be published. [85670]
Mr. Raynsford: The Fire Cover Review Task Group agreed the text of its final report on the pathfinder trials at the end of September, 2002. The Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council will consider the report at a future meeting. If the council endorses the report, it will be published.
Affordable Housing (Chesham and Amersham)
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish (a) the current value of the liabilities for pensions of the Fire Service in payment and other liabilities in respect of service to date, (b) the amount by which it would increase if firefighters' pay were immediately to increase by 10 per cent. more than the rate of earnings growth allowed for and (c) the annual cost of (b), if that were spread over the expected working lifetime of current firefighters; what financial and demographic assumptions were used to make these estimates; and if he will make a statement. [84910]
Mr. Raynsford: The Firefighters' Pension Scheme is administered locally by or on behalf of fire authorities and the information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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