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24 Feb 2003 : Column 314W—continued
Council Tax Precept (Police Authorities)
22. Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average increase in council tax precept for police authorities in England and Wales for 2003–04 is, expressed as a percentage of 2002–03 levels. [98779]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: This information is not yet available. Police Authorities have until 1 March to set their budgets and precept levels for 2003/04 and until 8 March to report this to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
I shall write to the hon. Member when the information is available.
Teenage Offenders
23. Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of offenders convicted in 2002 between the ages of 16 and 18 left school with no qualifications. [98780]
Hilary Benn: The information is not available in this precise form, but the Youth Justice Board's last general education audit, published in November 2001, showed that of juveniles who went into custody at least 71 per cent. had left school without any significant literacy or numeracy qualifications.
2 Marsham Street
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a building research
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establishment environmental assessment method document has been prepared for the redevelopment of 2 Marsham Street. [96413]
Beverley Hughes: The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is being applied to the redevelopment of 2 Marsham Street. The contract requires progress to be regularly reported. The most recent report on progress of the project using BREEAM (98) criteria estimating project performance indicates that an excellent rating is likely to be achieved. The BREEAM certificate will be issued after building completion when the achieved rating will be confirmed.
Ashfield Young Offenders Institution
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the recent report on Ashfield Young Offenders' Institution; [97036]
- (2) what sanctions he has imposed on Recruit as a result of the Ashfield Report; and what plans he has to encourage them to reform their recruitment policies; [97039]
(3) what discussions he has had with Recruit regarding (a) their record at Ashfield and (b) other prison contracts they are responsible for. [97037]
Hilary Benn: The operating contractor of Ashfield young offender institution is Premier Prison Services which also operates Doncaster prison and young offender institution, Dovegate and Lowdham Grange prisons. I have not had discussions with Premier about any of these prisons, but I visited Ashfield on 29 August 2002 because of the concern that had been expressed about its performance. I am also regularly informed by the Prison Service about significant developments there and elsewhere in the Service.
No sanctions have been imposed on Premier directly as a result of the report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons. However the Prison Service has made deductions from the fee payable to Premier totalling £350,305 during the period November 2001 to October 2002 for failures to deliver acceptable levels of performance.
Premier has recently introduced a new employment package for existing staff and new recruits in response to Prison Service concerns. The initial signs are encouraging in that the rate of staff resignations is falling.
The Director General of the Prison Service made the following statement on 3 February in response to the report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons on Ashfield young offender institution also published on 3 February:
- Ashfield has been struggling for some considerable time to provide an environment for young people which is safe and constructive. Premier's failures were so significant that in May 2002, some time before the Inspectorate's visit, I considered closing it and would have done so were it not for the population pressures we were facing. Instead, I took the unprecedented step of imposing a public sector governor and he made significant improvements. As Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) report acknowledges, a new, more constructive and safer regime, some weeks in the design stage, was successfully launched shortly after the HMCIP visit.
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- But these early improvements were not built upon as I had hoped. Since then I have personally intervened to help Premier recruit, in Vicky O'Dea, one of the most talented, committed and inspirational governors in the Prison Service. I have immense confidence in her and at last I am beginning to see signs of fundamental change for the better.
- Premier runs good prisons at Doncaster and Lowdham Grange and is fast improving Dovegate prison. However, the company is under no illusion that if the recent improvements at Ashfield are not built upon I will have to consider terminating the contract by inviting Premier's bankers to appoint another private sector company to run the prison. Failing that, I will have to consider bringing Ashfield into the public sector. For the time being, we will only be using half the places at Ashfield and paying Premier only part of its monthly fee.
- The introduction of the private sector into the running of prisons has brought immense benefits. My best prison is probably a private sector prison. But Ashfield, by some measure, is the worst. Sustained improvement is now vital if I am to be persuaded to leave the management of Ashfield in Premier's hands.
Capital Projects
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place the evaluations for the Capital Modernisation Fund projects relating to (a) crime reduction, (b) national police radio programme (PSRCP), (c) IT integration in criminal justice system, (d) DNA databases, (e) active communities prison pressures, (f) national strategy on police information systems, (g) government technical assistance centre, (h) video recording police interviews, (i) DNA database population, (j) video-links: modernising the court process, (k) post-release support hostel for prisoners after drug treatment, (l) electronic "chipping" of goods, (m) Project Lion, (n) firearms forensic database, (o) secure units for juvenile offenders, (p) security for small business, (q) detecting concealed people, (r) prison capacity and juvenile accommodation and (s) counter-terrorism in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [97024]
Mr. Denham: Of the projects listed in the question, only one has so far been completed. An evaluation report on the court video-links project is due in June. Evaluation reports for the eight demonstration projects under "electronic chipping of goods" will be available at the end of November.
Communications Data
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the comments of the Surveillance Commissioner in his annual report (HC 68), on what obligations are on public authorities when seeking access to communications data; and if he will make a statement. [97067]
Mr. Blunkett: I am not aware of any such comments in the Surveillance Commissioner's annual report (HC 68). If my hon. Friend has any further information I would be happy to consider it.
Computer Fraud
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in 2001–02; and on how many occasions
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computer systems have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (i) within and (ii) outside his Department. [97560]
Mr. Denham: Official records compiled under the government scheme for reporting Information Technology (IT) security incidents, the Unified Incident Reporting and Alert Scheme (UNIRAS), show the following figures.
The number of incidents of computer hacking was 0 in 2001 and 0 in 2002.
The number of incidents of computer fraud was 0 in 2001 and 0 in 2002.
The number of incidents of computer theft recorded was 14 in 2001 and 14 in 2002.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 18 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. A. Z. Majid; [97087]
- (2) when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 18 November 2002, from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. A. Z. Majid. [98965]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 20 February 2003.
Crime (Humberside)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners underwent treatment for drugs dependence in (a) Haltemprice and Howden, (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (c) England and Wales in each of the past five years. [97719]
Hilary Benn: Data on how many prisoners underwent treatment for drug dependency are only available from 2001–02 onwards and are as follows.
| Type of intervention | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| CARATs | Detoxification | Rehabilitation | |
| Haltemprice and Howden | |||
| 2001–02 | 345 | 349 | 32 |
| 2002–03(66) | 358 | 94 | 58 |
| East Riding county | |||
| 2001–02 | 390 | 349 | 72 |
| 2002–03(66) | 368 | 94 | 68 |
| England and Wales | |||
| 2001–02 | 39,279 | 40,865 | 4,691 |
| 2002–03(66) | 37,251 | 36,651 | 3,099 |
(66) Denotes 1 April–31 December 2002 data available only.
CARATs refers to counselling, assessment, referral, advice and throughcare services.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued in the past 12 months in
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(a) Haltemprice and Howden, (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (c) the Humberside Police Authority area. [97726]
Mr. Denham: The number of notifications received by the Home Office of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO)s issued, from 1 October 2001 up to 30 September 2002 (latest available), within the Humberside Magistrates Court Committee area, (which includes the East Riding of Yorkshire local authority, in which the Haltemprice and Howden constituency is located), are shown, by local authority, in the table.
We are aware that the numbers of ASBOs made nationally have been consistently under reported in returns made by magistrates' courts and are considering how reporting can be improved.
| Total issued | |
|---|---|
| Humberside MCC/Police Force Area | 4 |
| of which local authority areas | |
| Kingston-upon-Hull CC | 3 |
| North Lincolnshire Council | 1 |
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