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7 Mar 2003 : Column 1300W—continued

Electronic Data Services

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what IT contracts have been available to Electronic Data Services in respect of work on behalf of the prison service; and if he will make a statement. [99663]

Hilary Benn: The Prison Service outsourced its Information Technology (IT) to Electronic Data Systems (EDS) with effect from 1 July 2000. Under the terms of the 12 year Agreement EDS is responsible for implementing a modern IT and telecommunications infrastructure. The contract also contains provision for IT enabled business change but any such projects are not guaranteed to EDS under its terms. The contract was awarded, following competitive tender, in February 2000.

Schools (Terrorism)

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedural advice has been issued to schools in London in the event of (a) a terrorist alert and (b) a terrorist attack. [100339]

Mr. Blunkett: All schools and Local Education Authorities in England have previously been made aware that they can access guidance on dealing with terrorism via the UK Resilience website www.ukresilience.info. Many local authorities have also issued guidance to schools in their area to assist in emergency planning.

Government departments and the police are also working together to develop further public information to help people maintain vigilance and prepare for the consequences of terrorist acts. The aim of any agreed activity will be to increase public safety by providing a clear consistent and co-ordinated message. I announced on 3 March that I was setting up a new website www.homeoffice.gov.uk/terrorism on which information of this kind will also be clearly available.

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Student Work Placements

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many university students his Department and associated agencies have supported or sponsored with a work placement in the last year; what his policy is on work placements; what plans he has to develop such schemes; and what his policy is on paying their university fees. [98533]

Hilary Benn: The total number of university students supported or sponsored with a work placement by the Home Office over the last 12 months is 81.

The Research Development and Statistics Directorate placed 26 research trainees for a period of 12 months.

Two sandwich students were placed in the Commercial and Procurement Unit for six month placements:

Two sandwich students were placed in the Police Scientific Development Branch at Langhurst for 12 months and one for six months.

The Police Scientific Development Branch at Sandridge took on 22 sandwich students for a period of 12 months and three students for summer placements.

In addition, 20 students were offered summer placements under the Summer Development Scheme and five students were sponsored under the Windsor Fellowship scheme.

All the students were paid for the period of work. Sandwich students were paid at the Administrative Assistant rate, Summer Development Scheme student were paid at the Administrative Officer rate and Windsor Fellowship students are paid Executive Officer salaries as well as a £4,500 sponsorship fee.

There is no Home Office specific policy on this matter, nor are there any plans to further develop existing schemes, or provide additional payments for university fees.

The Home Department remains committed to supporting and encouraging work placements and to encouraging under-graduates to consider a career in the Civil Service.

Community Sentences

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to engage magistrates, lay magistrates, youth magistrates and other sentencers in the (a) design, (b) implementation and (c) management of community sentences and other alternatives to prison. [98879]

Hilary Benn: The Criminal Justice Bill extends the use of review courts from the drug treatment and testing order to the suspended sentence order, with further powers to introduce these for all community sentences in the future. Such courts provide sentencers with the opportunity directly to monitor an offender's progress. Sentencers will also engage closely in the use of all sentences through their representation on the Sentencing Guidelines Council.

The need for strong and effective liaison generally between the Probation Service, youth offending teams and the courts is well recognised, and arrangements have been put in place to facilitate and promote joint working practices. Such work is designed to ensure that sentencers have a full understanding of the suitability of various community penalties and their effectiveness, and that the National Probation Service and youth offending teams understand the expectations of sentencers of the services they provide. A permanent

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channel of communication is established through the appointment of a Sentencing Liaison Officer in each probation area, and continuous dialogue is encouraged on a local level through various mechanisms, including local criminal justice boards, and crime and disorder partnerships.

Asset Sales

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what sales of heritage assets and antiques assets have been made by his Department since 1997; and if he will list such assets; and if he will estimate the total sales proceeds [92378]

Mr. Blunkett: My Department has made no sales of heritage or antique assets since 1997

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with European Union colleagues regarding a co-ordinated approach to (a) protecting child asylum seekers from exploitation and (b) identifying and assisting them in finding their families. [100317]

Beverley Hughes: The Government has been instrumental in working to agree minimum standards for asylum seekers in Europe as a first step towards a common European asylum system.

These measures include specific provision for the protection of child asylum seekers, including the allocation of responsibility to protect the interests of those asylum seeker children who arrive unaccompanied, as well as their appropriate accommodation.

There is also a duty as far as possible to help unaccompanied asylum seeker children find their families.

Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will invite Ms MAA (A1161869) to attend the asylum screening unit in connection with her asylum application. [100289]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 6 March 2003]: A screening interview has been arranged for 10 March 2003.

Women's Prisons

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of (a) suicide and (b) other self-harm there were in women's prisons in each of the last 24 months (i) in total and (ii) in each institution; and if he will make a statement. [101378]

Hilary Benn: [holding answer 6 March 2003]: The information requested is in the following tables. Since

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1 January 2001, there have been 20 self-inflicted deaths of female prisoners (all those deaths where it appears the person may have acted specifically to take her own life).

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The available data on ''self-harm'' incidents includes both attempted suicides and self-harm (without suicidal intent) as it is difficult to measure suicidal intent.

Self-inflicted deaths in female establishments: January 2001 to February 2003.

	2001			2002						2003
	April	Aug	Nov	Jan	Apr	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Jan	Feb	Total
Brockhill		1								1		2
Bullwood Hall	1										1	2
Durham						1		1			1	3
Eastwood Park			1		1					1		3
Highpoint (Women)							1					1
Holloway	1					1						2
New Hall				2							1	3
Styal	1					1			1	1		4
Total	3	1	1	2	1	3	1	1	1	3	3	20

Self-harm in female establishments: January 2001 to December 2002.

	2001
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Askham Grange	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brockhill	3	6	6	11	6	10	6	23	12	11	20	19
Bullwood Hall	1	1		2	1			4
Cookham Wood			1	3	3		3	4	5	2	1	4
Drake Hall
Downview
Durham
Eastwood Park	7	15	10	36	12	28	25	8	8	7	43	14
Foston Hall	2			1
Highpoint (Women)	12	10	6	18	38	25	23	11	15	20	17	21
Holloway	24	18	10	20	53	36	17	34	52	70	54	155
Low Newton	1		7	11	14	8	9	11	10	11	12	14
New Hall	23	22	27	27	18	41	32	40	25	20	32	21
Send	1	1		4		1	1	4		2	1	2
Styal	1	1	6	2	16	12	40	17	28	13	5	14
Buckley Hall
Winchester
Total	75	74	73	134	162	161	156	156	155	156	185	264

	Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
Askham Grange								1				0	1
Brockhill	15	17	41	46	39	23	18	24	9	18	37	88	420
Bullwood Hall						1		1				0	11
Cookham Wood	7	14	4	3	18	10	15	1	5	6	12	4	121
Drake Hall		1			1	1	8	3	5	5	2	4	26
Downview												18	18
Durham												10	10
Eastwood Park	24	17	27	21	29	25	19	44	16	33	70	14	538
Foston Hall	11	13	16	6	12	16	15	6	9	2	2	15	111
Highpoint (Women)	19	7	10	13	18		8	16	18	26	13	14	364
Holloway	111	43	91	45	67	23	47	72	82	70	66	47	1,260
Low Newton	13	11	13	14	34	36	36	33	33	27	31	6	389
New Hall	41	20	20	21	32	19	39	25	26	22	41	42	634
Send	5	2	2	5	2			3	2	1	3	8	42
Styal	9	6	3	2	2	14	37	18	5	5	2	26	258
Buckley Hall							23	31	25	24	35	35	138
Winchester												3	3
Total	255	151	227	176	254	168	265	278	235	239	314	334	4,344

The prison population, including the female estate, contains a large number of prisoners with a combination of psychiatric disorders, alcohol and drug dependency, family background and relationship problems, histories of self-harm and previous abuse, all of which raise their risk of suicide and self-harm. Good care and support from staff saves many lives but such instances go largely unreported. The Prison Service's approach, in close partnership with other agencies such as the Youth Justice Board, and outside organisations such as Samaritans, is to better identify and support those who seem at greatest risk, with an approach that focuses on staff/prisoner relationships and the physical environment.

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The Prison Service has a duty of care to all prisoners in its custody, and recognises that self-harm is a particular problem amongst women offenders. The Prison Service is currently developing several interventions that may help female prisoners reduce and manage self-harm in prison. One such example is at Holloway prison, where all prisoners who have been identified as at risk of suicide/self-harm are offered individual crisis counselling. About 40 per cent. of prisoners take up the offer, while others may be referred to alternative sources of help within the prison. Staff report that following counselling women have shown increases in self-esteem, decreases in depression and are less likely to see suicide or self-harm as the solution to their problems.

The Prison Service's suicide prevention and self-harm reduction programme (which applies to all prisoners, regardless of gender and age) includes a series of projects to improve pre-reception, reception and induction arrangements; the exchange of information; the care of prisoners; detoxification; prisoners supporting each other, and learning from investigations into deaths in custody.

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