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16 May 2003 : Column 498W—continued
Criminal Offences
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal offences have been abolished since 1997. [111723]
Paul Goggins: No central records are kept of abolished offences. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For example, an offence may be re-enacted or amended and, once identified, a detailed assessment would be required in each case.
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Female Prisoners
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department until what age a women serving a prison sentence in England and Wales is allowed to have a young child with them while they are in prison. [112047]
Paul Goggins: There are no restrictions on the age of mothers who have young children with them in prison but the mother and baby units in prisons are designed to accommodate young children up to about 18 months. The position in any particular case depends on an assessment of what is in the best interests of the child.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women who are serving a prison sentence in England and Wales for periods of time up to (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years and (e) five years have children under the age of 14. [112048]
Paul Goggins: There is no routinely collected data on the number of women prisoners who have young children. However, a study of women prisoners and their work in custody, published in 2000, found that 66 per cent. had dependent children under the age of 18 (out of a sample of 567 sentenced women).
Another Home Office study found broadly similar results: from a large sample of imprisoned women and mothers, published in 1997, 60 per cent. of female prisoners, sentenced and unsentenced, had dependent children under the age of 18.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects all girl prisoners to be removed from prison and placed in local authority care. [112516]
Paul Goggins : The commissioning and purchasing of secure accommodation for under-18s, and the placement of most individual offenders, in that age group, are the responsibility of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.
On 18 February 2003 the Board announced its intention to remove all under-17-year-old girls from Prison Service accommodation during 2003 and to place them instead in secure training centres and local authority security children's homes. As of 12 May, there were no 15-year-old girls in Prison Service accommodation, and 16 16-year-olds.
This is in line with the commitment given by my right hon. Friend the then Home Secretary (Mr. Straw) in March 1999 when he said that he intended to use the greater flexibility provided by the detention and training order to place sentenced 15 and 16-year-old girls in available non-Prison Service accommodation. The detention and training order came into force in April 2000.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) 15-year-old, (b) 16-year-old and (c) 17-year-old girls were (i) held in prison, (ii) cautioned for offences and (iii) found guilty of offences in each year since 1997. [112517]
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Paul Goggins: The numbers of 15-year-old, 16-year-old and 17-year-old females who were held in Prison Service establishments, cautioned and convicted of offences in each year since 1997 are given in the tables.
| Year | Age 15 | Age 16 | Age 17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 9 | 12 | 50 |
| 1998 | 7 | 20 | 52 |
| 1999 | 7 | 22 | 57 |
| 2000 | 3 | 28 | 58 |
| 2001 | 7 | 12 | 71 |
| 2002 | 9 | 27 | 85 |
| Year | Age 15 | Age 16 | Age 17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 4,651 | 4,307 | 3,761 |
| 1998 | 5,449 | 4,621 | 3,981 |
| 1999 | 5,173 | 4,230 | 3,794 |
| 2000 | 5,357 | 4,077 | 3,248 |
| 2001 | 5,518 | 4,262 | 3,254 |
| Year | Age 15 | Age 16 | Age 17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1,802 | 2,613 | 3,564 |
| 1998 | 2,009 | 2,991 | 3,885 |
| 1999 | 2,252 | 2,616 | 3,811 |
| 2000 | 2,312 | 2,692 | 3,526 |
| 2001 | 2,485 | 2,746 | 3,623 |
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women serving a prison sentence in England and Wales have young children with them in prison. [112279]
Paul Goggins: On 28 April 2003 there were 44 women serving sentences who had young children with them in prison.
Inquests
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was (a) in England and (b) in each local authority between the decision to hold an inquest and the opening of the inquest, in the last year for which figures are available. [112722]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is not held centrally, but I understand that a decision to hold an inquest can normally be taken within a few days of the report of the death. In 2001, in 88 per cent. of cases where coroners decided to hold an inquest, they issued certificates for the burial or cremation of the deceased within a week. In a further 9 per cent. of cases, certificates were issued within a month. In the remaining 2.5 per cent. of cases, authorisation to bury or cremate took longer. Such certificates would not be issued until after a decision to hold an inquest had been taken.
Leave to Remain
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is in relation to (a) granting leave to remain and (b) the length of the
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period of leave in cases where an individual establishes a right to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. [113419]
Beverley Hughes: Where a person is unable to demonstrate a claim for asylum or Humanitarian Protection but is able to demonstrate a claim under Article 8 of the ECHR, they will be granted Discretionary Leave. This is in line with the new procedures introduced on 1 April which replaced the exceptional leave system.
A person granted Discretionary Leave will be granted leave for a period of up to three years, although a lesser period may be granted where the circumstances of the case suggest that this is appropriate. This period of leave will be renewable for a further three years. After a person has spent six years on Discretionary Leave on Article 8 grounds, they will be eligible to apply for settlement. All applications for further leave or settlement will be the subject of an active review.
Narrowing the Justice Gap Website
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the Persistent Offender Scheme section of the Narrowing the Justice Gap website is password protected. [112151]
Paul Goggins: The Persistent Offender section of the Narrowing the Justice Gap website is password protected because it contains operational guidance for use by criminal justice practitioners. The public access area of the Narrowing the Justice Gap site contains some information about the Persistent Offender Scheme.
Prison and Court Escort Services
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much was spent on prison and court escort services in each of the last five years; [112138]
- (2) how many prisoners escaped (a) at court and (b) while in transit between court and prison in each of the last five years; [112141]
(3) how many operational staff were employed by each of the private contractors responsible for prison and court escort services in each of the last five years; [112139]
(4) what penalties have been imposed on the companies responsible for prisoner escorts in each of the last five years; and what the reason was for the penalty in each case; [112142]
(5) what percentage of prisoners appearing at court arrived on time in the last year for which figures are available. [112140]
Paul Goggins: The table shows the number of escapes from escort contractors while the prisoner was either in court or in transit:
| Escape | 1988–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From court | Not available(12) | Not available(12) | 45 | 38 | 27 |
| In transit | Not available(12) | Not available(12) | 11 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 55 | 58 | 56 | 40 | 31 |
(12) Although the total number of escapes for 1988–89 and 1999–2000 is available, specific information on whether the escape took place while the prisoner was in court or while in transit was not available until 2000–02.
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Expressed as a percentage of the national average of prisoners handled during 2002–02, 76.39 per cent. of prisoners were delivered contractually on time to courts and 86.61 per cent. were delivered to courts before the court start times.
The table gives the level of payments made to contractors for the provision of the prisoner escort contracts service for the five years from 1998–99:
| Year | Amount paid (£) |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 93,291,529 |
| 1999–2000 | 101,889,243 |
| 2000–01 | 104,833,064 |
| 2001–02 | 106,343,811 |
| 2002–03 | 110,216,636 |
The table shows the total amount of financial remedies applied to the escort contractors since 1999:
| Company | Number of remedies applied | Total value (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Group 4 Court Services | 1 | 60,000 |
| Premier Prison Services | 1 | 36,000 |
| Securicor Custodial Services | 2 | 500,000 |
| Reliance Custodial Services | 2 | 25,000 |
| Totals | 6 | 621,000 |
The table shows the average number of operational staff (excluding senior managers) employed on courts escorts services duties over each of the last five years by each of the escort contractors.
| Group 4 (4)(13) | Premier (2)(13) | Securicor (1)(13) | Reliance (1)(13) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 1,522 | 738 | 848 | 390 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,613 | 787 | 810 | 386 |
| 2000–01 | 1,635 | 788 | 823 | 400 |
| 2001–02 | 1,606 | 787 | 840 | 397 |
| 2002–03 | 1,617 | 794 | 844 | 396 |
(13) shows the number of contracts held by each company
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