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Prisons

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional prison places have been provided and at what cost in each of the last 10 years; and what the average cost of building a new prison place is. [118780]

Paul Goggins: The following table gives information on the number of additional places and an estimate of the cumulative cost of providing them, from 1995 onwards: this is the earliest date for which information is available. The data includes places both at new prisons and those provided at existing prisons by building houseblocks, Ready to Use Units (RTUs) and Modular Temporary Units (MTUs). It does not take into account any places taken out of use, or places provided by subsequent overcrowding.

Costs are based on an estimate of the total capital and cumulative operating costs and includes new prisons provided under the Private Finance Initiative. The average cost of building a new prison place is around £100,000. This is an average unit cost for providing public sector prison places through houseblocks and RTUs.

	Places	Cost (£ million)
1995–96	1,165	103
1996–97	1,857	206
1997–98	4,635	231
1998–99	1,697	258
1999–2000	2,071	225
2000–01	800	264
2001–02	1,103	317
2002–03	1,902	426

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department of the entrants to detoxification programmes in prisons in England and Wales in 2001–02, what proportion were completed; what proportion were carried out in designated prison health centres; and what the average duration was. [118561]

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Paul Goggins: The current practice is to recommend nine to 10 day programmes for the clinical management of opiate with drawal and seven-day programmes in respect of alcohol. All such recommended timescales are kept under review in the light of developments in clinical practice.

Information about the proportion of detoxifications started and completed is not available centrally. Between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002, 41,916 drug and alcohol detoxifications were carried out. Unless there are compounding risk factors, it is not generally necessary for the treatment to be carried out in prison health centres. During 2003–04,the Prison Service is establishing new detoxification units at eight establishments with the capacity to undertake over 9,000 treatments a year. The clinical effectiveness of the programmes provided will be evaluated.

During 2003–04, the Prison Service is establishing new detoxification units at eight establishments with the capacity to undertake over 9,000 treatments a year. The clinical effectiveness of the programmes provided will be evaluated.

Proceeds of Crime

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total value is of the assets seized from convicted offenders since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force; and if he will make a statement. [120921]

Caroline Flint: The confiscation provisions in the 2002 Act are triggered by offences committed after the provisions were brought into force on 24 March 2003, so it will be a while before cases are dealt with by the Crown Court in numbers. To date, one confiscation order with a value of £38,000 has been made against a convicted offender. The value of cash seizures made under the new cash seizure provision in the Act which came into effect on 30 December 2002 and which are not dependent upon a conviction is £25.6 million.

Tuberculosis

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were screened for tuberculosis at points of entry to the UK in the last year for which information is available; and what proportion of those were found to be carriers. [120406]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

In 2001–02, 59,749 people were x-rayed for tuberculosis at ports of entry to the United Kingdom. 146 of these people were identified as having TB.

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were the subject of notifications to their local health bodies that they should be screened for tuberculosis following entry to the UK in the last year for which information is available; what proportion was undertaken; and in what proportion of the latter those persons were found to be carriers. [120407]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

The Department of Health does not collect this data centrally.

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Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanism exists to ensure that persons requiring testing for tuberculosis but not tested at their point of entry to the UK are in due course so tested; and if he will make a statement. [120408]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

Medical inspectors working at ports of entry pass the contact details of persons requiring further examination or testing for tuberculosis to the national health service at their destination address. It is the responsibility of the NHS locally to follow up these contacts.

Victim and Witnesses Bill

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his timetable is for (a) consultation in preparation for the Victims and Witnesses Bill, (b) the publication of a draft Bill and (c) the publication of the Bill itself. [118788]

Paul Goggins: One of our 2001 manifesto commitments was to legislate for a Victims and Witnesses Bill during the course of this Parliament.

Since October 2001, officials from across government have been working with the voluntary sector and other interested organisations to develop measures which will lead to the delivery of nationally consistent, high quality services to victims, and put their interests closer to the heart of the criminal justice system.

The draft Bill will be published, and subsequently introduced, as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Woodhill Prison

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has asked for a report into the arrangements for dealing with high security prisoners in the hospital wing of HMP Woodhill. [119798]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 17 June 2003]: The Deputy Director General of the Prison Service commissioned the Governor of Leicester prison to undertake an urgent investigation into the circumstances leading to the overdose taken by Mr. Huntley, while in the health care centre at Woodhill prison. The report was submitted to the Deputy Director General on 13 June and passed to me on 17 June together with a Prison Service response.

Following careful consideration of the findings, I issued a written ministerial statement on 19 June 2003, Official Report, column 13WS, dealing with the content of the report and the actions taken as a consequence of the various recommendations made.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been (a) spent on and (b) allocated to the British Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. [120048]

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Mr. Ingram: Costs incurred by the Ministry of Defence from deploying and supporting the British-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Mazar-e Sharif will be charged to the Reserve. As such, there is no formal allocation of the Department's resources. In addition, other costs will fall to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development reflecting their own contribution to the PRT. While some preparatory work has been carried out, the PRT has still to deploy and it is too early to say what has been spent to date.

Aircraft Carriers

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to change the number of aircraft carriers in service; and if he will make a statement. [120269]

Mr. Ingram: It is planned that the Navy's three existing CVS class carriers will be replaced by two larger and more capable CVF class carriers from early in the next decade.

Annual Reports and Accounts

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library (a) the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency Annual Report and Accounts for financial years 1999–2000 and 2000–01, (b) the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 1999–2000 and (c) the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 1997–98. [121493]

Mr. Caplin: The Annual Report and Accounts for the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency for financial year 1999–2000 are available in the Library of the House and can be found under classified set 895. No agency Annual Report and Accounts were produced for financial year 2000–01 as the organisation ceased to be a Defence agency on 1 October 2000.

The Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 1999–2000 and the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 1997–98 are also available in the Library of the House, and can be found under classified set 943 and 870 respectively.

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