| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 Nov 2003 : Column 719W—continued
Police
Mr. Oaten : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests were made by police officers in England and Wales on foot patrol in each of the last six years; and what percentage of arrests made in England and Wales this represents. [135870]
Ms Blears: Information collected centrally on the number of persons arrested for notifiable offences does not distinguish foot patrol arrests from other arrests.
Police Grant Allocation
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage floor will be set on his Department's police grant allocation; and if he will make a statement on the relationship of that floor to the police pay award. [136020]
Ms Blears: I shall announce details of the provisional police funding settlement for 2004–05 in mid November, including details of the floor and ceiling on police grant.
5 Nov 2003 : Column 720W
Prisons
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time prison officers were employed by HM Prison Service in Essex on 1 September. [132631]
Paul Goggins: On 1 September 2003, there were 255 full-time prison officers, including senior officers and principal officers, employed in Essex. There were 76 at Bullwood Hall prison and young offender institution and 179 at Chelmsford prison.
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the establishment of staff is at (a) Downview and (b) High Down Prisons; and how many staff were in post at each prison on 1 October. [133263]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is shown in the table. Figures are for all staff and are full time equivalent basis.
| Complement1 October 2003 | Staff in post1 October 2003 | |
|---|---|---|
| Downview | 234 | 186.5 |
| High Down | 481 | 446 |
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 6 October 2003, Official Report, column 1246W, on prisons, if he will assess the likelihood of the legislative and other changes listed in his answer being fully implemented within the timescales of the projections. [133554]
Paul Goggins: The prison population projections only include legislative and policy changes that have been implemented or have an agreed date for implementation. All those listed in the previous answer are expected to have delivered their full impact during the period covered by the projections apart from automatic life sentences for serious repeat offenders where the impact is expected to extend beyond June 2009. The impact beyond June 2009 is projected to be around 50 prison places. Estimates made of the impact of such changes are kept regularly under review.
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what provision is made by the Prison Service to ensure that prisons are able to fulfil their statutory duty to provide frequent and reasonable access to legal texts; [134622]
- (2) how many prison libraries stock legal texts and statutes as stipulated in Prison Service Order 6710. [134623]
Paul Goggins: All prison libraries are required by their service level agreement to stock the texts stipulated in the libraries Prison Service Order. The Prison Service ensures that libraries comply with this requirement through the Standards Audit and through the annual review of the library service level agreement.
All prison Governors must ensure that libraries obtain the stipulated publications using the capitation grant provided for this purpose.
5 Nov 2003 : Column 721W
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners awaiting trial are being held more than (a) 50 and (b) 100 miles from their committal court town; [134624]
- (2) how many prisoners awaiting trial were sharing cells with convicted prisoners in the last month for which figures are available. [134625]
Paul Goggins: An individual prisoner's court details are recorded to show first court appearance, committal, remand, conviction or sentencing. Information specifically on committal court details could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
On 31 August 2003, the latest date for which information is available, details were available for 7,473 prisoners, 94 per cent. of the total prison population
5 Nov 2003 : Column 722W
awaiting trial. This information is shown in the following table. The number of prisoners awaiting trial who share a cell with convicted prisoners is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prison Service rules and policy state that prisoners awaiting trial should not be required to share a cell with a convicted prisoner. Where it becomes necessary for an unconvicted prisoner to share with a convicted prisoner due to population pressures, they should only do so if they have given their consent.
Every effort is made to ensure that appropriate prisoners are located together and any such decision is made on the basis of staff judgment and experience. Steps are taken to ensure that prisoners are held safely. A full cell-sharing risk assessment procedure is carried out before prisoners are considered suitable to share a cell.
| Prisoners awaiting trial | Number of prisoners | As a percentage of the total(23) |
|---|---|---|
| Held over 100 miles away from their court committal town | 96 | 1 |
| Held 50–100 miles away from their court committal town | 556 | 7 |
| Held fewer than 50 miles away from their court committal town | 6,821 | 86 |
| Information unavailable | 507 | 6 |
| Total number of prisoners awaiting trial | 7,980 | 100 |
(23) Based on total number of prisoners awaiting trial
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans for the management of prison gardens. [135467]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 30 October 2003]: There are no plans to change the existing arrangements for the management of prison gardens.
Rap Music
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of a link between violent lyrics in rap music and gun crime. [136248]
Caroline Flint: Although there has been considerable discussion about the relationship between gun crime and rap music, the Government recognises that there are many factors that can influence the incidence of gun crime. The glamorisation of violence and gun culture in music or other media aimed at young people is unacceptable, but we recognise that music can play an important part in young people's lives and be used to promote and reinforce positive images.
Reoffending
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of overcrowding on the ability of an individual to participate in reoffending reduction courses. [135493]
Paul Goggins: The Prison Service keeps the impact of population pressures under review. The main threat to offending behaviour programmes stems from prisoners being transferred to another prison before completing a programme, in order to alleviate population pressures. So far this has been largely avoided. Only 1.5 per cent. of prisoners who started a cognitive skills offending behaviour programme in 2002–03 failed to complete the programme as a result of transfer (which may have been due to overcrowding or for other reasons). This is similar to the previous three years and compares with 4.8 per cent. in 1996–97.
Thames Valley Police
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's targets are for the police officers per thousand ratio; what the Thames Valley Police Force's target ratio is; and to what extent his Department expects any imbalance will be addressed by the time of the 2004–05 grant allocation to Thames Valley. [136021]
Ms Blears: Thames Valley Police had record police strength of 3,965 on 31 August, which is 270 more than in March 1997. In addition the force had 2,412 police (support) staff, which is 587 more than in March 1997.
No target for ratio of police officers to 1,000 population is set. Decisions on the balance between police officers and police (support) staff is a matter for the Chief Officers of Police and will have an impact on the ratio of police officers to population in forces.
Tuberculosis (Prisons)
Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many tuberculosis cases there are among the prison population; what measures are being taken to (a) identify and (b) isolate TB cases early; and what other measures are being taken to prevent transmission between inmates. [132550]
Paul Goggins: The Prison Service does not routinely collect information from establishments about the number of cases of tuberculosis among prisoners in
5 Nov 2003 : Column 723W
England and Wales. It has, however, contracted the Health Protection Agency to provide a communicable disease data collection and monitoring service. As part of this contract, the London prisons will shortly begin to pilot use of a new reporting form, which will provide information on newly diagnosed cases of tuberculosis and also on people already being treated for tuberculosis when received into prison.
The Health Protection Agency also issues a Quarterly Report on Infectious Diseases in Prisons. The two most recent editions have included detailed guidance about the control of tuberculosis in prisons designed to clarify and reinforce earlier guidance to establishments. This makes it clear that all prisoners should be screened for tuberculosis on first reception by direct questioning about the particular symptoms of the disease. Where any case of tuberculosis is suspected, immediate efforts should be made to confirm the diagnosis or to make an urgent referral to the local NHS chest physician. Any prisoners with symptoms of the disease should be isolated until a diagnosis is made. The recent guidance
5 Nov 2003 : Column 724W
also includes advice on notification under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 and associated contact tracing.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |