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26 Jan 2004 : Column 222W—continued
Official Receptions
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on the serving of beer at official receptions. [145778]
Fiona Mactaggart: A mixture of both soft and alcoholic drinks are served at official functions as appropriate.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 2 December 2003, Official Report, column 43W, on written answers, how many of the parliamentary questions tabled prior to the last four days available for tabling have now been answered; and if he will list in respect of those not yet answered (a) the date of tabling and (b) the reason for the delay. [145053]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 18 December 2003]: All parliamentary questions tabled prior to the last four days of tabling have now been answered with the exception of ten which still await a full reply. Of these five were tabled either at the end of October or in early November. The majority of these have been delayed because the detailed information requested is being compiled.
Passports (Vivien and Ambrose Cofie)
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Passport Office will return to Vivien and Ambrose Cofie their passports. [144102]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 15 December 2003]: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 23 January 2004.
Prison Deaths
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-natural deaths have occurred in prisons in England and Wales during the last five years for which figures are available. [148607]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following table:
| Number of self-inflicted deaths(60) | Number of homicides(61) | Other non-natural causes of deaths(62) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 91 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 81 | 3 | 1 |
| 2001 | 73 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | 95 | 0 | 2 |
| 2003 | 94 | 1 | 1 |
(60) The Prison Service employs the term "self-inflicted death" which includes all those deaths where it appears the person may have acted specifically to take his/her own life.
(61) Includes alleged homicides
(62) Includes accidents
Reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and instances of self-harm in prison establishments is a ministerial and Prison Service priority. A proactive three-year programme to develop policies and practices to reduce prisoner suicide and manage self- harm began in April 2001. The programme has included:
26 Jan 2004 : Column 223W
- The training of suicide prevention coordinators, now operating in the majority of prisons
- The increased provision of prisoner peer support through schemes such as 'Insiders' and Samaritan-led 'Listeners'
- An investment of £21 million in six 'safer local' prisons: Feltham, Leeds, Wandsworth, Winchester, Eastwood Park and Birmingham
- Projects to develop safer prison design, including safer cells.
Over recent months a wide-ranging review of this programme has taken place in consultation with partner agencies such as the Youth Justice Board and outside organisations such as Samaritans, taking into account the evaluations of pilot projects and emerging research findings. This review will inform future suicide prevention strategy beyond April 2004.
The Prison Service is also developing a violence reduction strategy that re-addresses problems of inter-prisoner violence and bullying by providing a national framework of protective mechanisms and positive behaviour management. A new national cell-sharing risk assessment tool was introduced in June 2002 to enable staff at reception to identify those who may be high-risk prisoners, to prevent cell sharing that may generate prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, and to take the necessary steps to minimise potential harm to others. This procedure is currently being revised in the light of the alleged homicide in 2003.
Prison Disturbances
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many disturbances there were at prisons in England and Wales in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003; at which establishment the disturbances took place; and what the cost to the Prison Service was of the damage caused by each disturbance. [143292]
Paul Goggins: The incident classification system used by the Prison Service does not include 'disturbance'. Incident types most often associated with disturbances are concerted indiscipline, hostage taking, at height incidents (including rooftop protests), barricades and combinations of these. The information given in the following table records the numbers and location of incidents that were serious enough to warrant the opening of the Gold Command suite at Prison Service Headquarters. The Prison Service does not maintain a record of the cost of damage arising from incidents and such information could only be gathered at disproportionate cost.
26 Jan 2004 : Column 224W
| Establishment | Total |
|---|---|
| Altcourse | 1 |
| Ashfield | 3 |
| Belmarsh | 2 |
| Blakenhurst | 2 |
| Bristol | 1 |
| Brixton | 1 |
| Castington | 3 |
| Dartmoor | 1 |
| Deerbolt | 1 |
| Doncaster | 3 |
| Dorchester | 1 |
| Durham | 2 |
| Elmley | 1 |
| Everthorpe | 1 |
| Exeter | 1 |
| Forest Bank | 1 |
| Glen Parva | 3 |
| Gloucester | 2 |
| Guys Marsh | 1 |
| Haslar | 1 |
| High Down | 1 |
| Highpoint North | 1 |
| Hull | 1 |
| Lincoln | 3 |
| Lindholme | 1 |
| Littlehey | 2 |
| Liverpool | 2 |
| Long Lartin | 2 |
| Moorland | 4 |
| Norwich | 2 |
| Nottingham | 1 |
| Onley | 2 |
| Parkhurst | 5 |
| Pentonville | 1 |
| Ranby | 3 |
| Stoke Heath | 1 |
| Swaleside | 1 |
| Swinfen Hall | 1 |
| Wandsworth | 1 |
| Wormwood Scrubs | 1 |
| Total | 68 |
26 Jan 2004 : Column 225W
| Establishment | Total |
|---|---|
| Ashfield | 1 |
| Brixton | 1 |
| Dartmoor | 1 |
| Exeter | 1 |
| Forest Bank | 1 |
| Full Button | 1 |
| Haverigg | 1 |
| High Down | 1 |
| Hindley | 1 |
| Huntercombe | 2 |
| Leicester | 1 |
| Lindholme | 1 |
| Liverpool | 1 |
| Moorland | 2 |
| Northallerton | 1 |
| Ranby | 2 |
| Stoke Heath | 1 |
| Swinfen Hall | 1 |
| Weare | 1 |
| Wealstun | 1 |
| Wormwood Scrubs | 1 |
| Total | 24 |
Prison Population
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the probable accuracy of each of the different forecast average prison populations set out in scenarios A-D in the Home Office Prison Population Brief, England and Wales: March 2003 (27/10/03). [143838]
Paul Goggins: The prison projections model has been shown to be accurate in predicting the prison population given the correct assumptions about sentencing. It is not possible to be certain about the direction of future trends in sentencing because trends observed over a number of years cannot be assumed to continue. It is for this reason that the projections cover a range of different scenarios and are regularly updated to take account of changing trends and new policies affecting the prison population. The central projections were updated in the summer and published in the April Prison Population Brief in September. The actual prison population was 116 below the projection used for planning purposes on 12 December 2003.
The projections take into account known changes in policy and legislation where the relevant legislation has been passed and a timetable agreed for implementation. The impacts of the new Criminal Justice Act are therefore yet to be included.
Prison Suicides
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men, (b) women and (c) juveniles have committed suicide while held by the Prison Service in each of the last five years for which records exist. [146751]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following table.
26 Jan 2004 : Column 226W
| Calendar year | Number of male self-inflicted deaths (not including juveniles) | Number of female self-inflicted deaths (not including juveniles) | Number of juvenile self-inflicted deaths (aged 15–17)(63) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 84 | 5 | 2 |
| 2000 | 70 | 8 | 3 |
| 2001 | 64 | 6 | 3 |
| 2002 | 84 | 9 | 2 |
| 2003 | 80 | 14 | 0 |
(63) These 10 self-inflicted deaths all involved male juveniles.
The Prison Service employs the term 'self-inflicted death' rather than 'suicide.' This includes all those deaths where it appears the person may have acted specifically to take his/her own life.
Reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and instances of self-harm in prison establishments is a ministerial and Prison Service priority. A proactive three-year programme to develop policies and practices to reduce prisoner suicide and manage self-harm began in April 2001. The programme has included:
- The training of suicide prevention coordinators, now operating in the majority of prisons.
- The increased provision of prisoner peer support through schemes such as 'Insiders' and Samaritan-led 'Listeners'.
- An investment of £21 million in six 'Safer Local' prisons: Feltham, Leeds, Wandsworth, Winchester, Eastwood Park and Birmingham.
- Projects to develop safer prison design, including safer cells.
Over recent months a wide-ranging review of this programme has taken place in consultation with partner agencies such as the Youth Justice Board and outside organisations such as Samaritans, taking into account the evaluations of pilot projects and emerging research findings. This review will inform future suicide prevention strategy beyond April 2004.
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