| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
10 Feb 2004 : Column 1431W—continued
Police Officers (Sickness Absence)
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the sickness rate for each police force was in the last year for which figures are available. [151600]
Ms Blears: Sickness absence rates for the police service from April 2002 to March 2003 were published by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary in his Annual Report for 2003. A copy is available in the Library.
Prison Accommodation
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many modular temporary units have been erected in prisons in the past five years; and how many prisoners they house, broken down by prison. [153736]
Paul Goggins: The number of Modular Temporary Units (MTUs) across the Prison estate in England and Wales stands at 29. Between them, they hold a total of 1,160 prisoners. A breakdown by establishment is given in the table.
10 Feb 2004 : Column 1432W
Prison Officers
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will change the position whereby a prison officer who has been wounded by a prisoner cannot be told whether that prisoner is HIV positive or carrying hepatitis. [152712]
Paul Goggins: As in the national health service, health information is collected in prisons in confidence and may normally be disclosed only with the consent of the person concerned. Prison establishments have been instructed that, where such consent is not given, the confidentiality of prisoners known to be infected with HIV or hepatitis must be protected.
10 Feb 2004 : Column 1433W
Some prisoners will be unaware of their own medical status. Prison staff have therefore been advised that, in all risk situations, they should proceed on the assumption that any body fluids may be infectious and that universal routine precautions should always be taken.
The Prison Service's "Health Services for Prisoners" Standard (July 2002) requires all establishments to make sure that written information on communicable disease control policy is available to staff and prisoners, including protocols for the provision of post-exposure prophylaxis. The usual practice would be for the injured person to attend a local hospital for counselling, assessment and, if clinically indicated, treatment.
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when the prison officers Mr. Rowland, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Watkins will be allowed back to work; [150817]
- (2) for what reason prison officers Mr. Rowland, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Watkins are suspended; and if he will make a statement. [150819]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 26 January 2004]: Following the end of the criminal trial against Mr. Rowland, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Watkins, the Governor of Elmley will now carry out a review in the case of each of the prison officers, based on all the information available, to see what further action should be taken. The review will be completed as quickly as possible.
Prisoners
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners aged 65 years and over are serving prison sentences and were convicted after their 65th birthday. [152755]
Paul Goggins: At the end of November 2003, there were 689 sentenced prisoners in prison in England and Wales who were aged 65 and above. 403 of these prisoners had been convicted after their 65th birthday.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of prisoners are studying with the Open University. [152836]
Paul Goggins: The Government are committed to providing a range of educational opportunities to meet offenders' needs. From this year we are releasing more funds to support Open University study in order to ensure that we are offering a more balanced curriculum.
Our focus is primarily on helping offenders to improve their literacy, language and numeracy skills. Nevertheless, 601 Open University courses were taken by prisoners in the academic year 2002–03. This represents 3 per cent. of those prisoners who were involved in education at the end of that academic year.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps he has taken to reduce the number of prisoners escaping from prison. [152839]
10 Feb 2004 : Column 1434W
Paul Goggins: Against the backdrop of a steadily increasing population, the Prison Service has achieved a much-improved performance on escapes from prison and from escort over the last decade. There have been no escapes by Category A prisoners since 1995. Escapes overall have been driven down from 347 in 1992–93 to 50 in 2002–03. There have been 45 escapes so far in the current financial year. The Public Service Agreement target is that there should be no Category A escapes and that the number of other escapes should not exceed 0.17 per cent. of annual average population. Performance is well within that target. The escape rate in 2002–03 was 0.07 per cent. of annual average population.
This improvement has been achieved through a range of measures, including investment in physical security technology; tighter procedural security; more effective performance management and audit and a strong lead from senior managers; greater security awareness and good levels of compliance with best practice.
The Escapes Delivery Plan seeks to ensure that the current good performance is maintained. The plan is managed by a project board, chaired by the Deputy Director General of the Prison Service. Membership includes representatives from the police and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
The figures given for escapes relate only to escapes from closed prison or external escorts, mostly to court or hospital. They exclude those where the prisoner was recaptured within 15 minutes.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged 60 years and over in England and Wales were (a) convicted of an offence and (b) received a custodial sentence in 2003. [153335]
Paul Goggins: The total number of persons aged 60 and over who were convicted of indictable offences in England and Wales in 2002, was 2,324 of whom 620 were sentenced to immediate custody.
Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners aged 65 years and over had long-term illnesses in each year since 1997; [153336]
- (2) if he will make a statement on prison resources directed at the nursing care of prisoners over the age of 65 years. [153338]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is not available centrally. Prisons, work in partnership with their local health care partners to assess the health care needs of all prisoners, irrespective of age, and to develop services to meet them.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) of all ages and (b) aged 65 years and over died in prison in each year since 1997. [153337]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the table.
10 Feb 2004 : Column 1435W
| Number of deaths of prisoners aged 64 and under | Number of deaths of prisoners aged 65 and over | Total number of deaths of prisoners | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 113 | 8 | 121 |
| 1998 | 128 | 10 | 138 |
| 1999 | 140 | 9 | 149 |
| 2000 | 127 | 17 | 144 |
| 2001 | 120 | 21 | 141 |
| 2002 | 148 | 18 | 166 |
| 2003 | 160 | 21 | 181 |
| Total | 936 | 104 | 1,040 |
Deaths in prison remain a rare but distressing event, affecting families, staff and other prisoners deeply. Prisons work in partnership with their local healthcare partners to assess the health care needs of all prisoners, irrespective of age, and to develop services to meet them.
Sadly, the largest proportion of under-65s who die in custody take their own lives; meanwhile, over-65s are more likely to die of natural causes. Good care and support from staff saves many lives, but such instances go largely unreported. 141 prisoners were resuscitated following self-harm incidents in 2002, and a further 197 prisoners were resuscitated during the first 11 months of 2003, which reflects a lot of staff effort and skill.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported incidents of violence there have been against prisoners (a) of all ages and (b) aged 65 years and over in each year since 1997. [153339]
Paul Goggins: In April 2003 a new measure of violence toward prisoners was introduced, based on the number of reported serious assaults. This replaced the previous measure, which was based on positive adjudications for assault. Work to improve data quality may have had an impact on the figures reported. Information is not held centrally on those offences towards prisoners aged 65 and over. The figures given in the following table are based on the financial year.
| Serious assault on inmate | |
|---|---|
| April—December 2003 | 611 |
| 2002–03 | 582 |
| 2001–02 | 507 |
| 2000–01 | 534 |
| 1999–2000 | 509 |
| 1998–99 | 380 |
| 1997–98 | 409 |
| 1996–97 | 372 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |