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10 Mar 2004 : Column 1590W—continued
Prison Education
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 1 March 2004, Official Report, column 722W, on prison education, what security limits internet access for prisoners; and what circumstances permit 31 prisoners to have regular access to the internet. [160225]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 9 March 2004]: The Prison Service has a duty to protect the public. Integral to this is the restriction of prisoner communications. This is necessary in order to prevent escapes, disorder in prisons, the intimidation of witnesses, or making unwanted or inappropriate contact with victims of crime and/or children, and the conducting of criminal activity from within jails. To allow prisoners generally to have access to the internet would undermine security.
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The prisoners who have regular access to the internet have been granted this for the particular requirements of the work at which they are employed. Their allocation to this work is subject to an individual risk assessment. They sign agreements about their use of the internet. They are monitored closely by an information technology (IT) manager and the websites they visit are controlled and subject to audit.
Although no prisoners have access to the internet for education there are schemes provided by the Department for Education and Skills in prisons that seek to give prisoners training in internet IT skills, without open connection to the internet itself.
Prison Suicides
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners committed suicide in England and Wales before (a) having their mental health assessed and (b) receiving treatment for mental health problems, for each of the last five years. [155402]
Paul Goggins: The data requested are not collated centrally and could only be provided by examination of individual case records, which would be at disproportionate cost.
Upon reception into prison, all newly received prisoners, plus those who change status, (for example by being convicted), and those transferred from another establishment, are assessed to determine whether they have any immediate physical and mental health needs.
The Department of Health and the Prison Service are working together to implement a revised reception health screening process during 2004. These new arrangements focus particularly on ensuring prompt and effective identification of those individuals with mental health problems, or who may be at risk of suicide/self-harm, so that they can be appropriately treated and cared for.
Prisoners
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what offences female Jamaican nationals were serving prison sentences in the UK in each of the last five years. [153257]
Paul Goggins: The number of sentenced female Jamaican nationals in prison in England and Wales, by offence group, is given in the following table. Figures are for the 30 June each year from 1997 to 2003.
Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for Ministers in the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence against the person | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Burglary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Theft and handling | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Fraud and forgery | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Drugs offences | 129 | 152 | 249 | 425 | 374 |
| Other offences | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Offence not recorded | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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Research Licences
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what licences have been issued since 1997 for carrying out research involving the observation of captured wild rats in a model sewer system. [158099]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not maintained in that form in a central database. A check of work currently licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 has not identified any projects involving observational studies of this type. However, licence authorities under the 1986 Act would not be required for such work if it was unlikely to cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm.
Special Constables
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, broken down by force and in total, the average number of hours worked per head by special constables in each of the last three years. [159996]
Ms Blears [holding answer 9 March 2004]: There are no statistics published on the average number of hours worked per head by Special Constables.
Travel Documents
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are proposed to ensure that people arriving in the UK are aware of the offence of deliberately losing or destroying travel documents. [159527]
Beverley Hughes: We will advise those coming to the United Kingdom of the potential consequences of destroying or disposing of their documentation through our embassies and High Commissions abroad and the foreign media. This will be reinforced by displaying warning notices immediately on arrival at UK ports of entry.
Work Permits
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were issued in each year since 1997; and what (a) forecasts he has made and (b) evidence of need he has collected for each year to 2010. [156087]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 25 February 2004]: The total number of work permits issued, including extensions, in the period from 1997 to the third quarter 2003 (the latest date for which information is available) is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 44,958 |
| 1998 | 53,962 |
| 1999 | 60,743 |
| 2000 | 88,651 |
| 2001 | 120,823 |
| 2002 | 136,151 |
| 2003 | 108,221 |
The work permit system is designed to be flexible and responsive to the needs of employers and the economy. There are no forecasted targets for the number of work permits issued, although Work Permits (UK) does make
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internal planning assumptions about expected volumes of applications, in order to allocate resources to process applications. Work Permits (UK) Business Plan for 2003–2004 makes a planning assumption of 230, 500 applications received. This total includes Sector Based Scheme, Highly Skilled Migrant Programme and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme applications and extensions.
These planning assumptions are informed by monitoring trends in volumes of applications and consultation with stakeholders, including other government departments on labour market conditions.
However, there is no long-term forecast of expected volumes of applications.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his assessment of the benefit to the UK of work permits. [157295]
Beverley Hughes: The work permit arrangements are a key part of the Government's managed migration strategy, under which the United Kingdom seeks to offer legal routes for the admission of those foreign nationals who possess skills and qualifications that are in short supply here and who will contribute to the economy.
The work permit arrangements offer an efficient and responsive means of ensuring that UK employers are able to recruit overseas workers with the skills that they need, while protecting the interests of resident workers.
Yarl's Wood Detention Centre
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when an annual report was prepared by the independent monitoring board for Yarl's Wood. [157447]
Beverley Hughes: The Independent Monitoring Board for Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre produced a first report in spring 2002 covering the period from their first meeting in November 2001 to the temporary closure of the centre on 31 March 2002.
The Board will produce an annual report covering the period from the re-opening of Yarl's Wood at the end of September 2003 to December 2004 by 31 January 2005 in accordance with the Detention Centre Rules.
HEALTH
"Agenda for Change"
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 26 February 2004, Official Report, column 537W, on "Agenda for Change", to what extent there will be flexibility for individual employers to pay recruitment and retention premiums. [159738]
Mr. Hutton: Under the proposed new national health service pay system, "Agenda for Change", NHS employers will be able to pay recruitment and retention premiums to individual postholders or groups of postholders where market pressures would otherwise prevent employers from being able to recruit and retain staff in sufficient numbers. Before paying recruitment and retention premia, NHS employers will need to
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satisfy themselves that agreed criteria have been met and will need to have consulted with staff representatives, neighbouring employers, strategic health authorities and other stakeholders.
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