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IND Correspondence

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for the   Home Department when the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will re-send correspondence relating to case T27 1597 that was sent, and returned, on 5 March. [164212]

Mr. Browne: In relation to case T27 1597, a decision notice was sent to the applicant's last notified representatives by recorded delivery on 4 March 2004. On 12 March, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate was advised that the representatives no longer represented the applicant and they would return the notice and related documents. By 26 March, the original notice not having been returned, a further decision notice was sent recorded delivery to the applicant at her home address.

Juveniles

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children with an open F2052SH have been placed in (a) segregation and (b) special cells in each juvenile prison in the last five years. [165401]

Paul Goggins: This information is not held centrally and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many adjudications involving juvenile girls in Bullwood Hall prison in each month since January 2003 have found them guilty of a misdemeanour. [165402]

Paul Goggins: The information is set out in the table.

Month	Number
2003
January	9
February	44
March	24
April	17
May	25
June	24
July	17
August	21
September	34
October	35
November	16
December	9
2004
January	14
February	7
March	11

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juvenile girls in Bullwood Hall prison have been adjudicated on for incidents of violence in each month since January 2002. [165403]

Paul Goggins: The information is given in the table.
 
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	Number
2002
January	5
February	4
March	4
April	0
May	3
June	7
July	2
August	0
September	2
October	7
November	0
December	1
2003
January	1
February	2
March	10
April	0
May	9
June	8
July	2
August	6
September	8
October	1
November	2
December	1
2004
January	4
February	4
March	5

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juvenile girls and women prisoners have had their babies taken from them at birth in each of the last five years. [165405]

Paul Goggins: The decision on whether it is necessary to take a baby away from its mother at birth is made by Social Services in the light of their assessment of what is in the best interest of the child.

The Prison Service does not keep statistics on these decisions.

Kurdish Asylum Seekers

Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the treatment of Kurdish asylum seekers returned to Iran. [163131]

Mr. Browne: If an individual is unsuccessful in his application and in any appeal they make to the independent Immigration Appellate Authority we consider that it is safe for that individual to be removed to Iran.

In considering claims the Home Office takes full account of up to date information from a wide range of sources about the situation in the country of origin. These sources include intergovernmental organisations (such as the UN), governmental sources (including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and human rights organisations (for example Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch).
 
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Life Tariffs

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in England and Wales were (a) serving a natural life tariff and (b) designated not for release in each of the last 10 years. [163280]

Paul Goggins: The number of prisoners in England and Wales who were serving a whole life tariff in each of the last 10 years is given as follows:

Number of persons serving a whole life:

1994—31

1995—32

1996—32

1997—31

1998—23

1999—23

2000—23

2001—22

2002—22

2003—21

2004—20

The number of determinate cases considered by the Parole Board and the number recommended for parole is given in table 10.1 of the publication 'Prison Statistics England and Wales', a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

Maxine Carr

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contacts have been allowed between Maxine Carr and representatives of the media while she is in prison. [155865]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 23 February 2004]: It is not Prison Service policy to comment publicly on individual prisoners. I will write to the hon. Member.

Ministerial Speeches

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many speeches he made between 9 June 2003 and 1 February 2004; and where a copy of each speech can be obtained. [156146]

Mr. Blunkett: During the period 9 June 2003 and 1 February 2004, I made 16 keynote speeches outside Parliament and various other informal speeches. Copies of some speeches are published on the Home Office web site http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/inside/speeches/index/html and all parliamentary speeches are available in Hansard.

In addition, speeches are occasionally published in pamphlet form such as 'Civil Renewal: A New Agenda' based on The CSV Edith Kahn Memorial Lecture, I delivered on 11 June 2003 and 'Active Citizens, Strong Communities: Progressing Civil Renewal' based on the Scarman Lecture I delivered at the Citizens' Convention on 11 December 2003.
 
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National Identity Register

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the   Home Department how much has been spent so far on the development of the National Identity Register. [163329]

Mr. Browne: No funds have been spent so far on the development of the National Identity Register.

National Offender Management Service

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings he and his officials have held with private sector prison operating companies regarding the new National Offender Management Service (a) prior to the publication of and   (b) since the publication of "Reducing Crime—Changing Lives". [163939]

Paul Goggins: Home Office officials meet regularly with the operators of the contracted prisons at operational and senior management level, both individually and as a group. Progress with the Review of Correctional Services, and subsequently the Government's proposals set out in "Reducing Crime—Changing Lives", have been discussed at a number of these meetings. I met informally with senior directors from the four companies concerned on 23 March and was interested to hear their views on how they might help to deliver better outcomes for offenders and reduce re-offending.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service and his implementation team will be in a position to submit a full report regarding its funding requirements up to 2007–08 for the 2004 spending review. [163941]

Paul Goggins: The funding requirements for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) up to 2007–08 will be set out as part of the Home Office Spending Review 2004 proposal. The NOMS implementation team has been closely involved in developing a full supporting analysis of those requirements.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Prison Service Pay Review Body will continue to set rates of pay for the staff currently within its remit under the National Offender Management Service. [163986]

Paul Goggins: There are no immediate plans to alter the position of the Prison Service Pay Review Body, but   terms and conditions for National Offender Management Service staff will be considered as part of the transition process.

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the effect of the creation of the National Offender Management Service upon the size of the prison population over the next five years. [160898]

Paul Goggins: By 2009, as a result of the National Offender Management Reforms and other measures, the intention is that prison population should match
 
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prison capacity and remain at a figure of less than 80,000. The population may increase in the intervening period.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what responses he has received to the consultation on the setting up of the National Offender Management Service. [162817]

Paul Goggins: As of 26 March 2004 the Home Office has received 262 responses to the proposals in 'Reducing Crime—Changing Lives'. The National Offender Management Service Implementation Team is currently analysing the responses, which will inform the process of implementation.

Mr. David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with (a) the Association of Chief Police Officers, (b) the NHS, (c) local authorities and (d) the Local Government Association on the setting up of the National Offender Management Service. [162818]

Paul Goggins: We are working closely with a range of organisations on the implementation of the National Offender Management Service. The implementation team has already held initial discussions with the Department of Health and the Local Government Association and will continue to discuss NOMS with all key stakeholders.

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Patrick Carter received advice from accountancy firms in preparing his report on managing offenders. [162842]

Paul Goggins: I understand that the team based in the   Cabinet Office, who conducted the independent review of correctional services led by Patrick Carter, sought expertise from a range of sources, including commissioning one piece of work from external consultants.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the business case for the introduction of the National Offender Management Service. [163023]

Paul Goggins: We have already published Patrick Carter's independent report "Managing Offenders—Reducing Crime", which sets out the case for a National Offender Management Service, and the Government's response "Reducing crime—Changing Lives" which accepts that case. A separate business case for the National Offender Management Service is currently being prepared.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors were taken into account when formulating the timetable for the introduction of the National Offender Management Service. [163024]

Paul Goggins: The formation of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is a key part of the Government's public sector reform programme. It will make a substantial contribution to reducing reoffending and overall levels of crime. We aim to achieve these benefits as quickly as possible and will
 
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formally launch NOMS on 1 June. Full implementation will continue over several years under the direction of the NOMS Board.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there will be a Gateway Review during the development of the National Offender Management Service. [163025]

Paul Goggins: A Gateway Review process will be carried out during the implementation of the National Offender Management Service.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons there was no three month consultation period prior to the announcement of plans to introduce the National Offender Management Service. [163026]

Paul Goggins: The Government published its proposals for the reform of correctional services in its paper Reducing Crime—Changes Lives. In that paper the Home Secretary set out the initial views of the Government to Patrick Carter's Report and sought the views of stakeholders on a number of issues.

The reform of correctional services and the creation of the National Offender Management Service is a significant undertaking. There is no suggestion that the entire reform will be carried out after a single consultation exercise. The questions for stakeholders posed in Reducing Crimes -Changing Lives represents the start of a consultation process. I have already undertaken to ensure that consultation is ongoing with staff and stakeholders over the period of up to five years that we expect the full roll out of the new service to take.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact the National Offender Management Service is likely to have on cooperation between the prison and probation services. [163028]

Paul Goggins: The government recognises the progress made in the development of joint working between the prison and probation services. But, as Patrick Carter's review of Correctional Services makes clear there are still gaps in the service through which offenders can fall back into crime. The creation of the National Offender Management Service, joining the two services together, will provide a seamless, more effective service with a clear remit to reduce re-offending.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the creation of the National Offender Management Service on the employment status of staff; and what steps his Department has taken to inform staff of proposed changes. [163109]

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) implementation team will work closely with staff and unions to get the structure of NOMS right. Assessments are being made on changes to staff numbers, terms of service and work locations. Staff are being kept updated of developments with regular newsletters and there will be full consultation on any proposed changes to the employment status of staff.
 
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