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5 May 2004 : Column 1545W—continued

Drug Rehabilitation Treatment

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the waiting times for drug rehabilitation treatment for each drug action team in England were for each year from 1995–96 to 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [163881]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

The National Treatment Agency (NTA) has collected information on waiting times for all drug treatment modalities from 2001 for drug action teams. This is available on the NTA's website at http://www.nta.nhs.uk/programme/performance information popup.htmf#related.

In December 2001, the NTA developed a programme to tackle growing waiting times, setting targets on the maximum acceptable length of waits. Average waiting times have fallen in all treatment categories from between five to eleven weeks in December 2001, to two to five weeks in October 2003.

Gloucestershire Probation Board

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the membership of the Gloucestershire Probation Board is; and what the duration of that membership is. [168309]

Paul Goggins: There are currently 13 members on the Gloucestershire Probation Board, including the Chief Officer and Chair.

At present, there are two vacancies on this board. One new member has been selected and is awaiting pre-appointment clearance. The remaining vacancy is for a judicial representative who will be approved by the Department of Constitutional Affairs.
 
5 May 2004 : Column 1546W
 

The Board may have a maximum of 15 members, and the term of appointment for all member appointments is three years, with the exception of the Chief Officer who is appointed on a permanent basis.

Interception of Communications

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many warrants have been authorised for the interception of telephone conversations, e-mails and postal mail in each of the last 10 years. [167078]

Ms Blears: The figures for the number of interception warrants issued in the last 10 years are published annually in the Annual Reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner initially appointed under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 and now under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library.

Offender Management

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service to appoint the first Regional Offender Manager for the new service. [168838]

Paul Goggins: Advertisements for Regional Offender Manager posts appeared in the media from 18 April. Interviews of candidates will begin in early June as soon as possible after which the first appointments will be made.

Mrs. Ann Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether regional offender managers will be required to (a) locate prisoners and (b) purchase places for prisoners, as close to their homes as possible. [168783]

Paul Goggins: Regional offender managers will assess individual offenders on a case-by-case basis and prescribe interventions appropriate to that offender. Wherever possible, the location of a prisoner's home will be taken into consideration.

Parliamentary Questions

Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the question tabled by the hon. Member for Stourbridge on 2 March, reference 158991. [165942]

Ms Blears: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 31 March 2004, Official Report, column 1419W.

Parole

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were recalled to custody having been released on home detention curfew in each of the last 12 months. [168025]

Paul Goggins: The number of persons recalled to custody having been released on Home Detention Curfew (HOC) in each of the last 12 months is given in the following table.
 
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Reasons for recall include breach of HDC conditions, change of circumstances (for example, where a subject has involuntarily lost their curfew address or has withdrawn consent to be monitored) and being charged with a new offence.
Numbers recalled from and on home detention curfew England and Wales April 2003 to March 2004

	Recalled	On HOC
April 2003	226	3,135
May 2003	213	3,112
June 2003	196	3,174
July 2003	215	3,262
August 2003	207	3,772
September 2003	272	3,682
October 2003	288	3,574
November 2003	230	3,613
December 2003	272	3,779
January 2004	284	3,523
February 2004	264	3,444
March 2004	259	3,602

Policing/Crime Statistics

Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public funding has been spent on CCTV security cameras in Preston since 1997. [169697]

Ms Blears: Preston borough council has been allocated a total of £276,228 specifically for CCTV schemes since the introduction of CCTV funding in 1999. This was for two schemes under round two of the initiative.

Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage change in full-time police officers in Wigan there has been since 1997. [169333]

Ms Blears: Information on strength at Basic Command Unit (BCD) level is collected annually and reflects the position at the end of March. Information on BCD strength is only available from 2002.

Between March 2002 and March 2003 police strength for the Wigan BCU increased by 6.9 per cent. (from 442.5 to March.473.0). The deployment of officers to BCUs is a matter for the Chief Constable (Michael Todd) and within the Wigan BCU deployment of officers is a matter for the Divisional Commander.

Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public funding has been spent on CCTV security cameras in Wigan since 1997. [169337]

Ms Blears: Since 1997, the Home Office has provided £1,604,450 to Wigan metropolitan borough council for CCTV schemes.

Prisoners

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many life sentence prisoners were (a) in Category C conditions and (b) in open conditions on (i) 31 March and (ii) 31 March in each of the last five years. [168026]

 
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Paul Goggins: The number of life sentence prisoners held in (a) Category C prisons and (b) Open prisons on 31 March 2004 and in each of the last five years is given in the table.
Population of lifers in Category C and open prisons, 31 March

	Category C	Open
1999	767	314
2000	782	354
2001	870	304
2002	884	375
2003	966	397
2004	1,014	400

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are expected to be released from custody (a) on home detention curfew, (b) on parole and (c) at the end of their sentence in each of the next 12 months. [168029]

Paul Goggins: Estimated figures for the number of prisoners expected to be released from custody on (a) home detention curfew (HOC), (b) on parole, and (c) at the end of their sentence, are not available. The numbers released on parole and HDC depend on the size and make-up of the prison population, general policy and individual decisions on early release.

The number of prisoners released from custody on HDC, recommended for parole, and the total number of discharges in 2002 can be found in tables 10.7, 10.1 and 3.13, 4.11 and 5.8 respectively of the publication 'Prison Statistics England and Wales 2002'. A copy of this publication is available in the Library.

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of prisoners were assessed for basic literacy and numeracy in 2003–04; and what the rates were for each of the last 10 years. [169093]

Paul Goggins: All establishments provide an induction programme, screening and initial assessment of each offender's basic skills.

We are able to provide figures from 2001, but do not hold data for the past 10 years.

	Prisoners' basic skills assessments
2001–02	114,831
2002–03	118,800
2003–04	123,941

The number of sentenced prisoners received into prisons for the same period (not including recalls, non-criminals or fine defaulters) is:

	Number
2001–02	91,978
2002–03	94,807
2003–04	(27)92,247
(27) Final year figures yet to be confirmed.

Information is not collected and held centrally for each individual prisoner. Accordingly it is not possible
 
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to express these figures as a proportion of annual throughput. Assessment figures would also include non-sentenced prisoners.

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 25, (c) 26 to 35, (d) 36–60 and (e) over 60 years were released to no fixed abode in each of the last 10 years. [169137]

Paul Goggins: The available information, from large-scale resettlement surveys of sentenced prisoners nearing release conducted in November-December 2001 and March-April 2003, is contained in the following table. Comparable information for preceding years is not available.
Proportion of prisoners without accommodation arranged on release, by prisoner type

		Percentage
Resettlement survey	2001	2003
Male young offenders (aged 18–20)	23	10
Adult males (aged 21 or over)	34	30
Females	41	38
Total	33	29

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) suicides, (b) attempted suicides and (c) incidents of self-harm by serving prisoners there were in each of the last 10 years. [169089]

Paul Goggins: The numbers of self-inflicted deaths and numbers of incidents of self-harm in prisons in England and Wales are provided in the following table:

Calendar year	Number of self-inflicted deaths	Number of incidents of self-harm (not available pre-1998)
1994	61	—
1995	59	—
1996	64	—
1997	68	—
1998	84	3,207
1999	91	3,721
2000	81	5,227
2001	73	7,486
2002	95	9,745
2003	94	(27)16,223

⁽²⁷⁾   In December 2002, a new form for reporting self-harm was introduced across the prisons estate, which is known to have improved reporting practices. Please note therefore that much of the increase in reported self-harm in 2003 may have resulted from the change in reporting procedures rather than reflect an actual increase in incidence of self-harm.

Suicidal intent is not easy to establish. The reasons why people self-injure are highly complex, and it is difficult to distinguish between acts of self-harm that were attempts at ending life, and those which occurred for other reasons. It is not possible, therefore, for the Prison Service to extrapolate from the data recording incidents of self-harm those acts that may have been attempts at suicide.

Central to the suicide prevention strategy that I announced on 31 March is the need to reduce the level of distress in prisons and to promote the well being of all staff and prisoners. The strategy has strong support from partner agencies and external organisations, and is being developed in close partnership with the
 
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Department of Health. The Prison Service has also been developing a separate but related self-harm management strategy.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the prison population has been diagnosed as suffering from dyslexia. [169132]

Paul Goggins: Past research suggests that the proportion of prisoners suffering from dyslexia could range from four to over 17 per cent. The new prison dyslexia project, currently under way in Yorkshire and Humberside, is designed to provide an authoritative answer to the question of the incidence of dyslexia and related learning disabilities among the prison population. A full report is expected at the end of the summer.

All establishments provide screening and initial assessment for prisoners. Potential dyslexia indicators can be identified through them. New diagnostic assessments for prisoners, to be administered after initial assessment by a specialist teacher, will offer guidance on when to refer learners for a full dyslexia assessment with an educational psychologist or other appropriately trained person.

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