---

18 Jun 2004 : Column 1164W—continued

Driving Offences

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were sent to prison for causing death by dangerous driving in each of the last three years. [178682]

Paul Goggins: The information for England and Wales for the years 2000 to 2002 is contained in the table. Data for 2003 will not be available until the autumn.
Persons sentenced to immediate custody⁽⁷⁾ at all courts for causing death by dangerous driving⁽⁸⁾, England and Wales 2000 to 2002

	Total 3
2000	166
2001	193
2002	199

⁽⁷⁾ Includes unsuspended imprisonment, detention under sec90/92(PCC(S))A2000), detention in a young offender institution and detention and training orders.
⁽⁸⁾ An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.1 as added by the Road Traffic Act 1991 s.1.
⁽⁹⁾ These data are on the principal offence basis.

Firearms

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to review procedures governing the use of firearms by the police. [176268]

Caroline Flint: There are no plans to further review procedures governing the use of firearms by police. The Code of Practice on the Police Use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons, which was published in December 2003, sets out the basic principles in relation to the selection, testing, acquisition and use of firearms and less lethal weapons by police. The Association of Chief Police Officers also issue a detailed manual of guidance to police forces.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents resulting in (a) fatalities, (b) serious injuries and (c) minor injuries have occurred (i) in miniature rifle ranges exempted from certification or involving weapons linked to such ranges and (ii) on theatrical, film and television productions under present exemptions or involving weapons held under such exemptions in each of the last 10 years. [177467]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 9 June 2004]: Information available centrally relates only to recorded crimes resulting in injury or death and in any event does not record the location where the injury was sustained.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences there were involving shotgun cartridges or components derived from them
 
18 Jun 2004 : Column 1165W
 
other than in the circumstance of a crime where a shotgun itself is discharged in each of the last 10 years. [177468]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 9 June 2004]: The information requested is not collected centrally.

FRANK Communications Campaign (Corby)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the FRANK communications campaign has benefited the residents of Crosby. [177938]

Caroline Flint: Crosby sits under the Sefton Drug Action Team (DAT) area. This DAT, in partnership with local agencies, has used the FRANK campaign materials to communicate to the local population on drug and community safety issues. These have been used in schools, pupil referral units, colleges and youth centres throughout the DAT area inclusive of Crosby. In addition, 120,000 homes in Crosby will be sent information in the next few weeks about the FRANK 24 hour helpline, website and email service, in a community safety magazine commissioned by Merseyside police. Local data are not available, but nationally there have been over 1.5 million visits to the website and over 425,000 calls to the helpline.

Funeral Rites

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in the UK chose to have their mortal remains (a) cremated, (b) buried and (c) otherwise disposed of in each year since 1997 (i) in total and (ii) expressed as a percentage of all deaths per year. [178714]

Paul Goggins: This information is not collected centrally. The number of cremations in recent years has levelled at just over 70 per cent. (72 per cent. of 612,000 deaths in 2002). All other deaths are dealt with by burial or by other means (eg repatriation of the body out of England) and these details are not held centrally.

Holloway Prison

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents involving self harm there have been in Holloway Prison in each of the past three years. [178575]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 14 June2004]: The information requested is provided in the following table:
Holloway Prison

	Number of recorded incidents of self- harm (not the number of individuals)
2001	542
2002	765
2003	(10)851

⁽¹⁰⁾ In December 2002, a new form for reporting self-injury (the F213SH) was introduced across the prisons estate in England and Wales, which is known to have improved reporting practices. Much of the increase in reported self-harm in 2003 may result from the change in reporting procedures rather than reflect an actual increase in incidence of self-harm.



 
18 Jun 2004 : Column 1166W
 

Women prisoners will benefit from a specifically targeted and separate suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy being developed for them. This draws upon specialist knowledge of suicidal and self-harming behaviour among women prisoners, and builds upon a number of interventions including: individual crisis counselling for women prisoners who self-harm; the continued development and evaluation of dialectical behaviour therapy, which is currently being trialled at Durham, Bullwood Hall and Holloway prisons; investment and planning to ensure progress on the detoxification strategy in women's prisons; and the introduction of a new training pack for all staff working with women in custody, which includes a module on the health and well-being of women prisoners. A total of £1 million from the Department of Health has been allocated to women's prisons to be spent on the recruitment of psychiatric nurses.

Juvenile Offenders

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidelines issued to prisons wishing to apply for late release of juveniles. [176783]

Paul Goggins: Late release provides a sanction where a young person subject to a Detention and Training Order (DTO) has been violent, dangerous or destructive while in custody, or has consistently failed to co-operate or to take responsibility for his or her behaviour. Applications for late release require the approval of a court.

No specific guidance has been issued on the procedure for applying for late release. The introduction in May 2002 of presumptive early release with electronic monitoring provided an alternative sanction in many cases, in that DTO trainees who exhibit a pattern of bad behaviour can be required to remain in custody to the end of the first part of their Order. We are currently reviewing policy on late release in the light of establishments' experience, particularly over the two years since electronically monitored early release was made available.

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times each prison has applied for the late release of a juvenile prisoner in each of the last five years. [176786]

Paul Goggins: Section 102(5) of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 enables a youth court, on application from the Secretary of State, to order that a young person serving a Detention and Training Order (DTO) of eight months or more should be released one month after the half-way point of the Order. (A young person serving 18 or 24 months can, alternatively, be ordered to be released two months after the half-way point.)

The following table shows late release applications by Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) in the period beginning with the introduction of the DTO on 1 April 2000 up until 31 May 2004.
 
18 Jun 2004 : Column 1167W
 

YOI	Late release applications	Approved	Awaiting court hearing
Ashfield	0	—	—
Brinsford	4	3	1
Castlington	0	—	—
Feltham	0	—	—
Hindley	0	—	—
Huntercombe	0	—	—
Lancaster farms	3	3	—
Onley	0	—	—
Parc	0	—	—
Stoke Heath	3	1	—
Thorn Cross	0	—	—
Warren Hill	0	—	—
Werrington	0	—	—
Wetherby	0	—	—
Brockhill	0	—	—
Bullwood Hall	0	—	—
Eastwood Park	0	—	—
New Hall	0	—	—

---