| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Jun 2004 : Column 1510W—continued
Entry Clearance
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will announce proposals on the entry of (a) priests and (b) imams to the UK. [180167]
24 Jun 2004 : Column 1511W
Mr. Browne: We are currently consulting faith communities on a package of proposals, including modernising the arrangements governing entry to the UK by overseas Ministers of Religion. The details of the new arrangements will be announced shortly.
Everim Ciftci
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to process Mrs. Everim Ciftci's application, reference 21004974, for leave to remain in the United Kingdom. [179573]
Mr. Browne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 24 June 2004.
Forensic Science
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes in Lancashire have been investigated by (a) the Forensic Science Services and (b) a private company in the last 12 months. [179518]
Ms Blears: In the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004, the number of crimes committed in Lancashire in which some forensic analysis was provided by either the Forensic Science Service or some other private sector organisation was as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Forensic Science Service examinations | 2,314 |
| Other agencies | 1,980 |
G8 Summit
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Home Office will be responsible for security arrangements at the G8 Summit in 2005. [178137]
Ms Blears: Overall operational planning and co-ordination for security at the 2005 G8 Summit will be undertaken by the Chief Constable, Tayside Police. Assistance will be provided by a number of other forces and police units, as well as central Government Departments and Agencies, including the Home Office.
Green Burials
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial incentives exist to encourage the use of ecologically-friendly green burials involving the use of freeze-drying human remains and burying them in environmentally-friendly coffins. [178712]
Paul Goggins:
The Government believe that the public should have a realistic and fair choice in the funeral arrangements for their relatives, and it does not therefore, provide financial incentives for one form of disposal over another. However, as outlined in the current consultation exercise "Burial law and policy in the 21st Century: the need for a sensitive and sustainable approach", sustainability is an important issue. We understand that the system of freeze-drying remains is still awaiting approval for use in Sweden, where the system was created. Nevertheless, the development of alternatives to the traditional choices of burial or
24 Jun 2004 : Column 1512W
cremation, and particularly alternatives which are more environmentally friendly, should be given careful consideration.
High Speed Pursuits
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent guidance he has issued to chief constables concerning high speed pursuits. [179226]
Caroline Flint: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) launched in March new guidance for the management of pursuits. I welcome this.
The ACPO guidance, produced in consultation with the Police Complaints Authority (now the Independent Police Complaints Commission), is designed to help ensure that pursuits can be resolved quickly and safely for everyone involved. It will help ensure development of a coherent policy that maximises safety for all those involved. Its guidelines stress the importance of considering each pursuit individually, according to the developing circumstances, with decisions being made on the basis of the changing information available. The guidance fully recognises that there may be occasions when it is better to discontinue a pursuit on the grounds of public safety.
Work continues to ensure that the correct training is provided in the police service, that there are adequate management controls, and that robust risk assessments are in place to ensure that safety is maintained at all times.
Holloway Prison (Suicides)
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of (a) self-harm, (b) suicide and (c) attempted suicide have been recorded at HM Prison Holloway in each of the past five years; and what discussions he has held with the governor and staff concerning these figures. [179693]
Paul Goggins: The information requested about self-inflicted deaths and self-harm is provided in the following table. 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 that occurred for other reasons. It is not possible, therefore, for the Prison Service to determine from the general figures recording incidents of self-harm those acts that could be described as attempts at suicide. The figures for self-harm in the table therefore include all acts of self-harm, however serious.
| Number of self-inflicted deaths(10) | Number of recorded incidents of self-harm(11) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2 | 248 |
| 2000 | 1 | 122 |
| 2001 | 1 | 542 |
| 2002 | 1 | 765 |
| 2003 | 0 | (12)851 |
(10) The Prison Service employs the term "self-inflicted death" rather than suicide. This includes all those deaths where it appears the person acted intentionally to take his/her own life.
(11) The figures provided are number of incidents of self-harm, not number of individuals.
(12) 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. Please note therefore that 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.
24 Jun 2004 : Column 1513W
In 2004 to 16 June, there have been two apparently self-inflicted deaths at Holloway; the number of incidents of self-harm is not yet available.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, visited Holloway in April 2004, and I visited the establishment in October 2003. We both had the opportunity to talk with the Governor, with a number of prison staff from a variety of disciplines, and with groups of prisoners. It was clear from our wide-ranging discussions that Holloway is dealing with a large number of vulnerable women, many of whom enter custody already struggling to cope with a wide range of difficult issues that increase their likelihood of suicide and self-harm. These include mental health, drug and alcohol problems; histories of abuse, troubled relationships and social exclusion; as well as past experiences of self-harm.
Both my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I were impressed with Holloway's First Night in Custody Project, which focuses on the needs of women at the vulnerable stage of entry into prison. The Project was set up in October 2000 and is run by the Prisoner Advice and Care Trust. It employs a full-time project worker and two link workers to help identify women at risk of self-harm or suicide. The project sees over 100 prisoners a month and makes referrals to services in and outside the prison on housing needs, mental health problems, drug or alcohol problems.
Holloway is also one of the three prisons currently piloting Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), an innovative programme developed for women with 'borderline personality disorder' who also self-harm or engage in suicidal behaviours.
24 Jun 2004 : Column 1514W
20 safer cells are to be installed at Holloway by October 2005. Safer cells, which are manufactured and installed to make the attachment of ligatures very difficult, have been found effective in preventing impulsive suicide attempts.
Across the prisons estate, women prisoners are to 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 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 DBT; 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. £1 million from the Department of Health has been allocated to women's prisons to be spent on the recruitment of psychiatric nurses.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |