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5 Jul 2004 : Column 560W—continued
Prisons
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisons have burial grounds; and when each was last used. [180688]
Paul Goggins: The following table details prison burial grounds and when each was last used.
(20) Establishment no longer in existence.
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Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners died while in prison in each of the last five years; and what the prisoner's age was in each case. [180689]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following table:
* Each asterisk represents a natural cause death that is included on the Prison Service database, but occurred outside of prison, for example, deaths of prisoners who absconded or who were on home leave.
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John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of drug treatment and testing order participants in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002 reoffended in 2003 in Nottinghamshire. [168210]
Paul Goggins: This information is not available.
A Home Office study published in 2003 (Home Office Research Findings No. 184) of the two year reconviction rates of the three drug treatment and testing order (DTTO) pilots sites showed an overall reconviction rate of 80 per cent. for the 174 DTTO offenders for whom criminal records were located on the Home Office's offenders index database. There were statistically significant differences in reconviction rates between those whose orders were revoked (91 per cent.) and those who completed their orders (53 per cent.).
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether, under the increased use of contestability, in-house bid teams from the Prison Service will compete directly with the private sector for the operation of existing prison establishments; [168426]
(2) whether, under the increased use of contestability, private sector providers will be required to compete for the operation of existing prison establishments directly with the public sector provider. [168427]
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Paul Goggins: One of the key principles underpinning the establishment of the National Offender Management Service is the use of contestability to improve the quality and efficiency of services to offenders. As part of this, we expect to announce a programme of market testing existing prison establishments. The private and public sectors will be invited to compete for the operation of the prisons.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the measures proposed in the national rehabilitation programme regarding accommodation outcomes for prisoners. [181073]
Paul Goggins:
The Government will be publishing a national action plan to reduce reoffending in the summer. This will bring together work across
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Departments and agencies. It will include the development of a national accommodation strategy for offenders, mapping out action over the short and longer term to improve accommodation outcomes for released prisoners.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many positive mandatory drug tests there were, broken down by drug type, in (a) open prisons and (b) closed prisons in each of the last 10 years. [169088]
Paul Goggins: The Prison Service mandatory drug testing programme has been in operation since 1996–97. Yearly figures for the number of positive mandatory drug tests broken down by drug type in (a) open prisons and (b) closed prisons are given in the table. Figures for 2003–04 are not yet available.
| Drug type | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannabis | |||||||
| Open | 983 | 983 | 963 | 842 | 805 | 718 | 953 |
| Closed | 16,494 | 15,490 | 13,739 | 11,602 | 8,647 | 6,926 | 7,242 |
| Opiates | |||||||
| Open | 188 | 193 | 219 | 341 | 349 | 409 | 329 |
| Closed | 5,589 | 4,831 | 5,454 | 6,794 | 7,592 | 6,553 | 4,375 |
| Cocaine | |||||||
| Open | 23 | 30 | 35 | 47 | 40 | 67 | 59 |
| Closed | 215 | 257 | 292 | 372 | 432 | 373 | 327 |
| Benzodiazepines | |||||||
| Open | 34 | 29 | 40 | 40 | 24 | 23 | 40 |
| Closed | 1,448 | 1,382 | 1,487 | 1,668 | 1,822 | 1,524 | 1,404 |
| Methadone | |||||||
| Open | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Closed | 244 | 149 | 76 | 88 | 73 | 62 | 64 |
| Amphetamines | |||||||
| Open | 4 | 22 | 25 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 15 |
| Closed | 182 | 173 | 124 | 115 | 69 | 67 | 48 |
| Barbiturates | |||||||
| Open | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Closed | 25 | 45 | 32 | 36 | 17 | 20 | 15 |
| LSD | |||||||
| Open | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Closed | 2 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Buprenorphine | |||||||
| Open | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Closed | — | — | — | 0 | 270 | 355 | 368 |
| Total1,2 | |||||||
| Open | 1,236 | 1,258 | 1,289 | 1,288 | 1,238 | 1,237 | 1,399 |
| Closed | 24,199 | 22,330 | 21,204 | 20,676 | 18,922 | 15,880 | 13,843 |
(21) A prisoner may test positive for more than one drug in each test.
(22) Until August 2000 10 per cent. of prisoners were subject to random mandatory drug tests each month. Since that date establishments holding more than 400 prisoners have been required to test only 5 per cent. each month.
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Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what target he has been set for the number of hours of purposeful activity to be completed by prisoners in 2004–05. [181492]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 29 June 2004]: No annual target for the number of hours of purposeful activity has been set for 2004–05. However, individual prisons will still agree a specific target for the average number of hours of purposeful activity per prisoner, per week.
Purposeful activity remains an important measure. However, the introduction of specific Key Performance Indicators for prisoner educational achievement, rehabilitation and resettlement provides a more focussed measure of the work being undertaken in prisons to reduce re-offending.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluations are carried out, upon entry to prison, of the learning abilities of individual prisoners; and whether they can identify conditions such as dyslexia. [169134]
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.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the last three years the interception of a prisoner's communications has been authorised under Prison Rule 35A. [180126]
Paul Goggins: All telephone calls made on PIN phones by prisoners have been intercepted under Prison Rule 35A since the phased introduction of the PIN phone system at establishments over the period June 2001 to December 2003. Figures for the number of calls made in each of the last three years are not available but, as an indication of the volume, 55,261 calls were made on the PIN phone system on 21 June 2004. Numbers would have been progressively lower in earlier years as the PIN phone system was installed.
A small proportion of PIN phone calls are listened to. Prior to the introduction of the PIN phone system at each establishment a small proportion of the calls made by prisoners were listened to, and that remains the case for three establishments not on the PIN phone system today.
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Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoners at HMP Kingston (a) aged under 65 and (b) aged over 65 are (i) employed and (ii) unemployed. [180127]
Paul Goggins: Kingston prison currently holds 120 prisoners under the age of 65, 119 of whom are employed. There are 14 prisoners aged 65 or over, nine of whom are employed. Employment is available at Kingston for all those who wish to work and are fit enough to do so.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil cases against the Prison Service relating to (a) deaths in custody, (b) medical negligence, (c) assaults and (d) prison discipline charges reached the courts in each of the last five years; and in how many cases the Prison Service (i) won, (ii) lost and (iii) settled out of court. [180128]
Paul Goggins: It is not possible to provide all of the figures requested, as they are not collated in this format. However, between April 1999 and 31 March 2004, 565 assaults claims and 226 clinical negligence claims have been initiated. Statistics on discipline, deaths in custody and cases won, lost and settled are not readily available.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in England and Wales have been detained beyond the expiration of their sentence in each of the last five years; and for what length of time in each case. [180130]
Paul Goggins: Unfortunately, the information requested is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the awer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 326W, on prisons, if he will provide the figures excluding remand prisoners. [180137]
Paul Goggins: The information sought is not available. The Prison Service collates data by prison establishment, rather than at individual prisoner level. Although data can be aggregated to the level of establishment function and the majority of remand prisoners are held in 'local' prisons, these prisoners constitute only an element of the population and it is not possible to exclude the activity undertaken specifically by remand prisoners.
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the prison population of each member state of the European Union was on 1 May. [177834]
Paul Goggins: The Home Office has collected information on the prison population for each member state of the European Union from official sources. The most recent information relates to 2003.
(23) At 1 September: number of prisoners including pre-trial detainees.
(24) At 31 August.
(25) Average daily population.
(26) Annual averages.
(27) At 31 December.
(28) At 1 January.
(29) Metropolitan and overseas departments.
(30) At 31 December until 2002, then at 30 November.
(31) At 1 October.
(32) 0 Based on estimates of national population.
(33)(34) In 2002.
(35)Data not available.
Source:
Statistical contacts in each country; International Centre for Prison Studies, Kings College, London (World Prison Population Brief at www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps) .
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