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24 Jan 2005 : Column 129W—continued
Prisons
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of self-harm have taken place in prisons in London in each of the last three years. [208740]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following table:
(50) In December 2002 new procedures for reporting self-injury were introduced in prisons in England and Wales. The evidence suggests that much of the increase in reported self-harm from 2003 may result from this rather than reflect an actual increase in incidence of self-harm
(51) 1 January—30 September only
(52) Bronzefield opened in June 2004
A number of intervention strategies have been introduced into establishments for people who self-harm. These include counselling, support groups, and specialised psychological interventions. A network of establishments has been set up to develop interventions, facilitate evaluation and share good practice. Guidance to staff on managing people who self-harm has been circulated to establishments.
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many escapes from prisons in England and Wales there have been in each of the last three years. [209404]
Paul Goggins:
The following table details prison escapes in the last three years, and so far this current financial year. Prison Service key performance indicators identify an escape as one where (i) the prisoner is not recaptured within 15 minutes or (ii) is recaptured within 15 minutes but has committed an offence other than escape before recapture.
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| Number of escapes from prisons | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 15 |
| 2002–03 | 5 |
| 2003–04 | 10 |
| 2004–05(53) | 10 |
(53) Figure as on 17 January 2005
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners have been detained beyond their sentence expiry date in each prison in each of the last 10 years in England and Wales. [209595]
Mr. Browne: Information on the number of people who have been detained beyond their sentence expiry date is not available.
Work is ongoing to improve the quality of the data held on those people detained under Immigration Act powers in prison establishments.
Psilocin
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what research his Department has conducted into psilocin use; [208270]
(2) if he will make a statement on the link between psilocin use and crime. [208271]
Caroline Flint: The Home Office has not conducted research into psilocin use.
Hallucinogenic mushrooms are known to be harmful to those with a mental illness or with an underlying mental health problem and can precipitate psychosis. Users are also vulnerable to self harm while under the influence of these mushrooms and those using them may experience negative flashbacks.
There is no clear evidence of a link between psilocin use and acquisitive or other crime.
Security Industry
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) warned, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted for failure to comply with the Security Industry Authority requirements for the licensing of door staff; and what plans he has to introduce further penalties for individuals and organisations for failure to comply with those requirements. [203711]
Ms Blears [holding answer 9 December 2004]: Prosecution of organisations or individuals who have failed to comply with the door supervisor requirements of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 is the responsibility of individual police forces and this information is not held centrally. There are no plans to introduce further penalties for individuals or organisations at this moment.
Sentencing
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when sentencing statistics for 2003 will be published. [208273]
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Paul Goggins: Current plans are to publish a Home Office Statistical Bulletin on Sentencing Statistics for 2003 next month. This will include sentencing trends from 1993.
However, detailed statistics on sentencing for 2003 were included only in the four Supplementary Volumes of Criminal Statistics published on the Home Office website on 11 November 2004. Provisional sentencing data were also released (covering the first quarter of 2004 for the Crown Court and the last quarter of 2003 for magistrates courts) on the website on 15 November in a Quarterly Brief "Sentencing Statistics, England and Wales".
Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average per annum cost of detaining a prisoner in England and Wales was in the latest year for which figures are available. [207067]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 10 January 2004]: The latest figure available is for the financial year 2003–04. For that year, the average cost of detaining a prisoner in England and Wales was £25,687. This figure incorporates both public and private sector prisons.
Sex Abuse (Historical Cases)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had over the last two years regarding anonymity for defendants in historical sex abuse cases; and what the outcome of those discussions was. [207322]
Paul Goggins: The Home Secretary and other Ministers considered and discussed anonymity for defendants in sex offence cases in the context of amendments tabled during the passage of the Sexual Offences Bill.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many witnesses in historic child abuse cases have been prosecuted for perverting the course of justice, on the basis of deliberate fabrication, since 1995. [207458]
Paul Goggins: It is not possible from the information held on the Home Office Court Proceedings database to identify witnesses in historic child abuse cases who have been prosecuted for perverting the course of justice, as the circumstances of an offence are not collected centrally.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will extend the statutory reporting restrictions which preserve the anonymity of victims of historical sex abuse to persons accused of those offences. [207511]
Paul Goggins:
The Government have carefully considered whether defendants in sex offence cases should be entitled to anonymity through reporting restrictions but does not believe that there is a case for a change in the law. The Government consider that strengthened guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Press Complaints Commission is the right approach.
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Sex Offenders
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of prisoners are imprisoned for committing a sex offence. [207334]
Paul Goggins: On 30 November 2004 there were 657 persons held on remand and 5,975 under immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences in prison establishments in England and Wales, as recorded on the Prison Service central IT system. These figures constitute 5 per cent. of the total remand population and 10 per cent. of the total population under immediate custodial sentence.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce an alternative to the Sex Offenders Treatment Programme which requires no admission of guilt on the part of the prisoner. [207514]
Paul Goggins: There are no plans to introduce an alternative sex offender treatment programme for offenders who do not admit their offences. An alternative programme intended to encourage offenders out of denial was trialled but was not successful as it did not reduce the number of those in denial or address their particular needs. It may also have an adverse impact on the effectiveness of existing programmes.
Mrs. Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on how risk assessment of convicted sex offenders is carried out. [207515]
Paul Goggins: Risk assessment of those who are convicted of sexual offences is carried out before sentence and regularly throughout their period of supervision, both in custody and in the community.
The following risk assessment tools have been devised in order to facilitate these assessments:
The Risk Matrix 2000 predicts reconviction rates for both two and 20-year periods, based on actuarial factors empirically associated with risk of sexual offending.
The Offender Assessment System (OASys) is a risk assessment document, used jointly by the Probation Service and the Prison Service, which incorporates static and dynamic risk factors in order to inform accurate and current assessment.
Assessments measuring dynamic risk known to be associated with sexual reconviction, for example, sexual interests, self-management, distorted attitudes, are also routinely used.
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support his Department plans to make available to sex offenders to find (a) accommodation and (b) employment after their release from prison. [208822]
Paul Goggins:
The issue of appropriate accommodation is addressed prior to an offender's release as part of his licence conditions; this could include consideration for approved premises. For offenders who potentially pose a risk of harm to the public, this is managed under the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), which include local housing authorities and registered social landlords as part of the duty to co-operate.
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Jobcentres are also subject to the duty to co-operate provisions under MAPPA and securing employment is a factor contained within an offender's individual Supervision Plan. Finding employment is managed by local arrangement and suitability of any such employment is evaluated. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides for disqualification orders, which make it a criminal offence for convicted sex offenders to seek employment that would provide unsupervised access to children.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the impact of overcrowding on the number of prisoners completing the Sex Offender Treatment Programme. [209528]
Paul Goggins: The main risk created by overcrowding is that prisoners do not complete offending behaviour programmes to which they have been assigned because they are transferred to another establishment before the programme is completed. It is well understood in the Prison Service that prisoners who have started an offending behaviour programme should not be moved before the programme is completed.
The Prison Service monitors the delivery of all offending behaviour programmes for the proportion of prisoners who do not complete. The number of prisoners who start but do not complete the Sex Offender Treatment Programme is small and reasons include illness, breach of group rules and the offender voluntarily withdrawing. We believe that the number who do not complete because of overcrowding is negligible.
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