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14 Jun 2005 : Column 293W—continued
Murder
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will carry out his planned review of the law relating to murder. [3093]
Fiona Mactaggart: I plan to announce the way forward for the Murder Review shortly.
New Hall Prison
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women at New Hall Prison have been represented by a solicitor at an adjudication hearing in each case; and how many women awarded additional days in each of the last five years. [1834]
Fiona Mactaggart: This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Persistent and Priority Offenders
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition he uses of a persistent and priority offender; and what guidance has been given to local authorities. [1833]
Fiona Mactaggart: There is no national definition, as the Prolific and other Priority Offender (PPO) strategy was designed to allow local areas to tackle those offenders who are causing the most harm to their communities and have been identified locally through intelligence from the police and their partners.
In July 2004, we issued guidance to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships on the criteria which should be used in selecting prolific and other priority offenders. This recommended that selection should be based upon the nature and volume of the crimes an individual is committing; the nature and volume of other harm they are causing (e.g. as a result of their gang
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leadership or antisocial behaviour); and other local criteria, based on the impact of the individuals concerned on their local communities.
Police Convictions (Essex)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases there have been of police officers from Essex being convicted of offences, where all the proceedings have been completed, in each year since 2000. [1240]
Hazel Blears: Number of police officers in Essex police service convicted of criminal offences are as follows:
| Officers convicted of a criminal offence | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 6 |
| 2000–01 | 7 |
| 2001–02 | 6 |
| 2002–03 | 6 |
| 2003–04 | 7 |
Police Standards Unit
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation has taken place of the Police Standards Unit since its inception; and if he will make a statement. [2894]
Hazel Blears:
The effectiveness of the Police Standards Unit (PSU) is subject to the same performance scrutiny regime as every other Unit of the Home Office. The Unit will shortly be publishing its annual report which will set out its accomplishments over the period 2004–05.
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In terms of the Unit's work with local areas, over 2003–04, the police forces with whom the PSU was engaged reduced volume crime by 13.3 per cent.—twice the rate of other forces in England and Wales.
Police/Crime Statistics (Wales)
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug rehabilitation places are available in prisons in Wales. [1071]
Fiona Mactaggart: There are 432 rehabilitation places available in prisons in Wales for 2005–06.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners whose last place of residence before sentence was in Wales are held in prisons in England. [1073]
Fiona Mactaggart: Information is not recorded centrally on the home address of prisoners in England and Wales. Information is, however, held on the court that a prisoner is sentenced by.
On 30 April 2005 there were 1,514 prisoners held under sentence in a prison establishment in England who were sentenced at a court in Wales, as recorded on the Prison Service central IT system.
Pre-sentence Reports
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many defendants in magistrates' courts in Greater London have been remanded (a) in custody and (b) on bail for pre-sentence reports in each of the last 24 months for which figures are available; how many of those have returned to court with no report prepared on the due date; and if he will make a statement. [2710]
Fiona Mactaggart: Information on the number of defendants held in (a) custody and (b) bail, for pre-sentence reports are not held centrally.
Prison Population
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the prison population in England and Wales is, broken down by gender. [2934]
Fiona Mactaggart: On 30 April 2005 there were 70,466 males and 4,425 females held in prison establishments in England and Wales, as recorded on the Prison Service IT system.
Prisoners
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the prison population had previously served a period in prison as a convicted prisoner (a) in the latest year for which figures are available and (b) 10 years earlier. [646]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The table gives the percentage of the sentenced prison population with at least one previous sentence of imprisonment. The latest year for which figures are available is 2002. We do not have data readily available on previous sentences of imprisonment
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for those in prison 10 years earlier. The data for 1996 are shown as the earliest year for which these data are available.
(24) Based on a sample of those in prison under sentence on the 30 June 2002 and 1996 respectively. The numbers are then weighted to give an estimate for all those in prison under sentence at that time.
(25) Data on the criminal history of the sentenced prison population are taken from the Offenders Index. It was not possible to find data on the criminal history of all convicted prisoners.
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of persons arrested for a trigger offence under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 have tested positive for drugs in the latest period for which figures are available. [2968]
Paul Goggins: The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced provisions for testing (for specified class A drugs) young people aged 14–17 years following charge for trigger offences. Adults may be tested at charge under provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
At present, neither adults nor young people are tested at the point of arrest, although provisions for testing of adults following arrest for trigger offences were introduced in the Drugs Act 2005. There are no current plans to introduce testing on arrest for young people.
Testing on charge for young people is operational in 10 areas on a pilot basis. Management information collected in the pilot areas indicate that approximately 5 per cent. of those tested at charge test positive for specified class A drugs.
Prisons
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will break down by ethnicity the number of children received into (a) prison service custody, (b) secure training centres and (c) local authority secure children's homes in each of the last five years. [1826]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is provided in the table. Information for prison establishments is as recorded on the Prison Service IT system. Annual figures are not available for prison establishments in 2003 as during this time the Prison Service implemented the 2001 Census ethnic categories.
Information for Secure Training Centres and Local Authority Secure Children's Homes has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board.
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Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women aged (a) under 16, (b) under 17 and (c) under 18 were in prison in London in each year since 1997. [2492]
Fiona Mactaggart: The population of females aged under 18 in prison establishments in London on 30 June in each year since 1997, as recorded on the Prison Service IT system, is provided in the table.
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