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5 Oct 2005 : Column 2873W—continued

Identity Cards Bill

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps will be taken to protect victims of (a) domestic violence, (b) rape and (c) sexual abuse from identification by their attackers using the National Identity Register. [6788]

Andy Burnham [holding answer 23 June 2005]: In order to protect the security of the proposed Identity Cards Scheme we cannot comment on the specific steps that will be taken to protect the information of these victims on the National Identity Register.

Direct access to information held on the National Identity Register by anyone outside those responsible for administering the scheme will not be possible, only requests for information can be made by third parties. In the vast majority of cases, verification of information on the Register will only be possible with the person's consent. In cases where information is provided without consent, the Identity Cards Bill strictly limits the
 
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occasions when this can occur, limits it to public authorities and allows for regulations that will define how and to whom this information can be provided.

IMPACT

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the business case for the IMPACT programme to be (a) completed and (b) published. [16030]

Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) on 25 July 2005, that an outline business case will be prepared in September. For commercial reasons, business cases are not released until all associated contractual activities are completed.

London Bombings

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the inquiries into the London bombings. [14724]

Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer my hon. Friend to my statement to the House on 20 July 2005, Official Report, column 1253.

Marketing Testing

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has for further market testing within the Prison Service. [15627]

Fiona Mactaggart: Further market testing within the Prison Service will be reviewed in the light of the outcome of the performance improvement test of the three prisons on the Isle of Sheppey.

National Offender Management Service

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons exchange of secure e-mails is not possible between the Prison Service, Probation Service, the National Offender Management Service and the remainder of the Criminal Justice System; and when he expects this facility to be available. [10205]

Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 7 July 2005]: National Offender Management Service and the Prison Service have had connection to the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) and therefore secure e-mail for some time. The National Probation Service (NPS) have recently been granted access to the GSI which will increase the number of probation offices able to send and receive secure e-mail.

All three organisations can, and do, exchange information already now, using their respective networks (GSI and GSX) as well as the secure e-mail facility.

NOMS and HMPS are members of the GSI community which is accredited to handle material up to and including "RESTRICTED". Currently the NPS is connected to the GSX which is not accredited to handle "RESTRICTED" material. This has placed some restriction on the nature and type of information which can be handled by the NPS electronically.
 
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However, the NPS application to join the GSI community has recently been approved, meaning that the NPS will soon be able to send information up to and including "RESTRICTED". As a consequence this will mean that more information will be capable of being exchanged between the three organisations.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the bidders for the STEPS 2 replacement programme for the Offender Management National Infrastructure; and when the Department expects to announce the award of the contract. [10206]

Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 7 July 2005]: The bidders that remain in the competition that was originally known as STEPS 2 (and is now known as OMNI) are Fujitsu Services Ltd. and Steria Ltd. The Department expects to announce the award of the contract before the end of September this year.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the decision was made to abandon the STEPS 2 programme; and what the cost of STEPS 2 to the Department is. [10209]

Fiona Mactaggart: The STEPS 2 programme has not been abandoned. The programme to procure a successor to the existing IT services provider to the probation service began in 2002. With the announcement of the formation of the National Offender Management Service, this procurement programme (at the time known as STEPS 2) was put on hold until the requirements under the new organisation had become more clearly defined. In October 2004, the programme was resumed from the point at which it was put on hold, under a new name (OMNI) to reflect the change in the requirement. There have therefore been no wasted costs.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list aspects of the National Offender Management Service that will be implemented within the existing legislative framework; [12038]

(2) what advice he has received on changes which can be implemented in the Prison Service and the Probation Service by the introduction of the National Offender Management Service without enabling legislation. [12042]

Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 14 July 2005]: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) formally came into being on 1 June. A wide range of activities is already under way to support its principal aim of reducing re-offending. For example, an offender management model has been developed which will provide the focus for the implementation of offender management for both community and custodial sentences. A pathfinder in the north-west region has been operational since October 2004. The first evaluation report was published on 30 June 2005, and outlines the value of the north-west's testing of the model. The information gained is being fed into the implementation plans for prison and probation areas. A national offender manager and 10 regional offender managers have also been appointed. The latter will play the main role in commissioning and will help to build
 
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partnership working locally. A performance test for prisons on the Isle of Sheppey has been announced and consideration is being given to the best organisational design to support the NOMS reforms.

The Secretary of State is currently considering advice on what more can be done within the existing framework and where legislation will be needed . [As announced in the Queen's Speech the Government will bring forward legislation to reduce re-offending by improving the management of offenders.]

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to question reference 7215 tabled by the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam. [14634]

Hazel Blears: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 September 2005, Official Report, column 2584W.

Prisons

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the nursing establishment is at Endwood Park prison; and how many nurses are employed there. [8409]

Fiona Mactaggart: The nursing establishment at HMP Eastwood Park is 37.5 posts, of which 30.5 posts are currently filled.

Terrorist Threat

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his assessment of the level of terrorist threat facing the UK. [14723]

Mr. Charles Clarke: As I have previously stated, the threat from terrorism remains real and serious, and is a worldwide issue. As we have seen it is not unique to the UK.

Due to security reasons, it is Government policy not to comment on specific threat levels.

The threat level is kept under constant review based on the information available. Further information on threats can be found on the Security Service website (www.mi5.gov.uk)

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