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19 Jan 2006 : Column 1580W—continued
Parenting Contracts
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting contracts have been signed in each of the past two years. [42148]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Youth Justice Board has collected data on the number of parenting contracts entered into by youth offending teams since one April 2004. 555 parenting contracts were made between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005 and 218 between 1 April 2004 and 30 September 2005 (the latest period for which data is available).
The Department for Education and Skills has collected data regarding parenting contracts in cases of non-attendance and exclusion from school since September 2004. 5,717 parenting contracts were recorded for truancy and 410 for exclusion between September 2004 and 31 July 2005 (the latest period for which data is available).
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting contracts have been breached in each of the past two years. [42149]
Fiona Mactaggart:
Data is not collected on the number of parenting contracts that are breached.
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David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many breached parenting contracts have led to parenting orders in each of the past two years. [42150]
Fiona Mactaggart: Data is not collected on the number of parenting contracts which are not complied with and lead to a parenting order.
Parenting Orders
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting orders have been made without the child or young person appearing in court for offending in each of the past two years. [42155]
Fiona Mactaggart:
Section 26 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 allows youth offending teams to apply for parenting orders in respect of children and young people who have engaged in antisocial behaviour
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or criminal conduct. Parenting orders under section 26 can be made without the child or young person appearing in court.
This power came into force on 27 February 2004. The Youth Justice Board has collected data on its use since 1 April 2004. 80 parenting orders under section 26 were made during April 2004 to March 2005 and 71 were made during April 2005 to September 2005 (which is the latest available data).
Prison Escapes
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many escapes from (a) prisons and (b) young offenders institutions there have been in each year since 1995, broken down by the relevant categories set out in the Departmental Annual Report; and if he will make a statement. [42779]
Fiona Mactaggart: The number of escapes from prisons and Prison Service escorts for each category of establishment is shown in the following table.
(34)To December.
Prisons
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what help is offered by his Department to prisoners to cease smoking. [39660]
Fiona Mactaggart: People in prison are being helped to stop smoking through services specially targeted to meet their needs, including nicotine replacement therapy. In 2001–02 the Department of Health ran a pilot project on smoking cessation in prison. It publication, Acquitted", is a reference guide for those starting up new stop smoking services in the prison setting and outlines key learning points from the project. It is targeted at both NHS smoking services and prisons. An evaluation is under way to report on the Department of Health's £1.5 million investment, between 2003 and 2006, for smoking cessation services in prisons.
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce the number of vulnerable people in prison. [41153]
Fiona Mactaggart: As regards adult offenders, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides that a custodial sentence may only be imposed on adult offenders when the offence is so serious that no other sentence can be justified. A wide range of non-custodial sentences is available to deal with offenders. While sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for the courts, the Government believes that prison should be reserved for dangerous, violent and seriously persistent offenders.
The 2003 Act also provides that before passing a custodial sentence on an offender who is or appears to be mentally disordered, the court must consider any information before it relating to his mental condition, and the likely effect of a custodial sentence on that condition. Section 166 of the Act specifically allows the court to mitigate sentences for mentally disordered offenders, and to impose non-custodial sentences where normally a custodial sentence would be justified.
Hospital orders rather than custodial orders can be issued at the sentencing stage, and where mental health issues come to light only while in custody, the offender can be removed from prison and transferred to a secure hospital.
The Sentencing Guidelines Council (which issues sentencing guidelines to which criminal courts in England and Wales must have regard) has issued a guideline confirming that mental illness is generally a mitigating factor in sentencing.
The 'Development Programme for Extending Offender Health Support', a joint initiative between the Home Office and Department of Health, has recently
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been introduced to help the courts identify, assess and make appropriate recommendations for the care and management of offenders with health and social care needs. The programme's underpinning goal is to ensure that prison is not a default destination for vulnerable individuals whose care and management needs could more appropriately be met elsewhere.
Juvenile offenders are dealt with under a separate sentencing structure that provides for their special vulnerability.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why recent services at the mosque in Broadmoor Prison have been cancelled. [41685]
Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
I am informed by North West London strategic health authority that services at the mosque in Broadmoor hospital have not been cancelled. Just before Eid celebrations, the weekly prayer session at the mosque was postponed due to the unavailability of the visiting Imam.
I understand at Broadmoor hospital, prayer sessions are conducted at the mosque by a visiting Imam every Friday. I have been assured that Broadmoor hospital has no intention or desire to reduce access to the mosque.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for the (a) expansion of and (b) creation of new prison facilities at HMP Full Sutton, near York; and if he will make a statement. [42364]
Fiona Mactaggart: There are no plans, at present, to either expand Her Majesty's Prison Full Sutton or to build a new prison on the site adjacent to the existing prison.
Development of this site remains an option for providing additional prison capacity if necessary.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been for supplying illegal drugs in prisons in each year since 1997. [36135]
Paul Goggins: Decisions to prosecute are taken by the Crown Prosecution Service and the number of prosecutions undertaken is not collated by the Prison Service. The number of visitors arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs into prison and the number of prisoners found guilty at adjudication of offences involving drug smuggling through visits is given in the table.
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