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6 Feb 2006 : Column 955W—continued
Prisoners
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the distribution of weekly supplementary nutritional packs to prisoners suffering from diabetes; and if he will make a statement. [45454]
Fiona Mactaggart: Supplementary nutritional packs are not used within the Prison Service.
Treatment of prisoners with diabetes is provided in line with the National Service Framework on diabetes which requires that diagnosed patients should receive appropriate dietary advice. This is provided to prisoners through the prison healthcare department. Any specific medical diets are prescribed by the prison doctor and notified to the catering department.
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has taken to ensure that non-smoking prison inmates are not required to share cells with prisoners who smoke. [45455]
Fiona Mactaggart: Each prison develops its own no smoking" policy in line with current health and safety advice, taking into account the type of establishment it is, its population and the special needs of that population. Wherever possible prisoners should not be required to share accommodation with a smoker if they so request. A working group has been set up to look at the smoke free elements of the current Health Bill as they apply to prisons. It will consider this issue as part of that work.
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what account is taken of prison officers' (a) experience and (b) opinions in the construction of offender resettlement initiatives; and if he will make a statement; [44363]
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(2) what assessment he has made of the contribution to effective resettlement made by prison officers; and if he will make a statement. [44365]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office has not undertaken a formal assessment of the contribution prison officers make to effective resettlement. However, prison officers are involved in the delivery of a number of programmes that have been accredited.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of correlation between prison overcrowding and deaths in custody; and if he will make a statement. [45208]
Fiona Mactaggart: Overcrowding alone does not explain why there are self-inflicted deaths in prisons. In 2005, despite rises in the prison population, the number of apparent self-inflicted deaths fell by 18 per cent. in comparison to 2004. Most importantly, a high proportion of prisoners arrive in prison having experienced negative life events that we know increase the risk of an individual harming themselves. We also know that cell-sharing is a protective factor against suicide.
That said, managing high numbers of prisoners can lead to an increase in transfers between prisons, itself a time of heightened risk. More people being received into custody may mean that some prisoners are located further from home, which, in turn, may mean that their access to familial or social support is affected. Sometimes overcrowding will reduce the time staff can spend with individual prisoners on care and risk assessment, and it sometimes leads to an increase in the length of time prisoners are locked in their cells, rather than engaged in regime activities, association and other purposeful activity. These factors together increase distress which we know from research by the University of Cambridge is related to suicide rates.
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the capacity is of Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes. [47423]
Fiona Mactaggart: The useable operational capacity of HMP Woodhill is 762 as at 31 January 2006.
Probation Service
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unfilled posts there are in each region in the Probation Service; and if he will make a statement. [44387]
Fiona Mactaggart: Not all probation areas operate a set establishment against which vacancies can be measured. The Probation Service is however able to report on the number of active vacancies within each region. An active vacancy is one which a probation area is actively trying to fill through a recruitment process.
The figures shown represent active vacancies, expressed in full time equivalent value, in each probation region as at 30 September 2005. This is the most recent information available.
The number of active vacancies in the London region is significantly higher than elsewhere in the Probation Service. This is due to the fact that: the London probation area is currently undertaking a recruitment
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exercise to achieve a 10 per cent. increase in staff numbers this year, and this is in addition to recruitment required to fill vacancies occurring as a result of normal staff attrition.
Please note that the Greater Manchester probation area is not able to provide active vacancy figures at present, and does not contribute to the figures recorded for the North West region.
Project Cyclamen
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of Project Cyclamen; and if he will make a statement. [21966]
Hazel Blears: Programme Cyclamen is a key element of the UK's counter-terrorism strategy. The latest Office of Government Commerce Gateway review assessed Programme Cyclamen as green—the programme is on target to succeed. Equipment has been installed at a number of sea and airports, and has screened over 2 million arrivals. Strategic fixed and mobile equipment is being rolled out across the UK during 2006–07.
Public Authorities (Disclosure of Violent Incidents)
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many meetings (a) he and (b) his officials have had with the Association of Chief Police Officers about the creation of a specific statutory duty requiring public authorities to disclose incidents of violence coming to their attention which are committed by readily identifiable individuals; and when (i) he and (ii) his officials last met the Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey Police to discuss the creation of such an offence; [44282]
(2) whether he plans to introduce a statutory duty requiring public authorities to disclose incidents of violence coming to their attention which are committed by readily identifiable individuals; and if he will make a statement; [44287]
(3) whether he (a) saw and (b) commented upon a draft of the letter from the Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey Police, dated 13 January, on the creation of a specific statutory duty requiring public authorities to disclose incidents of violence coming to their attention which are committed by readily identifiable individuals. [44605]
Hazel Blears:
There are currently no plans to introduce a statutory duty requiring public authorities to disclose personalised data related to incidents of
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violence in this way, and neither I nor my officials have met with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) about this specific matter. My officials did meet with the Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey Police at his request in March last year, on the more general subject of information sharing on violent crime. I understand that officials are due to meet again with him this month, in response to his specific proposals on this issue as outlined in the question.
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 gives those responsible authorities which make up Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships a power to share aggregate, depersonalised data between themselves in the interest of preventing crime, disorder, substance misuse or antisocial behaviour. In the context of work being done in the Home Office to improve partnership arrangements, the potential for strengthening these provisions has been included in a review of the Crime and Disorder Act, which was completed this month.
Race Equality Scheme
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the publication of a revised Race Equality Scheme for the Home Office Group; and if he will make a statement. [32797]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The revised Home Office Race Equality Scheme was published on 26 May 2005. The scheme is available on the Home Office website: http://communities.homeoffice.gov.uk/raceandfaith/race-ethnicity/race-equality-schemes/Publication ref: 268845/90
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