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7 Feb 2006 : Column 1108W—continued
Prisoners
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) escapes and (b) unapproved absences there have been from each English prison in each year since 1996–97; and if he will make a statement. [45767]
Fiona Mactaggart: Data on the number of escapes and absconds broken down by prison establishment in England and Wales from 1996–97 to 27 January 2006 is shown in tables which have been placed in the Library. The total number of absconds and release on temporary licence failures is also detailed. However, a breakdown by establishment could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The number of temporary release failures compared to the actual number of releases on Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) per year is very low. In 2002, 287,732 ROTL licences were granted and in 2003 there were 328,780. The corresponding temporary release failures were 316 and 405 respectively.
Prisoners released on ROTL are risk assessed before any release takes place. A Prison Governor will not release any prisoner who is considered to be a risk to the public or who is unlikely to be able to comply with the terms of the ROTL licence. Any failure of ROTL is taken seriously and will be taken into consideration with any further ROTL applications.
Prison staff are vigilant in their day-to-day activities in preventing escapes. This is supported by Prison Service Orders, professional expertise and regular internal reminders of the need to manage prisoners decently while preventing their escape. The level of escapes continues to be well below the Key Performance Indicator target. In the period April to 31 December 2005 there have been no escapes from prison establishments, three from prison escorts and two from court escorts bringing the overall total to five. This compares favourably to last year's total of 15 escapes for the same period.
Each abscond from an open or semi open prison is investigated locally and findings inform both local and national policy.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners held in Her Majesty's prisons (a) are non-British EU nationals, (b) are non-EU foreign nationals, (c) are seeking leave to remain in the United Kingdom and (d) have been UK residents for less than 10 years. [45898]
Fiona Mactaggart:
Information on the number of (a) non-British Nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals as recorded in the Prison Service IT system is provided in the table. Full statistics on the nationality of
7 Feb 2006 : Column 1109W
prisoners within prisons in England and Wales are available in the Population in Custody Quarterly Brief, April to June 2005, on the Home Office website.
Regarding parts (c) and (d) of the question, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate does not keep central records of prisoners presently seeking leave to remain in the United Kingdom or of their length of residence in the United Kingdom.
| Category of foreign national | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| non-British EU nationals | 1,439 | 173 | 1,612 |
| non-EU Foreign nationals | 7,336 | 701 | 8,037 |
Prisoners Visits
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Winchester of 14 December 2005, Official Report, column 2034W, on prisoners, whether (a) HMP Nottingham, (b) HMP Holme House, (c) HMP Usk, (d) HMP Prescoed, (e) HMP Durham and (f) HMP Doncaster comply with the minimum visit requirements for prisoners on the basic regime. [47575]
Fiona Mactaggart: Each of the establishments is compliant. The following table sets out the entitlement for convicted and unconvicted prisoners on the basic level of the incentives and earned privileges scheme.
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances cases of visitors and staff found in possession of drugs across the prison estate are not routinely referred to the police for investigation; and if he will make a statement. [47134]
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Fiona Mactaggart: Since 6 December 2005 the policy on action to be taken when visitors or staff are found to be in possession of classified drugs on entry into a public sector Prison Service establishment is that all cases will routinely be referred to the police for investigation.
If there are wholly exceptional circumstances which could justify divergence from this policy the case must be referred to a Prison Service director for consideration.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have been assaulted by other prisoners in Coldingley prison in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [47399]
Fiona Mactaggart: The figures in the following table are those incidents where assaults have been reported on the Incident Reporting System.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 4 |
| 1997 | 0 |
| 1998 | 0 |
| 1999 | 1 |
| 2000 | 0 |
| 2001 | 6 |
| 2002 | 2 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2004 | 16 |
| 2005 | 7 |
| Total | 36 |
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many escapes have taken place from Coldingley prison in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and how many of these escapees were subsequently recaptured. [47400]
Fiona Mactaggart: One prisoner escaped from Coldingley prison in 1998 and was recaptured.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed at Coldingley prison in each of the last six years for which figures are available, broken down by rank. [47401]
Fiona Mactaggart: The following table contains details of the number of staff employed at HMP Coldingley (on a headcount basis) in each year since 1999, broken down by grade. The figures represent a snapshot of staffing levels on 31 December each year.
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Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the amount of Brazilian beef procured for (a) prisons and (b) young offender institutions during the last year for which figures are available. [47470]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Prison Service procured from contracted sources 7,836 kilos of Brazilian beef for prisons and 2,319 kilos for young offenders institutions from February 2005 to January 2006—all in the form of corned beef.
Corned beef is not manufactured in the UK.
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