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27 Feb 2006 : Column 100W—continued
Prison Construction (Funding)
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department last assessed the (a) advantages and (b) disadvantages of (i) conventional and (ii) private finance initiative funding for the construction of new prisons; and what the outcome of that assessment was. [51552]
Fiona Mactaggart: The last occasion when such an assessment was made was in respect of the business case for the procurement of the two most recent prisons to open, HMP Bronzefield and HMP Peterborough. The outcome of the business case was that the procurement of previous prisons designed, constructed, managed and financed under the private finance initiative (PFI) had shown value for money based on savings over their public sector comparators and that therefore the prisons should be procured through PFI.
Prisoners
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the most effective programmes for preventing offending and reoffending by individuals with personality disorders; how many such programmes are running; and at what financial cost. [51918]
Fiona Mactaggart: A review of treatments for severe personality disorder published in 2003 (available at www.dspdprogramme.gov.uk) surveyed the available evidence on the effectiveness of personality disorder interventions. The review suggested that interventions based on a therapeutic community model offer the most promising outcomes, however reliable evidence of long-term effectiveness (including reconviction) is extremely limited.
An integrated pilot programme has been established by the Home Office and the Department of Health for assessing and treating offenders identified as having dangerous and severe personality disorder (DSPD). The four main sites are located in two high-security prisons and two high-security hospitals. There are a further five pilot services in the national health system in medium
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security and the community. Arrangements have been made to carry out a detailed evaluation of the early implementation of these pilot services.
When these services are fully operational it is estimated that the cost per place per year in prisons would be about £100,000 and in hospitals £225,000.
Public Disorder
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been served in each of the last three years in each constituency in Lancashire. [52620]
Hazel Blears: Information on antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued at constituency level is not collected centrally. A table giving a breakdown by the local government authority area in which prohibitions are imposed within ASBOs is available on the Crime Reduction website at www.crimereduction.gov.uk This table gives data by year since ASBOs were introduced up to 30 June 2005 (latest available).
Race Equality Projects
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what race equality projects aimed at young black men his Department sponsors; and if he will make a statement. [50671]
Paul Goggins: The Home Office has recently launched an experts group called REACH, which seeks to raise aspiration and achievement among young Black men. The panel includes academics, representatives of the voluntary and community sector, teachers, business people, law enforcement and officials. They will meet for a year, and will present their final report to Paul Goggins, the Minister for Race Equality and Community Cohesion.
Through the Connecting Communities grants programme, the Home Office funded VOIS, which runs the Black Male Forum, £606,504 over three years from September 2003 to March 2006.
Serious Organised Crime Agency
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the (a) Chair and (b) Director Designate of the Serious Organised Crime Agency; if he will place the minutes of the meeting in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [32803]
Paul Goggins: The Home Secretary and I meet the Chair and Director General (Designate) of the Serious Organised Crime Agency regularly. I last met them on the 9 February 2006. The minutes of such meetings are not routinely made public.
Shrewsbury Prison
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners on average were held in Shrewsbury Prison in (a) 1995, (b) 1996, (c) 1999, (d) 2001 and (e) 2005. [51238]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The information requested, as recorded on the Prison Service IT system, is provided in the following table.
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| Total occupied | |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 282 |
| 1996 | 304 |
| 1999 | 314 |
| 2001 | 326 |
| 2005 | 285 |
(40) annual average of monthly totals as at last day of the month
Somalia
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Somalian citizens were returned to Somalia having failed to acquire asylum status in the UK in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005. [52088]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office holds information on the number of failed asylum seekers removed, the information on the destination of asylum removals has been recorded since the start of 2004, information prior to this is unavailable.
The latest published information on removal of asylum seekers covers the third quarter of 2005, information that covers the final quarter of 2005 will be published at the end of February.
In 2004 there were 25 failed asylum seekers (principal applicants) returned to Somalia who were nationals of Somalia. From January to September 2005 there were 10 such removals. These figures include people departing 'Voluntarily' after enforcement action has been initiated against them and people leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five and are provisional.
Information on the number of asylum removals is published quarterly and annually in the regular asylum statistics, copies of which are available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Special Constables
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what average number of hours per week was worked by a special constable in (a) Leicester and (b) England and Wales in each year since the beginning of the scheme; [50433]
(2) what funding his Department has allocated to the special constables scheme in each year it has been running in (a) Leicester and (b) England and Wales; [50435]
(3) what training is provided for special constables; [50434]
(4) how many special constables have been recruited in (a) Leicester and (b) England and Wales since the beginning of the scheme. [50432]
Hazel Blears:
Home Office specific grants to forces under the Special Constabulary Capacity Building Scheme began in January 2004. In the year 1 April
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2004–31 March 2005, 58 special constables were recruited by Leicestershire Constabulary, with 3,636 special constables recruited in England and Wales.
Grant payments to forces during the first two years of the scheme are shown in the table. Applications for year three grant are currently being considered.
| 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|
| Leicestershire | 41,742 | 51,037 |
| All forces in England and Wales | 2,044,054 | 2,473,009 |
Special constables are volunteers and the hours individual specials work varies. Available information on the average number of special constable hours worked per week are as follows:
| 2003–04 | 2004–05 | |
|---|---|---|
| Leicestershire | 354 | 479 |
| 24 forces providing data | 16,606 | 18,281 |
(Forces not providing data are Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Cleveland, Derbyshire, Durham, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Lancashire, Merseyside, Metropolitan police, North Wales, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands.)
Forces are responsible for ensuring that their special constables receive training necessary to enable them to undertake their duties. A specials learning and development programme was introduced last year to provide a professional and consistent approach to training, allowing specials to develop in the workplace alongside their regular colleagues.
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