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15 Mar 2006 : Column 2310W—continued
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of the police in investigating the finding of drugs within the prison estate on (a) inmates, (b) prison governors, (c) prison officers, (d) other prison staff and (e) visitors. [48424]
Fiona Mactaggart: Arrangements are in place setting when prisons are to contact the police to investigate serious crime including drug-related offences. Police must be contacted if visitors or staff are found to be in possession of classified drugs. In cases where governors believe that referral to the police is not appropriate, it must be considered and agreed by the Director General.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether future market testing of public prisons will be evaluated on (a) cost and (b) delivery against the existing performance of public sector prisons. [58505]
Fiona Mactaggart: No decisions have been made yet as to future market testing of public sector prisons.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2006, Official Report, column 1318W, on prisoners, what crimes prisoners have been convicted of who have Sky TV in their cells; and how many have been sentenced to life in prison. [58643]
Fiona Mactaggart: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Probation Service
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters of complaint he has received concerning the Probation Service in (a) England, (b) Essex and (c) Southend in each of the last five years. [46398]
Fiona Mactaggart
[holding answer 30 January 2006]: The table shows the number of complaints received by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales and Essex since 1 September 2001, the date on which the NPS complaints procedure and the Ombudsman's responsibility for investigating complaints about the probation service were implemented. We do not hold records relating specifically to Southend.
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The Number Eligible column shows the number of complaints out of all those received, that have been eligible for the Ombudsman to investigate. The Ombudsman's terms of reference (and the NPS complaint procedure) require that all three stages of the complaint procedure must have been completed before the Ombudsman may investigate a complaint. The three stages are: informal investigation by the local office, formal investigation by the Chief Officer or a senior officer nominated by the CO, and finally the appeal stage when a panel of three Board members hears the appeal. The Ombudsman may accept complaints that are referred to him within one month of the complainant receiving the result of the Appeal.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the future of the probation service from the United States corrections industry. [57188]
Fiona Mactaggart: We received a number of responses from the public and private sector to the consultation document Restructuring Probation to reduce re-offending", including one response from the American Probation and Parole Association. The Government's response will be published in due course.
In addition to the formal consultation process, there are a number of established forums through which the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) engages with NOMS service providers from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Through these contacts, some expressions of interest in providing future NOMS services have been received from providers of all sectors. However these indications have been informal and non-specific in nature. In due course a more formal process will be undertaken in accordance with European Union procurement rules.
Security Industry
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in ensuring all employees in the security industry receive new Security Industry Authority identity cards prior to the 20 March 2006 deadline; and if he will make a statement. [54916]
Paul Goggins:
From 20 March, contracted manned guards will be required to be licensed to carry out licensable activities. As at 8 March, 77,895 applications had been submitted by the manned guarding sector to the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and 37,333 had received a licence, with a further 12,244 waiting to go on the system. The SIA are currently issuing around 275 licences per day to manned guards.
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To address the backlog of licence applications caused by late applications, the SIA has doubled its processing capacity, and has worked closely with companies to reduce applicant error rates.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will suspend the operational date of 20 March for the new licensing regime for security staff to take account of the backlog of applications not yet processed. [55179]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 2 March 2006]: The date of implementation of 20 March 2006 was agreed after consultation with the industry and has been publicised for the last two years. I have made clear on a number of occasions that this date will not be moved.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will revise the Security Industry Authority licensing procedure to make it more user-friendly to applicants; and if he will make a statement. [55180]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 2 March 2006]: Operational responsibility for licensing the private security industry lies with the Security Industry Authority (SIA), and it is for them to decide whether and how they might amend the application procedure. The application form is required to capture, as a minimum, details of training, criminality, identity and mental health. The SIA have worked very closely with the industry to identify ways to reduce the rejection rate, and this has resulted in a drop in the rate from 50 per cent. in January 2006 to around 20 per cent. currently.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when shopping centres were notified by the Security Industry Authority that the new licensing regime applied to them; and if he will make a statement. [55181]
Paul Goggins [holding answer 2 March 2006]: The principal responsibility for communicating with buyers of security rests with their supplier, and this has been clear for two years. The Security Industry Authority has in place a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy aimed at suppliers, and supports them by communicating as much as possible with individual companies and the public sector. The aim is to ensure that all individuals and companies who provide security services (including under contract to shopping centres) are aware of their responsibilities and obligations under the Private Security Industry Act 2001.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place to enable previous residents of Somalia to satisfy the Security Industry Authority of their lack of a criminal record when applying for a licence to take account of the lack of Government functions in their country; and if he will make a statement. [55233]
Paul Goggins:
The Security Industry Authority have systems in place to assist applicants who are required to provide Overseas Criminality Checks (OCC's). This includes alternative arrangements for those individuals from areas where the administration has collapsed to a point where there are no credible official sources of information, where authorities choose not to disclose
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records or where there is a risk to the personal safety of an applicant if they make contact with their country of residence.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for door supervisor licences were submitted to the Security Industry Authority in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement. [52144]
Paul Goggins: Please see the following table:
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