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16 Mar 2006 : Column 2468W—continued
Drug Treatment Programmes
Mr. Bellingham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of drug treatment
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orders in England and Wales were successfully completed in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [58216]
Fiona Mactaggart: Completion rates for drug treatment and testing orders, and since April 2005 the drug rehabilitation requirement of the community order, have only been measured by the national probation directorate since 2004–05. Completion rates are continuing to rise from 28 per cent. in 2003, as reported in the Public Accounts Committee DTTO report, to 36 per cent. in 2004–05 (exceeding the inaugural 35 per cent. completion target) and 39 per cent. so far this year. We know from research that offenders who complete the order have significantly lower reconviction rates (53 per cent.) than those that don't (91 per cent.).
Home Detention Curfews
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are used to monitor offenders on home detention curfew schemes operated by Group 4 Securicor. [58552]
Fiona Mactaggart: Offenders on Home Detention Curfew are continuously monitored during their curfew period, which must be for a minimum of nine hours a day. Staff from Group four Securicor will visit the offender at the curfew address on the day of release from prison to install the monitoring equipment. This uses radio frequency transmissions to determine whether the offender is present at the curfew address during the curfew period. Absences during curfew, or damage to the equipment, register automatically at the monitoring centre operated by Group four Securicor, who will respond with a telephone call and a visit if necessary. Once the threshold for breaching the offender is reached, Group four Securicor will report the breach to the Home Office release and recall section for further action.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who decides which offenders are placed on the home detention scheme operated by private security companies. [58553]
Fiona Mactaggart: Governors, and controllers of contracted prisons, are responsible for the decision whether to grant the early release of prisoners under the Home Detention Curfew scheme subject to their meeting the eligibility criteria set out in statute and in Home Office guidance.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what processes are in place to inform prison governors of reasons why home detention curfews are breached; and if he will make a statement. [58207]
Fiona Mactaggart:
When an offender is recalled to prison for breaching the conditions of HDC licence, the release and recall section in the Home Office issues a revocation order which is sent to the area command unit of the police force and also to the prison that released the offender. This is accompanied by an information sheet that gives reasons for the recall.
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Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he is taking to improve the Prison Service's management of home detention curfew preparations; and if he will make a statement; [58237]
(2) what plans he has to review the processes involved in the management of the home detention curfew schemes; and if he will make a statement. [58242]
Fiona Mactaggart: The home detention curfew scheme is kept under continuous review to ensure that it is operated as efficiently as possible by staff in prisons (both public and private) and in the National Offender Management Service headquarters. Public protection is paramount and any changes to the scheme are only made after full consideration of the implications for public safety.
Police
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed by the Thames Valley police authority in each of the last 10 years; and how many of these were deployed to work in Oxford City. [58275]
Hazel Blears: The available information is provided in the table. Data is collected by Basic Command Unit (BCU) and the Oxford BCU is fully coterminous with Oxford City boundaries. BCU data is only available from 2003.
(45) FTE includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Data only available from 2003
(46) FTE excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in (a) West Lancashire constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England and Wales in each year since 1997. [58473]
Hazel Blears: The available information is provided in the table. Information for West Lancashire is only available from 2003.
(47) FTE includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Data only available from 2003.
(48) FTE excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave
(49) Figures include those on Secondment to NCIS, NCS and Central Services. FTE excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
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Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is given to police officers in England and Wales on (a) Special Measures contained in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, (b) identification of vulnerable victims of crime and (c) interview and communication methods for vulnerable victims to enable them to comply with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime which comes into force in April. [55386]
Hazel Blears [holding answer 2 March 2006]: Training of police officers is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers of Police. All police officers were made aware of the introduction in 2002 of special measures in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. To support the police, the Home Office issued training materials (Recognising Capability), guidance on identification (Vulnerable Witnesses: a Police Service Guide) and guidance on video-recording interviews with vulnerable or intimidated witnesses (Achieving Best Evidence).
A requirement for the police to undertake a witness' needs assessment has been introduced by the 'No Witness No Justice' project, which includes consideration of vulnerability and intimidation (this requirement is also now in the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime). Training materials were issued to all forces by Centrex at the end of 2004.
In February, in support of the Victim's Code, the Home Office issued to all forces in England and Wales an e-learning package for frontline police officers, which includes a training module on special measures.
Prison Visitors
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has given to prisons in England and Wales regarding the fingerprinting of visitors. [58656]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 14 March 2006]: The authority for prisons to request and take personal biometric measurements is contained within Prison Rule 71 amended in 2005. It states:
any person or vehicle entering or leaving a prison may be stopped, examined and searched and in addition any such person may be photographed, fingerprinted or required to submit to other physical measurement".
Any measurement taken electronically has to be held, stored, and then deleted in accordance with Prison Service Orders 9010 Information Technology Security and 9020 Data Protection Act which are available at all prison establishments.
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36 prisons in England and Wales have introduced electronic biometric entry systems for visitors. The prisons are: Albany, Altcourse, Ashfield, Belmarsh, Bedford, Blakenhurst, Bronzefield, Camphill, Coldingley, Doncaster, Dovegate, Forest Bank, Frankland, Full Sutton, Garth, Glen Parva, Holme House, Leeds, Leicester, Lewes, Lincoln, Lindholme, Liverpool, Long Lartin, Lowdham Grange, Manchester, Moorland, Nottingham, Parkhurst, Peterborough, Risley, Wakefield, Wellingborough, Whitemoor, Woodhill, and Wormwood Scrubs.
The majority of these systems require the visitor to give both a photographic facial image and an electronic fingerprint biometric which are used confirm the visitors identification every time the visitor enters or leaves the prison.
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