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18 Apr 2006 : Column 451W—continued
Prison
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to undertake further research into the proportion of the prison population that have (a) learning disabilities, (b) mental health problems and (c) learning disabilities and mental health problems; and if he will make a statement. [62241]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
The Home Office began a four-year longitudinal study of 4,000 prisoners, Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction, in late 2005. The Department of Health, Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department for Education and Skills are also stakeholders. The aims of the study are to assess prisoners' problems and needs on reception, examine how these are addressed during and after custody, and
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to measure the association between prisoners' participation in interventions and outcomes, including re-offending. The study involves interviews with a large and representative sample of prisoners at three stages: on reception to custody, prior to release and finally back in the community. The initial stage, on first reception into custody, will measure the proportion of this group with mental disorder. Prisoners will also be asked if they believe themselves to have a learning disability.
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2006, Official Report, column 2120W, what assessment he has made of the extent to which attempts have been made by prisoners to indoctrinate other prisoners with fundamentalist religious views. [59552]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 17 March 2006]: The extent to which any person influences another is very difficult to measure. Indoctrination is a very subtle process and would not in itself constitute a measurable incident. If one prisoner were to be seen as exerting a disproportionate power over another, this would classify as a bullying incident. Incidents of bullying are monitored at a local level as part of each prison's violence reduction strategy, but no central data is held. All prisons have multi-faith chaplaincy teams to meet the faith needs of prisoners, and to provide religious education and awareness, and pastoral support.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of returning a prisoner who has successfully completed his course at HM Prison Grendon into the general prison population on his continued mental health and well being; [55528]
(2) what steps are being taken by his Department to increase support for prisoners who have successfully completed courses at HM Prison Grendon and who have been returned to the general prison population. [55597]
Fiona Mactaggart:
We are starting work to better address the requirements of prisoners with mental health needs who have participated in therapeutic regimes like those at HMP Grendon. We are taking these steps in recognition that the beneficial effects of such regimes need to be maintained, and be part of a
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care pathway for individual prisoners that includes appropriate care on return to the mainstream regime and upon release into the community.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates at each prison were resuscitated by staff after serious self-harm incidents in each of the last five years. [59320]
Fiona Mactaggart: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 March 2006, Official Report, column 122W.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the (a) accessibility to and (b) take-up by prisoners of higher education. [62126]
Fiona Mactaggart: Higher education is available, in principle, to each offender detained in custody, although the process by which courses of study are approved take account of public protection issues in barring some offenders from some courses. No central assessment has been made of the take up of higher education opportunities by offenders in custody.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the (a) demand and (b) supply of (i) further and (ii) higher education in each prison; what mechanisms exist to ensure that supply equals demand; and what action he is taking to increase levels of education provision in prison establishments. [62131]
Fiona Mactaggart: I have appointed a head of learning and skills within each prison. Their role includes the assessment of education supply and demand within each prison, and local management of the education provider's contract. Heads of learning and skills report direct to the governor and are members of the prison's senior management team.
New offender learning and skills delivery arrangements, set out in the Green Paper Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment" (December 2005). As the new Learning and Skills Council planning and funding responsibilities are implemented, the strategic role of the head of learning and skills in assessing education supply and demand across the entire prison regime becomes a key function. The new arrangements will also increase the supply of education provision by reducing the incidence of wasteful repeat assessment as offenders move around the criminal justice system.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2006, Official Report, column 1135W, on prisons, what plans he has to increase enrolment in education activities at each prison. [62137]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The Green Paper Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment" set out the Government's plans for delivering a better quality and increasingly effective learning and skills service for offenders. Closely allied to the introduction of end-to-end offender management, we expect to increase enrolment in education activities in prisons through better assessment and planning, through a wider curriculum choice and through progressive development of the offender learning and correctional services work force.
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Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the provision of education at HM Prison Bullingdon. [62145]
Fiona Mactaggart: Education at HMP Bullingdon is provided by Milton Keynes College through a contract it holds with the Prison Service. Vocational training is provided by Prison Service staff. The Learning and Skills Council will take responsibility for planning and funding learning and skills at HMP Bullingdon from 31 July 2006 and is currently engaged in a procurement process to appoint a provider to deliver both elements of the current service at the establishment.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are (a) designated and (b) deployed at (i) each prison and (ii) Prison Service Headquarters for the operation of the OASys computer system. [62150]
Fiona Mactaggart: Information about OASys staff in prison establishments is not held centrally and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. However, all prison establishments have an OASys manager, an OASys clerk and OASys assessors and supervisors sufficient to meet operational needs.
22 staff, expressed as full time equivalents, work in Prison Service Headquarters and the Headquarters of the National Offender Management Service to support OASys in prisons.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have (a) studied and (b) graduated with (i) a Bachelor's degree, (ii) a Master's degree and (iii) a Doctorate in each prison establishment in each year since 1997; what plans he has to increase the higher education qualifications achieved in prisons; what timetable he envisages for the planned increases in higher education delivered in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [62152]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested on the number of prisoners who have studied for, and graduated with, Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, and Doctorates, by establishment, is not collected centrally and could be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Spending on higher education in prisons is again planned to exceed £1 million in 2006–07. We expect that budget to fund 350 Access Courses and 450 First Modules for new starters, in addition to funding the tutorial costs of those students already engaged in courses of higher study.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend access to offending behaviour programmes for those in custody. [62755]
Fiona Mactaggart: The national offender manager and the ten regional offender managers commission services for offenders in custody and the community. Decisions about extending offending behaviour programmes for offenders in custody will be made by the commissioners on the basis of evidence of need, and the effectiveness of programmes.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of vulnerable inmates are sex offenders. [62757]
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Fiona Mactaggart: All sex offenders could be considered to be vulnerable in certain settings. However, not all sex offenders are located in vulnerable prisoner units (VPUs). A large proportion are managed successfully and safely on normal location, for example in prisons holding exclusively sex offenders. Information on the proportion of prisoners in VPUs who are sex offenders is not held centrally and could be obtained only by examining the records of every prisoner held in a VPU. This would incur disproportionate cost.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons which house vulnerable inmates. [62758]
Fiona Mactaggart: Many prisoners could be considered vulnerable at times during their period in custody, and may be managed in a variety of ways including temporary segregation for their own protection or transfer to another establishment. The list of prisons with designated vulnerable prisoner units is as follows.
Prisons in England and Wales with designated vulnerable prisoner units
Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight area
1 Denotes prison holding predominantly prisoners participating in Sex Offender Treatment Programmes.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of segregation unit facilities for mentally ill inmates at each prison. [62767]
Fiona Mactaggart: Decisions on the circumstances under which prisoners may be placed within segregation units is for governing governors locally, mindful of the provisions in Prison Service Order 1700 on Segregation; Prison Service Order 2000, The Adjudications Manual, and Prison Service Order 2700 on Suicide and Self Harm.
A national Steering Group has recently been formed in partnership with Prison Health and Safer Custody Group, from the Health and Offender Partnerships unit within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and the Prison Service Security Group. Its purpose is to ensure that people being managed in segregated settings have access to a similar range of high quality health and mental health services as those living in the community receive.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the costs of transporting inmates from HMP Belmarsh to (a) Woolwich Crown Court and (b) the Central Criminal Court; and if he will make a statement. [62784]
Fiona Mactaggart: Under the contract for escorting non-category A prisoners the cost of escorts from HMP Belmarsh to both Woolwich Crown Court and the Central Criminal Court is £29.72 per journey. These costs may be subject to penalties imposed for failing to meet the terms of the contract.
Separate arrangements exist for category A prisoners who are moved by the Prison Service. The total cost of category A prisoner escorts are not recorded. However,
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the cost in staff time of escorting category A prisoners from HMP Belmarsh to the Central Criminal Court is on average approximately £989 per prisoner per day for a standard risk category A prisoner and £1,385 per prisoner per day for a high risk category A prisoner.
The cost in staff time of escorting prisoners from Belmarsh to Woolwich Crown Court is on average approximately £445 per prisoner per day for a standard risk category A prisoner and £742 per prisoner for a high risk category A prisoner.
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