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17 May 2006 : Column 1045W—continued
Mr. Sutcliffe: Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as amended, the police may take and retain DNA samples from persons who have been arrested for a recordable offence and detained in a
police station. The decision whether or not to retain samples taken in these circumstances is an operational one for the police force concerned although it would be the norm to do so. Once taken, these samples may only be used for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of an offence, the conduct of a prosecution or for the purposes of identifying a deceased person.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many DNA samples the police collected on a voluntary basis in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [71103]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The number of DNA samples provided by volunteers to the police for elimination purposes is not held centrally by the Home Office and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
As at the end of April 2006, the number of persons who have voluntarily given a DNA sample to the police and who have also consented to their DNA profile being loaded onto the National DNA database was 16,173.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances the police retain DNA samples of people who have been assisting a victim of crime. [71110]
Mr. Sutcliffe: DNA samples taken from a volunteer as part of the investigation of an offence are destroyed once they have fulfilled the purpose for which they were taken unless the volunteer gives written permission for them to be retained on the National DNA database.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the new headquarters of Gloucestershire constabulary at Quedgeley in its function as a major incident facility. [64737]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 24 April 2006]: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary are planning to review the operation of the facility in due course.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will list the consultants employed by (a) each police authority and (b) each police force in England and Wales to advise on police force amalgamations; and what the cost was in each case. [47314]
Mr. Byrne: This information is not held centrally.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will list the consultants employed by his Department to advise on police force amalgamations; and what the cost was in each case. [47315]
Mr. Byrne: Consultants from a number of organisations have been employed to assist in the process of assessing the financial case for change, including:
Office for Government Commerce
Deloitte
Avail (Tribal Vale)
Ernst and Young
KPMG
Accenture
IBM
Mott MacDonald
Methods
Walker-Cox
Mentis
To date this consultancy support has cost £656,864.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the consultants employed by non-governmental organisations funded by his Department to advise on police force amalgamations; and what the cost was in each case. [47316]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 31 January 2006]: This information is not held centrally.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to delay decisions on the merging of police forces to enable more extensive local consultation on the implications of such changes to take place. [30418]
Mr. Byrne: The House will be kept up to date about the detailed plans for all areas as options for each are refined. In the meantime, the Home Secretary expects police authorities to continue to engage with their communities on this issue.
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration has been given to the location of police headquarters in the event of the Norfolk Constabulary being merged with other forces to create a strategic force in the Eastern region. [38863]
Mr. Byrne: This will be an issue for the chief officer and police authority of any new strategic force.
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the letter of 5 April from the Minister of State to Sir Ronnie Flanagan commissioning the O’Connor report, for what reasons the intention of the Government was that this stage of the review of policing structure be low key in terms of publicity. [27095]
Mr. Byrne: The White Paper “Building Communities, Beating Crime”, published in November 2004, stated clearly (at paragraph 5.62-5.64) that the former Home Secretary (Charles Clarke) had commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to examine the issue of force structures in England and Wales and that HMIC had been asked to report its initial findings by the end of January 2005. The further work commissioned from HMIC in my letter of 5 April 2005 to Sir Ronnie Flanagan was the next stage in the process mapped out in the White Paper and, as such, did not call for a further announcement at that stage.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the merits of 24-hour help desks in police stations. [65147]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office has not commissioned or evaluated any research on the merits of 24-hour help desks in police stations.
The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the chief officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs. The ownership of police stations is vested in the local police authority, not the Home Office. Their use is a matter for local decisions.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to police forces on the provision of 24-hour help desks at police stations. [65189]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 24 April 2006]: The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the chief officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs. The ownership of police stations is vested in the local police authority, not the Home Office. Their use is a matter for local decision.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police precepts will be harmonised throughout the local authority areas covered by the new regional police force in Yorkshire and the Humber; and if he will make a statement. [67509]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 2 May 2006]: Yes. Work is taking place on transitional arrangements to allow for convergence of precepts over several years.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how police force mergers in Wales will be funded. [66079]
Mr. Byrne: We are committed to paying 100 per cent. of reasonable set-up, revenue and capital costs of restructuring, net of reasonable savings.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether existing North Yorkshire police force and police authority (a) revenue and (b) capital balances will be ring-fenced for use exclusively within the North Yorkshire and York local authority areas. [67611]
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether existing plans for police capital expenditure within North Yorkshire and York will be honoured by the new Yorkshire and Humberside regional police authority. [67512]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 2 May 2006]: Budget setting and management for any reorganised police area will be a matter for the new strategic police authority and the chief officer, who will be responsible for prioritising local needs.
Prisons
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much compensation has been paid to prisoners in each of the last eight years; and what the reason was in each case. [71203]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table covers the financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06 as data prior to this is unreliable. The data relates to public sector
establishments only as litigation in private sector prisons is a matter for the individual contractor.
| The Amount of Compensation Paid to Prisoners by the Public Sector Prison Service in England and Wales in 2004-05 and 2005-06 | ||||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |||
| £ | ||||
| Type of Prisoner Claim | Awards made by Courts | Settlements out of Court | Awards made by Courts | Settlements out of Court |
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on education provision in prisons of the level of transfers of inmates between establishments. [62124]
Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
The throughput of prisoners in establishments (i.e. numbers of prisoners received and discharged on a daily basis) has increased significantly. It is to be expected that when prisons face operational pressures there may be an impact on a range of activities, including education and training, particularly in hard- pressed local prisons. However, since April 2002, over 150,000 basic skills qualifications have been achieved by learners in prison.
The Home Office and DfES have established the Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) project which will introduce a new service of education and skills for offenders in both custody and the community. This, combined with plans set out in the “Reducing Re-offending through Skills and Employment” Green Paper launched in December 2005, will enable more offenders in custody and those serving their sentences in the community to complete their education and training successfully.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of incentive and earned privileges programmes on the prison estate. [62761]
Mr. Sutcliffe: All prisons operate a local scheme of incentives and earned privileges based upon a national framework. National policy requires that all establishments review and evaluate their own schemes annually.
A central review of the scheme is currently being conducted which will result in a revised issue of the Incentive and Earned Privileges guidance.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many copies of the Prison Service annual report and accounts 2003-04 were distributed by his Department; if he will list those who were sent copies; at what cost; how many copies were printed; at what cost; who was awarded the contract to undertake the printing; how (a) hon. Members, (b) Members of the House of Lords and (c) members of the public may obtain a copy; at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [70872]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS) printed 3,000 copies of its annual report and accounts for the financial year 2003-04. Most of these were issued free of charge to Parliament, colleagues elsewhere in the Home Office and criminal justice system and senior managers within HMPS. HMPS provided 350 copies to the Stationery Office, the official publishers, who offered these for sale through their retail outlets at a cover price (fixed by TSO) of £23. The distribution list used by HMPS is shown in the following table.
The total cost of producing 3,000 copies of the annual report and accounts 2003-04 was approximately £26,000. The contract for design work was awarded to the Brightside Partnership and the contract for printing was awarded to Formara Printers. Distribution costs were mostly covered by HMPS’ internal mail and messenger services. Normal postage costs applied to copies distributed externally and would have amounted to no more than £80.
Copies of the document are held in the Library. Printed copies of the document may still be available from TSO outlets at a cost of £23. Alternatively, the document is viewable on the HMPS internet website (hmprisonservice.gov.uk).
| Annual report and accounts distribution list 2003-04 | |
| Recipient | Approximate number of copies |
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