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23 May 2006 : Column 1705W—continued
(3) how many convicted burglars released on parole in each of the last 15 years have subsequently broken the terms of their release. [53132]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the number of convicted rapists and convicted burglars released on parole in each of the last six years who have subsequently been recalled is provided in the following table. This information is as recorded on the Prison Service IT system. Information prior to 1999-2000 is only available at disproportionate cost.
Information on the number of murderers released on life licence who have subsequently been recalled is available only at disproportionate cost. Table 10.9 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004 gives the number of recalls from life licence (for any offence) between 1999 and 2004.
| Number of recalls of determinate sentenced prisoners of four years or more released on parole—rape and burglary | ||
| Rape | Burglary | |
Passports
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many passport applications were refused on the grounds of the inability of the applicant to produce his or her father's marriage certificate in each of the last three years for which figures are available; [72268]
(2) when he plans to review the documentation requirements for the issue of new 10-year passports. [72269]
Joan Ryan: The documentation required from passport applicants is that which establishes the person's claim to British nationality. For persons born in the UK since the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force on 1 January 1983, this depends on a parent having been a British citizen or settled in the UK at the time of the birth. The Act provides that for the purposes of determining British nationality, the relationship of father and child shall be taken to exist only between a man and any legitimate child born to him. Therefore a passport applicant who wishes to establish that he is a British citizen because his or her father was a British citizen when the applicant was born needs to provide his or her father's marriage certificate. To establish the number of applications which were unsuccessful because this certificate could not be provided would require a search of individual case records and could not be done without disproportionate expense.
This provision of the 1981 Act is to be amended by Section nine of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 when that provision is brought into force but it will not apply retrospectively. This will extend the definition of father for the purposes of the 1981 Act to include any person who satisfies prescribed requirements as to proof of paternity. The requirements for passport applications will be reviewed when this change in the law on nationality comes into effect.
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British passports have been issued in each of the last five years. [72382]
Joan Ryan: The number of British passports issued for each of the last five years is as follows:
| Financial Year | Issued by IPS | Issued by FCO | Total |
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Passports were reported (a) lost and (b) stolen in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years. [73202]
Joan Ryan: It is not possible for the UK Passport Service to identify exactly how many passports were reportedly lost or stolen in Northern Ireland. However, the Belfast passport office, which serves the Northern Ireland area, processed the following reports of (a) loss and (b) theft of a passport for the calendar years of 2004, 2005 and 2006 to date.
| Belfast | ||
| Lost | Stolen | |
The total figures across the UK for the last three years are as follows:
| Lost | Stolen | Other | Total | |
| (1) Combined total (2) To date |
People Trafficking
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken by his Department to tackle organised criminal gangs engaged in trafficking. [70133]
Mr. Coaker: The Government set up the Serious Organised Crime Agency with effect from 1 April 2006 to prevent and detect serious organised crime, and to reduce the harm it causes. Among its top priorities are tackling class A drugs trafficking and organised immigration crime. Also with effect from 1 April 2006 we introduced new powers to:
compel individuals to produce documents and provide explanations;
offer sentence reductions or immunity from prosecution to offenders who co-operate against their criminal colleagues.
We continue to tackle trafficking through Reflex, a multi-agency task force aimed at tackling organised immigration crime. In February, a Reflex funded multi-agency initiative, Operation Pentameter, was launched to tackle the trafficking of human beings for sexual exploitation. All UK police forces and the Immigration Service have been involved in this initiative which has already made a real impact and to date has rescued 75 women from traffickers and made 180 arrests.
Police Community Support Officers
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers have been recruited in (a) Cheshire and (b) Warrington in each year since the scheme was introduced. [66948]
Mr. McNulty: Information relating to the number of full-time equivalent police community support officers (PCSOs) in each police force area have been collected by RDS since 2003 and is provided in the table.
Data on PCSOs within Basic Command Units (BCU) is only collected annually. As at 30 June 2005, the Northern Area of Cheshire constabulary, which includes Warrington, had 46 PCSOs.
Deployment of PCSOs within Cheshire Division is an operational matter for the Divisional Commander.
| Police community support officer strength in Cheshire, (2003-05) | |
| Cheshire( 1) | |
| (1) The figures in this table are based on full-time equivalent figures including staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave, and have been rounded to the nearest whole number. |
Police Stations/Vehicles
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for constructing new police stations in Greater London. [67081]
Mr. McNulty: Decisions whether or not to construct new police buildings in London are for the City of London as police authority for the City and for the Metropolitan Police Authority for Greater London.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police vehicles were stationed in (a) Romford, (b) Havering and (c) Greater London in each of the last eight years, broken down by vehicle type. [67097]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proportion of entrants to each prison had (a) drug and (b) mental health problems in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [58224]
(2) what assessment he has made of the extent of (a) drug and (b) mental health problems in each prison; and if he will make a statement. [58225]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The proportion of entrants to each prison with (a) drug and (b) mental health problems is not collated. Instead NOMS relies on epidemiological surveys which show that:
(a) around 55 per cent. of those received into prison report a serious drug problem, with 80 per cent. reporting some misuse prior to prison;
(b) 90 per cent. of prisoners have a least one mental health disorder (ONS survey of mental ill health in the prison population in England and Wales 1997).
The extent of (a) drug and (b) mental health problems is not collected in each prison but is a direct reflection of those entering prison.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of prison education schemes; and if he will make a statement; [44301]
(2) what plans he has to extend the range of vocational training and provision in prisons; and if he will make a statement; [44340]
(3) if he will review the methods for initial assessment of prisoners’ educational needs to take account of how progression is encouraged, supported and realised; and if he will make a statement; [44341]
(4) what plans he has to change the formal curriculum for prisoner education; and if he will make a statement; [44348]
(5) what steps he is taking to ensure integrated management of learning in prisons; and if he will make a statement; [44366]
(6) what action (a) his Department and (b) the Prison Service is taking to promote learning in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [44361]
Mr. Sutcliffe: On 15 December 2005, my Department, together with the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions, published the Green Paper “Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment”. The document sets out a strategy for concerted action to improve offenders’ skills and job prospects, including through better quality education and training.
The Green Paper makes clear that delivery of learning and skills for all offenders is changing, with the Learning and Skills Council taking responsibility for its planning and funding. This new role introduces a number of substantial changes, including an early, significant focus on assessing the offender learner’s needs, and recording them on an Individual Learning Plan that will follow the offender as they progress through the criminal justice system. The Individual Learning Plan will encourage, support and record progress.
A new, broader curriculum for offender learners supports the new delivery arrangements, setting out clear quality requirements and a strong focus on learning needs that will help more offenders into suitable and sustained jobs by meeting the needs of employers. A juvenile version of the curriculum acknowledges the specific needs of younger learners.
A Head of Learning and Skills—who is a member of the establishment’s senior management team—oversees delivery of the learning and skills arrangements in each prison. Heads of Learning and Skills work closely with the Learning and Skills Council and with the Regional Offender Manager.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the level of contraband in each prison; and if he will make a statement; [44368]
(2) what quantities of (a) mobile phones, (b) drugs and (c) alcohol have been found in each prison in each month over the last year; and if he will make a statement. [44369]
Mr. Sutcliffe: An item of contraband is any item or article that a prison governor identifies or considers to pose a risk to security or the good order of the prison. Contraband does not form a specific group on the Incident Reporting System (IRS). In the last two months alone, 394 miscellaneous incidents were recorded on
IRS a small proportion of these incidents relate to contraband, analysing this would be at a disproportionate cost.
Information on the level of restricted items in each prison is not collated centrally. However, the number of drug incidents, finds of mobile phones (and associated equipment) and alcohol (including “home brewed alcohol”) are detailed in tables placed in the Libraries of the House.
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