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6 Jun 2006 : Column 611W—continued

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve the (a) management of and (b) operational effectiveness of Leyhill Open Prison in relation to the number of prisoner absconds; and if he will make a statement. [73428]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Governor and his team have reduced absconds significantly to 66 in 2005-06 compared with 102 in 2004-05.

Leyhill has improved allocation checks of incoming prisoners, risk assessments are continuously carried out and any indication of an increase in risk of abscond is managed vigorously resulting in the return of prisoners to closed conditions if necessary. The local Police Liaison Officer is now a full time post to ensure that police intelligence is appropriately used.

Drug misuse is a significant contributing factor to the number of absconds and the supply of drugs into the prison has been reduced resulting in a 75 per cent. reduction in positive drug tests over the past 6 months. CCTV cameras have been installed and some fire doors alarmed. Intelligence is managed proactively and PIN phones identify prisoners with an increased risk of absconding.

Probation Service

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the ratio of offenders to probation officers has been in each of the last five years, broken down by probation service area. [74739]

6 Jun 2006 : Column 612W

Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested on the ratio of offenders to probation officers from 2000 to 2004, broken down by probation service area, is provided in the following tables.

6 Jun 2006 : Column 613W

Average court order caseload per officer, at 31 December 2000
Probation area( 1)	Court order caseload per officer( 2)
Avon	17.6
Bedfordshire	14.2
Berkshire	17.8
Cambridgeshire	13.3
Cheshire	18.3
Cornwall	14.2
Cumbria	19.8
Derbyshire	23
Devon	19.2
Dorset	20.3
Durham	21.5
Essex	19.4
Gloucestershire	16.8
Hampshire	20.3
Hereford and Worcester	14.7
Hertfordshire	18.5
Humberside	17.3
Kent	15.7
Lancashire	17.1
Leicestershire	15.8
Lincolnshire	15.1
Greater Manchester	27.2
Merseyside	17.6
Norfolk	14.4
Northamptonshire	13.5
Northumbria	16.1
Nottinghamshire	19.5
Oxford and Buckingham	15.2
Shropshire	12.5
Somerset	14.8
Staffordshire	15.8
Suffolk	12.8
Surrey	18
East Sussex	13.5
West Sussex	13.7
Teesside	30.5
Warwickshire	17.2
West Midlands	18.9
Wiltshire	17.3
North Yorkshire	16.5
South Yorkshire	17.2
West Yorkshire	15.7
Inner London	15.8
NE London	20.4
SE London	11
SW London	11.4
Middlesex	16.3
Dyfed	24.8
Gwent	17.7
North Wales	20.1
Powys	19
South Glamorgan	15.7
Mid Glamorgan	21
West Glamorgan	14.1
(1) A number of probation areas merged in April 2001. Avon merged with Somerset to become Avon and Somerset; Berkshire and Ox and Bucks became Thames Valley; Cornwall and Devon areas became Devon and Cornwall; Hereford and Worcester and Shropshire became West Mercia; East and West Sussex became Sussex; Dyfed and Powys became Dyfed-Powys; Mid, West and South Glamorgans became South Wales; and Inner, SE, NE, SW London areas and Middlesex became London. (2 )Court orders only are included in offender caseload, not those supervised on licence following release from prison.

6 Jun 2006 : Column 614W

Average court order caseload per officer, at 31 December(( 1, 2) )
Probation area	2001	2002	2003	2004
Avon and Somerset	15.8	7.6	6.3	6.8
Bedfordshire	17.8	12.6	13.6	17.3
Cambridgeshire	17.8	9.6	8.5	9.7
Cheshire	15.9	8.3	7.4	8.4
Cumbria	21.3	14.4	12.6	13.2
Derbyshire	20.6	12.8	10.9	11.2
Devon and Cornwall	19.1	11.0	8.9	8.3
Dorset	24.1	9.5	7.1	7.3
Durham	25.1	9.2	8.2	7.5
Essex	23.6	10.8	9.5	10.4
Gloucestershire	15.5	12.3	10.1	10.1
Greater Manchester	23.7	11.7	10.4	11.5
Hampshire	21.2	13.6	11.1	11.9
Hertfordshire	21.4	14.4	12.4	14.3
Humberside	14.3	9.3	8.0	7.0
Kent	21.9	10.5	8.8	9.2
Lancashire	16.4	10.8	9.2	9.3
Leicestershire	15.9	9.5	8.5	6.8
Lincolnshire	16.2	8.8	9.2	9.6
Merseyside	20.1	12.5	12.2	12.4
Norfolk	15.6	11.6	9.3	9.2
Northamptonshire	21.4	9.8	9.4	9.6
Northumbria	18	9.7	9.1	8.5
North Yorkshire	14.7	10.6	10.0	9.5
Nottinghamshire	20.9	11.9	11.5	10.3
South Yorkshire	19.1	10.3	9.1	8.6
Staffordshire	17.1	11.1	10.4	9.9
Suffolk	13.6	7.5	7.2	7.4
Surrey	19.7	8.0	7.4	6.8
Sussex	16.2	12.7	11.6	10.7
Teesside	44.8	11.6	10.8	10.8
Thames Valley	19	11.2	9.6	9.0
Warwickshire	16.2	12.5	11.1	11.5
West Mercia	16.3	10.1	8.7	8.4
West Midlands	22.8	17.3	15.7	15.0
West Yorkshire	15.5	10.4	9.4	9.9
Wiltshire	21.7	17.8	16.2	12.0
Dyfed-Powys	18.2	12.8	11.2	10.5
Gwent	18.9	14.6	12.0	12.6
North Wales	22.2	11.3	9.6	9.5
South Wales	16.8	14.1	12.8	11.4
London	17.6	12.9	11.0	13.0
(1 )The methodology for producing average caseload per officer figures was revised for 2002 data onwards. The court order figures in 2000 and 2001 include Community Rehabilitation Orders, Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Orders, Suspended Sentence Orders and Money Payment Supervision Orders. 2002 onwards additionally includes Community Punishment Orders and Drug Treatment and Testing Orders. The officer figures for 2000 and 2001 include whole-time equivalent of maingrade probation officers and senior practitioners, excluding temporary and trainee, on fieldwork duties. 2002 onwards additionally includes senior probation officers on fieldwork duties, and all probation services’ officers. The effect of the revised method is to produce much lower average caseload figures, due to the expanded number of staffing grades included in the calculation. (2) Court orders only are included in offender caseload, not those supervised on licence following release from prison.

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