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4 July 2006 : Column 1056W—continued
A comprehensive range of measures is in place to reduce the supply of drugs in prisons, including routes from prescribed medication.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are in place within the Prison Service to advise the (a) police and (b) probation service of unexpected changes in prisoners’ release dates brought about by restoration of remission boards; and if he will make a statement. [78103]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Governors are required to notify the police and probation service of the release dates for offenders. In the specific case of high risk offenders coming under Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements, Governors must ensure that all staff involved in sentence calculation, decisions to restore ‘added days’ and facilitating release arrangements for high risk prisoners are aware of the need to advise the police and probation service immediately of any unexpected changes to release dates or release arrangements. In all cases where a prisoner is released on licence, a copy of the licence is sent to the supervising probation service shortly before release, and is updated in the event of any change in release date.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the (a) availability and (b) use of (i) naltraczone, (ii) subutex and (iii) methadone in dealing with drug addiction within the prison estate. [78109]
Mr. Coaker: Naltrexone, subutex and methadone are used in the management of those who are addicted to opiates, and as such they can be used as treatment interventions in prison.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison officers have been reinstated after dismissal in each prison in each of the last three years. [78133]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information is not available centrally on the number of prison officers who have been reinstated following dismissal in each of the last three years. This information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on the overcrowding rate in female prison establishments of the re-roling of HM Prison (a) Bullwood Hall and (b) Brockhill; and if he will make a statement. [78144]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The impact of the allocation of women prisoners from Bullwood Hall and Brockhill in the women’s estate has been assessed and no overcrowding is expected as a result of this change of function. There is still spare capacity within the women’s estate.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what checks are carried out by the Prison Service into the nationality of prisoners entering prison establishments who claim to be British; and if he will make a statement. [78196]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Prison Service Order 0500 requires prison reception staff to interview all incoming prisoners and note their stated nationality in the prisoner’s core record. Any passport or other document providing evidence of the prisoner’s nationality will be examined but prison staff do not have the means to carry out any specific checks to confirm the nationality of prisoners claiming to be British. Prisons will report the details of all prisoners who state that they are foreign nationals or dual nationals, all those whose nationality is initially unclear and all those who refuse to give their nationality to the Immigration Service who will then establish their immigration status.
As the Home Secretary outlined in his ministerial statement of 23 May, officials are now looking at the possibility of placing a legal obligation on those suspected, charged or convicted to declare their nationality.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times officials of his Department have met officials at HMP Peterborough since 1 January to discuss prisoner releases from HMP Peterborough; and if he will make a statement. [78919]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Home Office controller for HMP Peterborough is the key official who meets with the prison's director to discuss operational matters, including the release of prisoners. Formal meetings take place monthly and in addition there are informal weekly meetings. Since January 2006 the controller has discussed with the director cases involving the release of eight individual prisoners, including five meetings between April and June concerning the release of foreign national prisoners.
It is a requirement that release licences for prisoners are signed by the Home Office controller in his or her capacity as a Crown servant. As a consequence of this the contractor's custody management team is in regular contact with the controller's team, who make the necessary checks prior to release taking place.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners were detained at HMP Peterborough as at (a) 31 March 2005 and (b) 31 May 2006; and if he will make a statement; [79423]
(2) how many prisoners were transferred to HMP Peterborough in the six months to 31 May; from which institutions; how many new prisoners were admitted to HMP Peterborough in the same period; and if he will make a statement; [79424]
(3) how many (a) male and (b) female category A prisoners are held at HMP Peterborough; and if he will make a statement. [79467]
Mr. Sutcliffe
[holding answer 22 June 2006]: There are no category A prisoners held at HMP Peterborough. From information held on the prison IT system, there were 18 prisoners held in HMP Peterborough on 31 March 2005 (the establishment opened in spring 2005) and 759 held on 30 April 2006, the most recent date for which information has been published; and between 1 October 2005 and 31 March 2006 there were 1,208 first receptions into HMP Peterborough.
Comprehensive information on transfers between prisons is not collected routinely and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the re-offending rate is for prisoners who have absconded from HMP Sudbury in the last five years for which figures are available. [79994]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 June 2006]: Information on re-offending is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role the (a) Prison Service and (b) police have regarding the capture of absconded prisoners; and what measures are in place to ensure there is liaison between them. [79995]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 June 2006]: Prisons immediately inform the police in the event of an abscond and provide them with all relevant details of the prisoner. The police are responsible for recapturing prisoners unlawfully at large.
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have absconded from HMP Sudbury while on the resettlement programme. [79996]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 June 2006]: Centrally held records do not separately identify whether absconders are part of the resettlement programme and this information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value was of property stolen from the Prison Service in the year ending (a) 31 March 2005 and (b) 31 March 2006; and how many prosecutions arose therefrom. [80022]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 June 2006]: In the financial year ended 31 March 2005, there were 37 reported fraud and theft cases with a total value of 5,902. Of these, there were 10 cases with a value of £4,549 due to theft of property. In the financial year ended 31 March 2006, there were 30 cases of fraud and theft with a total value of £5,268. Of these, there were 15 cases with a total value of £3,157 due to theft of property. The Prison Service is aware of four cases with a total value of £8,169 that occurred in 2005-06 and are still under investigation and not yet recorded in the figures above.
The police are informed of most cases of theft of property but no records are kept centrally of the number of prosecutions resulting.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many conflicts of interest were registered in the local registers of conflicts of interest within the Prison Service at (a) each London prison establishment, (b) the London area office and (c) each Prison Service directorate for the year ending March 2006; and if he will make a statement. [80023]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 June 2006]: No central register of conflicts of interest is available from which readily to obtain the information requested. Each individual establishment or group should maintain its own register. Prison Service directorates are not required to compile a register. Given the time constraints and the disproportionate resource costs involved, it is not possible to provide the figures requested.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research (a) he has evaluated and (b) he plans to commission on the incidence of adult attention deficit hyperactivity in penal institutions. [80708]
Mr. Sutcliffe: No such research has yet been commissioned or evaluated.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average monthly number of prisoners were accommodated at HMP Full Sutton in 2005-06; how many of those prisoners had been given a sentence of more than six months; and how many prisoners had been resident at HMP Full Sutton for more than six months. [80715]
Mr. Sutcliffe: According to the prison IT system, (i) the average number of prisoners held in Full Sutton between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 was 588 (average of end-month figures) and (ii) the number serving sentences of more than six months at end April 2006 was 567. Information on the number held in Full Sutton for more than six months is not held centrally.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support is available for those with severe personality disorders upon their release from (a) prisons and (b) HMP Lewes; and if he will make a statement. [81047]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 29 June 2006]: The Home Office and Department of Health have established the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder Programme. This has developed a range of pilot services in prisons, high and medium secure psychiatric services and residential and case management support in the community in four areas of England.
At present only the prison and high secure pilot services provide some national coverage for those who pose the most serious risk to the public. Access to local medium secure and community pilots is only available to local catchment populations in the pilot areas until evaluation is completed (in 2008) and future service roll out is agreed.
HMP Lewes has access to mainstream mental health services through an NHS mental health in-reach which can plan aftercare for prisoners released to the community. The development of new community personality disorder services form part of the local priority service development plans.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on family contact for female prisoners from the West Midlands of the re-roling of HMP Brockhill as a male prison. [81201]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The average distance from home area for most women transferred from Brockhill will increase, while remaining within the average for all women prisoners. All women’s prisons have arrangements designed to promote family contact.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prison cells and (b) prison wings deemed not fit for habitation by HM inspectorate of prisons have subsequently been kept open at any point in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [81206]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Recommendations by HM chief inspector of prisons to close or refurbish prison cells or wing in a prison are considered as part of the National Offender Management Service's building and refurbishment programme. Decisions on which of these are accepted are based on a number of factors, including priorities across the prison estate, funding and any impact in the operation of the prison.
The information requested can be supplied only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2006, Official Report, column 1212W, on Leyhill Open Prison, how many of the prisoners who escaped and were subsequently captured have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of escape from lawful custody; and what sentence was given in each such case where proceedings are complete. [81964]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally and may be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what religious teaching is available to prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [82362]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Chaplaincy programmes, which include religious teaching, are developed locally by prison establishments. All prisons have multi faith chaplaincy teams to enable prisoners to participate in religious activities and to encourage their spiritual and personal development whilst in custody and in preparation for release. Chaplaincy teams will run a range of classes and courses depending on the make-up and needs of the prison population. These will include religious education groups or classes, pertinent to all faiths, for those prisoners who wish to attend.
Rendition Flights
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether general aviation reports held by (a) local police special branch and (b) Home Office immigration authorities indicate that non-American nationals were on board registered aircraft (i) N8068V landing at RAF Northolt on (A) 15 May 2004 and (B) 17 May 2004, (ii) N129QS landing at Stansted on 23 February 2005, (iii) N970SJ landing at Luton on (A) 4 September 2003 and (B) 5 February 2004, (iv) N368CE landing at (A) Stansted on 6 May 2004 and (B) Luton on 17 June 2003 and (v) N2189M landing at Prestwick on (A) 18 January 2004 and (B) 25 May 2004; [62603]
(2) whether general aviation reports held by (a) local police special branch and (b) Home Office immigration authorities indicate that non-American nationals were on board registered aircraft N313P landing at (i) RAF Northolt on (A) 19 October 2003, (B) 22 October 2003, (C) 29 October 2003, (D) 1 December 2003, (E) 3 December 2003 and (ii) RAF Brize Norton on (A) 17 October 2003 and (B) 12 December 2003; [62604]
(3) whether general aviation reports held by (a) local police special branch and (b) Home Office immigration authorities indicate that non-American nationals were on board registered aircraft N379P landing at (i) RAF Northolt on (A) 18 October 2002, (B) 16 January 2003, (C) 24 February 2003, (D) 28 February 2003 and (ii) RAF Brize Norton on 20 November 2003; [62605]
(4) whether general aviation reports held by (a) local police special branch and (b) Home Office immigration authorities indicate that non-American nationals were on board registered aircraft N85VM landing at (i) Luton on (A) 26 December 2001 and (B) 12 November 2002, (ii) Edinburgh on 25 November 2002, (iii) Glasgow on 3 March 2003 and (iv) RAF Leuchars on (A) 14 October 2001, (B) 5 October 2002 and (C) 20 September 2003. [62606]
Mr. McNulty: Neither Special Branch nor the Immigration Service hold such information.
Resignation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria he used in deciding to offer his resignation to the Prime Minister. [68675]
John Reid: This is a matter for my right hon. Friend the former Home Secretary.
Security Industry
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licence applications for operatives working in the private security industry were submitted (a) before and (b) after 31 October 2005. [79306]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 21 June 2006]: The information is as follows.
(a) 69,553 applications were submitted from the beginning of licensing until 31 October 2005.
(b) 99,239 applications were submitted between 31 October 2005 and 21 June 2006.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the Security Industry Authority; and what was discussed at the meeting. [62264]
Mr. Coaker: Ministers and officials meet the SIA regularly to discuss a range of issues. I became the Minister with responsibility for the SIA on 4 May, and visited the SIA offices on 1 June to meet staff.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to provide a substantive reply to Question 59554, on the Security Industry Authority, tabled by the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight on 14 March. [63190]
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