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2 Oct 2006 : Column 2621W—continued
Motoring Offences (Women)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the 10 most common motoring offences were for which women were (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted, (c) fined and (d) sent to prison in England and Wales in 2005-06, broken down by age group. [71078]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information is not yet available.
Since it takes several months for court proceedings data to be received by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, 2005 motoring offences data will not be available until early in 2007. Data for 2006 will not be available until early in 2008.
Parliamentary Questions
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to Question 78420, on suicide attempts at Colnbrook Detention Centre, tabled by the hon. Member for Ashford for answer on 16 June 2006. [88243]
Mr. Byrne:
Between 1 January 2006 and 30 June 2006 there have been 461 cases where detainees at Colnbrook Removal Centre have been placed on Formal Self Harm At Risk procedures. 49 detainees required medical treatment during this period as a result of self-harm incidents. Detainee Custody Officers in all removal centres are trained to the standard delivered within the Prison Service to help identify and prevent suicide and self harm. They are also trained in accordance with their particular centre’s own suicide and self-harm prevention strategy and procedures. Additionally, notices in various languages
are displayed in all centres setting out that, where a detainee has a concern about a fellow detainee, this should be brought to the attention of a member of staff.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to Question (a) 75778 and (b) 75781, on biometric cards, tabled by the hon. Member for Ashford for answer on 7 June 2006. [88246]
Joan Ryan: I replied to the hon. Member on 1 August, printed on 4 September 2006, Official Report, column 1750W.
Passports (Loss and Theft)
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost per customer is of a call to report a lost or stolen passport. [91093]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 13 September 2006]: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) do not accept reports of the loss or theft of a passport by telephone only on submission of the appropriate form. This is to guard against malicious reports of theft, and enables IPS to ensure the report originates from the genuine holder of the document.
A caller to the IPS Adviceline will be advised on how to obtain the appropriate report form. Calls to the Adviceline are charged at a national rate.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been received over the last 12 months about the system for reporting lost or stolen passports; what steps he has taken in response to such complaints; and if he will make a statement. [91094]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 13 September 2006]: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) received 34 complaints from 1 September 2005 to 31 August 2006 relating to lost, stolen and recovered passports. A range of issues are recorded within this category; the issue of the system for reporting lost or stolen passports represents a small proportion of this number.
IPS procedure is to send a full response to each complaint received, with a consideration for reimbursement of expenses in accordance with IPS compensation policy, where appropriate. Any identified shortcomings are fed back to the relevant policy area to inform policy reviews and instigate change where necessary.
Police
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average number of hours was expended by police officers in investigating a burglary in 2005-06. [74669]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reimburse the Essex Police Authority for the full costs incurred by the authority in considering proposals for the merger of Essex police with other police forces. [91211]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 18 September 2006]: We are currently considering the claim from Essex police, and those received from other forces and authorities, and will respond as soon as possible.
Police Community Support Officers
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been introduced in Coventry, South since the scheme began. [58906]
Ms Blears: Information on the number of police community support officers (PCSOs) is not collected on a constituency basis. The following table sets out the number of PCSOs employed by West Midlands police up to September 2005. Information on PCSO numbers has only been collected at basic command unit (BCD) level since June 2005. In June 2005 there were 24 PCSOs deployed in the three operational command units covering the city of Coventry.
| Police community support officers | |
| Strength as at | West Midlands |
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to collect data routinely on assaults on police community services officers; and if he will make a statement. [91127]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 18 September 2006]: Assaults on police community support officers (PCSOs) are not identified separately by the Home Office in the recorded crime data. They are recorded under the more general category of common assault if no injury results. If injury is involved they are recorded under the appropriate category of Violence against the Person (defined in terms of sections of the Offences against the Person Act 1861).
Within the police personnel data collection, assaults data are collected on behalf of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s (HMIC’s). Assaults on all police officers and police staff (including PCSOs) are published in HMIC’s annual report.
Assaults data from the police personnel data collection are not available by number of assaults per head of population.
Prison/Court Escort Service
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what penalties have been imposed on the companies responsible for prisoner escorts in each of the last five years; and what the reason for the penalty was in each case. [85401]
John Reid: Penalties for the two main performance measures of failing to deliver prisoners to court on time and escapes from contractors responsible for prisoner escorts are set out in the following table. This information dates from 29 August 2004, when the current contract started.
Information on penalties imposed on contractors under the previous court escort contracts could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of ear acupuncture in the high security prison estate; what plans he has to extend the availability of ear acupuncture in prisons; and if he will make a statement. [44374]
Fiona Mactaggart: There has been one study of the effect of ear acupuncture in the high security prison estate. The recent study undertaken in six high security prisons found positive effects associated with auricular acupuncture among prisoners, including reductions in worry, muscle tension, cravings and stress and improved psychological and physical well-being. There are presently no plans to extend the availability of ear acupuncture in prisons.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce overcrowding in prisons. [44960]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have introduced credible, intensive community sentences, which courts can tailor to individual offenders who might have otherwise receive ineffective short prison sentences. We have also alerted courts to the availability of electronic monitoring to support a curfew imposed as a condition of bail. Courts are being encouraged to use this option instead of a remand in custody in appropriate cases. We are increasing useable operational capacity in prisons by building additional places as part of an ongoing funded building programme, as well as carefully managing accommodation at existing prisons.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many incidents of self-harm (a) occurred and (b) gave rise to the need for resuscitation in each prison in each of the last five years for which figures are available; [45851]
(2) how many self-inflicted deaths occurred during the first (a) 24 hours and (b) seven days in custody in each prison for each of the last five years; [45852]
(3) what percentage of self-inflicted deaths in prison occurred during the first (a) 24 hours in custody, (b) seven days, (c) 14 days, (d) 28 days, (e) three months, (f) six months and (g) year in custody, broken down by (i) males and (ii) females in each of the last five years. [45853]
Fiona Mactaggart: The number of recorded incidents of self-harm that occurred in each prison in each of the last five calendar years is shown in table A. The table includes all incidents of self-harm, however serious. Some individuals are responsible for multiple incidents.
The number of recorded resuscitations following self-harm incidents that occurred in each prison in each of the last five calendar years is shown in the table B.
As prisoners often arrive in prison during the second half of the day, their first day in prison (Day 1) is typically less than 16 hours; some of the day is spent in the custody of PECS (Prisoner Escort and Custody Services).
The number of apparent self-inflicted deaths that occurred on Day 1 in each of the last five calendar
years, and where the deaths occurred, is shown in table C. The number of apparent self-inflicted deaths that occurred on a prisoner's first complete day in prison (Day 2), and the prisons in which the deaths occurred, is shown in the table D. (Please note that these figures do not include those in the 'Day 1' chart.) The number of apparent self-inflicted deaths that occurred during a prisoner's first week in prison (Days 1-7), and where the deaths occurred, is shown in the table E.
The numbers and percentages of male prisoner self-inflicted deaths for each of the last five calendar years, broken down by days following reception, are shown in tables F.
The numbers and percentages of female prisoner self-inflicted deaths for each of the last five calendar years, broken down by days following reception, are shown in tables G.
The Government recognise that prisoners are particularly at risk of self-harm in their early period in custody, coping with issues of fear of imprisonment, detoxification and/or the impact of arrest on their family. Prisoners in early custody are therefore subject to a number of policies and practices designed to enhance their safety. These include health screening upon arrival, the use of peer supporters ('Insiders') to offer information and support to new prisoners, and First Night and Induction procedures.
| Table A | ||||||
| Prison | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
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