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19 Dec 2006 : Column 1976W—continued
Prison Service
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been paid in the form of compensation by HM Prison Service in each year since 1997; and for what reasons. [105527]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 7 December 2006]: The Home Office contests compensation claims and the majority of claims are successfully defended. Where the Home Office loses, the following table shows the amount of compensation paid to prisoners, staff and third parties since 2004-05. These details are based on figures collated in Prison Service headquarters. Figures exclude Employment Tribunal, death in custody and National Offender Management Service litigation. Statistics prior to 2004-05 were not recorded centrally.
| Amount of compensation paid to prisoners, staff and third parties since 2004-05 | |
| Financial year | Total (£) |
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the results of the latest Prison Service staff survey. [109622]
John Reid:
The Prison Service staff survey is regarded as an internal, management information document to help the Prison Service Management Board assess staff views and consider where management action might be appropriate. There are no
plans to publish the results of the survey. The findings from the survey are made available to staff, both on the Prison Service intranet site, and in hard copy.
Prisoner Education
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with (a) prison governors and (b) the Prison Officers Association on prisoners' access to education courses; and if he will make a statement. [106219]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 29 November 2006]: I am not aware of any formal discussions with the Prison Governors Association or the Prison Officers Association on the subject of prisoners' access to education courses.
Prisons
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of security arrangements at Ford prison. [103792]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 27 November 2006]: Considerable progress in developing and improving security arrangements at the establishment has taken place at Ford prison over the last few years. A full security audit will take place in March 2007.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that children and young people held in prisons have adequate access to (a) physical exercise and (b) outdoor activities. [108696]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Youth Justice Board has the responsibility for commissioning custodial places for young people. Funding allocated to the Prison Service by the YJB and the Learning and Skills Council aims to deliver, in accordance with standards set by those bodies, a physical education programme that meets each young person's individual needs and abilities; and also aims to ensure each young person, weather permitting, receives access to sufficient outside activities.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in Thames Valley Police have been (a) breathalysed, (b) arrested for drunk driving and (c) given a caution for drink driving in each of the last three years. [108821]
Mr. McNulty: The statistical information relating to drink-driving offences committed by Thames Valley police officers is not held centrally.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2006, Official Report, column 292W, on prisons, what the (a) original offence was for which they were convicted, (b) The length of their original sentence, (c) the amount of their sentence they had completed at the point of transfer to Leyhill and (d) the expected time to be served at Leyhill before release for each prisoner listed as having transferred to Leyhill in October 2006 on an out of area placement.[110070]
Mr. Sutcliffe: To provide this information would require detailed examination of the files of each individual prisoner and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of11 December 2006, Official Report, columns 835-36, on prisons, what criteria were used to establish those prisons with an overriding need to improve the quality of their clinical drug services; and what assessment he made of HMP Peterborough against those criteria. [110371]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The prisons were selected according to the following criteria—a spread between geographical areas; the inclusion of both male and female prisons; and the inclusion of both public and contracted prisons. After this, prisons were chosen where the balance of evidence, from the opinions of those clinicians who best know the field, showed that the quality of clinical drug services was especially in need of improvement. This was not the assessment given to HMP Peterborough's clinical drug services.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of5 December 2006, Official Report, column 291W, on prisons, how many of the prisoners transferred to Leyhill open prison were in each security category; and for what crime or crimes each prisoner was convicted. [112686]
Mr. Sutcliffe: To provide this information would require detailed examination of the files of each individual prisoner and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Prisons: Drug-testing
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the mandatory drug testing rates were for each residential unit at HM Prison Pentonville in each of the last 18 months; and if he will make a statement. [108574]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 18 December 2006]: Reliable comparison of mandatory drug testing data can only be made at prison level and above. Where data is available at wing level, this is insufficiently robust to allow meaningful comparison. The random mandatory drug testing level reported by HMP Pentonville in 2005-06 was 18.3 per cent.
Public Appointments
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which public appointments have been made by his Department to former Ministers who have served in the Government since May 1997. [105762]
Mr. Byrne:
One former Minister, who has served in Government since May 1997, has been appointed to an executive NDPBS since May 1997. He is David Lock, who was appointed to the Service Authorities for the
National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service from 1 April 2002 to 31 October 2003.
The answer does not include NDPBs that were formerly part of the Home Office, but are now the responsibility of another Government Department.
Refugee Council
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding his Department gave to the Refugee Council in each of the last five years. [108991]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 13 December 2006]: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) provides grant funding to the Refugee Council for providing services to asylum seekers. The services provided range from induction for new asylum seekers to an advisory role for dispersed or unaccompanied minor asylum seekers together with assistance in integration for successful applicants. In addition the IND recognise their responsibilities under the compact with the voluntary sector and pay a core grant to the Refugee Council. The total amounts paid for each of the last five years are as follows:
| £ million | |
Resident Co-ordinators
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding is available from his Department to help (a) local authorities and (b) crime and disorder reduction partnerships employ resident co-ordinators to reduce anti-social behaviour in communities. [110069]
Mr. McNulty: One of the main ways in which the Home Office provides funding to local areas for crime reduction and community safety is through the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund (SSCF). The fund was rolled out to all local authorities in England in 2005 and for 2006-07 the fund totals approximately £220 million.
The SSCF is aimed at tackling crime, drugs and antisocial behaviour, empowering communities and improving the condition of streets and public spaces, prioritising the most deprived areas. As part of delivering this, local authorities and crime and disorder reduction partnerships are encouraged to use this funding to employ antisocial behaviour coordinators.
Road Crash Victims
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the Home Office pilot studies of face-to-face support for road crash victims. [108716]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Office of Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) has commissioned research examining three OCJR funded pilot schemes—in Bedfordshire, Bradford and Calderdale, and Merseyside—delivering support services to victims of road traffic incidents. The main aims of the study were to describe the services available to victims and the support received, and to provide recommendations and guidelines on good practice. Research findings from the project will be published in the new year.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support services are available for road crash victims. [108717]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Support services available for road crash victims include the BrakeCare guide for bereaved families and friends. This has been funded by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform since 2003 and is provided to families by police officers following a road crash.
The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime includes an obligation on the police to provide close relatives of a victim of road death with timely information about their case and an enhanced service.
The core funding provided to Victim Support allows them to provide a Witness Service in all Crown and magistrates courts. If a road traffic incident involves a court case, the victim or their family can access this support.
Other voluntary groups, including Brake, RoadPeace and the Campaign Against Drinking and Driving, also provide support and advice to serious road crash victims.
Road Safety
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was levied in motoring fines (a) in total and (b) excluding speed camera penalties in each region in each year since 1997. [102673]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the total amount of motoring fines ordered to be paid broken down by Government Official Regions in England and Wales from 1997 to 2004 (latest available) is given in the tables. The figures relate only to fines imposed by the courts.
Information on the amounts of fines levied as a result of motoring fixed penalty notices is not collected centrally.
2005 data will be available in 2007.
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