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9 Jan 2007 : Column 542W—continued
Purposeful Activity ceased to be a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in 2003-04 but remains an establishment-level Key Performance Target (KPT). Ministers agreed that outcome-based KPIs introduced in respect of education, rehabilitation and resettlement provide a better demonstration of the efforts to equip prisoners to be less likely to offend on release.
Establishments are set annual targets for prisoner activity and performance continues to be monitored internally.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average number of hours a prisoner spent outside his or her cell per day in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [113617]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The average number of hours of time out of cell for each prisoner during the last 10 years is shown in the following table.
| Time out of cell outturns since 1996-97 | |
| Average time out of cell per prisoner per weekday | |
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what most recent estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who have taken illegal drugs while in prison. [113620]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The best measure of drug misuse in prisons is provided by the random mandatory drug testing programme. The positive rate for 2005-06—the latest period for which data are available—was 10.3 per cent.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the degree to which drug treatment is standardised across British prisons; and if he will make a statement. [113621]
Mr. Sutcliffe: A wide range of standards, good practice guidance and performance measures define the delivery of drug treatment across Prisons in England and Wales. Prisons may vary the framework for delivery in order to best match local need.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of female prisoners are mothers. [113624]
Mr. Sutcliffe: This information is not kept routinely by the Prison Service. A resettlement survey commissioned in 2003-04 by the then Custody to Work Unit, Prison Service, showed that half of all female prisoners had dependent children (including stepchildren) under 18, and 46 per cent. of those women had lived with at least one dependent child before custody.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners have a child under 18 years of age. [113626]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the family responsibilities of prisoners is not collated centrally.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what his most recent estimate is of the number of prisoners who stay in touch with their families during their sentence; [113627]
(2) what his most recent estimate is of the impact of family contact during imprisonment on an offender’s resettlement after release. [113628]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the number of prisoners having contact with their families or the impact such contact has on resettlement outcomes is not collated centrally.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison visits (a) in total and (b) on average prisoners received in each year since 1997. [113629]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Prisoners have a statutory entitlement to social visits and are also able to earn additional visits under the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme, Statistics on the number of visits to prisoners are not centrally collated, as there is currently no universal way of recording such data.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what average distance from their homes (a) male and (b) female prisoners are held; and how many prisoners are held over 100 miles away from their home. [113631]
Mr. Sutcliffe: As at 29 September 2006, the average distance from home for male prisoners was 50 miles, and for women prisoners the average distance from home was 58 miles.
Around 10,700 prisoners are located over 100 miles from home.
Distance from home is calculated using either home address, which is held for approximately 45 per cent. of prisoners, or where no home address is listed the committal court used a proxy.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provisions are in place for searching (a) visitors and (b) others entering prisons; and to what extent this is standardised across prisons. [113632]
Mr. Sutcliffe: As a condition of entry, visitors and all other persons entering a prison will be searched in accordance with the prison’s local searching strategy, which must be compliant with the Prison Service National Security Framework (NSF).
The NSF provides that domestic, official and professional visitors and staff are subject to a rub down search, a metal detector/portal scan and a passive drug dog search on entry. The level and frequency of such searches must be agreed between the Governor and Area Manager of each establishment, based on local needs and requirements. In exceptional circumstances, visitors may be subject to a full search.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons make use of body orifice scanning machines to search people entering prisons; and what the cost of one machine is. [113633]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service is currently trialling a body orifice scanner in one high security prison. The trial involves detecting contraband held by prisoners and is not currently applied to staff or visitors entering prisons.
It is not possible to provide a costing for the machine as the cost is confidential within the contract.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the means by which illegal substances are most commonly brought into prisons. [113634]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Home Office commissioned a substantial piece of research that identified patterns of drug use and supply routes. The six main routes identified were social visits, mail, new receptions, prison staff, over the perimeter wall and reception after court visits.
A comprehensive range of measures is in place to target these routes.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the number of prisoners suffering from mental health problems; and how many prisons have mental health in-reach teams. [113636]
Mr. Sutcliffe: A survey, “Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales” (Office for National Statistics, 1998) showed that 90 per cent. of prisoners have at least one significant mental health problem, including personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence. A copy is available in the Library.
Mental health services for prisoners have been a key part of the Government's recent reforms of health services for prisoners. The Department of Health is now investing nearly £20 million a year in NHS mental health in-reach services for prisoners. These are community mental health teams working within prisons and are now available in 102 prisons, with some 360 extra staff employed. Every prison in England and Wales has access to these services.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of waiting times between assessment of a prisoner and a transfer to hospital. [113637]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Prisoners with severe mental health problems should be transferred and treated in hospital whenever possible. To help facilitate quicker transfers, a protocol has been issued setting out what must be done when a prisoner has been waiting for a hospital place for more than three months following acceptance by the NHS. Tighter monitoring has also been introduced to identify prisoners waiting an unacceptably long period for transfer.
In 2005, 24 per cent. more prisoners with mental illness too severe for prison were transferred to hospital
than in 2002—up to 896 from 722. In the quarter ending September 2006, 43 prisoners had been waiting over 12 weeks for a transfer, down from 58 in the same quarter in 2005.
We are looking to further reduce the national waiting time standard for transfers between custodial settings and hospitals. Pilots of a 14-day maximum wait will take place in 15 mental health trusts next year.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the incidence of self-harm among (a) male and (b) female prisoners. [113638]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Based on information compiled from incidents recorded on the Prison Service Incident Reporting System, the total number of recorded self-harm incidents in 2005 was approximately 21,600, with 9,100 involving male prisoners and 12,500 involving female prisoners. Many of these incidents involve the same individuals.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the average cost per year of keeping an offender in (a) an adult prison, (b) a young offender institution and (c) a secure training centre, broken down by main budget heading. [113641]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The cost per place in each type of prison establishment for 2005-06 is shown separately for the public and contracted sectors in the tables.
The Prison Service does not routinely collate cost-per-place data by specific elements of expenditure.
| Table 113641 A: public sector prison costs by function | |
| Function name | Cost per prison place (£) |
| Table 113641 B: contracted sector prison costs by function | |
| Function name | Cost per prison place (£) |
In 2005-06, the cost of the four secure training centres (STCs), commissioned from the private sector by the Youth Justice Board was £47.2 million, for 274 places. This represents a cost-per-place figure of £172,300.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were housed (a) with one other person in a cell designated for one and (b) with two other persons in a cell designated for two, in each of the last 10 years. [113642]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows the average number of prisoners held two to a cell certified for one, for each of the last 10 years, and the number of prisoners held three to a cell certified for two, for each of the last three years. Three to a cell information is not available from before April 2003.
| Doubling and three to cell information since 1996-97 | ||
| Average monthly: | ||
| Financial year | Doubling( 1) | Three to a cell( 1) |
| n/a = not available. (1) Figures subject to rounding. | ||
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