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9 Jan 2007 : Column 547W—continued


Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison places were (a) put out of use and (b) created in each year since 1997; and at which prisons those changes took place. [113643]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suicides there were in prisons classified as overcrowded in each of the last 10 years. [113644]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is provided in the following table.

Self-inflicted deaths in crowded prisons
Number

1996

29

1997

38

1998

67

1999

63

2000

61

2001

50

2002

72

2003

82

2004

76

2005

69

Notes:
1. A crowded prison is defined as one in which the prison population is more than the certified normal accommodation.
2. Self-inflicted deaths includes all deaths where it appears the individual acted specifically to take their own life, not only those that received a suicide or open verdict at inquest

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that education managers in prisons receive prisoners’
9 Jan 2007 : Column 548W
records following transfer from another prison; and if he will make a statement. [113645]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Secure arrangements are in place to transfer individual learning plans and records of prisoners’ achievements and aspirations as they move between prisons and from prison to the community. Further work is under way between the Learning and Skills Council and the National Offender Management Service to develop and introduce a comprehensive electronic system.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the two prisons he announced for reroling in October 2006 are additional to the reroling of Brockhill and Bullwood Hall already announced by his Department in the spring. [113646]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The two prisons referred to in the Home Secretary’s statement of 9 October 2006 were the two women’s prisons, Brockhill and Bullwood Hall.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners identified as having drug problems are undergoing intensive drug rehabilitation. [113649]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Based on the number of prisoners engaging in 2005-06 with the counselling, assessment, referral, advice and throughcare (CARAT) treatment service, 16 per cent. went on to engage with an intensive drug treatment programme. This figure excludes juvenile prisons.

Not all prisoners with a drug dependency require an intensive treatment programme or are in prison long enough to gain access.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the Prison Service budget was spent on education in 2005-06. [113651]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service spent £85.2 million on education in 2005-06. This represents 4.5 per cent. of the gross budget. The Prison Service fully recovered this expenditure by invoicing DfES, which holds the budget for prisoners’ education.

The net cost to the Prison Service was nil.

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent assessment is of the proportion of prisoners who are able to complete a job application form. [113654]

Mr. Sutcliffe: We do not collect this specific information. However, Department for Education and Skills statistics show that 82 per cent. of offenders have writing skills at or below those expected of an 11-year-old. For reading and numeracy the figures are 48 per cent. and 65 per cent. respectively.

As part of wider work to get prisoners into employment, assistance with completing job application forms is provided to prisoners including by Jobcentre Plus staff, prison officers, voluntary sector workers and peer advisers.


9 Jan 2007 : Column 549W

Probation Service

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the evidential basis is for the proposals for reform of the probation service; [112992]

(2) what the evidential basis is for his statement that the Offender Management Bill will drive up standards. [112993]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Offender Management Bill will enable the Secretary of State to commission probation services from providers in the voluntary, charitable and private sectors, to work alongside the public sector in the delivery of probation services. Experience in the custodial sector has shown that the introduction of alternative providers has helped to raise performance: there have been efficiency savings of up to 8.5 per cent. and improved standards of decency and innovation in staffing structures and prison design. The public sector has also raised its game in response. We expect to see similar effects in probation.

Probation: Alcohol Misuse

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the availability of treatment for alcohol misusers on probation. [113611]

Mr. Sutcliffe: In May the National Probation Directorate (NPD) published “Working with Alcohol Misusing Offenders—a strategy for delivery”. The strategy, which complements the Prison Service Alcohol Strategy to create a coherent NOMS Alcohol Strategy, contains a number of actions for NPD and recommendations for probation areas to improve provision, many of which are being taken forward in 2006-07.

Proceeds of Crime Act

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value has been of items collected under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each police authority in each of the last three years. [112818]

Mr. Coaker: Information is not available in the form requested. A confiscation order is made by the court for a sum of money to be paid by the defendant. It need not be paid from any particular assets or items. The value of confiscation orders and cash forfeiture orders obtained by each police force in England and Wales in each of the last three years under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and earlier legislation is set out in the Table.


9 Jan 2007 : Column 550W

9 Jan 2007 : Column 551W
Total value of confiscation orders and cash forfeiture orders obtained by police Forces in England And Wales( 1)
£
Force 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Avon and Somerset Constabulary

594,347

1,959,930

1,522,574

Bedfordshire Police

3,392,094

154,828

272,110

Cambridgeshire Constabulary

278,679

2,695,434

21 1 ,225

Cheshire Constabulary

250,263

541,557

828,304

City of London Police

1,200,282

2,211,123

1,535,450

Cleveland Police

19,140

230,220

914,060

Cumbria Constabulary

120,917

1,124,156

368,023

Derbyshire Constabulary

71,140

2,540,453

330,629

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary

192,616

1,182,881

880,765

Dorset Police

147,532

1,050,401

973,179

Durham Constabulary

235,600

477,399

1,010,122

Dyfed-Powys Police

121,750

201,061

459,740

Essex Police

0

192,804

652,297

Gloucestershire Constabulary

930,442

390,469

370,472

Greater Manchester Police

2,798,966

3,453,431

5,310,908

Gwent Police

52,140

442,673

489,843

Hampshire Constabulary

298,447

333,792

860,511

Hertfordshire Constabulary

929,368

440,353

568,276

Humberside Police

826,661

255,656

263,562

Kent Police

1,210,503

1,926,936

1,276,675

Lancashire Constabulary

120,953

3,743,146

4,621,451

Leicestershire Constabulary

1,087,417

891,588

1,121,491

Lincolnshire Police

143,411

307,912

1,498,169

Merseyside Police

1,217,852

2,908,71 1

3,358,387

Metropolitan Police Service

5,950,410

26,426,648

35,028,509

Norfolk Constabulary

89,325

911,868

3,574,093

North Wales Police

89,522

109,758

1,025,456

North Yorkshire Police

0

205,081

413,504

Northamptonshire Police

556,066

1,063,417

748,569

Northumbria Police

691,770

909,645

756,663

Nottinghamshire Police

875,434

1,336,612

477,136

South Wales Police

75,637

400,577

5,167,828

South Yorkshire Police

784,579

1,330,077

1,292,706

Staffordshire Police

373,784

260,405

1,164,691

Suffolk Constabulary

137,649

430,715

666,872

Surrey Police

1,480,550

648,947

790,279

Sussex Police

652,221

1,002,181

2,281,707

Thames Valley Police

1,182,132

750,663

2,264,483

Warwickshire Police

83,116

57,357

254,391

West Mercia Constabulary

1,180,461

999, 467

1 ,304,937

West Midlands Police

819,117

2,053,433

3,568,894

West Yorkshire Police

2,874,164

2,265,457

4,438,068

Wiltshire Constabulary

39,848

482,559

233,976

(1) Includes cases involving regional asset recovery teams and assets recovery agency.

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