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6 Mar 2007 : Column 1927W—continued
Police: Vehicles
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police motorway patrol cars (a) entered and (b) left service in each of the last 10 years; [124124]
(2) what the average cost of a police motorway patrol car was in the last 12 months. [124125]
Mr. McNulty: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Prison Governors
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison governors were managed moved within the Prison Service in 2006. [124915]
Mr. Sutcliffe: During 2006, out of a total of 96 senior manager appointments, 46 were managed, while the remainder were filled through open competition following internal advertisement. Of the 46: 19 were for in charge governor posts, five for deputy governor posts and the remainder to other positions in establishments, Prison Service headquarters, on interchange or secondment.
Prison Service: Disclosure of Information
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he expects to publish the report of the Tasker investigation into corruption and maltreatment of whistleblowers within HM Prison Service; and if he will make a statement; [124393]
(2) what the cost was of the Tasker investigation into corruption and maltreatment of whistleblowers within HM Prison Service; and if he will make a statement. [124394]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Tasker report is now expected to report by the end of March 2007 and therefore the full cost of the investigation cannot yet be calculated.
The Prison Service does not routinely publish internal investigations.
Prison Service: Pay
Mr. Bellingham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether funds available for use as performance-related pay are allocated as part of a
specific budget item for (a) HM Prison Service and (b) individual prison establishments; and if he will make a statement. [124743]
Mr. Sutcliffe: No specific allocation is made to either (a) HM Prison Service or (b) individual establishments for use as performance related pay. Any payments of performance related pay are met from the overall allocations to HM Prison Service or individual prison establishments.
Prison Service: Vacancies
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies there are within the Prison Service. [125330]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The latest available information shows that there was a shortfall against planned posts in the Prison Service (including contracted establishments) of 1,678 on 31 December 2006. This represents approximately 3 per cent. of planned posts.
Prison Service: Working Hours
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours per week HM Prison Service non-operational grade managers in receipt of required hours allowance payments are expected to work; and if he will make a statement. [124750]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 5 March 2007]: The criteria for the payment of required hours allowance (RHA) are laid out in the 2001 Pay Code—Phase 1 Pay and Grading. This does not identify a weekly rate to qualify for payment of this allowance, which is paid only if the post meets the criteria specified as follows: RHA is considered payable for those Prison Service manager posts where the role requires regular unpredictable and unsociable working hours by the post holder. This will apply to both operational and non-operational staff in receipt of RHA.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce the time off in lieu hours accrued in HM Prison Service; what steps he is taking to ensure that such time is taken within the required five week period; what the outstanding total was of time off in lieu hours for the Prison Service (a) at the end of each of the last five years and (b) in the last month for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [125052]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 5 March 2007]: Time off in lieu (TOIL) is managed locally in establishments, with oversight by Prison Service area managers.
Accurate information in the form requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nominals are within the prison system, broken down by type; what the breakdown is of those nominals by (a) ethnicity and (b) religion; and if he will make a statement. [125306]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Obtaining the information required would involve disproportionate cost. Furthermore information concerning nominal prisoners is intelligence related and confidential.
Prisoners: Religion
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on prisoners’ access to copies of the Koran in Arabic. [125382]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 5 March 2007]: Muslim prisoners are permitted to have available for personal use a copy of the Qur’an, which may be in Arabic and/or English. In addition, copies are made available in other languages as required. In accordance with Islamic teaching, the Qur’an in Arabic has particular significance for Muslims.
Prisons: Management
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports into professional standards issues in HM Prison Service were produced in each of the last six years; what proportion of those reports involved the Metropolitan Police; how many of those reports were published; and if he will make a statement. [124387]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is contained in the following table:
| Reports into professional standards issues produced between 2000-06 | ||
| Year report produced | Total number of reports | Number of MET reports |
Redacted versions of the first four reports and a full version of the fifth report have been published.
Probation Service
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) central departmental and (b) central National Offender Management Service staff were responsible for the Probation Service in each of the last 10 years. [117780]
John Reid: Staffing numbers are detailed in the following table.
The creation of NOMS in May 2005 has seen a gradual shift in direct probation support from the National Probation Directorate to NOMS HQ. However, although staff working in NOMS HQ deal with the probation service, it is not possible to provide a fully accurate split of responsibilities without incurring disproportionate costs, so no NOMS HQ staff are included in the totals.
| Figures for Home Office Core Staff( 1) | |||
| Year( 2) | Probation Unit | National Probation Directorate | Total |
| (1) Headcount figures as FTE data are not available historically from the personnel archive. (2) Data as at 3 June annually, except for 2007 (as at 31 January 2007). (3) Excludes any staff in NOMS HQ who may be working on probation issues, since attempting to split out the probation element of their work would involve disproportionate costs. | |||
Restraint Orders
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to include provisions for extending restraining orders in circumstances where the original order is breached; and if he will make a statement. [122654]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Section 12(4) of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 will give a court dealing with a person for breach of a restraining order the power to make a further restraining order. This provision is due to come into force on 1 July 2007. In the meantime, the prosecutor, defendant or any person named in the Order may apply to the court which made the order at any time to have the order varied or discharged.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend restraining orders to cover cases of (a) assault, (b) threats to kill and (c) witness intimidation. [122695]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 23 February 2007]: Under section 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, restraining orders are available to the courts when dealing with a person convicted of an offence under that Act of harassment or putting someone in fear of violence.
Section 12(1) of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 will amend the 1997 Act so that restraining orders will be available when dealing with a defendant convicted for any offence. Section 12(5) of the Act will also provide the courts with the power to make a restraining order on acquittal if the court considers it necessary to do so to protect a person from harassment. These provisions are due to come into force on 1 July 2007.
Speed Limits: Cameras
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty fines from Gatso speed cameras were not able to be issued in England and Wales in 2006 as a result of vehicles not being registered. [124312]
Mr. Coaker:
Information collected centrally relates only to fixed penalties offered to the offending driver and does not identify the particular type of speed
camera involved. It also does not record the reasons why in any particular case a fixed penalty could not be offered or the police chose not to do so.
Terrorism
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he (a) received and (b) expects to publish Lord Carlile of Berriew’s report on the definition of terrorism. [125204]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 5 March 2007]: The first draft of the report of Lord Carlile of Berriew on the definition of terrorism was received by the Home Office on 7 January. We will publish it as soon as possible.
Terrorism: Internet
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with US-based internet services providers on the removal from the internet of websites that promote acts of terrorism in the UK. [124808]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 2 March 2007]: The police regularly discuss enforcement and intelligence opportunities with a number of law enforcement and intelligence agencies abroad. Details cannot be made public as this would compromise operations.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with US law enforcement agencies on prosecuting individuals who promote acts of terrorism via US websites in alleged pursuit of animal rights. [124809]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 2 March 2007]: The Government have made it clear that it is unacceptable for extremist groups to use websites as means to harass and intimidate individuals and organisations.
The police in England and Wales regularly discuss enforcement and intelligence opportunities with a number of law enforcement and intelligence agencies abroad.
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