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26 Mar 2007 : Column 1308W—continued
Category D Prisoners
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders are in category D prisons in the UK, broken down by offence for which they were convicted. [125873]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the numbers of offenders held in open prisons in England and Wales as at 31 January 2007 can be found in the following table.
| Offence group | Number |
These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
Passports: Cumbria
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where he plans to locate passport interview centres in Cumbria. [127351]
Joan Ryan [holding answer 13 March 2007]: IPS plans to open an interview office in Carlisle and Kendal. A full list of the 69 proposed interview offices is available in the Library.
Passports: Northern Ireland
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport applications were processed in Northern Ireland in each of the last six years; how many of those applications were (a) granted and (b) refused; and what the average time taken to process passport applications in Northern Ireland was over this period. [123510]
Joan Ryan: IPS have a single office in Northern Ireland, located in Belfast. This office processes applications for a catchment area which includes areas of the UK outside of Northern Ireland. Therefore the figures provided relate to the number of applications processed in Northern Ireland but do not represent the number of applications made by residents of Northern Ireland.
Applications processed can have three outcomes:
The application was successful and approval was given for a passport to be issued.
The application for a passport was withdrawn prior to a final decision being made.
The application failed and the applicant was not entitled to a passport.
Table 1 displays the total number of passports processed within the Belfast office, broken down into the outcomes of passed for issue, withdrawn and failed.
| Table 1: Belfast passport application outcomes | ||||
| Passed for issue | Withdrawn | Failed | Total | |
When processing passport applications IPS do not monitor the time taken to process applications which have errors or queries raised while being processed. These queries create a need for additional checks to take place and extend processing time due to requesting further information from the customer. For straightforward applications, those measured by the
publicised 10 working day turnaround target, table 2 identifies the average turnaround time in days for the Belfast office.
| Table 2: Belfast average turnaround in days for straight forward | |
| Average days | |
Police Custody
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were held in custody suites in each year since 2000. [123982]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Prisoners have been held in police cells during 2002, 2006 and 2007.
Between 11 July and 20 December 2002 prisoners were held in police cells under Operation Safeguard on a total of 28,650 occasions.
Between 12 October and 22 December 2006 police custody under Operation Safeguard was used on 4,617 occasions.
Operation Safeguard was reactivated on 22 January 2007. Between 22 January and 9 March it was used on 4,861 occasions.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals in UK prisons are from (a) outside the EU and (b) within the EU; what categories of offences they have committed; what estimate he has made of the number to be deported once they leave prison; and what previous offences they had committed before entering the UK. [125862]
Mr. Sutcliffe: At the end of December 2006 there were (a) 8,904 foreign national prisoners from outside the European Union and (b) 2,290 foreign national prisoners from within the European Union detained in prison establishments in England and Wales. Information on the offence groups for the immediate custodial sentenced population of prisoners within prison establishments in England and Wales by nationality group can be found within the following table.
All foreign nationals in custody have their sentences assessed in line with the guidance issued to IND and prisons on deportation matters. Those who meet the set criteria will be considered for deportation.
Information about crimes committed by foreign nationals before they entered the UK is not routinely collected by the police. Requests for such information are made at the discretion of the investigating police force depending on operational need.
These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
| Prison population( 1) within England and Wales at 31 December 2006 by UK national, EU( 2) and non-EU foreign national and offence group | |||||
| Unrecorded and other | United Kingdom | Non-EU | EU (non-UK) | Total | |
| (1) Prison population under immediate custodial sentence shown. (2) European Union as at 31 December 2006 did not yet include Bulgaria and Romania who joined on 1 January 2007 | |||||
Prisons: Islam
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities Muslim worshippers are offered in prisons; and what the associated costs of such facilities were in each year since 2001. [127950]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service policy is to enable those prisoners who wish, to practise their religion. The Prison Service Performance Standard on Religion (number 51) and the Prison Service Order on Religion (4550) sets out the more detailed policy and includes specific information on the provision necessary for the practice of the main world faiths, including Islam. Copies of Prison Service Orders are kept in the House Library and both Prison Service Orders and Performance Standards are also published on the Prison Service website (www.hmprisons.gov.uk). The requested information on costs is not available.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons employ an Imam; and how much each is paid. [127536]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Prison Service establishments that currently employ Muslim chaplains are detailed in the following list. Other establishments will use Muslim chaplains on a fee-paid basis. Chaplains in the public sector Prison Service are paid in two pay-bands with pay (excluding allowances) ranging from £19,680 to £35,799. Each private contractor has different rates of pay within the range £25,000 to £38,000.
Prisons in England and W ales directly employing Muslim c haplains
Altcourse
Aylesbury
Bedford
Belmarsh
Birmingham
Blakenhurst
Brixton
Bronzefield
Buckley Hall
Bullingdon
Cardiff
Channings Wood(1)
Coldingley
Doncaster
Dovegate
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