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10 May 2007 : Column 433W—continued
Life Imprisonment
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are on waiting lists for first stage lifer units; and whether he plans to provide courses in local prisons for prisoners serving indeterminate public protection sentences. [133809]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
There is no centrally held waiting list for first stage lifer units, but there were 2,603 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences held in local prisons, as at 13 April 2007. The majority of them were waiting for transfer to first stage lifer prisons, but the figure also includes a small number of recalled life sentence prisoners who will not be on the waiting lists for main lifer centres.
Local prisons offer a range of courses and other interventions, some of which are suitable for prisoners serving indeterminate sentences. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is currently conducting a review of the systems and services for life sentenced prisoners and prisoners serving indeterminate public protection sentences.
Open Prisons
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners serving sentences of (a) 12 months or less and (b) between 12 months and 24 months were housed in open conditions in the prison estate in each of the last 24 months for which figures are available. [133981]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
Figures on the numbers of prisoners under immediate custodial sentence of (a) under 12 months and (b) 12 months to less than 24 months, in the specified list of open prison establishments in England and Wales in the years 2005 to 2007, can be found in the following table. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
| Immediate custodial sentenced population in open prisons( 1) in England and Wales by sentence length February 2005 to March 2007 | ||
| Less than12 months | 12 months to less than 24 months | |
| (1) Open prisons are those stated on the prison service annual report (Ford, Hewell Grange, Hollesley Bay, Kirkham, Leyhill, North Sea Camp, Standford Hill, Sudbury, Askham Grange, East Sutton Park and Thorn Cross) and Moorland Open, Frescoed and Spring Hill. It does not include semi-open prisons. | ||
Prison Service
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Head of the Management Succession and Selection Unit in HM Prison Service was involved in the managed move of Paul Baker to the Deputy Governor position at HM Prison Pentonville; and if he will make a statement. [136124]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
The appointment of Paul Baker to the role of Deputy Governor of HM Prison Pentonville was decided by the Deputy Director General of the Prison Service, in his role as the Chairperson of the Succession Planning Committee for the Prison Service. The Head of Management, Succession and Selection Unit was not involved in making this decision.
Prison Service: Compensation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons were for the £16,589,000 paid by the Prison Service as special payments in 2005-06 other than compensation to staff and prisoners. [135338]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
Of the £16,589,000 paid as special payments, £255,000 were payments made to third parties—generally members of the public in settlement of claims for injury, losses of property and in two cases associated with deaths in custody. This figure also included the legal costs associated with settling the claims.
Prison Service: Electronic Surveillance
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what level of authority is required at prison establishments for the covert access to and monitoring of staff e-mails; how many staff were subject to covert viewing of their e-mails at each prison establishment in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [136119]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
Governors submit requests to access staff email accounts covertly via the Professional Standards Unit at Prison Service Headquarters. Approval for covert access comes from the Head of Professional Standards Unit (or a member of the Senior Management Team in their absence). It is HMPS policy not to comment or provide data on any specific covert activity as this may undermine the attempt to tackle wrongdoing or corruption.
Prison Service: First Aid
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what skills are required of prison officers to deal with medical emergencies. [121794]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 and Instruction to Governors 32/1996 require governors to ensure that there is a sufficient level of first aid provision to deal with immediate medical emergencies. First aid volunteers, including officers, must attend a training course approved by the Health and Safety Executive. In addition, all staff in contact with prisoners are trained in basic suicide prevention procedures, though many are also trained to higher levels.
Prison Service: Working Hours
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outstanding number of time off in lieu hours was in HM Prison Service in the latest period for which figures are available; how such hours are accounted for in the annual accounts of the Service; and if he will make a statement. [136125]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
The Prison Service accounts for outstanding time off in lieu hours in its annual accounts. At 31 March 2006, there were 95,625 outstanding hours. An accrual is made in the accounts for the value of these hours using an average salary cost per grade. While not explicitly stated in the accounts, these costs form part of the overall staff remuneration costs.
Prisoners Release
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners released from jail about which the police are not notified by the prison authorities; and if he will make a statement. [123786]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
No estimate has been made of the number of prisoners released from prison about whom the police are not notified.
The police are routinely informed by prisons of the imminent discharge dates of those subject to multi agency public protection arrangements level two and three, those who are prolific and other priority offenders, and those released under the Home Detention Curfew Scheme.
In addition, the police are sent information on a weekly basis of all those who it is known will return to their area on release. The information is sent to Force Intelligence Bureaux six weeks prior to the release date and every week thereafter until release.
Prisoners: Females
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce self-harming by women prisoners; and if he will make a statement. [136382]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
The Prison Service’s suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy for women prisoners focuses on dealing with the underlying factors that can lead them to harm themselves, including previous abuse, substance misuse and mental health problems—which are experienced by a, very high proportion of women in custody. Women prisoners benefit from a number of interventions including:
individual crisis counselling for women prisoners who self-harm;
investment and planning to ensure progress on the detoxification strategy in women’s prisons;
introduction of a training pack for all staff working with women in custody, which includes a module on the health and wellbeing of women prisoners;
£1 million from the Department of Health has been allocated to women’s prisons to be spent on the recruitment of psychiatric nurses, and all women’s prisons now have mental health in-reach facilities.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether foreign prisoners moved from Ford Open Prison to closed conditions in May 2006 were re-categorised to a higher security classification prior to their move. [127551]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
No. The foreign national prisoners were removed to closed conditions as category D prisoners so that their individual categorisations could be reassessed.
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted prisoners who have completed their sentences are being held in prisons in England and Wales; and on which dates each such prisoner completed their sentence. [128499]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
Information on the numbers of time-served prisoners within all prison establishments in England and Wales would not be available and would incur disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Transport
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average monthly cost of prisoner transport services has been (a) in the last two years and (b) during the activation of Operation Safeguard. [135834]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
The average monthly cost of contracted prisoner transport in the last two years was £11.9 million. Separate figures for contracted prisoner transport that cover the period of Operation Safeguard are not kept and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action was taken following the death of Paul Day in the management of segregation units at prison establishments; and if he will make a statement. [136130]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked reply.
Prison Service Order 1810 on ‘Maintaining Order in Prisons’ was introduced in July 2005. It requires the individual case management of disruptive prisoners and the transfer of key information from sending to receiving prisons when any individual is transferred between prisons and segregation units. It also stopped the informal transfer or return arrangements between establishments. The Prison Service launched a Segregation Unit Development Strategy in January 2005, which aimed to ensure that prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm are managed and supported outside of segregation if at all possible. There is also a review under way of all segregation policies. This
includes specialist input from the National Offender Management Service, Prisoner Health, and the Prison and Probation Ombudsman and seeks to develop new strategies in relation to mental health care and alternatives to segregation.
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