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5 Jun 2007 : Column 385W—continued
Prison Service: Public Appointments
Mr. Bellingham:
To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to her answer of 7 March 2007, Official Report, column 2057W, on the Prison
Service: public appointments, whether the report referred to was the Tasker investigation; and if she will make a statement. [140171]
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners are foreign nationals; and how many prisoners were foreign nationals on 14 May 1997. [136842]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Figures on the numbers of foreign national prisoners in all prison establishments in England and Wales at the end of March 2007, the latest date for which figures are available, can be found in the table.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to errors with data and processing. Because the detailed population breakdowns have been scaled and also rounded to the nearest whole number, individual components may not add up to the totals.
| Prisoners held in all prison establishments in England and Wales 31 March 2007, showing numbers of foreign nationals | |
| Number | |
Prisons: Computers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) for what purpose laptop computers are issued to prisoners in prisons in England and Wales; [139897]
(2) how many laptop computers were procured in each of the last five years for use by prisoners in England and Wales; and at what cost; [139898]
(3) how many laptop computers are available for use by prisoners in prisons in England and Wales. [139899]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Under controlled conditions and in certain circumstances some prisoners may be issued with laptop computers for certain purposes including preparing legal cases and education.
To provide information on the number of laptop computers procured or available for prisoners across the prison system could be done at disproportionate cost only.
Prisons: Drugs
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what research she has commissioned on the relationship between the availability of drugs within prison establishments and the maintenance of good order and discipline among inmates; and if she will make a statement. [139551]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
We have not specifically commissioned research into the links between drugs and good order but available evidence indicates that the supply and use
of drugs in prison can lead to bullying and violence with high levels of aggression and assaults on staff. Prisoners and their families may be coerced into supplying drugs. Keeping drugs out of prisons creates safer, healthier prisons and provides a better environment for the delivery of drug treatment. A comprehensive range of measures are in place to reduce the supply of drugs into prisons.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many (a) members of the clergy and (b) other religious ministers have been arrested for trafficking drugs into prison establishments; and if she will make a statement. [140062]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is not collected centrally in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Prisons: Emergencies
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the Prison Service policy is for the deployment of staff in emergency situations at prisons other than their place of employment. [139705]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Prison Service Order 1400 contains the policy for incident management. Chapter 5.2 states:
Operation Tornado is the national plan for providing support and mutual aid arrangements between all establishments in the event of:
(i) a serious incident requiring a reinforcement of staff or;
(ii) some other occurrence requiring a need for additional staff, who may not necessarily need to be C and R trained staff.
Prisons: Swimming Pools
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the cost was of maintaining swimming pools at (a) Holloway, (b) Portland, (c) Aylesbury and Standford Hill and (d) Blantyre House prisons between April 2006 and April 2007. [140091]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Portland and Blantyre House have unheated outdoor pools. The cost of maintaining these pools between April 2006 and April 2007 was approximately £3,890 and £2,500-£3,000 respectively. Holloway, Aylesbury and Standford Hill have heated indoor pools. The estimated cost of maintaining these was £20,200 (inclusive of utilities) at Holloway; £22,660 (also inclusive of utilities) at Standford Hill; and £6,800 plus utilities at Aylesbury. It is difficult to calculate the exact effect that these pools have on the establishments' utility bills (electricity, gas and water) as they are not metered separately.
Probation: Expenditure
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the cost has been of probation commissioning activities to date in 2007-08; and what the outcomes have been of such activities. [140428]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The planned budget for regional offender managers and their teams, and the director of offender management for Wales and her team, is £12.0 million for 2007-08, including the cost of private prison monitors and controllers. The ROMs and the DOM commission probation activities and custodial provision from probation boards, HM Prison Service and private prison providers, as well as engaging in joint commissioning and partnership working with other Government Departments.
So far during 2007-08, ROMs and the DOM have introduced service level agreements with prison and probation areas, including locally negotiated targets for service delivery. The SLAs include a number of targets for the prison and probation providers to meet, including, for example, such measures as the number of offenders going into employment and the number of offenders completing interventions ordered by the courts, which contribute to reducing reoffending. The SLAs are monitored regularly by the ROMs and the DOM to ensure that providers are meeting expectations.
Probation: Finance
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the anticipated national budget shortfall is for the Probation Service in England and Wales for 2007-08, broken down by probation area. [140419]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is currently not available to provide an anticipated variance position against budget by probation board for 2007-08. The Probation boards are required to submit budget monitoring returns on a regular basis which include the budget to date, actual expenditure to date, variance and forecast outturn. For 2007-08 the first set of returns are due in June, with subsequent returns due monthly thereafter.
Probation: Greater London
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what steps are being taken in the Greater London probation area to keep within budget in 2007-08. [140420]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The London Probation Board, at its meeting on 24 May 2007, approved a balanced budget for the financial year 2007-08. To achieve this, strict financial measures on expenditure were continued from the previous financial year together with a recruitment freeze for non-business critical posts.
Probation: Nottinghamshire
John Mann: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what job description will be used in contracts for community probation provision in Nottinghamshire. [138997]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Contracts for probation provision, or SLAs as they are currently, are the mechanism by which the Regional Offender Manager holds the probation area to account for the performance elements that constitute the contract or SLA. The
contracts set out the service specifications that the probation area is required to deliver against in return for the resources that the probation area receives. It is a matter for the probation area to deliver the services, using appropriately trained and qualified staff, and within prescribed national standards. The contract/SLA does not and will not include job descriptions.
John Mann: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what plans she has for outsourcing community probation services in Nottinghamshire. [138998]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There are no specific plans centrally to outsource “community probation services” either in Nottingham or anywhere else. The document ‘Improving Prison and Probation Services: Public Value Partnerships’, published by NOMS in August 2006, gives a broad indication of the types of probation services that might, in the future, be subject to competitive processes, but is clear in indicating that change will be measured and geared to achieving the best providers of services, without any quotas for any one sector over another. Probation boards do have requirements to achieve levels of expenditure through sub-contracting services to other providers—10 per cent. during 2007-08, up from 5 per cent. in 2006-07—but only if such arrangements offer better value.
Probation: Training
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice whether a newly trained probation officer who is not offered employment in the area in which they trained and who refuses employment offered in another area will be expected to repay their training fees. [140426]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The decision whether to reclaim tuition fees is a matter for local probation areas to decide.
Reoffenders
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the most recent figures are for the rates of reoffending following (a) custodial sentences and (b) community sentences. [139804]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The most recent reoffending rates were published in “Re-offending of Adults: results from the 2004 cohort”. This covers offenders who were released from prison or commenced a community penalty in the first quarter of 2004, for England and Wales. The actual reoffending rate is the percentage of offenders who reoffended during a two-year follow-up period and who were subsequently convicted in court. The actual reoffending rate was 64.7 per cent. for custodial sentences and 50.5 per cent. for community sentences for the 2004 cohort. However, the relationship between disposal and reoffending is complex; the disposal given depends upon the characteristics of the offender, which will also affect their chances of reoffending. This is discussed further in the Statistical Bulletin which can be found at
Sexual Offences: Probation
Annette Brooke: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how much funding has been allocated to supervision of convicted sex offenders by the Probation Service for 2007-08. [140384]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The 2007-08 funding is allocated on the basis of a formula model that uses statistical data including population and sentencing data to allocate funding across the 42 Probation Boards. It is up to each Probation board to manage its resources in order to meet its objectives and targets and in order to deliver the effective management of sex offenders under statutory probation supervision.
Tasker Inquiry
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) on what date Ron Tasker interviewed (a) Michael Spurr and (b) Keith Munns as part of his investigation; what subsequent recommendations Mr. Tasker made in relation to the commissioning of the investigation and to whom; what action was taken in consequence; and if she will make a statement; [140063]
(2) pursuant to her answer of 2 May 2007, Official Report, column 1684W, on the Tasker Inquiry, who requested the change in the terms of reference in the Tasker investigation; and if she will make a statement. [140170]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not Prison Service policy to disclose details of investigation reports to third parties.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2007, Official Report, column 1684W, on the Tasker Inquiry, on what date the partial report was submitted and to whom; who requested the submission of the partial report; what the purpose was of the partial report; who was provided with access to the partial report; if she will place in the Library a copy of the partial report; and if she will make a statement. [140065]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The first chapter of the report was submitted to the current commissioning authority on 16 April 2007 to enable the commissioning authority to begin reading the background to the report. The previous commissioning authority has also been sent a copy of the first chapter of the report. It is not Prison Service policy to disclose the contents of investigation reports to third parties.
Young Offenders
Dr. Vis: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many juvenile (a) girls and (b) boys have been sentenced under sections 226 and 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003; what their tariffs are; and how many have been released. [140460]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
The following table shows the number of under-18s received into custody between April 2005 and December 2006 having been sentenced under sections 226 and 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
This includes those received into prison establishments, secure training centres and secure children's homes.
| Section 226 | Section 228 | |
| Note: Figures rounded to the nearest 10. | ||
These figures, which have been rounded, 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.
As of May 2007 no under-18s sentenced under section 226 have been released; data on tariffs and on releases of those sentenced under section 228 is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Transport
A49: Shropshire
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on maintaining and improving the A49 between Church Stretton and Shrewsbury in each year between 2001 and 2006. [140212]
Dr. Ladyman: Funding for maintenance and improvement is allocated to the Highways Agency’s managing agents who undertake works contracts over the entire length of a route within their particular geographical area of responsibility. It is not possible to break down such expenditure for the length of A49 between Church Stretton and Shrewsbury. Figures for the whole of the A49 within Shropshire are given as follows.
| Maintenance | Improvement | |
| (1) Work carried out during 2001-02 was undertaken under a previous contract with a different managing agent. The figures for that year are not available. | ||
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