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21 Jun 2007 : Column 2126W—continued


Fixed Penalties: Prisoners

James Brokenshire: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2007, Official Report, column 382W, on fixed penalties: prisoners, how it was possible to provide a substantive answer to question 12643, tabled on 6 March 2007, by the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam on illegal immigrants: fixed penalties. [142186]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The substantive answer provided to question 12643, tabled on 6 March 2007, by the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Clegg) on illegal immigrants: fixed penalties, asked specifically for the number of fixed penalties issued to Romanian and Bulgarian nationals for working in breach of the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006. The information relating to the number of fixed penalty notices issued under this scheme is collated locally but not published as a national statistic. This information has not been quality assured and should be treated as provisional management information only.

The answer of 5 June 2007, Official Report, column 382W, referred to fixed penalty notices and Penalty Notices for Disorder. The offences covered in these collections are motoring, minor public disorder and environmental offences, which do not relate to immigration matters. As a result of this, data on the nationality of recipients of these disposals are not collected centrally.

Offenders

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many (a) first time offenders and (b) re-offenders were arrested and subsequently charged in (i) Bridgend constituency, (ii) the South Wales police authority area, (iii) Wales and (iv) England in each of the last five years. [144293]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is not available. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) holds an extract of data from the police national computer (PNC) which is used to provide data on proven re-offending. Because of the focus on re-offending the data held is largely for cases which resulted in a conviction or a caution, although it also includes information on cases that are still pending at the time the data is extracted from the PNC. Details of cases which on completion do not result in a caution or conviction are not held. This dataset cannot therefore be used to provide comprehensive information on arrests or charges.

The main arrests collection held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform covers persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences). It does not however include information about whether or not the offenders had previously committed offences.

Poaching: Salmon

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many convictions there were in each year from 2002 to 2006 for illegal poaching of salmon with prohibited instruments. [144103]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Offences under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act for the illegal poaching of fish with prohibited instruments do not specify the type of fish poached, and therefore data on convictions for poaching of salmon with prohibited instruments are not separately identifiable, and are therefore not available.


21 Jun 2007 : Column 2127W

Police Custody: Sussex

Nick Herbert: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) how many cells at police stations in Sussex are being used as part of Operation Safeguard; [144592]

(2) what the cost has been of the use of cells at police stations in Sussex of Operation Safeguard; [144593]

(3) how many prisoners have been held in police stations in Sussex since the latest launch of Operation Safeguard. [144594]

Mr. Hanson: Sussex police force has not committed to providing places in police cells as part of Operation Safeguard but provides ad hoc assistance when required.

No invoices have yet been paid to Sussex police.

The level of usage of Operation Safeguard within individual police force areas is held for use as management information only.

Prisoners: Young Offender Institutions

Mr. Vara: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the average population was in young offender institutions in each year since 1997. [144145]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The average population in young offender institutions in England and Wales in each year from 1997 to 2005 is shown in the following table.

Population in young offender institutions
Number

1997

7,834

1998

8,505

1999

8,344

2000

8,439

2001

8,565

2002

8,779

2003

8,424

2004

8,294

2005

8,243


The figures were taken from web table 8.10 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin: Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2005. This can be found at:

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.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many incidents of (a) self-harm, (b) prisoner-on-prisoner violence, (c) prisoner-on-officer violence and (d) officer-on-prisoner violence were recorded in each prison in each of the last five years. [142708]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.


21 Jun 2007 : Column 2128W

Prisons: Drugs

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how much and what proportion of the prison service budget was spent on drug rehabilitation programmes inside prisons in the last 12 months, broken down by treatment methods and programmes. [142720]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Out of a total £2.83 billion allocated to run prisons during 2006-07 (excluding healthcare and education funding), £77.3 million was provided for custodial drug treatment. This equates to 2.73 per cent. of the total allocation.

The funding breakdown is given in the following table:

Intervention Allocation 2006-07 (£ million) Proportion of total prison spend (percentage)

Clinical services

23.3

0.82

CARATS

31.7

1.12

Drug rehabilitation programmes

19.4

0.69

Juvenile substance misuse programmes

2.9

0.10

Total

77.3

2.73


Prison Drug Treatment

Around 55 per cent. of those received into custody are problem drug-users (PDUs)—with some local prisons reporting up to 80 per cent. testing positive for Class A drugs on reception. This means around 70,000 PDUs enter custody each year—with 40,000 being present at any one time.

Addressing drug-misuse is a priority for the MoJ—and NOMS has in place a comprehensive drug strategy, the three key elements of which focus on: (i) supply reduction, (ii) demand reduction (through effective treatment) and (iii) building effective through-care arrangements (particularly through prisons' engagement in the HO-led drug interventions programme (DIP)) so timely continuity of treatment can be maintained as PDUs move respectively between custody and the community.

Drug ‘treatment’ in custody goes much wider than the 116 drug rehabilitation programmes running across the estate and includes: (i) clinical services (maintenance-prescribing and/or detoxification programmes) that are available in all local and remand prisons; and (ii) CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Through-care services) that are provided in all prisons.

Spending on prisons

The total spending on prisons in 2006-07 was £2.83 billion. This figure is a provisional outturn and subject to audit. It includes HMPS, private prisons, and prison related-services managed in NOMS HQ. It does not include expenditure on education or health met by the DFES or DoH.

Spending on Prisons has increased in real terms by 36 per cent. since 1996-97 (to 2006-07). Real terms means adjusted for inflation to 2005-06 levels using the Treasury deflator.


21 Jun 2007 : Column 2129W

For the purpose of this PQ, the total £2.83 billion figure cited for running prisons has been based on the funding allocated to run prisons operationally—primarily on security, safety, decency and health, maintaining their fabric and providing prison officers to deliver/oversee services for prisoners.

Prison drug treatment funding.

While it is true that the level of funding allocated to drug treatment is only a small proportion of the overall prisons budget, this needs to be seen in context. A significant proportion of the prisons budget is spent on infrastructure and staffing—essential to keep prisons safe and to protect the public. It is however, better to compare expenditure on drug treatment against actual treatment need. With funding levels up 997 per cent. since 1996-97 and overall numbers engaged in prison treatment increasing year on year, prisons are doing much to close the treatment gap. The calculations are based on additional drug treatment funding allocated as a result of successive spending reviews. The figure approximates to £7 million but it is not possible to breakdown between various treatment types. The pre-CSR baseline has therefore been excluded from the calculations.

Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS)

The integrated drug treatment system (IDTS) is designed to boost the quality and increase the volume of drug treatment with a particular focus on drug users during their first 28 days in custody. By March 2008 full IDTS (enhanced clinical services and psychosocial support i.e. CARATS) will be available in 17 prisons; additionally enhanced clinical services will also be available in a further 35 establishments. Collectively, NOMS/DH funding for delivery of IDTS during 2007-08 stands at £18.7 million. This is expected to see around 24,500 drug users benefiting annually from enhanced clinical services.

So far as IDTS is concerned, the Department of Health and NOMS have had to make challenging decisions in reviewing the totality of budgets in recent years. Current levels of funding are down significantly on planned expenditure.

Treatment gap

More work is needed to identify the gaps in treatment provision. Historically, local assessment and epidemiological studies have informed treatment delivery across the prison estate. Work is already underway on a needs analysis model but, ahead of its data being available later this year, NOMS already anticipates there being a significant treatment gap. For example, to identify offenders’ drug needs effectively, the CARAT service would need to undertake substance-misuse triage assessments for up to 80 per cent. of the annual prison through-put; based on 136,000 offenders passing through custody, this would be around 108,000 offenders. As currently resourced,
21 Jun 2007 : Column 2130W
CARAT teams only deliver around 75,000 assessments—a potential shortfall of 33,000.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Nick Herbert: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (1) what discussions her Department has had with the Prison Service on the possibility of easing prison overcrowding by transferring prisoners serving sentences in closed prisons to (a) open prisons and (b) Ford Open Prison; [144590]

(2) what plans there are to relieve overcrowding in closed prisons by transferring prisoners to (a) open prisons and (b) Ford Open Prison. [144591]

Mr. Hanson: The Prison Service has already implemented measures designed to maximise the use of the whole prison estate. This includes the transfer of prisoners sentenced to less than 12 months in custody to an open prison (including to HMP Ford) for the final 56 days of their sentence. Each individual is subject to a streamlined risk assessment in order to determine whether they are suitable for transfer.

Probation: Manpower

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what her most recent estimate is of the number of (a) probation officer and (b) probation service officer vacancies in each probation area in England and Wales. [140427]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Not all Probation Areas in the National Probation Service operate a set establishment against which vacant posts can be measured. As a more representative alternative, Probation Areas are required to report regularly on the number of active vacancies they have. An active vacancy is one which a Probation Area is actively trying to fill through a recruitment process.

Figures for 31 December 2006 show that there were a total of 8343.64 full-time equivalent Probation Officers in post in England and Wales. On the same date there were 70.27 full-time equivalent vacancies that were actively being recruited to. Therefore active vacancies accounted for 0.84 per cent. of the total posts available at that time.

Additionally, the National Probation Service employs 6,502.74 full-time equivalent probation service officers, who also deliver front-line services to offenders. At this time, there were 203.00 full-time equivalent vacancies, equating to 3.03 per cent. of the total posts available.

The figures presented in the following table show active vacancies for each Area, in terms of full-time equivalent value, for the Probation Officer and Probation Service Officer grades at the close of Quarter 3 06/07 (1 October to 31 December 2006).


21 Jun 2007 : Column 2131W

21 Jun 2007 : Column 2132W
Probation officer and probation service officers vacancies (as at 31 December 2006)
All vacancies Probation officer vacancies Probation services officer vacancies
Area Total Total vacancies Vacancies (as a percentage of total vacancies) Vacancies (as a percentage of total posts( 1) ) Total vacancies Vacancies (as a percentage of total vacancies) Vacancies (as a percentage of total posts( 1) )

Avon and Somerset

7.90

3.00

37.97

1.38

0.00

0.00

0.00

Bedfordshire

1.40

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Cambridgeshire

4.00

1.00

25.00

0.99

0.00

0.00

0.00

Cheshire

15.74

3.00

19.06

2.08

9.44

59.97

7.24

Cumbria

5.96

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Derbyshire

4.60

0.60

13.04

0.45

2.00

43.48

187

Devon and Cornwall

15.68

3.60

22.96

1.71

3.41

21.75

2.26

Dorset

8.40

1.30

15.48

1.53

4.80

57. 14

6.25

Durham

1.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Dyfed Powys

4.39

1.70

38.72

2.52

0.69

15. 72

1.31

Essex

5.10

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.10

41.18

1.20

Gloucestershire

6.00

2.00

33.33

2.91

3.00

50.00

5.76

Greater Manchester(2)

n/a

n/a

Gwent

2.10

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.00

47.62

1.01

Hampshire(2)

n/a

n/a

Hertfordshire

3.50

3.00

85.71

3.34

0.50

14.29

0.59

Humberside

28.10

5.60

19.93

2.84

12.10

43.06

7.45

Kent

12.72

4.00

31.45

1.99

3.00

23.58

1.78

Lancashire

1.50

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Leicestershire

13.00

1.10

8.46

0.66

11,40

87.69

5.60

Lincolnshire

4.50

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.50

77.78

4.75

London

104.00

13.00

12.50

1.18

84.00

80.77

7.87

Merseyside

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0,00

0.00

0.00

Norfolk

6.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

3.00

50.00

2.08

North Wales

3.00

0,00

0.00

0.00

3.00

100.00

3.65

North Yorkshire

4.10

0,00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Northamptonshire

16.85

8.00

47.48

7.01

2.00

11.87

2.69

Northumbria

11.21

2.00

17.84

0.70

3.00

26.76

1.60

Nottinghamshire

8.50

0.00

0.00

0.00

6.00

70.59

2.93

South Wales

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

South Yorkshire

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Staffordshire

2.50

2.50

100.00

1.40

0.00

0.00

0.00

Suffolk

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Surrey

18.87

3.27

1733

3.87

9.00

47.69

8.00

Sussex

4.00

2.00

50.00

1.07

1.00

25.00

0.76

Teesside

11.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

10.00

90.91

9.31

Thames Valley

23.50

4.00

17.02

1.68

13.50

57.45

5.34

Warwickshire

11.16

1.00

8.96

1.59

5.66

50. 72

11.26

West Mercia

8.76

1.00

11.42

0.63

3.00

34.25

265

West Midlands(2)

n/a

n/a

West Yorkshire

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Wiltshire

10.70

3.60

33.64

4.55

2.90

27. 10

5.48

NPS

389.74

70.27

18.03

0.84

203.00

52.09

3.03

(1) Total PO and PSO posts are ‘staff in post’ plus the number of active vacancies.
(2) Hampshire, Greater Manchester and West Midlands Probation Areas are unable to provide data on active vacancies.

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