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8 Oct 2007 : Column 199W—continued
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of spare capacity in the prison system; what plans he has to build new prisons; and if he will make a statement. [156213]
Mr. Hanson: The Government will ensure that there are sufficient prison places for those serious and dangerous offenders who ought to be in prison. The National Offender Management Service continues to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity. A programme to deliver 8,000 new prison places by 2012 was announced in July 2006, to be provided both in new prisons and by expansion at existing prisons.
A further 1,500 places were announced on 19 June 2007. Work started immediately on 500 of the extra places, the first of which will come into use in January 2008. The composition of the further 1,000 places will be decided in the light of Lord Carter’s forthcoming report into the long-term future of the prison estate and the supply and demand of prison places.
The National Offender Management Service is closely monitoring the prison population and spare capacity in the system.
We are reviewing the basis by which the current spare capacity is calculated and will make a further statement shortly.
Prison Accommodation: Cardiff
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times facilities in Cardiff court buildings have been used to house prisoners overnight in each month in 2007; and if he will make a statement. [156287]
Mr. Hanson: Prisoners were held overnight in court cells in Cardiff on 11-12 June 2007. This is the only occasion on which prisoners were held overnight in court cells in Wales during 2007.
Prison Service: Pay
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions the Deputy Director General of HM Prison Service recommended a member of staff to receive required hours allowance in each of the years that he occupied the role of (a) Deputy Director General and (b) Director of Operations; what reasons were provided for receipt of the allowance in each case; and if he will make a statement. [153680]
Maria Eagle: The Director of Operations recommended that one member of his staff be paid required hours allowance. This was to reflect the individual's role as a duty officer in support of the Incident Command Suite and was in line with arrangements for other duty officers. There have been no other recommendations made during his tenure as Director of Operations or Deputy Director General.
Prison Service: Public Appointments
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many promotion and selection boards the Deputy Director General of HM Prison Service sat in each of the years that he occupied the role of (a) Deputy Director General and (b) Director of Operations; and if he will make a statement. [153675]
Maria Eagle: The current Deputy Director General sat on the following boards as Director of Operations:
| Board | |
On the following board commenced as Director of Operations and concluded as Deputy Director Genera (DDG):
16 November 2006/6 December 2006—Yorkshire Area Manager post
On the following board as DDG:
6 March 2007—Head of Women and Young Peoples Group
9 May 2007—HR Director post
Prisoners Release: Housing
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of prisoners discharged at the end of their sentence (a) went into temporary accommodation and (b) were of no fixed abode in the most recent period for which figures are available. [156293]
Mr. Hanson: Data are currently collected on the percentage of prisoners who move on to settled accommodation on discharge from custody. Details of those in temporary or of no fixed abode are not collected. Between 1 April and 31 July 2007, 80.2 per cent. of discharged prisoners moved to settled accommodation.
Prisoners Release: Reoffenders
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the proportion of convicted criminals released through the early release scheme who go on to re-offend; what plans he has to review the operation of the early release scheme; and if he will make a statement. [156212]
Maria Eagle: The number of prisoners released under End of Custody Licence (ECL) conditions who have subsequently been recalled to prison for alleged re-offending in August is 30. This is based on those notifications to the National Offender Management Service received by the end of 21 September. The number of releases on ECL in August was 2,493.
These figures were published on the Ministry of Justice website on 28 September 2007.
ECL was introduced as a temporary measure and we will keep under review the length of time it will remain in use in the light of new prison capacity coming on stream and the review by Lord Carter. So far the data collected about ECL indicate that the scheme is working well.
Prisoners: Death
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 19 July 2007, Official Report, columns 577-83W, how many of the deaths in prisons since 1997 took place in prisons that were classified as overcrowded; what assessment he has made of the effects of overcrowding on the number of deaths in prison; and if he will make a statement. [154154]
Bridget Prentice: The precise impact on prisoners of increased prison populations and their overcrowding, alongside other factors, is unclear. Cell-sharing can be a protective factor and overcrowding itself does not explain why there are self-inflicted deaths in prisons. Most significantly, a high proportion of prisoners arrive in prison with risk factors that we know increase the risk of them harming themselves, such as substance withdrawal, uncertainty and anxiety about their own cases, the impact of and adjustment to imprisonment, family concerns, a history of previous abuse or self-harm, and mental health issues.
However, managing very high numbers of prisoners can hinder efforts to reduce prisoner suicide rates. For example, by causing an increase in transfers between prisons, some prisoners being located further from home and family support, a possible reduction in the time staff can spend with individual prisoners on care and risk assessment, and an increase in the length of time prisoners are locked in their cells, rather than engaged in regime activities, association and other purposeful activity.
Prisoners: Drugs
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners received regular methadone in the last 12 months; [156532]
(2) how many prisoners received prescribed Bupranorhine in the last 12 months; [156533]
(3) how many prisoners received prescribed Natraxone in the last 12 months. [156534]
Mr. Hanson: This information is not held centrally in the form requested.
Since April 2007, the Department has collected information on regular opioid prescriptions. These will predominately be methadone treatments, but may also include Buprenorphine. Prisons reported 4,458 such treatments from April to July 2007.
Prisoners: Mental Health Services
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what assessment he has made of the prevalence of mental health problems amongst prisoners aged 60 years and over; [155616]
(2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of provision of health services in prisons for older prisoners; [155618]
(3) what assessment he has made of the health of older prisoners compared with (a) older people in general and (b) younger prisoners. [155619]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is not held centrally.
A thematic review by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, ‘No problems—Old and quiet: Older prisoners in England and Wales’ (2004), examined the health care services available to older prisoners. It found that 85 per cent. of older male prisoners had one or more major illnesses documented in their medical records, and 83 per cent. reported at least one chronic condition. The most common documented illnesses were mental health issues and cardiovascular, musculo-skeletal and respiratory conditions.
A copy is available in the Library and on the Home Office website at:
The Department of Health will publish ‘Pathways to Care for Older Offenders: A Toolkit for Good Practice’ shortly. This good practice toolkit will help enable prison healthcare staff to develop services, backed by a formal, routine assessment process, that meet the health and social care needs of older offenders both during their stay in prison and following release back into the community. A copy will be placed in the Library.
Prisoners: Transport
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoner journeys in the south-west in relation to each prison were made by taxi or other private hire vehicle; and at what cost in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; [154597]
(2) how much each prison in the south-west region spent on privately contracted transportation in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; and what proportion of this cost was represented by taxi or private hire journeys. [154598]
Maria Eagle: Accurate information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would require a search through a very large number of invoices, and interrogation of a number of accounting codes.
Prisons: Elderly
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements he makes for the provision of healthcare services in prisons to take account of the particular needs of older prisoners. [155615]
Mr. Hanson: Since April 2006, commissioning responsibility for prison health services has been fully devolved to the national health service.
Primary care trusts work with prisons to assess the health care needs of their population, whatever their age, and develop services to meet those needs. Local partnership boards ensure that these are of an equivalent quality and range to that which the general public receives from the NHS.
Services for older prisoners should be made on the basis of the NHS National Service Framework for Older People—issued to all prisons under cover of a Prison Service Instruction in 2001. This requires staff to deliver comprehensive and well co-ordinated packages of care that meet the needs of older prisoners and ensure continuity of care for them on release.
An older prisoners action group has recently been established as part of the Care Services Improvement Partnerships health and social care in criminal justice programme. This will work to address the specific health and social care service inequalities for older offenders, including establishing national access protocols to services based on a common assessment of need.
Prisons: Overcrowding
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the impact of prison overcrowding on the number of (a) prisoner suicides and self-inflicted injuries, (b) prisoner-on-prisoner and prisoner-on-prison officer assaults and (c) re-offending rates. [153917]
Bridget Prentice:
The precise impact on prisoners of increased prison populations and their overcrowding, alongside other factors, is unclear. Cell-sharing can be a protective factor and overcrowding itself does not explain why there are self-inflicted deaths in prisons. Most significantly, a high proportion of prisoners
arrive in prison with risk factors that we know increase the risk of them harming themselves, such as substance withdrawal, uncertainty and anxiety about their own cases, the impact of and adjustment to imprisonment, family concerns, a history of previous abuse or self-harm, and mental health issues.
However, managing very high numbers of prisoners can hinder efforts to reduce prisoner suicide rates. For example, by causing an increase in transfers between prisons, some prisoners being located further from home and family support, a possible reduction in the time staff can spend with individual prisoners on care and risk assessment, and an increase in the length of time prisoners are locked in their cells, rather than engaged in regime activities, association and other purposeful activity.
Similarly, there is no clear link between higher population levels and violence. For example, analysis of young offenders statistics, a prisoner group that can be associated with higher assault rates, has not been able to show any such link.
In respect of re-offending rates, the National Offender Management Service has not established a correlation between overcrowding and re-offending. Prison Service monitoring of the delivery of offending behaviour programmes has shown that less than 1 per cent. of those who started offending behaviour programmes in 2006-07 failed to complete them because of transfer, possibly indicating any increased prisoner transfers due to population levels or other factors are not hindering completion of offending behaviour programmes.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the self-inflicted deaths in prisons in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007 to date occurred inside prisons that were classified as overcrowded. [154278]
Bridget Prentice: The information requested is provided in the following table.
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