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29 Jan 2008 : Column 314W—continued
Maria Eagle: Prison Service Order 3601 requires area managers and governing governors to (a) assess the risks to their employees health from stress and psychological hazards, (b) implement procedures for managing those risks, and (c) provide support for staff suffering from stress or psychological harm as a result of their work.
A range of services is already in place within prisons to support staff affected by stress, depression or anxiety related illnesses. These include services accessible through staff care and welfare and support provided locally by care teams.
A member of the Whitemoor staff care team is always available to offer assistance and support to staff. Additionally arrangements are available under contract for staff to receive personal support and telephone counselling should there be a need. Where it is considered parts of the prison might be likely to generate particular stress, group peer support supervision sessions are arranged in addition to psychology staff being available to offer advice and support to staff.
An Occupational Health Adviser has been appointed by Whitemoor to provide a range of interventions and advice in relation to stress and health issues.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) mobile telephones and (b) drugs have been recovered at HM Prison Whitemoor in each of the last 12 months; what assessment he has made of the contribution to contraband detection at the establishment through (i) dedicated search teams, (ii) prison dogs, (iii) the prison's correspondence office, (iv) wing staff and (v) security intelligence reports; and if he will make a statement. [182153]
Maria Eagle: For each month between January 2007 and December 2007, the number of mobile telephones and drugs recovered was:
| Number | ||
| 2007 | Mobile telephones | Drugs |
There has been no individual assessment of the contribution each part of the prison plays in the detection of unauthorised items coming into or found within the prison, since in many cases it is the cooperation of all staff that permits the discovery of illicit material. It is not Prison Service policy to comment on the specific measures each establishment is taking to prevent contraband from coming into the establishment. Whitemoor deploys a wide variety of resources to do so.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the levels of staff morale at HM Prison Whitemoor in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [182154]
Maria Eagle: Aspects of staff morale are assessed in the annual Prison Service staff opinion survey. The following table shows results for HM Prison Whitemoor from 2002 to 2006, the most recent five years of published figures. The numbers in the table are the percentage of staff responding to the survey who agreed with statements about job satisfaction and pride in working for the Prison Service.
| Results for Whitemoor Prison from the annual staff surveys: Percentage of responders agreeing to statements | ||
| Overall I am satisfied with the job I do | I am proud to work for the Prison Service | |
| (1) Not included in survey sample. | ||
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether there has been an investigation of all those with management responsibility at HM Prison Whitemoor; and if he will make a statement. [182403]
Maria Eagle: No. Investigations do however take place into the actions of staff, including individual managers, where specific complaints or concerns about their conduct have been raised.
Young Offenders
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average age was of (a) juvenile and (b) young offenders in secure accommodation in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [182637]
Mr. Hanson: The average age of juveniles (those aged between 15 and 17) detained within prison establishments in England and Wales as at 30 June was 16.5 in each year between 2002, the earliest year for which this information is available, and 2007; the average age of young adults(1) was 19.3 in each year since 2002.
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.
(1) Young adults are those aged 18-20 and those 21-year-olds who were aged 20 or under at conviction who have not been reclassified as part of the adult population.
International Development
African Union: Overseas Aid
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the UK's financial contribution to the African Union is in 2007-08; what this contribution has been used to fund; and what plans the Government have to provide funding for these budget lines in 2008-09. [181735]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: DFID has provided £20,000 in 2007-08 to the African Union Commission (AUC) to support the upgrade of its procurement manual to international standards.
DFID has approved £500,000 over two years towards the African Union Commission's Institutional Transformation programme. The first instalment (£125,000) was due in 2007-08; however, the AUC are still to agree to the DFID funding arrangement.
The Africa Conflict Prevention programme has allocated £1 million for the African Union Peace and Security Department for 2007-08 and has allocated £1.25 million for 2008-09.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the Commission for Africa Report recommendation that donors agree to fund at least 50 per cent. of the African Union's (AU's) Peace Fund from 2005 onwards has been implemented; what representations he has made to international donors to encourage further funding for the AU's Peace Fund; and if he will make a statement. [181737]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The UK supported the Commission for Africa's recommendation that at least 50 per cent. of the African Union Peace Fund should be supported by donors. A payment of £5.5 million was made in 2006 through the Africa Peace Fund for the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS). However, as both the scale of AU peacekeeping operations increased, and donors increased their support, other funding channels have been developed with the AU, including further contributions for peacekeeping operations in Somalia and Sudan. This provides greater operational effectiveness and accountability for donor funds, and means that less use of the Peace Fund is likely to be made in future.
The UK continues to work with other donors in the EU and at the UN to find a mechanism that ensures predictable financing for AU peace work, while providing appropriate levels of accountability.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the UK has provided by voluntary contribution to the African Union Peace Fund since 2005. [181738]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: In 2006, the UK provided a contribution of £5.5 million through the AU Peace Fund to cover the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) running costs for the period 15 November 2005 to 31 March 2006. Since then, and in common with other donors, UK support has been via separate financing arrangements rather than the AU Peace Fund. For example, the UK provided at least £31.5 million for AMIS, through specific AU bank accounts set up for this purpose, to enhance operational effectiveness and accountability for the fund.
Bangladesh: Prices
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact of rising commodity prices on living standards in Bangladesh. [182105]
Mr. Malik: Economic growth in Bangladesh has been positive since 1976, increasing from 2.2 per cent. in the turbulent 1970s to 5.7 per cent. between 2000 and 2006. This is a major achievement for a country frequently suffering from natural and political shocks. However, the rising prices of commodities are a real concern for the people and government of Bangladesh. Government spending is high on subsidies for fuel, fertiliser, utilities and basic foods to ensure people can still purchase these products. However, this puts further pressure on Bangladesh's fiscal deficit. The dramatically rising rice prices are having a negative impact on the living standards of the poor in particular. These price rises are not only due to international price increases, but have also been exacerbated by other factors such as rising overall inflation, and reduced domestic agricultural production due to the floods in August and the cyclone in November 2007.
The UK Government are monitoring the situation closely. During my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's visit to Bangladesh in December, he personally met with the Bangladesh Finance Adviser where he discussed the issue of rising prices and the immense challenge this is for Bangladesh. While our development programme is providing some assistance to counteract the impact of rising food prices through our ongoing programmes and some additional short-term measures in response to cyclone SIDR, it remains the government of Bangladesh's responsibility to tackle this challenge, beginning with the issue of rising inflation.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he has taken to reduce his Department's carbon dioxide emissions in 2008-09. [181814]
Mr. Malik: DFID has recently taken various steps to further reduce future carbon emissions including:
all UK sites are covered by Environment Management Systems;
we have signed up to the Carbon Trust Energy Efficiency Programme;
we have installed sub-metering and natural ventilation to our IT server rooms;
we regularly have awareness-raising campaigns for staff;
we have achieved accreditation to the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme;
during 2008-2009 we are finalising feasibility studies into renewable technologies in our Scottish office site including a wind turbine and biomass boiler;
conducted investigations of the possibility of further efficiency measures such as tri-generation at our London office;
implemented internal targets to reduce air miles flown by 5 per cent. per year.
Departmental Consultants
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what consultancy contracts his Department issued in each year since 2005; what the (a) value, (b) purpose and (c) contractor was in each case; and whether the consultant's report is publicly available in each case. [181882]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: DFID's website:
provides the requested information on consultancy contracts awarded during the period January 2005 to November 2007. This does not include low-value contracts issued by DFID’s overseas offices. To produce a separate list of these would incur a disproportionate cost.
Due to the development nature of DFID projects, the related contracts tend to be longer term in duration with a range of reports being produced by the consultant at key review points of the project. These reports are normally available to the public on request, but may be subject to legitimate restrictions to take account of the requirements of the Data Protection Act, exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act and contractual terms and conditions in relation to intellectual property rights.
Departmental Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire's letter, dated 9th November 2007, on funding to the World Bank. [179002]
Mr. Douglas Alexander [holding answer 14 January 2008]: A reply to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire's letter of 9 November 2007 has been issued.
Departmental E-mail
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will take steps to reduce the number of hard copies of e-mails printed by officials in his Department. [179465]
Mr. Malik: The Department for International Development has already taken various steps to reduce waste arisings, including waste from paper, and has met the Government target to reduce waste by 5 per cent. by 2010, relative to 2004-05 levels. For instance, DFID regularly takes action to raise staff awareness on minimising waste, including paper, through notices on our internal intranet and poster campaigns. In 2005 we introduced an Electronic Document and Records Management Database, and the training on the system actively promotes retaining only key e-mails electronically. During a recent IT upgrade DFID reduced the number of printers by over 30 per cent.
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