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3 Mar 2008 : Column 2199W—continued
Peterborough Prison: Prisoner Escapes
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have absconded from HMP Peterborough in each quarter since 1 April 2005; and if he will make a statement. [190020]
Mr. Hanson: HMP Peterborough is a closed establishment. An abscond is defined as an escape from a situation without physical security or restraint (e.g. most areas of an open prison) or from a situation in which there were no staff present specifically assigned to guard a prisoner.
No absconds have occurred since HMP Peterborough opened in March 2005. In quarter three of 2007-08, a prisoner escaped while being escorted by prison staff at a local hospital. The prisoner was recaptured the following day.
Prisoner Release: Scotland
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners released from Scottish prisons have subsequently been deported in the last year for which figures are available. [189393]
Mr. Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
The Border and Immigration Agency will seek to detain foreign national prisoners who are under consideration for deportation, or when deportation action is being pursued. Those who have committed crimes of a serious nature or may be a security threat to the Border and Immigration Agency estate remain in prisons. Others who continue to be detained pending removal are transferred to the Agency’s estate.
The chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency advised the Home Affairs Committee during her appearance on 15 January that 4,200 foreign national prisoners were deported or removed from the United Kingdom in 2007. Information specific to those who were held at Scottish prisons can be obtained through the detailed examination of individual case files only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners Transfers: Jamaica
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to lay before Parliament the agreement between the UK and Jamaica on the transfer of Jamaican prisoners; and what estimate he has made of the average cost of repatriating a Jamaican prisoner. [190324]
Mr. Straw: The United Kingdom and Jamaica signed a limited prisoner transfer agreement on 26 June 2007. This is the first prisoner transfer agreement to be entered into by the Jamaican Government, and changes must be made to Jamaican law before the agreement can enter into force. Once these changes have been made, the agreement will be laid before Parliament in the normal way.
No assessment of the average cost of repatriating a Jamaican prisoner to Jamaica has been made. However, any cost involved will be offset against savings in prison places and the cost to the prison service of the continued detention of a prisoner in the United Kingdom.
Prisoners: Per Capita Costs
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost per night of housing a prisoner is in an (a) Category A prison and (b) Category B prison. [189749]
Mr. Hanson: Cost Information is published in the Annual Report and Accounts for Public-Sector prisons.
In 2006-07, the average cost per night of housing a prisoner was £143 in dispersal prisons, which hold Category A prisoners, and £77 in Category B prisons.
Prison categorisation is based on each prison's main role.
Prisoners: Telephone Tapping
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether authorities have been issued for surveillance of telephone communication between prisoners and lawyers since 2005. [189210]
Maria Eagle: Arrangements for the interception of prisoners’ communications are set out in the prison rules. In the case of prisoners’ communications with solicitors, interception and monitoring would only be authorised when the governor had reasonable cause to believe that the calls would endanger prison security or the safety of others or were otherwise of a criminal nature. HM Prison Service does not retain central records regarding the interception of such communications, and the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prisons
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment has been made of the demographic composition of (a) the prisoner population and (b) prison officers. [187177]
Mr. Straw: The following table gives breakdowns of the prison population in England and Wales by (i) age and gender and (ii) ethnicity and gender.
| Prison population in England and Wales at 30 June 2006 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
Similar age and gender and gender and ethnicity breakdowns for staff in the public-sector Prison Service are contained in the following tables:
| Public sector Prison Service staff by gender and age—as at 31 January 2008 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| Public sector Prison Service staff by ethnicity—as at 31 January 2008 | ||
| Ethnic group | Number | Percentage of known |
The following table shows the age breakdown of prison custody officers at eight prison establishments managed by the Director of Offender Management.
| Age | Number |
There are 1,528 serving male prison custody officers and 846 serving females at these prisons.
Complete information on the ethnicity of staff at these prisons is not currently available, but a staff audit exercise is currently under way to update their equality monitoring information.
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.
Rape: Convictions
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of those charged with rape in each of the last five years in (a) Teesside and (b) Stockton were convicted; and how many of those were given (i) an immediate custodial sentence, (ii) a community sentence and (iii) an (A) conditional and (B) absolute discharge. [189334]
Maria Eagle: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty at all courts and the number sentenced to immediate custody, received community sentences, or were given conditional and absolute discharge, for rape offences in Cleveland police force area can be viewed in the following table.
Court proceedings data are not available at the detailed area level requested.
Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
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