| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Mar 2008 : Column 356W—continued
Offenders: Employment Schemes
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much was spent on providing employment programmes for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [196123]
(2) what funding has been allocated for the provision of employment programmes for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences for 2008-09, broken down by funding source; and if he will make a statement. [196124]
Maria Eagle: Improving the skills and employment outcomes for offenders is one of our key objectives for reducing reoffending, and our priorities for action are set out in the ‘Reducing Re-Offending through Skills and Employment: Next Steps’ plan. The Ministry of Justice works closely with the Departments for Innovation, Universities and Skills and for Work and Pensions to take this forward.
We recently published a Prison Policy Update briefing paper which set out our intention to increase the range of employment programmes available to offenders inside prison. This will be done in partnership with the private, public and voluntary sectors, which generally fund the work or training programme delivered. Individual prisons may need to cover the cost of setting up the programme, but this information is not held centrally.
Similarly, offenders in the community are given opportunities to carry out unpaid work with private, public and voluntary sector employers. Probation areas may need to cover the costs of establishing the relationships with employers, but this information is not held centrally.
In addition to these links with employers, offenders have access to DWP programmes aimed at getting disadvantaged groups into employment such as New Deal and Progress2Work. Information about these programmes is offered via Jobcentre Plus advisers, including in prisons through their employment and benefit advisers.
Offenders: Rehabilitation
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much was spent on providing resettlement programmes for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [196125]
(2) what funding has been allocated for the provision of resettlement programmes for offenders (a) in custody an d (b) serving community sentences for 2008-09, broken down by funding source; and if he will make a statement. [196126]
Maria Eagle: The funding for the delivery of providing resettlement programmes is part of establishment baselines, so it is not possible to accurately disaggregate the cost of this work. Governors and area managers may allocate funds from their budgets to support local initiatives or partnerships with outside organisations or the voluntary sector to address particular needs, but this information is not recorded centrally.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on providing drug and alcohol treatment for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [196129]
Mr. Hanson: Drug treatment funding allocated to prisons in England and Wales over the past 10 years is shown in the following table. Prison funding used specifically for alcohol treatment is not separated from overall drug treatment funding.
| Prison drug treatment( l) (£ million) | |
| (1 )This includes clinical interventions (detoxification and maintenance prescribing), CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare service), YPSMS (Young People's Substance Misuse Services) and intensive drug rehabilitation programmes. (2) Indicative. | |
Some primary care trusts supplement central allocations with some local funding for clinical services. However, this information is not recorded centrally.
Provision for the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders with drug misuse problems under the National Probation Service's supervision is primarily delivered through the Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR), which has replaced the Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO). The Ministry of Justice contributes to the Pooled Treatment Budget to pay for the treatment and testing for these orders. Probation areas are also funded to provide the supervision and enforcement of these orders. Before the introduction of the DTTO in 2000, treatment and rehabilitation for drug misusing offenders was commissioned at the local probation area level and was not recorded centrally.
Provision for the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders with alcohol misuse problems under the National Probation Service's supervision is commissioned at the local probation area level and is not recorded centrally.
A breakdown of funding for DTTOs/DRRs is shown in the following table. The treatment is commissioned locally in partnership with the drug action teams and is delivered by a range of voluntary and public sector treatment providers. We do not centrally record what proportion of each DAT’s budget is specifically spent on Drug Rehabilitation Requirements.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding has been allocated for the provision of drug and alcohol treatment for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences for 2008-09, broken down by funding source; and if he will make a statement. [196130]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows indicative funding for prison drug treatment funding for 2008-09 by source. Figures may be subject to change.
Some additional clinical drug treatment funding for prisons may be sourced locally by primary care trusts, but this information is not recorded centrally.
Funding for alcohol treatment is not separated from overall drug treatment funding.
| £ million | ||
| Drug/Alcohol Treatment Intervention | Source | Allocation 2008-09 |
| (1) Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare service. | ||
Provision for the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders with drug misuse problems under the National Probation Service's supervision is primarily delivered through the Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR), which has replaced the Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO). The Ministry of Justice expects to contribute £22 million in 2008-09 to the Pooled Treatment Budget (PTB) (in addition to a £20 million permanent transfer to the Department of Health) to pay for the treatment and testing for these orders. Probation areas are also broadly expected to spend £39 million to provide the supervision and enforcement of these orders.
For offenders who are not sentenced to a specific drug misuse requirement as part of their community order, but who want or need to access treatment, referral to community drug services/clinical treatment is carried out on a voluntary basis. Offenders will have to access local treatment services on the same basis as the rest of the population, and we do not centrally record the cost of each offender on the probation caseload who accesses treatment in this way.
Provision for the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders with alcohol misuse problems under the National Probation Service's supervision is commissioned at local probation area level and is not recorded centrally. In particular, probation areas’ ability to deliver alcohol treatment as
part of a community sentence depends largely on the nature and extent of provision commissioned by local primary care trusts (PCTs) as part of NHS provision. In addition, the Ministry of Justice will be making seed funding available to probation areas to identify, support and disseminate best practice in working with alcohol misusers, although the exact sum has yet to be finalised.
Prison Accommodation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were (a) doubling up in cells designed for one and (b) trebling up in cells designed for two on the latest date for which figures are available. [196151]
Maria Eagle: At the end of February, 19,382 prisoners were reported as being doubled up in cells certified to hold one person and 1,207 prisoners were reported as being trebled up in cells certified to hold two people.
Prison Sentences
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish the (a) original and (b) revised algorithm on the ICA1 form as referred to in Prison Service Instruction 07/2008. [196149]
Maria Eagle: The revision to the algorithm on the ICA1 form takes account of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection with short tariffs of three years and under. The revised algorithm for allocation of such prisoners means that, unless a risk assessment indicates otherwise, these prisoners will be assessed as Category C and allocated to the Category C training estate. Here they will be able to access a wider range of offending behaviour programmes. Copies of the original and revised forms will be placed in the Library.
Prisoners: Dorchester Prison
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners at HMP Dorchester (a) self-harmed, (b) committed suicide and (c) died of (i) natural and (ii) unnatural causes in each of the last 52 weeks for which figures are available. [196400]
Maria Eagle: Information about self-harm cannot be provided in the requested format. However, there have been an estimated 53 incidents of self-harm at HMP Dorchester in the last 52 weeks.
There has been one death at HMP Dorchester in the last 52 weeks and that was self-inflicted.
Prisoners: Mentally Ill
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of the prison population have been held in (a) NHS and (b) independent sector mental healthcare places in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [196068]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
The latest available statistics, as shown in the following table, show that the following numbers of prisoners were transferred from prison custody to hospital in the years between 1997 and 2006:
| Number | |
| Source: Ministry of Justice Statistical Bulletin. Statistics of Mentally Disordered Offenders 2006 England and Wales. | |
Figures are not available showing the breakdown between the national health service and the independent sector.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment the Department has made of the number and proportion of the prison population with one or more mental health condition, broken down by condition; and if he will make a statement. [196070]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
A survey, ‘Psychiatric Morbidity among Prisoners in England and Wales’ (Office for National Statistics (ONS), 1997) showed that 90 per cent. of prisoners have at least one significant mental health problem, including personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence.
Although the 1997 ONS study is now quite old, it is still regarded as an accurate reflection of the situation today.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |