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12 May 2008 : Column 1378W—continued
Prison Governors’ Association
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Prison Governors’ Association on the introduction of prison councils. [204286]
Mr. Hanson: The policy on prisoners’ councils is set out in PSO 4480, a copy of which I have placed in the Libraries of the House. The Prison Governors’ Association have not discussed, or requested to discuss, this issue with either the Secretary of State or Prisons Ministers. National Offender Management Service officials maintain an ongoing dialogue with PGA representatives, and are willing to discuss with the PGA any views or concerns it may have.
Prison Service: Females
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans his Department has to encourage more women to become prison governors. [204282]
Maria Eagle: Although the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not target women differentially, either in the provision of development opportunities to Prison Service employees, or in its recruitment and selection processes, it works to maximise access across all groups; and the proportion of women in the senior operational manager and operational manager grades has increased from 19.5 per cent. in April 2005 to 22.9 per cent. in April 2008. In particular, NOMS operates two fast-track schemes for direct entry into operational manager grades—the intensive development scheme and the senior prison manager programme. In the three most recent completed campaigns, 54 per cent. of SPMP recruits, and 65 per cent. of IDS recruits, have been female.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many female prison governors there are. [204283]
Maria Eagle: The numbers of in-charge governors and deputy governors in public sector prison establishments are as follows:
| In-Charge | Deputy Governors | |
The 11 contracted prison establishments (which do not use the same grading structures as the public sector service) employ four female directors (equivalent to in-charge governor) and three female deputy directors.
Prisoners
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of category C prisoners are detained in category D prisons. [204308]
Mr. Hanson: Category C prisoners are not held in category D prisons. All prisoners are assessed as to their risk of escape or abscond, which ensures allocation of prisoners to a prison providing appropriate levels of security. Only those considered suitable would be held in category D open conditions.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of the average time taken to re-categorise prisoners. [204309]
Mr. Hanson: The information required for such an assessment is not collated centrally and could be obtained only by asking every prison to review the categorisation history of a sufficiently large sample group of prisoners. This could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Further Education
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills on the impact of the churn of prisoners on further educational provision in prisons. [204288]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice are working with the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills as well as the Learning and Skills Council to minimise the effect on learning of prisoner movements between prisons. This work includes facilitating the LSCs roll-out of a learner summary record to assist with educational record availability. In addition the current offender skills and curriculum area reviews are expected to produce a consistent core to the curriculum offered wherever prisoners are held.
Prisoners: Grendon Prison
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners in (a) HMP Grendon and (b) HMP Springhill are from the Thames Valley area. [204264]
Maria Eagle: As at 31 March 2008 (the latest date for which figures are available);
(a) At HMP Grendon, 11 per cent. of the prisons’ population come from the Thames Valley area.
(b) At HMP Spring Hill, 32 per cent. of the prisons' population come from the Thames Valley area.
Prisoners: Pay
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how his Department defines purposeful activity for which prisoners are eligible for payment. [204281]
Maria Eagle: Purposeful activity is defined as undertaking work, induction, education, training or offending behaviour programmes. These are set out in Prison Service Order 4460 Prisoners’ Pay.
Prisoners: Per Capita Costs
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost to the public purse of each prisoner was in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement. [201811]
Mr. Hanson: The average resource cost per prisoner was as follows:
| £ | |
The figures include the total expenditure of HM Prison Service and also prison-related expenditure met centrally by the National Offender Management Service. From 2003-04 expenditure on prisoners' health is the responsibility of the Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly Government as appropriate and is not included. Expenditure on prisoners' education is the responsibility of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and is not included.
Prisoners: Personal Property
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice under what circumstances prisoners are allowed to retain personal items of value while in custody; and what restrictions apply in such circumstances. [204258]
Maria Eagle: Prisoners may retain a reasonable amount of their personal property with them while in custody. The amount and type of property retained is at the discretion of the governor and restrictions will apply for the maintenance of good order and security. Any property which a prisoner states to be of particular value must be recorded as such and placed in secure conditions with the prison establishment unless the governor allows the prisoner to retain it in his/her possession.
Prisoners: Rehabilitation
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the impact on the rehabilitation of prisoners of the interaction between inmates and prison staff on prison councils. [204287]
Maria Eagle: The policy on prisoners’ councils is set out in PSO 4480, a copy of which I have placed in the Library. While there has been no formal assessment of the impact of prison councils on the rehabilitation of prisoners, any engagement with prisoners is seen as constructive and enables staff to understand issues from a prisoner's perspective.
Prisoners: Release
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners released while on the waiting list for approval for day release in the last 12 months; [204279]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the average time taken for a prisoner to be approved for day release. [204310]
Mr. Hanson:
Data are not held centrally on the length of time taken to consider an application for temporary release as each application is considered on its merits. The volume of information required to
complete the necessary risk assessment will vary according to the individual circumstances of the prisoner and the type of release applied for. Likewise, data are not held centrally on the number of prisoners released from custody on completion of their sentence while waiting for an application for temporary release to be considered.
The Prisoners' Requests and Complaints procedures are available to prisoners for any complaints they may have about any aspect of prison life. Prisoners may use these procedures to make a complaint to the Governor if they consider their ROTL application has been unduly delayed.
Prisons: Carbon Emissions
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what measures are in place to ensure that prisons take steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. [203301]
Maria Eagle: The Prison Service is working with the Carbon Trust to undertake a full Carbon Management Program. They are also in the process of undertaking an energy awareness campaign across the Prison estate that is due to commence this month for all staff.
Young Offender Institutions: Drugs
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) inmates of and (b) visitors to young offender institutions were found to be in possession of illegal drugs in each year since 1997. [203897]
Mr. Hanson: The best measure of the number of inmates found in possession of illegal drugs can be drawn from the adjudications data for the offence of possession of a controlled drug. Data are not published by establishment type at this level of offence detail.
The published data are available on the Ministry of Justice website. The latest data can be found in supplementary tables 9.4M&F, 9.4M and 9.4F to the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2006. Similar tables are available for the publications covering the years 1997-2005. Before 2003, please refer to Prison Statistics, England and Wales, chapter 8.
Link to Prison Statistics, England and Wales:
The number of visitors to prisons found in possession of illegal drugs is not recorded. The number of incidents occurring in establishments that involved the arrest of a visitor and a drug being found are given in the following table:
| Financial year | Number of incidents involving visitors to YOIs being arrested and an illegal drug being found |
This has been matched by a parallel reduction in drug misuse as measured by random mandatory drug testing.
All data in this answer have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.
All data in this answer are drawn from establishments designated by the Prison Service Strategy and Performance Group as Young Offender Institutions. They exclude some establishments which are not deemed YOIs but do house young offenders. Typically these are “split” establishments which cater for both adults and young offenders. It is important to note that the number of establishments deemed to be YOIs has varied since 1996-97.
Young Offender Institutions: Mental Health Services
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) psychologists, (b) psychiatrists and (c) psychiatric nurses work in (i) privately and (ii) publicly operated youth offender institutions in England and Wales. [202725]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested for young offender institutions (YOIs) in England is not collected.
In England, a national mapping and inventory exercise of child health, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and maternity services is undertaken annually by the Department of Health and Durham University.
The next report will, for the first time, include data specific to children and young people subject to the criminal justice system. This is expected in November 2008.
Further information is available on the Child Health, CAMHS and Maternity Mapping website at:
The commissioning of secondary/tertiary care health services to YOIs based in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government/NHS Wales.
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