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24 Nov 2008 : Column 869W—continued
Prisoners: Employment
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with which businesses HMP Coldingley has contracts for work for prisoners; and what the (a) value of, (b) nature of work specified under and (c) payment to prisoners specified under each contract is. [237294]
Mr. Hanson: A number of external customers have placed business with HM Prison Coldingley since April 2008: These are summarised in the following table. Contracts are restricted—commercial, and to release the names of customers may prejudice our continued and future trading relationship. The work areas also undertake production for the internal market providing employment for prisoners and helping to reduce the cost of imprisonment.
Prison Service Order 4460, a copy of which has been placed in the House Library, sets out minimum rates of pay for prisoners who participate in purposeful activity. The order requires governors and directors of contracted prisons to devise local pay schemes that reflect regime priorities of their establishment.
In addition prisoners are employed in a number of other activities, including information and communication technology, kitchen, cleaning (including accredited training), learning and skills, physical education, land-based activities, recycling and other regime places that provide opportunities to learn new skills and accredited learning. The prison also has a partnership agreement with the Howard League who run a small design shop in the prison. We are not aware of the contract details this workshop has with customers.
| HMP Coldingley external/commercial sales for the period 1 April 2008 to 18 November 2008( 1) | ||
| Nature of work | Number of external customers | Approx. external sales value (£000) |
| (1) As recorded on the Prison Service Phoenix Finance system. | ||
Prisoners: Ex-servicemen
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many ex-service personnel there were in prison who had (a) post-combat stress, (b) alcoholism and (c) substance abuse problems in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002, (iii) 2003, (iv) 2004, (v) 2005, (vi) 2006 and (vii) 2007; and if he will make a statement. [237283]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is not available. Although data from nationally representative surveys of some 2,000 sentenced prisoners near release conducted in 2001, 2003 and 2004 showed the proportion of prisoners who had previously served in the armed forces in those years as 6 per cent., 4 per cent., and 5 per cent. respectively, no research was done on the particular problems raised in the question.
We are currently working with the Ministry of Defence to help better identify the number of veterans currently serving prison sentences. Part of the process is likely to involve surveying a proportion of the prison population.
Prisoners: Females
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what offences for women from Wales who were held in prison on 1 April (a) 2008, (b) 2007, (c) 2006, (d) 2005 and (e) 2004 were imprisoned. [237691]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of women who were tried in courts in Wales and detained in prison establishments in England and Wales under custodial sentence as at 31 March each year 2004-08 by offence group.
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
These figures are based on the court from which the prisoner was received.
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.
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the women from Wales who were held in prison on 1 April (a) 2008, (b) 2007, (c) 2006, (d) 2005 and (e) 2004 were held on remand. [237692]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of women prisoners held on remand by a court in Wales at 31 March in each year from 2004 to 2008.
| Females as at 31 March | Number |
These figures are based on the court from which the prisoner was received.
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.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign prisoners were held at (a) HMP Peterborough, (b) HMP Whitemoor and (c) HMP Littlehey on 31 October (i) 2006, (ii) 2007 and (iii) 2008; and if he will make a statement. [237855]
Mr. Hanson: Information on the number of foreign national prisoners in each prison establishment in England and Wales is published quarterly on the Ministry of Justice website at
The following table shows the number of foreign national prisoners held in the three requested establishments as at 30 September in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
| September 2006 | September 2007 | September 2008 | |
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.
Prisoners: Mentally Ill
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of the number of prisoners with severe psychiatric disorders. [237176]
Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
No recent assessment has been made. In 1997, the Office for National Statistics survey indicated that as many as 58 per cent. of male and 75 per cent. of female remand prisoners, and 39 per cent. of male and 62 per cent. of female sentenced prisoners met criteria for a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression. Rates of psychotic illness were also higher than in the general population.
Prisoners: Mothers
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many mothers held in prison had their babies with them on 1 April (a) 2008, (b) 2007, (c) 2006, (d) 2005 and (e) 2004. [237688]
Mr. Hanson: The numbers of mothers held in prison who had their babies with them from 1 April 2004 to 1 April 2008, are as follows:
| As at 1 April: | Number |
Where a custodial sentence has been given, specific provision is made for those women who are pregnant or have babies with them in prison.
Prisoners: Voting Rights
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what steps he plans to take to give effect in UK law to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Kirit v. the UK; [236965]
(2) when he plans to publish the results of his Department's March 2007 consultation on the voting rights of sentenced prisoners; [236966]
(3) what recent assessments his Department has carried out on the effect of extending the franchise to sentenced prisoners; [236968]
(4) what consultations his Department has undertaken with prison governors on the effect of extending the franchise to sentenced prisoners; [236969]
(5) what information his Department has collected for comparative purposes on the voting rights of convicted prisoners in other states party to the European Convention on Human Rights. [236970]
Mr. Wills: I have been advised that in the first question the hon. Gentleman is referring to the European Court of Human Rights' judgment in the case of Hirst v. UK, rather than Kirit v. UK as the question has been typed.
In response to that judgment, we announced we would undertake a two-stage public consultation, the first stage of which concluded in March 2007. The Government have been studying its findings carefully and are mindful of the implications that any course of action may have with reference to the rights and responsibilities of all its citizens. This is a sensitive and complex issue, involving not only human rights considerations with regard to offenders, but also the victims of crime and public confidence in the criminal justice system overall.
The Government intend to publish the results of the first stage of the consultation on prisoners' voting rights in tandem with the launching of the second stage consultation paper. I can confirm that the Government remain committed to carrying out this second, more detailed public consultation, to which people holding all shades of opinion, including those who work with offenders on a professional basis, are invited to respond.
Following the closure of this stage, the Government will make their final recommendations that will be reflected in legislation.
As part of consideration as to the options bringing into effect the judgment there has been consideration of the effect of extending the franchise to sentenced prisoners. This will form part of the second stage consultation paper.
Similarly in looking to understand the impact of implementing the judgment on the Prison Service, operational aspects of prisoner enfranchisement have been the subject of discussions with the Prison Service and the Prison Governors' Association responded to the first stage consultation paper. We will ensure that the Prison Governors' Association will be engaged, along with other relevant bodies, when the second stage consultation paper is launched.
In respect of comparative studies of policies within states party to the ECHR, the first stage consultation paper acknowledged that out of the 41 Council of Europe countries, 18 states allow prisoners to vote without any restriction whereas 13, including the UK, do not. Among the remainder, enfranchisement of prisoners varies depending the nature of offence committed by, or length of the sentence imposed on, prisoners, while in some countries the decision as to whether an individual prisoner is permitted to vote remains at the discretion of the sentencing court. Whatever policy is pursued by other states, Government have a duty to select the right course for the United Kingdom.
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Human Rights Act 1998 to provide for a universal franchise. [236967]
Mr. Wills: The Human Rights Act 1998 contains the right (set out in Article 3 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights) to free elections by secret ballot to ensure the free expression of the people in the choice of the legislature. The Government have no plans to amend the Act in respect of free elections.
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