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18 Dec 2008 : Column 1020W—continued
Personal Injury: Consultation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Vaizey) of 22 May 2008, Official Report, column 413W, on personal injury: compensation, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the consultation; and if he will make a statement. [241338]
Bridget Prentice: We aimed to publish a summary of responses to the consultation paper on the law of damages together with the Government's response to the consultation before the summer recess. Regrettably, we have not as yet been in a position to publish the response; however, we intend to do so as soon as possible.
Political Parties and Elections Bill
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the statement of the Minister of State of 20 October 2008, Official Report, column 120, on the Political Parties and Elections Bill, whether his Department holds a copy of the letter from the affiliated trades unions. [241928]
Mr. Wills: The letter referred to in the statement was addressed by the then chair of TULO (Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation) to the General Secretary of the Labour party. The letter is therefore held by the Labour party, although Ministers and special advisers in the Ministry of Justice have seen the letter. The Ministry of Justice does not itself hold a copy of the letter.
Prison Service: Finance
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) payee, (b) reason for each payment and (c) amount paid to each payee was out of the total of £14,564,000 of special payments by the Prison Service referred to in the Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08. [243584]
Mr. Malik: To provide the full listing requested would require a review of all the individual cases, which could be carried out only at a disproportionate cost. However information on special payments cases is kept at a summary level and this is shown in the following table.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many invoices were paid late by the Prison Service incurring interest charges amounting to the £198,000 referred to in the Prison Service’s Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08; and (a) how much each invoice was for and (b) what the reason for the late payment was in each case. [243585]
Mr. Hanson: During the period 2007-08, the Prison Service encountered a number of system failures in the processing of invoices. This resulted in peak of 58,000 remaining unpaid. Of the £198,000 paid during 2007-08, £177,000 relates to three suppliers, two of which are food suppliers. The main three are:
£117,011 for NH Case Ltd.: for the period November 2002 to March 2008 and in the main relate to invoices held due to price variations between the price at purchase and the price at the time of supply or failure to register the goods received in a timely manner;
£52,150 DBC Food Ltd.: not specifically an invoice but a late payment interest settlement figure calculated as part of a contract settlement amount when ending a contract with the Prison Service; and
£8,365 EDF Energy Ltd.: an amount agreed between the Prison Service and the supplier to cover late payments made by a number of prisons.
The remainder is made up of various other small amounts which are unable to be detailed in the time available to answer this question.
To alleviate some of the issues being experienced with supplier payments, an emergency team was formed that worked to clear all invoices in back log. The Prison Service now has invoices taking on average two days to process from receipt. A new procurement strategy will be rolled out in April 2009 which should result in an improved buying power and supplier relationship.
Prison Service: Reorganisation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made in his discussions on the Prison Service workforce modernisation proposals with the Prison Officers’ Association; when he expects those negotiations to conclude; and if he will make a statement. [243617]
Mr. Hanson: We remain in constructive negotiations with the Prison Officers’ Association and aim to conclude the formal negotiation this year.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what responses he has received to the Prison Service work force modernisation proposals from (a) the Prison Officers Association, (b) the Prison Governors Association, (c) the Prison Service Trade Union Side, (d) the Prison Service Joint Industrial Council, (e) The Royal College of Nursing and (f) other trade unions and staff associations recognised by the Prison Service. [243619]
Mr. Hanson: The National Offender Management Service is in continuing negotiations on work force modernisation with all trade unions and the Staff Association affected by the proposals.
Prisoners: Compensation
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have (a) instigated legal proceedings and (b) received compensation from (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies under the Human Rights Act 1998; and what rights were concerned in each case in which legal proceedings have been completed. [245256]
Mr. Hanson: To provide the information requested would entail significant disproportionate cost requiring detailed examination of a very large number of files.
Prisoners: Rehabilitation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which (a) prisons and (b) young offender institutions (YOIs) had courses to help prisoners with (i) alcohol and (ii) drug misuse in each year from 1997 to 2007; how many currently have such courses available; and how many people are attending such courses in each (A) prison and (B) YOI. [244341]
Mr. Hanson: The provision of drug and alcohol interventions in prisons has grown rapidly over the last 10 years. It is not possible accurately to record which establishment offered each type of drug or alcohol intervention year on year over time period requested.
NOMS has in place a comprehensive drug treatment framework, based on the National Treatment Agency's revised Models of Care, to address the different needs of drug-misusers in prison. The interventions available are designed to meet the needs of low, moderate and severe drug misusers—irrespective of age, gender or ethnicity.
The interventions are comprised of:
Clinical Services (detoxification and/or maintenance prescribing)—all prisoners have access to a range of clinical services.
CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare service)—specialist support and advice services that,
following assessment, deliver psychosocial interventions, treatment and support. All adult prisons offer CARAT services.
Drug Rehabilitation Programmes—There are 114 drug rehabilitation programmes running in 99 establishments (see Table 1).
The number of prisoners engaged in drug treatment is in Table 2..
A range of interventions are available in prisons to support those with an alcohol problem:
clinical services—alcohol detoxification is available in all local and remand prisons;
where alcohol is part of a wider substance misuse problem, the full range of drug interventions are available;
a number of prisons run alcohol awareness courses;
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) run groups in around 67 per cent. of prisons;
some offending behaviour programmes address the underlying factors which occur in alcohol related crime;
an accredited 12-step alcohol programme is being run at HMP Bullingdon;
a further four more intensive interventions Cognitive Behavioural Alcohol Programmes are being piloted at HMP Hull, Forest Bank, Glen Parva and Chelmsford;
for those prisons(ers) involved in the roll-out of the Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) a 90 minute alcohol awareness session has been developed; and
the young persons substance misuse service for 15-17 year old prisoners has a particular focus on alcohol.
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not collate figures centrally on the number of prisoners accessing services specifically aimed at their alcohol misuse.
| Table 1: Establishments delivering drug treatment programmes | |
| Establishment | Drug Treatment Programmes Delivered |
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