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20 Jan 2009 : Column 1338W—continued
Euthanasia: Research
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will commission research on the legal implications of euthanasia. [247972]
Mr. Straw: We have no plans to commission any such research. The legal position on euthanasia is clear. It is unlawful in this country and anyone alleged to have undertaken it would be open to a charge of murder or manslaughter.
Family Courts
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to allow second opinions in the Family Division without the permission of a judge. [248564]
Bridget Prentice: There are currently no plans to make legislative changes to allow a party to obtain a second opinion of a medical expert for use in a family case without the court’s permission.
Life Imprisonment: Prisoners Release
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2008, Official Report, column 1018W, on life imprisonment: prisoners release, what period each of the 304 prisoners served in custody before release. [248005]
Mr. Hanson: To provide the information requested will require manual checking of two data bases to ensure a fully accurate reply. This information should be available within two weeks. When the information the Member has requested is available, I will write to him, and a copy will placed in the Library of both Houses.
Prison Officers: Manpower
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers are employed by the Prison Service in England and Wales. [247724]
Mr. Hanson: There are 28,608 officers currently employed in the Prison Service in England and Wales. This figure covers all officer grades across both the public and private sector prisons.
Prison Sentences
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders have been given an indeterminate sentence for public protection in each year since the sentence was introduced. [247926]
Mr. Hanson: The numbers of receptions into the prison estate in England and Wales in each year since 2005 can be found in the following table.
| Indeterminate sentences for public protection | |
| Note: Indeterminate sentence for public protection came into effect on 5 April 2005. | |
This information is taken from table 6.17 of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics, 2007, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library and which can also be found at the following weblink:
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.
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the average minimum tariff for indeterminate sentences for public protection is; [247927]
(2) how many prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection have been released since its introduction. [247928]
Mr. Hanson: The average tariff, or specified part, for those prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection, as of 15 January 2009, is 2.97 years. This is based on a sample of 4,689 prisoners.
Since the introduction of indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection, 47 such prisoners serving such sentences have been released during the period up to 15 January 2009. 45 of these have been released by the Parole Board. two were released early by the Secretary of State on compassionate grounds.
These figures are taken from the Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD) within the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing.
Prisoner Escorts: Prisoner Escapes
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) pursuant to the answer to question 245155 on 12 January 2009, for what offences each of the prisoners listed as having escaped from escort since 1998 had originally been convicted; and how many of them remain unlawfully at large; [248575]
(2) pursuant to the answer to question 245155, how many offences were committed by offenders who had escaped from custody while unlawfully at large in the last 10 years; and what the offence was in each case. [249303]
Mr. Hanson: Data on the original offences committed by the 434 escapees from escort shown in the previous answer could be provided only by a detailed analysis of each prisoner record. This would incur disproportionate cost. Data available for the last four financial years, April 2004 to March 2008, show that 13 prisoners are still unlawfully at large following the 104 escort-related escapes over that period.
Data on numbers and types of offence that may have been committed by escapees over this period could be provided only by a detailed analysis of each prisoner record which would incur disproportionate cost.
Prisoners
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are being held in HM prisons. [247723]
Mr. Hanson: At the end of November 2008, there were 83,423 prisoners detained in all prison establishments in England and Wales. This information is available from the following website, which is updated monthly:
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.
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008, Official Report, column 481W, on prisoners, what assessment he has made of the consequences of the absence of a central record of prisoners maintaining innocence; and if he will make a statement. [248062]
Mr. Hanson:
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) works with prisoners to address their offending behaviour and manage their risk of reoffending
on the basis that they have been correctly convicted by the courts. As such, a central record of those who maintain their innocence following conviction would serve no useful purpose.
It is also open to any person who believes that they have been wrongly convicted to challenge the safety of their convictions through either the Court of Appeal or the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Current guidance for Prison Service staff in dealing with prisoners who deny guilt is contained in chapter 7 of (Prison Service Order) PSO 4700 which is available at:
http://pso.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/pso4700/PSO_4700 _lifer_manual.doc
Prisoners: Appeals
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what records his Department keeps on the appellant status of prisoners; how many prisoners are currently appealing against their sentence; and how many of them are beyond their original or adjusted tariff. [247745]
Mr. Hanson: The Ministry of Justice does not maintain a central record of the appellant status of prisoners. Therefore, determining how many serving prisoners are currently appealing against their sentence and then of those how many are beyond their original or adjusted tariff would require a manual checking of records, which could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.
Prisons
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisons have been closed in each year since 1997; [247718]
(2) how many prisons spaces have been lost since 1997; [247719]
(3) how many new prison spaces have become available in each year since 1997; [247720]
(4) how many new prisons opened in each year since 1997. [247721]
Mr. Hanson: Since 1997 only two prisons have closed, HMP Aldington in 1999 and HMP The Weare in 2005.
It is not possible to say how many prison places have been taken out of use since 1997 as the total number of prison places fluctuates depending on temporary schemes such as refurbishment and changes in use. Prison places may be permanently taken out of use as a result of prison closures or may be decommissioned due to the unsatisfactory state of the accommodation. Where decommissioned, and as part of our ongoing maintenance programme, many of these have been rebuilt and re-opened as new accommodation.
There are at present five wings/spurs across the estate that are not fit for purpose and are permanently out of use, with a total of around 350 places. This in is in addition to the total of 540 places taken out of use following the closure of the two prisons.
Despite the loss of these places, since 1997 we have overall increased prison capacity and improved the standard of prison accommodation available in both new and existing prisons. We have opened a total of 10 new prisons (see following table):
| Number of new prisons opened | |
Overall, we have delivered around 21,000 new places since 1997 through building new prisons and expansions at existing sites. The total delivered each year is set out in the following table.
| Places delivered | |
Prisons: Alcoholic Drinks
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to reduce alcohol usage in prisons. [247710]
Mr. Hanson: The National Offender Management Service strategy to reduce supply and demand for drugs includes a comprehensive range of security measures and searching techniques to detect items of contraband including alcohol and prevent smuggling into establishments. There is also a treatment framework to address prisoners' alcohol-related problems, which provides a bench-mark against which prisons can formulate an appropriate local response.
In order to reduce alcohol usage, prisons deploy a robust and comprehensive range of security measures and searching techniques as part of their individual searching strategies in order to detect items of contraband and prevent their importation into establishments, as set out in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) National Security Framework (NSF).
Prisons: Drugs
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps are being taken to reduce drug usage in prisons. [247711]
Mr. Hanson: The National Offender Management Service has in place a comprehensive drug strategy for prisons. It has three key elements:
i. reducing supply, through security measures and drug testing programmes;
ii. reducing demand, through targeted interventions for low, moderate and severe drug-misusers; and
iii. establishing effective through-care links to ensure continuity of treatment post-release in order to safeguard the gains made in custody.
The success of the drug strategy is illustrated by the reduction of drug misuse in prisons, as measured by the random mandatory drug testing (rMDT) programme. The positive rate for MDT has dropped from 24.4 per cent. in 1996-97 to 9.1 per cent. in 2007-08—a fall of 63 per cent.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans there are to increase the number of places on courses for serving prisoners dealing with drugs and alcohol. [247712]
Mr. Hanson: Prison drug treatment funding has increased year on year since 1996-97—up nearly 13-fold, with record numbers in treatment.
The Department of Health plans to increase the level of funding for the clinical elements of the integrated drug treatment system by £13.6 million in 2009-10 and a further £4 million in 2010-11.
The Government have established the Prison Drug Treatment Review Group, chaired by Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel, which will make recommendations for the continued development of prison drug treatment, informed by recommendations arising from a review of prison drug treatment funding conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2007.
A range of interventions are already available in prisons to support those with an alcohol problem:
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