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14 May 2009 : Column 968W—continued
Prisons: Barking and Dagenham
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) who his Department consulted prior to the decision to secure the site at Beam Park West to build a prison; who will be responsible for making the decision on the planning application to construct a prison on that site; and whether his Department has contingency plans for circumstances in which planning permission for that site is refused; [275074]
(2) which (a) Ministerial colleagues and (b) government agencies he consulted prior to making the decision to build a prison on the Beam Park West site; [275113]
(3) who will be responsible for submitting the planning application for the construction of a prison on the Beam Park West site; [275114]
(4) what plans he has to consult (a) resident groups, (b) local councillors, (c) housing associations and (d) others in the local community on the proposed prison at Beam Park West; [275090]
(5) what mechanisms have been put in place to enable local residents’ views to be taken into account in the process of construction of the proposed prison at Beam Park West. [275120]
Mr. Straw: My Department consulted both the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority concerning the availability of sites in the London area.
The responsibility for submitting the planning application is with the head of site assessment and planning within NOMS. It will be submitted to the London borough of Barking and Dagenham and determined by the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation.
Prior to the submission of a planning application for the site, officials will hold a public exhibition of the proposals. A wide area surrounding the site will be leafleted, advising local people of the exhibition and our proposals for the prison. The local planning authority will be consulted about the scope, location, date and time of the exhibition and about specific groups of local people, councillors and others they feel we should make a special presentation to.
We will consider the options available to us should the application be refused.
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) when he expects the proposed prison on the Beam Park West site to reach its prisoner capacity; [275076]
(2) what timetable he has set for construction of the proposed prison on the Beam Park West site. [275091]
Mr. Straw: Construction activity at the Beam Park West site will commence once the contracts have been awarded and a successful bidder is in place. This timetable is therefore dependent on successful conclusion of the procurement and detailed planning processes, currently estimated to be mid-2011. Construction itself will take approximately two years.
It is intended that the proposed Beam Park West site will be populated in a phased manner taking into account wider population management issues across the estate. It is anticipated that within six months of opening, the site would be running at its intended capacity.
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) by what mechanisms the criteria for bids for (a) construction and (b) operation of the proposed prison on the Beam Park West site will be published; and when he expects such criteria to be published; [275092]
(2) what timetable he has established for private contractors to bid for the operating contract for Beam Park West Prison. [275119]
Mr. Straw: The tender criteria for Beam Park West will be published via an invitation to tender (ITT), and in line with the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) compliant EU procurement directives, during the main procurement later this year.
The timetable for bidder engagement is expected to commence at some stage this year with the publication of the relevant OJEU notice.
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which will be created by building a prison on the Beam Park West site; [275115]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on local transport infrastructure of the construction of a prison on the Beam Park West site. [275116]
Mr. Straw: Research indicates that the operation of a 1,500 place prison is likely to create around 800 jobs, many of which are likely to be held by local people.
It is not anticipated that the construction of a prison will have an adverse impact on local transport infrastructure. However, following discussions with the local planning and highways authorities, a transport assessment will be submitted in support of the planning application.
Prisons: Violence
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many violent incidents (a) requiring at least one of the parties to attend hospital and (b) resulting in a death there have been in prisons in each of the last five years. [274626]
Mr. Hanson: Every homicide in prison custody is a tragedy. Reducing violence, whatever the level of severity, in prisons is a priority. We are committed to working towards a zero tolerance approach to prison violence. Since 2004, a national strategy has directed every public sector prison to have in place a local violence reduction strategy and since mid 2007 this has been applied to both the public and contracted out estate. A whole prison approach is encouraged, engaging all staff, all disciplines and prisoners in challenging unacceptable behaviour, problem-solving and personal safety.
Data are not held centrally on the numbers attending hospital as a result of violent incidents. However, data are provided in the following table on assault incidents resulting in attendance at hospital as inpatients.
Attendance at hospital is dependent, in part, on the availability of health care facilities within a prison. A large local prison with inpatient facilities may well care for injured prisoners “in house”. A prison without such facilities would send the prisoner to an outside hospital.
Trade Unions
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what office facilities are provided for the exclusive use of each of the trade unions recognised by his Department in (a) departmental premises and (b) the premises of his Department's executive agencies; and what the notional monetary value of such provision was in 2008-09. [271951]
Mr. Straw: In departmental premises the Departmental Trade Union Side are currently provided with an office for their use in the MOJ headquarters building. The value of this facility is estimated at £40,000 p.a.
In relation to the Department's Executive Agencies; in Her Majesty's Prison Service the Prison Officers Association (POA) are provided with an office for their sole use in all establishments. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Prospect share an office and Prison Governors Association (PGA) have sole use of an office within the National Offender Management Service Headquarters building in London, the value of which facility is approximately £50,000.00 per annum.
In addition and in all other Executive Agencies, trade unions are provided with varying type of facilities although none is for their exclusive use.
Due to the variability of such provision it is not possible to provide a notional monetary value.
Young Offenders
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people aged (a) under 16, (b) 16 or 17 and (c) between 18 to 21 years served custodial sentences of (i) less than three months and (ii) between three and six months in each year since 1997. [271982]
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows figures for how many people were detained in all prison establishments in England and Wales aged (a) under 16 (b) 16 or 17 and (c) between 18 and 21-years-old who were serving custodial sentences of (i) less than or equal to three months and (ii) between three and six months as at 30 June in each year since 1997:
| Less than or equal to three months | Greater than three les s than or equal to six months | ||
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