Previous Section Index Home Page

23 Jun 2009 : Column 736W—continued


Figures on escapes and a range of other prison performance statistics are available at:

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2009, Official Report, column 1339W, on prisoner escorts: prisoner escapes, for what offences each of the 13 prisoners who are still at large had been convicted. [281156]

Maria Eagle: Key performance indicator escapes from Prison Service escorts have fallen since 2002-03, with current low levels sustained for some years. This is despite considerable increases in population over the same period. The following table shows a breakdown of the 13 prisoners still unlawfully at large by offence type.

Offence type of prisoners unlawfully at large following an escape from escort, April 2004 to March 2008
Offence type Total figure

Drug offences

1

Burglary

5

Conspiracy to murder

1

Theft

2

Breach of community order

1

Actual Bodily Harm

1

Driving while disqualified

1

Wounding with intent: GBH

1


23 Jun 2009 : Column 737W

These figures 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.

Figures on escapes from escort contractors and a range of other prison performance statistics are available at:

Prisoners

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much on average it cost to keep a (a) category A, (b) category B and (c) category C prisoner in prison in 2008. [281346]

Maria Eagle: Unit costs are calculated on the basis of category of prison establishment, not on the basis of category of prisoner. Figures for 2008-09 are not yet available.

For 2007-08 the average costs per prisoner in prisons categorised as A, B or C were as follows:

Total cost per prisoner for 2007-08
Establishment c ategory £

Male dispersal (cat A)

75,000

Male category B

38,000

Male category C

33,000

Notes:
1 Rounded to the nearest £500
2 Establishments are categorised by their main role as at the end of 2007-08. Establishments that have more than one role have been placed in the category that represents the primary or dominant function of the prison. For example HMP Moorland is designated as Category C adult but includes a large young offender population.
3. Includes contracted out prisons.

There are a number of factors which will cause differences in prison costs, such as the size, age, location and category of the prison, the mix of prisoners (including gender and age) and the internal regime and rehabilitation work followed.

The costs comprise (a) the public sector establishments' direct resource expenditure as published in the HMPS Annual Report and Accounts, which are increased by an apportionment of costs borne centrally by HMPS and the National Offender Management Service and (b) the resource expenditure of contracted-out prisons also increased by certain costs borne centrally. This involves some estimation. Income from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) in respect of services recharged to the YJB is excluded in order to show the overall cost to the Ministry of Justice. The figures do not include prisoners held in police and court cells under Operation Safeguard, nor expenditure met by other Government departments (e.g. for health and education). The prisoner escort service is included.

Probation

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) probation officers and (b) probation service officers were employed by Dyfed Powys Probation Area at 31 March in each of the last five financial years. [281438]


23 Jun 2009 : Column 738W

Maria Eagle: The following table shows the numbers of Probation Officers and Probation Service Officers in post in the Dyfed Powys Probation Trust on 31 March in each of the last five financial years:

Probation Officers( 1) Probation Service Officers( 2)

2003-04

43.7

36.2

2004-05

46.7

39.9

2005-06

46.3

50.0

2006-07

49.8

53.3

2007-08(3)

51.1

47.0

(1) Probation Officer figures include Senior Probation Officers, Senior Practitioners and Probation Officers.
(2) Probation Service Officers figures include Probation Service Officers and Treatment Managers.
(3) The information provided has yet to be published and may therefore be subject to minor amendment upon publication.
Notes:
Figures are shown as full time equivalents.
Figures for the year 2008-09 are not yet available.
The figures presented are full time equivalent which take into account part-time staff. Total probation staffing (expressed as full time equivalents) was up from 13,968 in 1997 to 20,869 by June 2007 a 49 per cent. increase over the period. This is also in the context of a 70 per cent. increase in probation funding in real terms over the last 10 years and an increase of more than a third in staff.

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) community and (b) custody caseload for Dyfed Powys Probation Area was at 31 March in each of the last five financial years. [281450]

Maria Eagle: The total community and pre release custodial offender caseload for Dyfed Powys as at 31 March in each of the last five years was as follows:

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Supervised in community(1)

1,031

1,051

1,088

1,072

1,254

Supervised in custody

252

272

290

291

294

(1) Includes those supervised on court orders as well as post-release supervision.
Notes:
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.
Total probation staffing (expressed as full time equivalents) was up from 13,968 in 1997 to 20,869 by June 2007 a 49 per cent. increase over the period. This is also in the context of a 70 per cent. increase in probation funding in real terms over the last 10 years and an increase of more than a third in staff.

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders resident in Dyfed Powys Probation Area were categorised as Tier 4 in each of the last five financial years. [281451]

Maria Eagle: The total number of offenders in Dyfed Powys probation area who were categorised as tier 4 as at 31 March in each of the last three years was as follows:

Number

2006

321

2007

323

2008

223


23 Jun 2009 : Column 739W

Information on tier prior to 1 April 2005 was not recorded.

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. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of the 100 additional probation officers to be recruited by the London Probation Service in the next two years will be newly-qualified trainees. [280504]

Maria Eagle: London Probation plan to recruit over 140 probation officers by November 2010. These will be predominantly successful trainees although some more experienced probation officers may seek employment in London for personal and professional reasons. The number of these types of application cannot be predicted.

Probation Boards: Finance

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which probation boards are operating in a budget deficit; and what each deficit is. [262523]

Maria Eagle: Unaudited management accounts show that five probation boards are reporting a budget overspend for the financial year ended 31 March 2009, as follows:

£000 Percentage

Dorset

50

0.5

North Yorkshire

249

2.4

Surrey

36

0.3

South Yorkshire

58

0.2

North Wales

22

0.2


This must be seen in the context of underspends by other probation boards and trusts, resulting in a provisional £17 million (1.9 per cent.) underspend for the 42 probation areas in 2008-09.

While any overspends are potentially of concern in a challenging economic and financial environment, the relatively small size of the overspends in the table and the significant underspend nationally demonstrates effective financial planning by the probation service as a whole in 2008-09.

Probation: Hampshire

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budget was allocated to the Hampshire probation area in each of the last five years. [281379]

Maria Eagle: The resource budget allocations for Hampshire probation area for 2004-5 to 2008-09 are shown in the following table.

As a result of changes to the budget allocation methodology, plus machinery of government changes and accounting methodology changes, it is difficult to compare figures over a long period.


23 Jun 2009 : Column 740W
Hampshire probation area end-year budgets
Revenue (£000)

2008-09

25,614

2007-08

24,338

2006-07

23,057

2005-06

21,872

2004-05

20,026


Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) probation service officers and (b) probation officers there were in the Hampshire probation area in each of the last five years. [281380]

Maria Eagle: The following table shows the numbers of Probation Officers and Probation Service Officers in post in Hampshire Probation Area on 31 March in each of the last five financial years:

Probation Officers( 1) Probation Service Officers( 2)

2003-04

178.6

125.4

2004-05

(1)88.9

121.1

2005-06

194.9

156.8

2006-07

195.0

179.6

2007-08(3)

185.7

192.4

(1) Probation Officer figures include Senior Probation Officers, Senior Practitioners, Practice Development Assessors and Probation Officers.
(2) Probation Service Officers figures include Probation Service Officers and Treatment Managers.
(3) The information provided has yet to be published and may therefore be subject to minor amendment upon publication.
Notes:
Figures are shown as full time equivalents.
Figures for the year 2008-09 are not yet available.
The figures presented are full time equivalent which take into account part time staff.

Probation: Yorkshire and the Humber

Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) community and (b) custody caseload of Humberside Probation Trust was on 31 March in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement. [280690]

Maria Eagle: The total community and pre release custodial offender caseload for Humberside as at 31 March in each of the last five years was as follows:

Supervised in community( 1) Supervised in custody

2004

2,519

1,277

2005

2,647

1,264

2006

2,893

1,214

2007

2,940

1,224

2008

3,080

1,295

(1) Includes those supervised on court orders as well as post-release supervision.

Next Section Index Home Page