| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 Oct 2009 : Column 152W—continued
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers have been charged with aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office in each of the last 24 months for which figures are available. [290774]
Maria Eagle: The requested information is not collated and held centrally in any format that would enable the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to answer the specific questions that have been asked.
Staff in NOMS are expected to meet high standards of professional and personal conduct. They have, therefore, a responsibility to notify their Governor or Head of Group if they are charged with any criminal offence. Information on the numbers of prison officers charged with offences covered by misconduct in public office could only be obtained by contacting all NOMS establishments and asking them to provide any information they hold locally in this respect. This would incur disproportionate cost. We are, however, taking steps to record more detailed information in this area.
Prisons: Security
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were detected attempting to break into a prison in 2008-09. [291254]
Maria Eagle: The following table shows the number of incidents recorded on the Prison Service Incident Reporting System where people attempted to gain access to a prison without authority during that period. The majority of these incidents involved members of the public trespassing on the grounds of open prisons where, by the very nature of the establishments, access is more difficult to control. There have been no recorded incidents of people gaining access to the interior of a closed prison within this period.
| Breakdown of incidents involving people attempting to gain access to a prison without authority | ||
| Prison type | Individuals involved | Total incidents |
| Notes: 1. Three individuals were found leaving a prison staff locker room area located outside the main prison. Police were called but the three individuals had left the area. 2. Individual discovered on camera trying to climb the fence. Police were called but the individual had left the area. 3. Individual tried unsuccessfully to gain unauthorised entry into the main gate of an establishment. | ||
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.
Probation
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the proportion of probation officer time spent on front line work with offenders in each year since 1997. [290289]
Maria Eagle: This information is not held centrally by the National Offender Management Service, nor is it held at probation area or trust level.
Probation Officers
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many probation officers in each probation service area have been qualified for more than three years. [290288]
Maria Eagle: It is not possible to say how long each probation officer has been qualified as this information is not collected centrally and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the average offender caseload a probation officer supervises; and what is the maximum number of offenders an officer may supervise. [290335]
Maria Eagle: Figures for 31 December 2008 show that the average caseload per probation officer across the 42 probation areas in England and Wales ranged from 18 to 54 cases. There is no specified maximum number of offenders that an officer may supervise.
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of the number of probation officers there are per head of population in each probation service area. [291653]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only by contacting each probation area at a disproportionate cost.
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the ratio of probation officers to offenders was in each probation service area on the latest date for which figures are available. [291654]
Maria Eagle: The following table shows the ratio of offenders to probation officers(1) in each probation area on 30 September 2008; the last date for which corresponding staffing and offender information is currently available.
(1 )Includes: Senior Probation Officers, Senior Practitioners, Probation Officers, Trainee Probation Officers, Practice Development Assessors, Probation Service Officers and Treatment Managers.
| Probation area/trust | Ratio |
The ratio nationally of offenders to probation officers is 17.5:1.
Probation Officers: Manpower
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) trainee and (b) qualified probation officers have been employed by the Probation Service in each year since 1997. [290144]
Maria Eagle: The following table shows the numbers of trainee probation officers and qualified probation officers on 31 December in each year since 1997(1).
| Trainee probation officers | Qualified probation officers( 1) | |
| (1 )Figures include senior practitioners, senior probation officers, probation officers and practice development assessors. Note: Figures are shown as full time equivalents. | ||
Figures for the year 2008-09 are not yet available.
Probation Officers: Training
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent from the public purse on training probation officers in 2008-09. [290337]
Maria Eagle: In the financial year 2008-09, £41.772 million was allocated to trainee probation officer (TPO) training.
Probation: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the ratio of (a) male to female offenders and (b) male to female probation staff in each age range in the Essex probation area was in the latest period for which figures are available. [287500]
Maria Eagle: The information in the following tables shows the ratio of male to female offenders in each age range and the total male to female staff in each age range in the Essex probation area. There is a higher proportion of male to female offenders and a higher proportion of female to male staff. This has been fairly consistent in recent years.
| Table 1: Male to female ratio of offenders in the Essex probation area in each age range | |
| Ratio of offenders by gender, for each age range | Male : Female |
| Table 2: The total male to female staff in each age range in the Essex probation area | |
| Ratio of overall staff by gender, for age range | Male : Female |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |