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19 Jan 2010 : Column 250W—continued
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours a day young offenders at Medway Secure Training Centre spend out of cell. [310683]
Maria Eagle: The average number of hours per day that young people spent out of their rooms during September 2009 at Medway Secure Training Centre was 13.6 hours.
These data have been self-reported by the centre to the Youth Justice Board. While the Youth Justice Board seeks to verify self-reported data, accuracy may be subject to change.
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours a week are spent by offenders at Medway Secure Training Centre in (a) team sport and (b) physical exercise. [310684]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not collected.
The Youth Justice Board National Standards require establishments to provide young people a minimum of one hour access to fresh air per day.
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of young offenders aged (a) 12 to 15 and (b) over 15 years released from Medway Secure Training Centre have been convicted of a further offence within 12 months of release in each of the last five years. [310685]
Maria Eagle: Data are not available for the reoffending rates of young offenders released from individual secure training centres. Individual establishment names are not included in the datasets used to produce the reoffending statistics.
Information on the rates of reoffending for all young offenders aged 12 to 15 and 16 to 17 and released from custody (from young offender institutions, secure training centres or secure children's homes) is available, however. The proportion of offenders that committed a further offence within 12 months of release is shown in the following table, split by age group.
| Cohort | Age | Number of offenders | Percentage of offenders that committed a further offence |
For more information on juvenile reoffending rates please see the publication 'Reoffending of juveniles: Results from the 2007 cohort; which is available from:
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of young offenders have spent (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months and (c) six to nine months at Medway Secure Training Centre in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [310686]
Maria Eagle: The following table shows the number of custodial episodes that ended between 1 December 2008 and 30 November 2009, who have spent (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months and (c) six to nine months at Medway Secure Training Centre, as a percentage of the total number of custodial episodes in that period.
An episode refers to a period a young person has spent in custody and it is possible that one young person can start more than one custodial episode in a 12-month period.
| Medway Secure Training Centre | |
| Percentage | |
These data have been supplied by the Youth Justice Board and 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 and may be subject to change over time.
Prisoners
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of the prison population achieved a basic skills qualification in each of the last three years. [310356]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
The information is not collected in the format requested. The following table sets out the Skills for Life qualifications achieved by offenders in the three academic years from August 2006 to July 2009. The figures will include a small number of achievements by offenders serving
sentences in the community. The table also shows the total number of first receptions entering prison during the period June to July for 2006-07 and 2007-08.
| England | ||
| Academic year (August to July) | Skills for Life achievements | First receptions into prison |
| (1) Provisional figure-to be confirmed at the end of February 2010. (2) Figure not available until July 2010. | ||
Prisoners Release
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people convicted of burglary have been released under the End of Custody Licence scheme. [310697]
Maria Eagle: End of Custody Licence (ECL) was introduced on 29 June 2007. Eligible prisoners serving between four weeks and four years are released on licence a maximum of 18 days earlier than the date they are entitled to be released, subject to meeting strict eligibility criteria and providing a release address. The first report on the operation of the scheme, which included a breakdown of offences, was published on 16 July 2007. Since then, monthly reports have been published on the Ministry of Justice website, at the following address:
From the start of the scheme to the end of November 2009, 6,795 prisoners had been released on ECL whose original offence had been burglary. Total releases for the same period was 74,669.
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.
Prisoners: Females
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what training is required to be undertaken by prison staff working in women's prisons on self-harm, suicide, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. [311918]
Maria Eagle: New prison officers are required to complete a one-year foundation training programme, leading to a level 3 National Vocational Qualification in Custodial Care. Training begins with an eight-week Prison Officer Entry Level Training course. The training covers the practical skills needed to be a prison officer and includes areas such as interpersonal skills, diversity and self harm/suicide awareness.
All staff in regular contact with prisoners are required to undertake the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) Foundation course. This is a three-hour course which covers the risks associated with self-harm and suicide, and the ACCT process and documentation.
In addition, the Women Awareness Staff Programme, designed to raise awareness of as many aspects of working with women prisoners as possible, has been accredited and is now being delivered across the women's estate. The course includes modules on, security; self-harm
and abuse. It is the intention that all staff and volunteers working in the women's prison estate will undertake the programme.
Probation
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of Probation Service Staff in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Dyfed Powys undertake duties involving face-to-face contact with offenders; and what proportion of their working time is spent in such contact for such staff in each area. [307317]
Maria Eagle: The number of probation service staff whose primary task is offender facing work in England is 67.9 per cent., in Wales 63.2 per cent. and in Dyfed-Powys 65.6 per cent. Our statistics record staff undertaking duties involving face-to-face contact with offenders as: qualified probation officers (PO), probation service officers (PSO), and trainee probation officers.
Delivery structures across probation areas vary as do the requirements of specific roles and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not routinely report on the proportion of working time spent in face- to-face contact with offenders. In December 2008, the NOMS undertook a snapshot survey over a one week period, based on a small sample of PO and PSO staff. It reported that across England and Wales 24 per cent. of PO/PSO time was spent in direct contact with offenders, 41 per cent. was involved in computer activity and 35 per cent. of time was spent on non-computer-dealing with correspondence, meetings, travel, etc. The equivalent figures in the same survey for Dyfed-Powys were 21 per cent., 45 per cent. and 34 per cent.
The reporting of the results against only three main headings means that much of the detail is open to interpretation. For example, time spent on computer activity is productive time, in that it involves the production of reports and assessments on individual cases. The recording of risk assessments, which is an integral part of this work, is vital to ongoing case management, and the proper recording of case information is essential to the provision of statistical information which can be deployed to develop NOMS's offender management strategy. Even if only about three-quarters of this time were included as work on cases this gives a picture of more like 54 per cent. of time being spent on work with individual offenders.
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is taking action to increase the amount of time staff spend in face-to-face contact with offenders.
allocating resources to the assessment and management of offenders according to the level of risk;
the creation of probation trusts;
a national programme of specifying probation work, and benchmarking performance, to support the effective deployment of front line staff;
identifying opportunities for reducing bureaucracy and other demands currently placed on front-line staff; and
expanding the use of video conferencing to reduce the time probation staff spend travelling to interview prisoners.
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to increase the amount of time probation staff spend in face-to-face contact with offenders. [308278]
Maria Eagle: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is taking action to increase the amount of time staff spend in face-to-face contact with offenders.
allocating resources to the assessment and management of offenders according to the level of risk;
the creation of probation trusts;
a national programme of specifying probation work, and benchmarking performance, to support the effective deployment of front line staff;
identifying opportunities for reducing bureaucracy and other demands currently placed on front-line staff; and
expanding the use of video conferencing to reduce the time probation staff spend travelling to interview prisoners.
Victim Support Schemes: Gloucestershire
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has contributed to victim support schemes in Gloucestershire in each year since 1999. [311429]
Claire Ward: Prior to 2001 records of specific allocation of how Victim Support decided to allocate Government funding, broken down into areas, is not available. The table below gives the detail of the allocation of Government funding to Gloucestershire from 2001 to date.
| Total government funding to Victim Support (£ million) | Funding allocated to Gloucestershire (£) | |
| n/a = Not available | ||
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