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15 Mar 2010 : Column 661W—continued
Probation Officers
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the likely change to the number of (a) probation officer and (b) probation service officer posts in Wales in financial year 2010-11. [306476]
Maria Eagle: The amalgamation of the four probation providers into a single trust will yield savings of about £1.5 million taken from non-delivery functions. This supports front-line delivery by allowing about 34 full-time equivalent probation officers' posts across Wales to be funded from these savings.
Under the planning assumptions for the trust, during 2010-11 improvements to the trust's workforce planning and case management may result in an overall reduction of up to 28 probation officer posts (POs) and up to two probation service officer posts (PSOs) across Wales. However, additional funding has been granted for offender service provision, which is currently under discussion between the Director of Offender Management in Wales and probation. Any new services agreed with probation would result in the retention of some posts to deliver the services. These discussions are being concluded as quickly as possible.
Reoffenders
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will collect and publish re-offending rates for each prison or cluster. [322307]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice is currently undertaking a programme of work to investigate this issue, better to determine whether meaningful data on the reoffending of former prisoners from individual institutions can be produced. It is our intention to publish some findings from this work in November 2010 in a new publication which will include a range of data and analysis on reoffending which is not covered by the existing published statistics.
Young Offender Institutions: Equality
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many young offender institutions have diversity manager posts; and how many such posts are vacant; [321741]
(2) what provision is made for children with a disability in young offender institutions; [321743]
(3) how many young offender institutions have a race equality and diversity communication strategy; and when each was last revised; [321749]
(4) how many young offender institutions have diversity representative posts; and how many such posts are vacant. [321753]
Maria Eagle: Prison Service Orders (PSO) 2800 (Race Equality) and 2855 (Prisoners with Disabilities) require prisons to have a designated member of staff to act as a liaison for race equality and for disability issues.
Locally prisons and young offender institutions (YOIs) may choose to have a diversity manager to oversee equality issues generally. In addition, all have offender representatives supporting the work of local management teams on diversity issues. On 31 December 2009, 16 from 18 YOIs indicated that they had a diversity manager.
PSO 2855 sets out prisons' and YOIs' requirements for meeting the needs of prisoners with disabilities and how the Prison Service must comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (amended 2005). The PSO does not provide guidance on particular disabilities as it is the intention that the individual needs of the offender are assessed and reasonable adjustments made to address the issues raised, rather than adopting a one size fits all policy.
PSO 2800 requires prisons and YOIs to have a race equality communication strategy setting out how they will communicate and consult with staff, prisoners and visitors. Information on the management of equality in prisons and YOIs is collected quarterly through a questionnaire designed by the NOMS Race and Equalities Action Group. Every YOI reports having a race equality communication strategy. Data are not collected centrally on revision dates.
Young Offender Institutions: Food
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of providing food in each of the young offender institutions holding juveniles was in the last 12 months. [321746]
Maria Eagle: The average Prison Service daily food expenditure per prisoner(1) in public sector young offender institutions holding juveniles during 2008-09 (latest available data) is shown in the table.
(1) The daily food cost has been calculated using available management information from NOMS finance systems and assumes that all transactions have been allocated and recorded against the correct accounting codes.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) which young offender institutions observe guidelines on providing five pieces of fruit or vegetables a day; [321747]
(2) what steps the Prison Service is taking to implement Department of Health guidance on healthy eating. [321748]
Maria Eagle: Young offender institutions in England and Wales provide a multi-choice, pre-select menu that includes healthy options. Caterers are issued with guidance to provide five portions of fruit and vegetables each day and are expected to meet this requirement.
There are a number of initiatives to encourage healthy eating including working towards food specifications with reduced sugar and salt content, favouring steaming and baking rather than shallow and deep frying and avoiding adding salt and sugar during the cooking process. A balanced approach to nutrition is being pursued in line with the Department of Health's guidelines.
Educating all prisoners, including young offenders, to eat a more healthy diet is key. Increasingly the National Offender Management Service is adopting a multi-disciplinary approach and working with the Department of Health, the Food Standards Agency and others to encourage individual prisoners to eat more healthily.
Young Offender Institutions: Languages
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many children in young offender institutions do not have English as a first language; [321736]
(2) how many children in young offender institutions do not speak English. [321737]
Maria Eagle: Data on the number of young people in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) who do not speak English, or whose first language is not English, are not collected centrally. In order to meet foreign language needs in YOIs, translations, or explanations through an interpreter, of important information must be available for all young people whose first language is not English. Interpreters can also be provided to supplement translated material.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents of bullying or harassment of children who do not speak English as a first language were recorded in young offender institutions in each year since 2006. [321739]
Maria Eagle:
The National Offender Management Service does not collect data centrally on either incidents
of the bullying or harassment of prisoners in young offender institutions, or of children who do not speak English as a first language.
Each young offender institution has arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of the young people in its care, including strategies for child protection, suicide and self-harm prevention and violence reduction.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many young offender institutions there is a routine assessment of the language skills of children when they are admitted. [321750]
Maria Eagle: There is no routine assessment of a young person's language ability. However we are working with the Communication Trust to improve awareness and support for young people in the youth justice system who have communication needs. Supported by DCSF funding, the Communication Trust is taking forward a programme to improve awareness of the importance of young people's communication needs in the secure estate and youth offending teams. The trust is developing training for the youth justice work force and influencing existing work force programmes and National Occupational Standards.
Young Offenders: Hearing Impaired
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many deaf children are in custody in England and Wales. [321742]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not collected centrally, and could only be gathered by contacting each establishment individually, which would involve disproportionate cost.
There is a requirement for all providers of secure accommodation to comply with existing legislation, including the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. In addition there are further requirements on the different categories of secure establishment to make adequate provision for those with disabilities, including the National Minimum Standards for Children's Homes, contractual agreements with providers and Prison Service Order 2855. These requirements ensure that deaf young people who are in custody receive proper provision.
Communities and Local Government
Aerials: Planning Permission
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many refusals of planning permission for mobile telephone masts by local authorities have been overturned by the Planning Inspectorate in each of the last 10 years. [320850]
Mr. Ian Austin:
The Planning Inspectorate's database classifies appeals relating to mobile telephone masts together with appeals relating to other telecommunications developments. The following table therefore shows data on refusals of planning permission by local authorities for development relating to telecommunications including
radio/TV mast, aerial, dish or antenna, that were subsequently allowed on appeal, since 2001, where data is available.
| Number of appeals allowed | |
Energy Performance Certificates
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2010, Official Report, column 212W, on energy performance certificates, whether he has made an assessment of the effects on customers of the reported errors in the Energy Performance Certificate Register between September 2008 and June 2009; and whether he has made an estimate of the number of incorrect entries in the register made during that period. [322354]
Mr. Ian Austin: As indicated in my answer of 9 March 2010, Official Report, column 212W, any errors identified as a result of Quality Assurance procedures or customer complaints has been rectified. This has been done at no cost to the consumer. No estimate is available of the number of incorrect entries in the EPC Register made between September 2008 and June 2009.
Fire Services
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reason the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Dewsbury, did not attend the Local Government Association Fire Conference on 10 March 2010; and if he will make a statement. [322375]
Mr. Malik: I was unable to attend the conference due to ill health.
Fire Services: Catering
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) make, (b) specification and (c) cost is of the coffee machines in each of the regional fire control rooms. [319113]
Mr. Malik: Regional control centres are equipped to support continuous operations and have high quality facilities including industrial standard kitchens. This allows the buildings to provide for large numbers of staff, for example during large scale emergencies.
(a) The coffee machines in the kitchens of each regional control centre are made by Brasilia.
(b) The specification is a Gradisca 3 Group.
(c) The coffee machines were provided by each developer as part of the construction fit out of the building with the rest of the kitchen equipment. The cost of each coffee machine, associated equipment and training is in the region of five to six thousand pounds.
Fire Services: Greater London
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the regional fire control rooms in London will be operational and live by September 2011. [319114]
Mr. Malik: Under current planning assumptions the regional fire control centre for London is due to become operational during September 2011. Planning assumptions are currently under review.
Green Belt: Greater London
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been built in the Metropolitan green belt in each of the last 10 years. [320897]
Mr. Ian Austin: There is no published information on the proportions of new dwellings built in the green belt below regional level. This information would require additional analysis to assess the robustness of the Land Use Change data at this level of geographical disaggregation.
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