Prisoners: Clothing
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on (a) clothing, (b) footwear and (c) hygienic, cosmetic and related sundry products for prisoners in each of the last five years. [44288]
Mr Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) central accounting system holds expenditure on the provision of clothing and considerable other consumable items for use by prisoners in summary form only. In order to provide details of expenditure on the provision of clothing, footwear, and hygienic, cosmetic and related sundry projects for use by prisoners would require manually examining a large volume of records at individual establishments. This could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Education
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are undertaking courses of an undergraduate degree level or higher; and by what mechanism the fees for these courses are paid. [44286]
Mr Blunt: In the 2010-11 financial year to date 1,609 prisoners in England and Wales have registered to start an Open University (OU)(1) course module. In addition, about 5(2) are currently studying at undergraduate level at other higher education institutions, none of whom are funded from statutory funds.
Fees for the courses are paid through three separate systems.
1. Course fees for initial OU study for prisoners are paid by the Prisoners Education Trust using funds from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, operating to a capped budget.
2. When prisoners have successfully completed initial courses, most will be eligible for an income-assessed OU fee waiver which is funded through the HEFCE(3) Access to Learning Fund operating within the OU.
3. Some prisoners receive funding for course fees from charitable funds provided by Prisoners Education Trust, the Longford Trust and other charities.
4. A few prisoners self-fund.
The Government's review of offender learning, which will report shortly, will cover higher education arrangements for prisoners.
(1) Source: Prisoners' Education Trust, February 2011.
(2) Based on data held; there may be additional students who self-fund or access student loans.
(3) Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Prisoners: Mass Media
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2010, Official Report, columns 979-80W, on prisoners: interviews, how many prisoners have (a) requested and (b) been granted approval for face-to-face interviews since July 2010; in which prison each such prisoner was located; and for what offence each such prisoner was serving a sentence; [44248]
(2) what arrangements are in place to control written communications between prisoners and the media; [44249]
(3) what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the involvement of media liaison officers in communications between prisoners and the media in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many media liaison officers are employed for (a) the purpose of communications between prisoners and the media and (b) other purposes; [44295]
8 Mar 2011 : Column 1055W
(4) who was consulted on Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 37/2010 on prisoners' access to the media prior to its publication; whether any of those consultees represent victims of crime; what assessment he has made of the effects of the introduction of PSI 37/2010; and what assessment he has made of the effects of policy on the number of contacts between prisoners and the media; [44296]
(5) whether all prisons have implemented Prison Service Instruction 37/2010 on prisoners' access to the media; [44297]
(6) what action has been taken against (a) prison staff, (b) journalists and (c) prisoners who have been involved in unsanctioned communications between prisoners and the media in the last 12 months; [44298]
(7) what provisions are in place for victims of crime to be consulted when prisoners convicted of offences that have affected them make requests to have contact with the media; and if he will review Prison Service Instruction 37/2010 on prisoners' access to the media to provide more rights and information for the victims of crimes perpetrated by prisoners seeking access to media outlets. [44299]
Mr Blunt: Since 2 July 2010, four prisoners have requested face to face interviews with journalists. The details of these are set out in the following table:
| Prison | Offence | Outcome |
Prisoners do not need permission from the governor to send or receive letters from the media, but correspondence which is intended for publication or for use by radio or television or for posting on the internet (or which if sent, would be likely to be published or broadcast) must not contain material which:
is for publication in return for payment (unless the prisoner is unconvicted);
is about the prisoner's own crime or past offences or those of others, except where it consists of serious representations about conviction or sentence or forms part of serious comment about crime, the processes of justice or the penal system;
refers to individual prisoners or members of prison staff in such a way that they might be identified;
is likely to appear in a publication associated with a person or organisation if there is reason to believe that the person or organisation concerned is planning or engaged in activities which present a genuine and serious threat to security or good order of the establishment or other prisons;
contravenes any of the other restrictions on content applying to letters in general which are set out in Prison Service Order 4411 (which is available in the Libraries of both Houses).
Outside the high security estate, outgoing mail is only routinely read in exceptional circumstances, but may be read where it is thought likely that a prisoner may attempt to send out letters that breach the rules on correspondence. A percentage of outgoing mail is read at random.
The function of media liaison officer will be only a small part of the daily duties of the person to whom the
8 Mar 2011 : Column 1056W
role is assigned and it is not possible to estimate the cost incurred. There will normally be one media liaison officer for each prison.
The unauthorised disclosure of information to any third party by staff, if proved, would constitute a breach of the NOMS staff code of conduct.
Records indicate that in the last 12 months one member of staff was dismissed from the service for the unauthorised disclosure of prisoner related information to the press.
Prisoners who breach the rules relating to contact with the media will be dealt with under the internal disciplinary procedures, and are likely to face additional monitoring of their correspondence in future. There are no records kept centrally about the number of prisoners who have been found to have made unauthorised contact with the press or journalists.
Governors can restrict future access to prisoners or prisons by journalists who have engaged in authorised contact with prisoners.
A range of internal and external stakeholders were consulted on the instruction on Prisoners' Access to the Media (PSI 37/2010), in line with NOMS instructions on the approval and implementation of instructions. No consultees specifically represented victims of crime. There has been no review of the effects of introducing the updated policy. The instruction makes clear that face to face or telephone contact with journalists will only take place in exceptional circumstances and we do not expect a large increase in the number of contacts between prisoners and the media.
Prison Service Instruction 37/2010 Prisoners' Access to the Media was issued to all prisons on 2 July 2010 and they were required to implement it from 12 July. Governors were instructed to inform prisoners as well as all staff, particularly Media Liaison Officers, of the updated policy.
The restrictions set out on the content and use of letters are designed to prevent distress to victims. Governors may only permit a prisoner to have contact by telephone with a journalist if they are satisfied it will not cause distress to the victim or their family. Approval for a visit by a journalist will normally only be granted following consideration of the impact on the victim. Any decision to grant an interview must be communicated to victim liaison officers (where there are victims of sexual or violent offences and where the offender received a sentence of 12 months or more and in those cases where the offender was diagnosed with a particular mental disorder) who must tell the victim or their family. There are no plans to review the policy on prisoner access to the media at present.
Prisoners: Publications
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on the provision of (a) libraries, (b) books, (c) newspapers, (d) magazines and (e) periodicals for use by prisoners in each year for which figures are available. [44342]
Mr Blunt: The following table provides expenditure on library services for use by prisoners over the last five financial years.
8 Mar 2011 : Column 1057W
|
|
£ million |
The figures for 2010-11 are based on forecasts as at January 2011.
The National Offender Management Service's (NOMS) central accounting system holds expenditure details on the provision of library services for use by prisoners in summary format. The expenditure figures provided include contracted out library services, staffing costs, library capitation (stock) fees, subscriptions and affiliation fees. The NOMS accounting system does not separate expenditure into books, newspapers, magazines and periodicals. This information could be obtained only by examining local records manually at each establishment at disproportionate costs.
Prisoners: Sports
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on leisure and sports facilities for prisoners in each of the last five years. [44289]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows expenditure on the provision of prisoners’ recreational activities in each of the last five years.
|
|
£ million |
The figures for 2010-11 are based on forecast as at January 2011.
The National Offender Management Service’s central accounting system holds expenditure details on the provision of prisoners’ recreational activities in summary form, which includes the cost of religious education. It does not separate this into leisure and sports facilities. This information could be obtained by examining local records manually at each establishment only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Voluntary Work
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were engaged in voluntary work in each of the last five years. [44287]
Mr Blunt: Statistical information on the voluntary work undertaken by prisoners is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by obtaining information held on offender files, or on local data systems, validating it, and then collating it in a common format.
Prisons: Homicide
Mr Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many murders have been committed in prisons in each of the last 10 years; [44276]
8 Mar 2011 : Column 1058W
(2) what steps the Prison Service has taken to ensure the safety of those in prison from physical attack from other prisoners. [44277]
Mr Blunt: NOMS is fully committed to a zero tolerance approach to violence in prisons.
There have been 15 prisoner on prisoner homicides since 2000, which is fewer than two per year. In that time the prison population increased from 64,600 in 2000 to 85,500 in 2010 (September).
| Prison homicides by year | |
|
|
Number |
There has been one alleged homicide in 2011.
Every homicide is regrettable. NOMS is committed to learning the lessons from each death. In 2002 and following the murder of Zahid Mubarek at HMYOI Feltham, the Cell Sharing Risk Assessment (CSRA) process was introduced. All prisoners are assessed for the risk they pose to other prisoners prior to being allocated a cell. The CSRA has been reviewed. The improved process will be implemented in April 2011. Alongside the CSRA, all prisons have a violence reduction strategy in place.
Probation Officers
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the probation service has recorded any incidents of threats to probation staff when those staff have not been on duty in the last 12 months. [44309]
Mr Blunt: The information requested is not collected centrally. Obtaining it would involve making enquiries of each of the 35 Probation Trusts, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Young Offenders: Brighton, Pavilion
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Brighton, Pavilion constituency the effects of his Department’s policies on (a) the resettlement of young offenders and (b) youth reoffending rates since May 2010. [44634]
Mr Blunt: The geographical area covered by Brighton and Hove Youth Offending Service (YOS) is different from that covered by Brighton, Pavilion parliamentary constituency and all data collected by the YJB are by youth offending team (YOT) area.
Data applicable to the period since May 2010 are not yet available as all such data are published annually and retrospectively.
8 Mar 2011 : Column 1059W
The following question was received and intended for publication on 1 March 2011:
Legal Aid: Contracts
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many civil contracts to provide legal services were awarded by his Department in 2007; and how many such contracts were still active in the latest period for which figures are available. [42914]
Mr Djanogly: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is responsible for the administration of civil contract awards.
8 Mar 2011 : Column 1060W
The Unified Contract (Civil) was introduced in April 2007. As at 31 March 2008, there were 2,734 organisations delivering services under the Unified Contract (Civil) 2007.
There are currently 1,776 organisations delivering services under an extension of the Unified Contract until 30 November 2011 in family and family with housing categories only. In addition, from 15 November 2010, 1,100 organisations were awarded new Standard Civil Contracts in all civil non-family work.
As there are effectively two types of contract operating for civil and family categories of law, there may be some duplication in numbers of current contracts as some organisations will be delivering services under both types of contract.