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Written Answers
Tuesday, 11th July 2000.
Firearms Act and Violent Crime Involving Handguns
The Earl of Shrewsbury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- By how much violent crime involving handguns has decreased since Royal Assent was given to the Firearms Act 1997.[HL3084]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton): Violent crime involving handguns includes the offence groups of violence against the person and robbery. The total numbers of these offences involving handguns in England and Wales and Scotland for the years ending December 1996 and 1997 and March 1998 and 1999 are given in the table.
| England and Wales | Scotland | |
| 1996 | 3,075 | 148 |
| 1997 | 2,376 | 116 |
| 1997-98 | 2,361 | 101 |
| 1998-99 | 2,417 | 116 |
The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 does not apply in Northern Ireland.
The Earl of Listowel asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many cases of self-harm by inmates of young offender institutions took place in each year since 1997.[HL3137]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The information is given in the tables. Information about attempted suicides is not recorded separately but is incorporated into figures on self-harm.
*As at 5th July 2000
*Not yet available
(i) Establishments have been categorised according to their primary role. However, it should be noted that there are a number of other prisons that hold young offenders (eg male remand centres) which are not included.
(ii) Not all self-inflicted deaths conclude with a verdict of suicide.
(iii) Incidents of self-harm do not equate to numbers of prisoners, as an individual prisoner may self-harm more than once.
(iv) Self-harm data are derived from information provided by establishments to the Prison Health Policy Unit. These data include information on all attempted suicides.
Lord Graham of Edmonton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Last November my right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Home Office (Mr Boateng) anounced in the wake of serious concern about conditions at Brixton Prison that it must be regarded as a failing institution and that there must be rapid and fundamental improvement. He made it clear that unless big improvements were made quickly Brixon could be subject to market testing. It is now over eight months since then and progress at the prison has been kept under close review.
He is not satisfied with the rate of progress being made, nor that the necessary improvements will be in place within 12 months. In particular, there has not been adequate improvement in compliance with standards, the quality of regime remains poor, there are serious concerns about commitment to equal opportunities within the prison, costs remain high and there is a lack of commitment to changes to free up resources to improve the regime. This judgment, accepted by the director general, has been confirmed in a recent visit by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, who found that, although certain improvements have been made in many areas, basic conditions, including cleanliness in the healthcare centre, were still unacceptable.
He has, therefore, reviewed the position and is clear that he would be failing in his public duty to all those at the prison, staff and prisoners alike, if we did not set a new path for the establishment. The director general agrees with him that there should be a market test of Brixton Prison. The new management team will be responsible for quickening the pace of improvement and for putting together an in-house bid, which will be judged alongside bids which will be invited from private sector operators.
The Duke of Montrose asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: I refer the noble Duke to the Answer I gave him on 7 July (Offical Report, WA 166). The table, which should have accompanied my answer of 7 July, gives information for 1998-99 on police target response times for England and Wales.
£ indicates the requested information was not provided by the force.
* indicates that doubt was expressed about the force's arrangements for producing the requested information.
How many inmates of young offender institutions committed or attempted suicide in each year since 1997; and[HL3136]
Calendar Year No. of Deaths
19975
1998 5
1999 8
2000* 1
Financial Year Incidents of Self-harm
1996-1997793
1997-1998 879
1998-1999 944
1999-2000* N/A
What plans they have to allow private sector organisations to bid for the contract to run Brixton Prison.[HL3300]
What is the target response time to emergency calls for Metropolitan Police Forces.[HL3072]
Target Performance Number of incidents
1998-99 Local target time for responding to incidents requiring immediate response 1997-98 Local target time for responding to incidents requiring immediate response compared with 1998-99 1994-95 Local target time for responding to incidents requiring immediate response compared with 1998-99 Performance 1989-99 Difference in percentage points between 1997-98 and 1998-99 Difference in percentage points between 1994-95 and 1998-99 1998-99 The number of incidents The number of incidents percentage change from 1997-98 to 1998-99 The number of incidents percentage change from 1994-95 to 1998-99
Avon and Somerset 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 94% down 2 down 1 34.619 32% -5%
Bedfordshire 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 89% 0 up 1 19.946 4% 843%
Cambridgeshire 10 minutes for urban areas and 18 minutes for rural areas same target same target 78% down 4 up 2 29,987 11% -10%
Cheshire 90% within 15 minutes same target same target 92% 0 not monitored for 94-95 57,362 -1% not monitored for 94-95
Cleveland 90% within 10 minutes in urban areas and 90% within 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 89% down 5 down 3 22,743 4% 139%
Cumbria 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 93% up 2 0 20,274 -6% -30%
Derbyshire 10 minutes within urban areas and 20 minutes within rural areas and motorways same target same target 87% 0 0 56,688 -2% 17%
Devon and Cornwall 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 88% up 1 up 5 98,655 -10% 7%
Dorset 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 80% 0 up 21 24,786 3% -62%
Durham 10 minutes same target same target 92% 0 down 1 14,353 -6% -8%
Essex 12 minutes in urban areas and 16 minutes in rural areas same target same target 84% down 2 down 2 67,490 -11% -21%
Gloucestershire 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 91% down 2 up 10 34,296 12% -8%
Hampshire 15 minutes same target same target 95% up 3 up 9 23,934 -75% -88%
Hertfordshire An officer to reach you within 15 minutes in response to emergencies. Priority to be given to vulnerable members of our community same target Changed target 87% up 1 changed target 24,783 9% 153%
Humberside To attend 87% of immediate response calls within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target Changed target 90% up 3 changed target 3,024 -54% -95%
Kent Urban areas in 10 minutes and rural areas in 20 minutes. Strategic Road Network 20 minutes same target same target 97% 0 up 2 49,505 7% 14%
Lancashire To attend the scene of all immediate response incidents within 15 minutes same target same target 97% down 1 up 1 80,663 -9% -3%
Leicestershire 15 minutes same target same target 82% up 2 up 12 35,814 1% -64%
Lincolnshire 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 88% up 1 up 3 39,193 -3% 5%
Norfolk 10 minutes in urban areas and 15 minutes in rural areas same target same target 76% up 8 down 1 33,665 -27% -23%
Northamptonshire 10 minutes in urban areas and 17 minutes in rural areas same target Changed target 89% down 2 changed target 20,497 -4% -44%
North Yorkshire 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 98% up 2* up 1 4,626 4% 26%
Nottinghamshire 10 minutes in urban areas and 15 minutes in rural areas same target same target 84% up 11 up 2 42,368 -34% -54%
Staffordshire 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 90% down 1 up 1 37,958 52% 84%
Suffolk 10 minutes in urban areas 18 minutes in rural areas same target same target 91% up 1 up 7 38,011 -1% 46%
Surrey 10 minutes in urban areas, 20 minutes in rural areas, on motorways 20 minutes same target Changed target 82% down 1 changed target 37,135 -2% 226%
Sussex 90% within 10 minutes for the larger towns, and 20 minutes elsewhere same target same target 89% down 1 up 1 55,645 -4% -5%
Thames Valley To respond to immediate incidents within 15 minutes, 85% of the time same target Changed target 87% down 1 changed target 86,467 -4% 65%
Warwickshire 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 79% 0 down 2 15,972 3% 0%
West Mercia 85% within 10 minutes in urban areas and 85% within 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 92% up 2 up 7 51,555 -12% -34%
Wiltshire 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 91% up 3 up 3 22,731 -20% -40%
Welsh Police Authorities
Dyfed-Powys In 85% of cases, response within 15 minutes same target same target 87% changed target changed target 17,617 7% 25%
Gwent 20 minutes same target same target 95% up 1 up 3 37,996 -3% 0%
North Wales 20 minutes same target same target 84% down 1 down 15 50,119 -15% 55%
South Wales Our aim is to attend immediate response incidents within 15 minutes of receiving the call same target same target 89% down 1 0 83,795 7% 1%
English Metropolitan Police Forces
Greater Manchester 85% within 10 minutes same target same target 85% up 1 up 3 133,141 -10% -24%
Merseyside 10 minutes same target same target 91% up 2 up 22 45,416 4% -22%
Northumbria 10 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas same target same target 93% down 1 up 10 41,399 -13% -56%
South Yorkshire 78% in 10 minutes same target Changed target 80% 0 changed target 41,550 7% -13%
West Midlands 10 minutes in urban areas and 15 minutes in rural areas same target same target 93% down 1 up 10 102,939 -19% -29%
West Yorkshire 15 minutes same target same target 95% 0 up 2 95,912 29% 14%
Metropolitan Police To arrive within 12 minutes 85% of the time same target same target 88% down 1 down 3 593,556 1% 65%
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