§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what requirements are laid down on how meals are to be provided by Group 4 to prisoners being held in court and police cells while awaiting or during trial; and if these will be hot meals.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:
In the absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what requirements are laid down on how meals are to be provided by Group 4 to prisoners being held in court and police cells whilst awaiting or during trial; and if these will be hot meals.
The contract with Group 4 Court Services Limited requires the contractor to feed all prisoners who are in its custody at any time between the hours of 1100 and 1400. The lunchtime meal need not be regarded as the main meal of the day, but should be such as to sustain the prisoner until he or she is escorted to the prison or otherwise dealt with. Fresh drinking water should be available to prisoners on request throughout the day. This is in line with guidance to Governors in respect of prisoners held at courts staffed by the Prison Service. Breakfast and tea meals will ordinarily be given either by the police or Prison Service as appropriate.
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost currently paid by the prison service for each new cellular van to be constructed.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:
In the temporary absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your Question about the cost paid by the Prison Service for new cellular vans.
The last cellular van purchased by the Prison Service was in July 1991, for a 14-cell van with air-conditioning, at a total cost of £50,667 exclusive of VAT. The last 12-cell van was purchased in September 1990 at a total cost of £47,275 exclusive of VAT. Air-conditioning was fitted to this van in July 1991 at an additional cost of £7,173 exclusive of VAT.
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the location, date, list of injuries and cost of repairs incurred in road accidents in 75W 1990, 1991 and 1992 involving (a) cellular vans and (b) other means of transporting prisoners (i) in England and Wales and (ii) in the east midlands and Humberside area.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:
In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the transport of prisoners.
Only a relatively small number of prisoner movements are by cellular vehicle. In fact the use of cellular vehicles by the Prison Service only began in 1990 and so far only 26 are in use. Apart from those prisoners conveyed by Group 4 most prisoners are escorted to magistrates' courts and the Crown Court, and between establishments, by Prison Service staff but using contract hire taxis and coaches. Movements from magistrates' courts to prisons are undertaken by the police using their vehicles. (In some areas, eg in London, the police also convey prisoners to magistrates' courts, but are paid for this service by the Prison Service.) We do not therefore have the information with which to answer your question.
We do however have information on the amount spent on repairs, and in settlement of third party claims, in respect of accidents involving Prison Service cellular vehicles. The only years for which the information is complete are 1990 (when these vehicles first began to be used by the Prison Service) and 1991. The information is as follows:
All areas East Midlands and Humberside £ £ 1990 264 nil 1991 2,354.50 618
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoner custody officers are employed by Group 4 Court Escort Services Ltd.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:
In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of prisoner custody officers employed by Group 4 Court Escort Services Ltd.
Group 4 currently have 288 staff employed to undertake prisoner custody officer duties as part of the court escort service in the East Midlands and Humberside.
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the running costs incurred during 1992 for transporting prisoners in the east midlands and Humberside area; and if he will give a breakdown of the costs.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:
In the absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the running costs incurred during 1992 for transporting prisoners in the East Midlands and Humberside area.
76WOur estimate of the operational staff costs in 1993–94 prices is £9.0 million. This excludes overheads, vehicle costs, catering and medical support. Neither the Prison Service nor the police can readily identify these additional costs. By contrast the total cost under the contract is £8.1 million (excluding VAT, which is reclaimable). This sum contains the cost of administrative and management back-up, together with costs of catering, medical support, accommodation (headquarters, control centre and vehicle bases), vehicles and IT. Of the £9.0 million, £6.0 million is attributable to police costs, and £2.8 million to Prison Service costs.
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoner transport movements were made in the east midlands and Humberside area during 1992.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:
In the temporary absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General from the office, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of prisoner transport movements made in the East Midlands and Humberside area during 1992.
Data on prisoner movements is not collected centrally. Survey work conducted last summer indicated an annual rate in the area of about 50,000 prisoner movements from police stations and prisons to courts. More detailed data for 1993 will become available in due course from the contractor's management information system.
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the number and types of vehicles Group 4 has in its fleet for transporting prisoners under the private escort service in the east midlands and Humberside.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:
In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about Group 4's fleet of vehicles for the court escort service in the East Midlands and Humberside.
Group 4 are using 70 vehicles, of which 57 are cellular vehicles, three are personnel carriers and 10 saloon cars.
§ Mr. David YoungTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost in(a) money and (b) man hours of retaking prisoners who escape while in the charge of Group 4 personnel.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I. Dunbar to Mr. David Young, dated 4 May 1993:
In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the cost and man hours involved in the re-taking of prisoners who have escaped from the custody of Group 4 personnel.
The nature and circumstances of incidents of escapes differ widely from one case to the next and the Prison Service is not charged for costs incurred in recapturing prisoners. The information requested is not, therefore, available.
77W
§ Mr. David YoungTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the contract with Group 4 to provide prisoner escort services contains penalty clauses; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from I.Dunbar to Mr. David Young, dated 4 May 1993:
In the absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about penalty clauses in the contract with Group 4 Court Services Ltd. for the provision of the court escort service in the East Midlands and Humberside.
The contract with Group 4 contains mechanisms which allow adjustments to payments to be made in the event of circumstances occurring which fall outside the terms of the contract. Where a material failure is caused by circumstances within the contractor's control and is not corrected within 20 days of it being brought to his attention, the Prison Service may terminate the contract.
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is his policy to allow male and female prisoners to travel in the same vehicle while being escorted to court; and if he will call for an investigation into an incident on Tuesday 20 April when a female prisoner was put with male prisoners in a vehicle operated by Group 4 Court Escort Services Ltd. with no female custody officer present.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mr. D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 5 May 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply directly to your recent Parliamentary question about male and female prisoners being escorted in the same vehicle.
The Prison Service has no objection in principle to escorting male and female prisoners to court together as long as the escort is properly staffed and supervised. The contract with Group 4 requires the separation of male and female prisoners, but the Prison Service is content that such separation be achieved by placing prisoners in separate compartments of a cellular vehicle. Where it is judged in the prisoner's interest to be escorted rather than to await the arrival of a female PCO, a female prisoner may be escorted by male PCOs. The contract with Group 4 states that the general presumption will be that a female officer will accompany a female prisoner, and that escorts of females by male Prisoner Custody Officers will be very much the exception.