HC Deb 18 October 1993 vol 230 cc128-30W
Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners who have been transported by the Group 4 prison escort service have arrived late at their destinations.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility 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 D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many prisoners who have been transported by Group 4 Court Services Ltd have arrived late at their destination. Of the prisoners delivered by Group 4 Court Services Ltd in the East Midlands and Humberside by the end of September, 1,690 had arrived late at their destinations. To that date Group 4 had been responsible for 42,658 prisoner movements. Of the late deliveries, the majority were late for reasons beyond the control of the Contractor.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoner escorts are carried out by private hire coach and private hire taxi.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility 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 D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the proportion of prisoner escorts carried out by private hire coach and private hire taxi. The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been received about the Group 4 prison escort service since Group 4 took over the service in the east midlands and Humberside in April.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility 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 D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of complaints received about Group 4 Court Services Ltd since they took over the court escort and custody service in the East Midlands and Humberside in April. By 7 October a total of 141 complaints had been received; 13 by the Prisoner Escort Monitor, and 128 by Group 4 Court Services Ltd. Of the latter, 82 were from prisoners and 46 from other sources. By that date Group 4 had been responsible for 50,352 prisoner movements. The number has steadily declined as the service has settled down from a peak of 36 complaints in April. In September only seven complaints were received.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the security arrangements for escorting each category of prisoner between prisons; and what are the average costs per mile.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility 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 D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about security arrangements for escorting each category of prisoner between prisons and the average costs per mile. In general terms prisoners may be escorted between prisons using a variety of vehicles including contract taxis, coaches, mini-buses, cellular vehicles and secure vans and accompanied by an appropriate number of officers. Category B prisoners, those on remand and category C prisoners may be handcuffed. Handcuffs are not used when category D inmates are escorted to open prisons and are not used routinely on women prisoners. Other security arrangements include searching of inmates and vehicles, depending on the analysis of the escape risk of each individual prisoner. Special arrangements, including police support, are made for transferring category A prisoners. Given the wide variety of arrangements for escorts between prisons there is no central record of average costs per mile. This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many legal actions are pending against Group 4 in relation to its prison escort service.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility 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 D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of legal actions pending against Group 4 in relation to the court escort and custody service. I am not aware of any such action.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff Group 4 employs to operate the court escort service for the Hull and east midlands region.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility 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 D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of staff employed by Group 4 in the court escort and custody service in the East Midlands and Humberside. Group 4 Court Services Limited employ 359 staff to operate the court escort and custody service in the East Midlands and Humberside.