HC Deb 18 April 1995 vol 258 cc89-90W
Dr. Lynne Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to his answer of 14 April 1993,Official Report, column 286, what new methods have been introduced since April 1993 to detect syringe needles concealed within a person's clothing or body as an alternative to strip searching; [18136]

(2) what is the amount of drugs and explosives that have been detected for each of the past five years as a result of strip searching of convicted and remand prisoners in (a) female and (b) male establishments; [18135]

(3) what assessment he has made of the impact the availability of hand held search tools to locate metal objects concealed under a person's clothing and methods to detect whether a person has been in contact with explosives or drugs have had on the number of strip searchings being carried out in prisons or in other locations where strip searches are permitted. [18137]

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Responsibility for these matters 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 Derek Lewis to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 18 April 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the strip searching of prisoners. Since April 1993 the Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch has sponsored work on new methods to detect syringe needles concealed within a person's clothing or body as an alternative to strip searching, but it is still at the developmental stage and there is not yet a metal detector available which is sufficiently sensitive to detect syringe needles with any degree of certainty. Information on the number of strip searches conducted in prisons is not recorded and there are no figures available on drugs and explosives found as the result of particular types of search. It is not possible to say whether the availability of either hand held or fixed metal detectors, or the availability of new methods of detecting traces of drugs or explosives have affected the number of strip searches.

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