§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many finds of(a) drugs or (b) other contraband there have been in which (a) lawyers, (b) probation officers, (c) chaplains and (d) relatives of inmates have been implicated during the last 12 months in prisons in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement; [4776]
- (2) how many finds of contraband have there been in the wiring of the bras of (a) prisoners' partners and (b) professional visitors to gaols in England and Wales during the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement; [4673]
- (3) how many lawyers sand probation officers have been apprehended attempting to take drugs or other contraband into gaols in England and Wales, in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [4674]
- (4) what changes there have been in search procedures in gaols in England and Wales during the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. (4676]
§ Miss Widdecombe[holding answer 20 November 1996]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.
11WLetter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 25 November 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions about searching, and particularly the searching of visitors to prisons.The statistical information you have requested is not available. However, I can provide figures for the number of visitors arrested for smuggling drugs in to prisons in the last five years. These do not differentiate between domestic and professional visitors.
Year (1 November to 13 October) Number of visitors arrested 1991–2 229 1992–3 341 1993–4 521 1994–5 1,040 1995–6 1,289 The Woodcock and Learmont reports drew attention to some very serious weaknesses in prison security, particularly in high security prisons. These included weaknesses in the degree to which we searched visitors.It was recommended that all visitors to prisons holding category A prisoners should receive a rub-down search in accordance with the procedures set out in the Security Manual, copies of which are available in the Library. Official visitors (such as members of the Board of Visitors and governors) and professional visitors (such as lawyers and probation officers) are included in this requirement.Changes in search procedures in the last twelve months include:Visitors to prisoners held in SSUs who are taking part in a closed visit are no longer rub-down searched on leaving the SSU.All staff responsible for searching staff and visitors in the highest security prisons have been trained in X-ray procedures and given refresher training in rub-down searching techniques.In prisons holding category A prisoners where new facilities have been installed, all staff are searched on entry.Passive drug detection dogs have been introduced in six prisons.