HC Deb 18 March 1998 vol 308 cc633-4W
Mr. Allan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the pension provision made for staff by private sectors prison contractors relative to arrangements in the public sector; what is his policy of pension provision to private sector contractors; and if he will make a statement. [34682]

Ms Quin

Pension arrangements for staff employed at privately managed prisons are a matter for the contractors, although Her Majesty's Prison Service, when considering bids for the management of prisons, requires details of bidders' personnel policies so that it can assess whether these might in any way affect the prison's operation.

place when unfit to drive through drink or drugs. It also makes it an offence to be in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle in the same circumstances. A constable may arrest a person without warrant if he has reasonable cause to suspect that an offence has been committed. Section 7 of the Act empowers a constable to require a suspect to provide a specimen of blood or urine for a laboratory test where he is advised by a medical practitioner that the condition of the person might be due to some drug.

The Act defines a person as being unfit to drive: if his ability to drive properly is for the time being impaired".

It defines drugs as: any intoxicant other than alcohol and can therefore include drugs of all kinds.

The Road Traffic Act 1991 added the offence of causing death by careless driving when driving a mechanically propelled vehicle under the influence of drink or drugs. The same definition of being unfit to drive applies.

The available penalties for the offences are set out in the table.

My right hon. Friend asked the Prison Service on 19 June 1997 to consider plans for establishing a case for returning contractually managed prisons to the public sector. As part of that work, all aspects of the remuneration of Prison Service staff have been studied in relation to their private sector counterparts. That work is still in progress and its findings are due to be reported shortly.