§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on prisoners' wages in each of the last two years. [125339]
§ Mr. BoatengExpenditure on prisoners' earnings in England and Wales was £20.270 million in 1998–99 and £21.210 million in 1999–2000.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women received into prison(a) under sentence and (b) on remand who had children under the age of 18 months were given a place in a mother and baby unit in each of the last five years. [125340]
§ Mr. BoatengThere are 64 places in total available in mother and baby units at four prisons. On 5 June 2000, there were 54 mothers and their babies in the units.
Centrally available data only give figures for the past 19 months. The information is given in the table.
Numbers of mothers admitted to prison Mother and Baby Units for the period 2 November 1998–31 May 2000 Number Remands 22 Sentenced 184 Total 206
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prison service514W staff is registered disabled; how many (a) applicants for jobs and (b) employees in the Prison Service are registered disabled; and if he will make a statement. [125335]
§ Mr. BoatengMost recruitment undertaken in the Prison Service is for unified grades (prison officers, governors) who are currently exempt from the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
From the statistics gathered for the quarter October—December 1999, of those who applied for jobs, a total of 13 declared a disability and one person with a disability was appointed.
Out of 43,683 staff in post on 31 March 2000, a total of 139 were identified as disabled.
The Prison Service will be undertaking a staff disability survey towards the end of this year which should allow a more accurate database to be established. This, in turn, will inform decisions on the level of resources required to assist staff to carry out their duties.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many disabled people visited prisons in England and Wales in each of the last three years. [125336]
§ Mr. BoatengI regret that this information is not available.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to repeat the 1991 National Prison Survey in 2001; and if he will make a statement. [125333]
§ Mr. BoatengThere are no plans to repeat the 1991 National Prison Survey in 2001. A survey of prisoners is being carried out this year for the Home Office to investigate factors related to criminality. This covers much of the same information.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours per week on average remand prisoners spent out of cell in each local prison in England and Wales in 1999; and if he will make a statement. [125334]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Prison Service does not monitor time out of cell for remand prisoners separately. The average time out of cell on weekdays and weekends for all prisoners in local prisons in England and Wales for the year 1999–00 are given in the table.
515W
1999–2000 Average time out of cell Prison Weekdays Weekends Altcourse 13.0 13.0 Bedford 9.3 7.5 Belmarsh 8.8 7.6 Birmingham 6.8 5.1 Blakenhurst 11.5 10.3 Bristol 10.4 8.8 Brixton 8.8 6.8 Bullingdon 9.5 8.0 Canterbury 8.8 7.5 Cardiff 8.8 5.9 Chelmsford 7.8 7.8 Doncaster 10.3 10.3 Dorchester 7.9 6.8 Durham 7.5 5.1 Elmley 8.1 7.4
1999–2000 Average time our of cell Prison Weekdays Weekends Exeter 6.2 5.2 Gloucester 9.3 6.5 Highdown 7.8 5.1 Holme House 9.5 7.3 Hull 10.0 7.7 Leeds 8.3 7.3 Leicester 10.9 9.5 Lewes 9.3 6.3 Lincoln 10.5 9.0 Liverpool 6.7 4.1 Manchester 8.3 7.0 Norwich 8.1 7.8 Nottingham 9.6 7.1 Parc 9.2 10.5 Pentonville 9.0 7.0 Preston 6.3 5.0 Rochester 9.2 9.8 Shrewsbury 9.9 9.9 Swansea 8.7 8.0 Wandsworth 8.0 7.0 Winchester 7.2 6.5 Wolds 11.5 11.7 Woodhill 10.2 8.5 Wormwood Scrubs 7.9 4.8
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce privacy screening in shared prison cells fitted with integral sanitation. [125338]
§ Mr. BoatengA significant proportion of shared prison cells with integral sanitation already have privacy screening. This work has been carried out by establishments under local management.
The Prison Service is currently evaluating options to standardise the type of privacy screen and to extend the installation to all shared cells with integral sanitation. A decision has not yet been taken as to when this work might be carried out.