§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisons have been built with public money over the last 10 years; and when the construction of each such prison was ordered. [122919]
§ Paul GogginsSince 1993, four prisons have been built with public money. The dates of order, interpreted here as the date the main construction contract was let, is not readily available and could now be ascertained only at disproportionate cost. They are:
Prison Opened Lancaster Farms 1993 Blakenhurst 1993 Doncaster 1994 Buckley Hall 1995
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many(a) governing governors and (b) governor grades of prison establishments in England and Wales are from an ethnic minority group; [122967]
643W(2) what proportion of staff in the Prison Service are from an ethnic minority group. [122968]
§ Paul GogginsAs at 30 June 2003, there was in the public sector, one senior operational manager in charge of an establishment recorded as coming from a minority ethnic group. A further two senior operational managers had no ethnicity data recorded in this group. Within the contracted prisons sector (i.e. private prisons), there is one minority ethnic manager in charge of an establishment.
Out of the 1,258 senior operational managers in post on 31 May 2003 in the public sector, 35 were recorded as coming from a minority ethnic group, representing 2.8 per cent. of senior operational managers in this group. A further 85 (6.8 per cent.) had no ethnicity data recorded.
Out of the 46,467 public sector staff in post on 31 May 2003, 2,425 were recorded as coming from a minority ethnic group, representing 5.2 per cent. of staff in this sector. A further 4,078 (8.8 per cent.) had no ethnicity data recorded.
Within the contracted (i.e. private) prisons sector, 83 staff are recorded as coming from a minority ethnic group, representing 2.2 per cent. of the total contracted prisons staff.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of GDP was spent on prisons in(a) 1973, (b) 1981, (c) 1991 and (d) 2001; and what the expenditure was on prisons in real terms in each of those years. [122969]
§ Paul GogginsThe following table provides the information requested, for 1973, 1981, 1991 and 2001 and is based on Prison service costs. Because of changes over the years in the way that the Prison service's costs have been funded and measured, these figures will not be exactly comparable with each other.
The level of expenditure in 1990–91 reflects an increased capital spend on new prisons at that time. In recent years such costs have been met through private finance initiative (PFI) contracts, with the capital costs being repaid over a long period.
Prison Service Costs as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) GDP (£ million) Prison Service (£ million) Financial year Cash Real terms 2001–02 Cash Real terms 2001–02 Percentage 1972–73 67,167 534,372 78.3 623.0 0.12 1980–81 236,486 592,111 403.5 1,010.3 0.17 1990–91 563,735 773,611 1,341.5 1,840.9 0.24 2000–01 962,613 986,682 1,794.7 1,839.6 0.19 Note:
Prison Service costs include current and capital expenditure.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisons in England and Wales have(a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) doctors or nurses and (d) doctors and nurses available to practice health care (i) 24 hours a day, (ii) 12 hours a day, (iii) every other day, (iv) twice a week and (v) once a week. [122970]
644W
§ Paul GogginsThe information is not available in the form requested. Under the Prison Act 1952, every prison must have a medical officer. The provision of health services in an establishment is organised around its health care centre.
Health care centres fall into one of four categories according to the level of service provided and are staffed appropriately to fulfill their particular function. There are 23 Type 1 and 45 Type 2 health care centres at which only daytime health care cover is provided, generally by part-time staff in the former and full-time staff in the latter. There are 68 Type 3 health care centres, which have in-patient facilities and 24-hour nurse cover, and four Type 4 facilities, which have the same level of provision but act as national or regional assessment centres.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prison officers are allowed to administer medication to prisoners; and what proportion of those officers have been given medical training. [122971]
§ Paul GogginsOnly nurses and health care officers—prison officers who have received specific training and work as part of the health care team—administer medication to prisoners. Where a health care officer is not nurse qualified they work under the clinical supervision of a registered nurse. The competencies for the safe administration of medicine are contained in the new national occupational standards for custodial health care set out in the Custodial Healthcare National Vocation Qualification (NVQ).
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of medication provided in prisons that would normally be administered in tablets is given in liquid form to prevent prisoners storing their medication. [122972]
§ Paul GogginsThe information is not available in the form requested. Prisons have a risk assessment process that will be undertaken before a prisoner is allowed to have medication in their possession. Not all medication can be made available in liquid form. Prison Health has published "A Pharmacy Service for Prisoners", available at www.doh.gov.uk/prisonhealth, which will help prisons to develop their pharmacy services.