HC Deb 16 May 2003 vol 405 cc502-4W
Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many bullying incidents there were on girls aged 15 to 17 years in prison in each year since 1997. [112514]

Paul Goggins

All prisons have anti-bullying strategies. These are designed to detect incidents of bullying, confront and address the bullying behaviour and support the victim. Under these arrangements, the available information shows that since 1 March 2002, there have been 151 incidents concerning juvenile girls in prison.

Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each year since 1997 the ratio of prison officers to prisoners for(a) the general prison population, (b) women prisoners and (c) girls aged between 15 and 17 years in prison. [112566]

Paul Goggins

The information is as follows:

Date Officers to all prisoners Officers toprisoners in female only establishments Officers to female juvenile prisoners (15 to 17 years)
30 April 1997 1:2.49 1:1.67
30 April 1998 1:2.60 1:1.84
31 March 1999 1:2.50 1:1.74
31 March 2000 1:2.48 1:2.26
31 March 2001 1:2.51 1:2.29
31 March 2002 1:2.76 1:2.63
31 March 2003 1:2.81 1:2.35
12 May 2003 1:1.27

Officers include prison officers, senior officers and principal officers. The Prison Service personnel database can only differentiate staff by establishment rather than individual units within establishments. Therefore, information relating to female prisoners can only be provided for establishments that only accommodate female prisoners.

There are no establishments that only hold juvenile female prisoners and therefore staffing numbers are not available centrally. A manual count of female juvenile prisoners and officers responsible for them has been carried out but no historical staffing data are available.

Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Director General of the Prison Service is responsible for the operation of private prisons in England and Wales. [112133]

Paul Goggins

On 6 May 2003, operational responsibility for the nine private prisons in England and Wales was transferred from the Director General of the Prison Service to the Office for Contracted Prisons, a newly created unit within the Home Office, under the Commissioner for Correctional Services.

Mr. Grieve

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) which companies hold contracts to supply the Prison Service with meat products; and on what basis those contracts were awarded; [111879] (2) whether meat products rejected by suppliers for sale to the general population are being supplied to the prison service for consumption in HM Prisons. [111880]

Paul Goggins

[holding answer 8 May 2003]: The Prison Service currently contracts with two companies to supply meat products; Harry Yearsley Ltd. and N. H. Case Ltd. These companies supply products on a national basis and in competition with each other. Both companies were awarded contracts as a result of a competitive tendering action undertaken in strict adherence to European Union procurement regulations. The award was made on the basis of best value for money to the Prison Service, which took account of a range of evaluation criteria including price, quality, availability and the ability of the bidders to provide the requirements of the Service. All products supplied are fully compliant with all meat hygiene regulations including full product traceability.

Mrs. Brooke

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were moved from HM prisons and kept temporarily in police custody, broken down by(a) police authority and (b) month, in the period March 2002 to March 2003. [110844]

Paul Goggins

The information you have requested is not collated centrally and cannot be provided except at disproportionate expense.