HC Deb 12 February 2004 vol 417 cc1717-8W
Mrs. Gillan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the(a) budgeted and (b) expected final costs are for the construction of HM Prison Bromsfield. [152706]

Paul Goggins

The prison under construction at Ashford, Middlesex is called HMP Bronzefield.

The prison is being procured through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Under the PFI process the overall contract price is fixed and includes both current construction and future operational costs. It will be paid back to the contractor as part of a unitary charge payable from when the prison opens in June 2004. It is the contractor who bears the risk of ensuring that its costs do not exceed its budget.

Mrs. Gillan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people held in prison are the subject of a deportation order, broken down by sex. [154177]

Paul Goggins

[holding answer 10 February 2004]The Prison Service does not record information on deportation orders on the inmate information system. Information on the number of persons held in prison who are the subject of a deportation order is not therefore available except by examination of individual case-files, at disproportionate cost.

Mrs. Gillan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women are serving sentences of 12 months or less. [154178]

Paul Goggins

[holding answer 10 February 2004]On 30 November 2003 there were 773 women serving sentences of 12 months or less in prisons in England and Wales.

Mrs. Gillan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisons are being considered for closure. [152704]

Paul Goggins

The Home Office is working on a value for money case for a replacement programme to create a new generation of larger prisons with the facilities needed to deliver effective programmes designed to reduce re-offending. New large prisons could also provide economies of scale, which would allow us to close some smaller prisons and redirect resources to community punishments. This case will be subject of discussion in the forthcoming Spending Review, the outcome of which will be published.

There is an established procedure for the announcement of decisions to change the role of or close prisons. Once Ministers take a decision to change the role of or close a prison, staff and local MPs affected by the change or closure are briefed before the formal announcement.

Mrs. Brooke

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that all prisons holding foreign nationals have in place(a) relevant policies and practices and (b) a foreign national co-ordinator employed to address the specific needs of the group of prisoners including (i) pre-release support, (ii) links to home country and family and (iii) procedures to manage deportation or repatriation. [151081]

Paul Goggins

[holding answer 26 January 2004]All Prison Service policies are required to have taken account of the needs of minority groups of prisoners including foreign nationals.

All Prisons have a race relations officers and a race relations management team responsible for the implementation of race relations locally and the fair treatment of ethnic minorities. Some prisons with larger numbers of foreign national prisoners have appointed a member of staff to work specifically to address their needs.

Pre-release support and links to their home country are managed as part of the normal sentence planning process, which applies to all prisoners serving over 12 months in prison.

The procedures used to manage deportation or repatriation are the same as those for any foreign national who has been refused entry to this country. The exception to this are the procedures for early departure provided by the Early Removal Scheme, as set out in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.