§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a)women and(b)men were being held in prison on 8 March. [160637]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 11 March 2004]On 8 March 2004 there were 4,560 women and 70,447 men being held in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were eligible on 8 March for early release. [160638]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 11 March 2004]Information on the number of prisoners who were eligible for early release on 8 March 2004 is not yet available.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were released on 8 March on early release. [160639]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 11 March 2004]Information on the number of prisoners who were released on 8 March 2004 on early release is not yet available.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were eligible for early release on 9 March. [161049]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 12 March 2004]I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her previous question (160638].
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were released on early release on 9 March. [161050]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 12 March 2004]I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her previous question (160639).
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were released on(a)8 March and(b)9 March. [161051]
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§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 12 March 2004]Information on the number of prisoners who were released on 8 March 2004 and 9 March 2004 is not yet available.
§ Mr. David LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners there are in English prisons; and how many of these are in privately run prisons. [156704]
§ Paul GogginsOn 30 November 2003, there were 71,706 prisoners in English prisons. Of these, 5,709 were in privately run prisons.
§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the new prison wing for elderly prisoners in HMP Norwich will open; and what facilities will be provided in this wing that are unique to the care of the elderly. [157374]
§ Paul GogginsThe Elderly Life Sentence Prisoner unit at HMP/YOI Norwich is scheduled to open in late June 2004. Upon completion, this residential unit will provide accommodation to 15 elderly prisoners.
The design of the unit is sympathetic to the needs of the elderly. It is being built in a discrete area of the prison and all facilities are situated at ground floor level. The unit will fully comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.
§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the most recent average cost per year is of(a)keeping a prisoner in a general prison and(b)keeping a prisoner aged 65 years or over in HMP Kingston's specialised wing. [157375]
§ Paul GogginsThe average cost across all establishments of keeping a prisoner during the financial year 2002–03 was £24,241. This figure is expressed in resource terms, excluding headquarters costs, but including items such as the cost of capital and the cost of depreciation on Prison Service assets.
The Prison Service, does not hold information on the costs of keeping individual groups of prisoners in particular prisons. The costs of keeping prisoners over the age of 65 in HMP Kingston are embedded in the broader costs of running the whole establishment and cannot be disaggregated.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners absconded from category D prisons in each year since 1997. [159280]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 5 March 2004]Categorisation relates to prisoners not prisons. Category D prisoners are those who it is assessed can be reasonably trusted in open conditions and the majority are held in open or semi-open prisons. Absconds from semi-open prisons are very few. The table shows the numbers of absconds in each year reported by open prisons.
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Number of absconds 1997 1,012 1998 880 1999 840
Number of absconds 2000 781 2001 743 2002 825 2003 1,224
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed suicide attempts took place in prisons in England and Wales in(a)2001,(b)2002 and(c)2003. [160208]
§ Paul GogginsSuicidal intent is difficult to establish. Data recording incidents of 'attempted suicide' are subsumed within those for self-harm, which covers all acts of self-injury.
Good care and support from staff saves many lives; 154 prisoners were resuscitated following self-harm incidents in 2002, and a further 211 prisoners were resuscitated in 2003. Reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and instances of self-harm in prison establishments is a priority for Ministers and the Prison Service. A three-year programme to develop policies and practices to reduce prisoner suicide and manage self-harm in prisons is currently drawing to a close. The results of this programme and complementary research will inform future suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why prison is becoming a more common form of punishment; [148888]
(2) if he will make a statement on changes in(a)custody rates and(b)sentence lengths. [148893]
§ Paul GogginsThe main reason for the increased use of prison is the increased severity of sentencing. At magistrates courts the custody rate for indictable offences was 15 per cent. in 2002. This compares with 14 per cent. in 2001, ten per cent. in 1997 and five per cent. in 1992.
At the Crown court the custody rate for indictable offences was 63 per cent. in 2002, the same as in 2001. This compares with 60 per cent. in 1997 and 44 per cent. in 1992. For males aged 21 or over the average custodial sentence length was 27.8 months in 2002. This compares with 26.0 months in 2001, 24.2 months in 1997 and 21.1 months in 1992.
The new Sentencing Guidelines Council met for the first time on 5 March 2004 and will provide a comprehensive set of sentencing guidelines for all offences. This will enable all courts and practitioners to adopt a consistent approach to sentencing.