§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed reduction in the number of fire safety officers on the operation of the Prison Service. [187956]
§ Paul GogginsThe reduction of staff within Fire Safety Section is a result of reorganisation of the Section and is part of the overall headquarters efficiencies. The reduction in staff is tempered by changes in working requirements that has removed identified unnecessary work from the section. It is considered that the level of provision of advice to the Service will not be adversely affected.
§ Ross CranstonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Prison Service has spent on equal pay tribunal cases since 1997. [187959]
§ Paul GogginsOn 9 September 2004 the Prison Service had spent
£1,034,741 since 1997 on equal pay tribunal cases.
§ Ross CranstonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many job evaluation exercises have been carried out by the Prison Service in respect of(a) administrative and(b) Prison Service staff since 1997; and what the outcome was. [187960]
§ Paul GogginsThe Prison Service introduced Phase 1 of its review of pay and grading in July 2000. Affecting 2,500 middle and senior managers, including those in administrative and operational disciplines, it replaced more than 150 existing grades with a seven-payband common structure supported by a job evaluation system.
Development of Phase 2 of the review, which would have applied to 38,000 lower-graded staff in disciplines that included administrative and operational grades, was halted in April 2002 and the project work subsumed within pay modernisation.
In the process of developmental work, and to date, the Prison Service has carried out 507 individual job evaluations.
§ Ross CranstonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many equal pay cases against the Prison Service at employment tribunals have found(a) for and(b) against the Service since 1997; and what the financial implications of those decisions have been. [187961]
§ Paul GogginsOn the information available, there have been findings against the Prison Service in eight equal pay claims since 1997. These findings are currently subject to appeal by the Prison Service and it is therefore not possible to provide a realistic estimate of the financial implications.
§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Prison Service has spent since 1997 defending employment tribunal cases in respect of equal pay claims. [188220]
§ Paul GogginsOn 9 September 2004 the Prison Service had spent £1,034,741 since 1997 defending equal pay tribunal cases.
1682WS
§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Prison Service plans to review its job evaluation system in the light of recent employment tribunal cases. [188223]
§ Paul GogginsThe Prison Service uses a job evaluation system called Equate, which underpins the jobs of middle and senior managers within Phase 1 of its Pay and Grading scheme. There are no plans to review it in the light of the case of Bailey and Othersv. Home Office.
However, it is proposed to explore the need for a job evaluation scheme that can be used to evaluate jobs that do not fall within Phase 1.
§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Prison Service plans to appeal against employment tribunal decisions made during the last 12 months in respect of equal pay claims between administrative support and prison officer grades. [188224]
§ Paul GogginsThe Prison Service lodged an appeal in the case of Bailey and Othersv. Home Office on 26 August 2004.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many organisations which expressed an interest in drug rehabilitation work for the Prison Service have not tendered for the work. [188400]
§ Paul GogginsPrison Service Contracts and Procurement Unit (CPU) received 57 expressions of interest in response to the public notice dated 26 November 2003. All were sent Pre-Qualifying Questionnaires (PQQ). CPU received 41 completed PQQ's by the closing date on 30 January 2004 and rejected 11 of these. Twenty-nine invitations to tender were sent on 20 May 2004 of which 24 tenders were received on 20 July 2004.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 22 July,Official Report, column 609W, on prisons, what assessment he has made of the effects of operating with a shortfall in the operational requirement for prison healthcare staff; what steps he is taking to address the shortage; and if he will make a statement. [187476]
§ Paul GogginsNo such assessment has been made centrally. Prison managers and primary care trusts are responsible for ensuring that an establishment's health workforce includes people with the skills and competencies necessary to implement its prison health delivery plan.