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Prison Places
23. Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has of the number of available places in British prisons; and if he will make a statement. [1378]
Miss Widdecombe: On Monday 20 November 1995, the certified normal accommodation available for use in prison establishments in England and Wales was 51,185 places.
Police
24. Mr. Nigel Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had from the Association of Chief Police Officers on the likely impact of the Budget on the service it delivers. [1379]
Mr. Maclean: None. Detailed proposals for police funding in England and Wales in 1996-97 will be announced later today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
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Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase police strength in the next year; and if he will make a statement. [1360]
Mr. Howard: My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister has pledged additional funding to enable chief constables in England and Wales to recruit an extra 5,000 officers over the next three years. The details of police funding proposals for 1996-97 will be announced later today.
Metropolitan Police
25. Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are currently on the beat in the metropolis; at what cost to public funds; what were the figures in May 1979 in real terms; and if he will make a statement. [1380]
Mr. Maclean: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that, at the end of July 1995, there were 12,055 police officers on patrol in the Metropolitan police district--6,002 of these were assigned to foot patrol duties. The cost of this function is £502,482,000 per annum--£246,216,000 for foot patrol officers.
Comparable figures are not available for 1979.
Under-age Gambling
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the number of under-16-year-olds who regularly play fruit machines; and if he will make a statement. [1969]
Mr. Kirkhope: Statistics on the use of gaming machines are not available.
We have not carried out recent research on the subject but we understand that an independent survey of school children was carried out this summer drawn from 12 schools in the east, north-east and south-west of England. Out of 1,665 pupils aged 12 to 15, 10 per cent. said that they played fruit machines at least once a week.
Prison Accommodation, Wales
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions during 1995 each of the prisons at (a) Cardiff, (b) Swansea and (c) Usk have exceeded the certified normal accommodation; and if he will make a statement. [2167]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Alan Walker to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 30 November 1995:
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The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of occasions during 1995 each of the prisons at (a) Cardiff, (b) Swansea and (c) Usk have exceeded the certified normal accommodation.
Cardiff and Swansea prisons have had populations in excess of certified normal accommodation available for use throughout 1995. The latest monthly information available shows that Usk prison had a population in excess of the certified normal accommodation available for use at the end of each of the last 8 months (March to October).
Population pressures in South Wales will be eased considerably when new accommodation comes into use at Cardiff in May/June 1996 (204 places) and at Swansea in August 1996 (103 places). A new prison at Bridgend is planned to come into use in 1997-98 and will provide about 600 new places.
Remand Prisoners
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions remand prisoners committed by courts in Wales have been held in prisons outside Wales for each of the last three full years for which figures are available and for 1995 to the latest available date; and what percentage this figure constitutes of the total number of remand prisoners committed by the same courts. [2168]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Alan Walker to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 30 November 1995:
(12) Provisional figures.
(13) First received as untried and convicted unsentenced prisoners who
were not previously held as untried.
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking, on how many occasions remand prisoners committed by courts in Wales have been held in prisons outside Wales for each of the last three full years for which figures are available and for 1995 to the latest available date; and what percentage this figure constitutes of the total number of remand prisoners committed by the same courts.
The available information relates to the number of remand prisoners who were first received into a Prison Service establishment in England from a court in Wales and is given in the attached table. The number of occasions when remand prisoners committed by courts in Wales, who were first held in a Welsh prison and subsequently transferred on remand to a prison in England, is not available.
Year Remanded into custody by a Welsh court but first received into an English prison(12) (13) Percentage of all persons remanded into custody by a Welsh court who were first received into a prison in England
1992 590 25
1993 874 25
1994 991 26
1995 (January- October) 821 25
Fire Authorities
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he has received from HM chief inspector of fire services on the effects of the 1995 financial settlement for fire authorities on fire brigade response times. [1373]
Mr. Kirkhope: In general, brigades remain able to meet the nationally recommended minimum standards of fire cover--which include the response times that fire brigades are expected to maintain. Her Majesty's inspectors of fire services draw attention to any
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exceptions in the course of their annual inspection of brigades. It is for the fire authority concerned to take the appropriate action in any such case.
Investors in People
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to achieve investor in people status; when it started the process; when it expects to achieve investor in people status; and if he will make a statement. [2978]
Mr. Howard: The Home Office is fully committed to achieving accreditation as an investor in people. Action to this end is under way throughout the various agencies and other constituent parts of the Department, reflecting the different needs of each area and the different lengths of time each has been working towards the standard. Some parts of the Department have already reached the standard and others are expected to be ready for assessment within the next 12 months.
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
Mr. Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many charges made under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 have been contested in court; how many appeals have been lodged; and what is his estimate of the total cost to public funds of the implementation of this measure. [2963]
Mr. Kirkhope: Detailed information is not collected centrally on numbers of persons charged for offences, nor about pleas and subsequent appeals. However, 2,811 persons were prosecuted for offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act between 1992 and 1994; in the same period 1,226 were found guilty, and a further 597 were cautioned.
Information on the cost to the police, local authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the courts of operating the Dangerous Dogs Act is not held centrally.
Mr. Colin Ivor Dunning
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he received the application for the case of Mr. Colin Ivor Dunning to be referred to the Court of Appeal under the provisions of section 17 of the Criminal Appeals Act 1968. [3173]
Mr. Kirkhope: Representations were received from Mr. Dunning's solicitors on 3 February 1994. Supplementary representations were received in May 1995.
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to questions put in correspondence from the solicitors acting for Mr. Colin Ivor Dunning. [3174]
Mr.Kirkhope: Officials have written to the solicitors with our decisions on Mr. Dunning's case and the reasons for that decision.
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to give a decision in the case of Mr. Colin Ivor Dunning. [3175]
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Mr. Kirkhope: I have written to the hon. Member with our decision today.
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