Mr. Burrowes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2008, Official Report, columns 2113-4W, on prisons: education, when the report of the randomised control trial of the Prison Service enhanced thinking skills programme scheduled for April 2008 will be published. [264096]
Mr. Hanson:
The research of the (short-term) evaluation of HM Prison Service enhanced thinking skills (ETS) programme was published on 9 March 2009.
Two reports were published, the first looked at the actual outcomes of the research, the second the implementation of the randomised controlled trial. Both reports are available on the Ministry of Justice website at:
Mr. Grieve:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many women prisoners were held more than 50 miles from their home address at any time in each of the last five years. [263838]
Mr. Straw:
Women are, on average, held slightly further away from home than men as the women's estate is smaller and more widespread. Latest data available (September 2008) indicate that the average distance from home for women prisoners is 57 miles. The number of women prisoners has been relatively stable in recent years (around 4,400).
The following table shows the number of women prisoners held over 50 miles from home in each of the last five years:
Women prisoners held >50 miles from home
Percentage of women prisoners held >50 miles from home
2004
1,896
45
2005
1,726
41
2006
1,872
44
2007
1,849
44
2008
1,848
44
The figures are taken from sample data, not necessarily in the same month of each year.
Where no home address is listed the committal court is used as a proxy address.
Probation Service: Sick Leave
Keith Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many days probation service personnel took in sick leave in the last 12 months. [262436]
Mr. Straw:
During the 12 months to December 2008, probation service staff took a total of 239,801 days as sick leave. This equates to an average of 11.5 days per staff year.
A breakdown by probation area and region is provided in the following table.
Measured over the 2008-09 financial year to date (the period from April to December 2008) performance has improved to 11.3 days against a target of 11.5 days.
All probation areas are required to have in place an action plan for achieving a reduction in sickness absence levels. An area’s eligibility to apply for trust status is in part dependent on their performance as assessed in the Integrated Probation Performance Framework (IPPF). Performance against the sickness absence target forms part of the overall assessment.
18 Mar 2009 : Column 1223W
18 Mar 2009 : Column 1224W
Probation service staff sickness absence: January-December 2008
