In response to (a), information on the numbers and proportion of offenders held within prison establishments in England and Wales in each year since 1997 can be found in the following table which is taken from table 8.2 of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2005 which can be accessed at the following website:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1806.pdf
In response to (b), comprehensive information is not available in the form requested. However, the Criminality Survey in 2000 produced findings based on a representative sample of recently arrived male prisoners (excluding sex offenders) who had been sentenced during February and March 2000 which showed that nearly three quarters of prisoners in the sample had taken an illegal drug in the 12 months pre-prison; of these, over half (55 per cent.) reported that they had committed offences connected to their drug taking.
Results of research into this area can be found in the publication “Prisoners’ drug use before prison and links with crime”, by Liriano, S. and Ramsay, M. (2003), a Home Office Research Study.
The figures provided in answer to (a) have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, and although shown to the last individual, the figures may not be accurate to that level.
As at 30 June each year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total prisoners under immediate custodial sentence 48,674 52,159 51,293 53,093 54,169 57,272 59,393 60,924 62,179 Drug offences 7,174 7,893 8,169 8,473 9,148 10,067 10,330 10,486 10,661 Drug offences as percentage of total 15 15 16 16 17 18 17 17 17 1 Excluding police cells. Note: Data Sources and Quality These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, and so although shown to the last individual, the figures may not be accurate to that level. Source: Table 8.2 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2005.
The previous Head of Operations had six years prison service experience and had appropriate experience for the post.
All four investigators are senior manager D grades, and they have been drawn from Feltham, Wormwood Scrubs, Wandsworth and Holloway. Three of the investigators are deputy governors and one is head of safety.
It is for the commissioning officer to satisfy himself that investigators have the relevant experience and training, and both the governor and area manager are satisfied that this is the case in this investigation.
The information requested is set out in the following table.
Month 2006 Number of searches Staff searched January 2 419 February 3 417 March 2 317 April 3 455 May 2 324 June 1 193 July 2 155 August 1 79 September 1 195 October 1 174 November 1 287 December 1 113 Note: Authorised articles are those identified Governor’s Order on Authorised Articles. Staff found in possession of unauthorised articles would, for minor cases, be interviewed by a member of the security department and/or written to. No unauthorised articles discovered required police involvement.
Those conducting the investigations have had limited involvement with the Metropolitan police. It would not be appropriate to provide detail on the precise nature of the involvement.