Written Answers
Friday, 26th April 1996.
Holloway Prison
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why there was no co-ordinated policy on foreign nationals at Holloway prison and no full-time foreign nationals officer in 1995, and whether there is now such a policy and such an officer.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about policy on foreign nationals at Holloway prison.
The co-ordination of arrangements for foreign nationals at Holloway has been carried out by a prison officer on a part-time basis. As part of a wider review of the work of Holloway, additional time is being given to this post but a full-time appointment is not justified.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why they allowed the volume of paperwork, forms and detailed instructions from the Prison Service to increase substantially at Holloway prison; why there was a proliferation of basic repetitive paperwork there; why the number of management meetings increased and hindered staff from getting out into the prison; and why the management became overburdened by the amount of paperwork.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the increase in paperwork and meetings at Holloway prison.
The volume of paperwork, forms and detailed instructions sent to Holloway has been controlled over this past year as it has at all Prison Service establishments. The level of paperwork is no greater at Holloway than at any other Prison Service establishment.
There was a need for the management of Holloway to grapple with the range and intensity of problems with which they were confronted, and it was for local management to determine how best to balance those tasks with the need to get out into the prison.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they agree with the Board of Visitors of Holloway prison that "lack of a purposeful regime was profoundly damaging to the ethos of the prison and to the lives of the inmates", and that it is "demeaning, inhumane and damaging to mental and physical health to keep women locked in their cells with little respite".
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the regime at Holloway prison.
I have acknowledged publicly that there were deficiencies in the regime at Holloway and that the conditions in which the prisoners were held were unsatisfactory. Steps have been taken to improve matters and work to restore the regime to an acceptable level continues.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Education Unit at Holloway prison was closed for one third of the time from July onwards during 1995, and for what proportion of the time it was closed in the first three months of 1996.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the education unit at Holloway prison.
The education department was closed on an intermittent basis from July to December 1995 because staff were deployed to other more essential tasks, such as outside escorts.
The education department has not been closed during the first three months of 1996.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why Holloway prison's education budget was cut in April 1995.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about Holloway prison's education budget.
In 1994–95 additional funds were made available to Kingsway College which provides education to Holloway by the internal transfer within Holloway of £50,000. This additional amount was not available in 1995–96 as a result of an overall cut in Holloway's budget.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why they allowed a shortage of officers to develop at Holloway Prison during 1995.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the shortage of officers at Holloway prison during 1995.
This shortage occurred as a result of increases in the female prison population and a rise in escort commitments. Revised security arrangements as a result of the Woodcock report and the introduction of mandatory drug testing also impacted on staff resources.
Additional funding was provided in October 1995 allowing additional staff to be recruited.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will give priority to completing the review of the female estate by the Prison Service, including a thorough examination of the role of Holloway; and whether they will publish the findings of this review.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the review of the female estate.
The Prison Service is currently carrying out a detailed strategic review of the female estate; we will also be completing a detailed review on the future of Holloway prison. The results of these reviews will be considered by Ministers shortly.
We have no plans to publish these reviews.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why inmates, including remand inmates, were recorded as being locked in their cells on numerous days in 1995 at Holloway prison, and what improvement there has been in 1996.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about inmates being locked in their cells at Holloway prison.
Because of a sharp increase in the number of women prisoners, an increased escorting commitment to outside hospitals, a higher staff sickness level and additional security requirements, the regime at Holloway was seriously affected at times during 1995. This meant that staff were not available to unlock prisoners in order for them to attend activities.
In December 1995 temporary staff were provided from other prison establishments until the staff that had been recruited in October 1995 had been trained and returned to Holloway.
Since these staff have taken up post significant improvements have been made and activities are no longer routinely cancelled.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the commitment of Holloway to maintaining and strengthening family ties will be supported by the Prison Service and whether, as part of this commitment, they will build a visitors' centre during 1996.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about Holloway prison's commitment to family ties.
The Prison Service is fully committed to maintaining family ties.
Due to the pressures on Government spending, funding is not available in the Prison Service's current capital spending plans for a visitors' centre at Holloway prison. Other essential schemes across the prison estate have had to be given a higher priority. However the governor has set up a group involving outside community interests to explore the possibility of alternative ways of funding the project. This group is due to report back to the governor of Holloway at the end of May 1996.
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will take urgent measures to improve the healthcare service in Holloway prison.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the health care service in Holloway prison.
A project has been set up to look at health care provision at Holloway. This will include a detailed review of the assessment carried out by the North Thames Health Authority in 1994–95. Its aim is to improve the quality of the service provided at Holloway.
asked Her Majesty's Government:What attention was paid to suicide awareness at Holloway prison in 1995, in the light of two suicides there.
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 26th April 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about suicide awareness at Holloway prison.
Significant attention was paid to suicide awareness in 1995 with particular priority being given to staff training. Some 32 managers and 51 other staff received training.
In addition the Samaritans visit weekly and there is a befriender team of prisoners who have been trained by the Samaritans.
Land Mines (International Ban)
asked Her Majesty's Government:What consideration they are giving to (a) the report on Anti-Personnel Mines by Brigadier P Blagden, mines clearance advisor to the United Nations, made to the Red Cross, and (b) the open letter to President Clinton signed by General N Schwarzkopf and 14 senior military leaders, recommending a "total and permanent international ban on production, stockpiling, sale and use of anti-personnel land-mines"; and when they expect to reach conclusions on these matters.
I refer the noble Lord to the reply given on 23rd April by my honourable friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Official Report, Commons, Col. 84).
Defence Minister's Remarks
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Secretary of State for Defence was speaking for the British Government when he said, after military briefing in Israel on the attack on Lebanon code name "Grapes of Wrath" that "I would not describe the Israeli reaction as disproportionate" (The Times, 16th April).
My right honourable friend made it clear that Her Majesty's Government looked to the Israelis to make their responses measured and proportionate. He also said that the problems would not be solved militarily, and that we look for a diplomatic solution and a return to the peace process.
Habitual Residence Test: British Citizens Returning From Liberia
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether British subjects returning for reasons of safety from Liberia will be allowed exemption from the habitual residence test.
We do not consider it necessary to exempt British citizens who have returned from Liberia from the habitual residence test.
Question For Written Answer, 15Th April (Cost)
asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the cost of answering the Question for Written Answer of the Earl of Northesk on 15th April (
WA51).
The information requested is not available. The Treasury undertakes an annual exercise to assess the average Government-wide cost of answering written parliamentary questions, but does not cost individual questions.
Israel: Radio Report, 7Th March
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, as reported by Israeli radio, officials of the European Commission in Tel Aviv have stated that visiting European diplomats would not in future meet Palestinians at Orient House in Jerusalem.
The report carried to this effect on Israeli radio on 7th March this year was incorrect. The Commission representative in fact had made clear that EU policy on Orient House was unchanged.
Yahya Ayyash Assassination: Terrorist Operations
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they consider that the assassination of Yahya Ayyash ("the Engineer") within the autonomous Palestinian National Authority allegedly by the Israeli authorities was, as was feared by members of the Israeli Knesset and by President Arafat, and as was stated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the trigger for the suicide bomb attacks in Israel, and whether they will ensure that this assassination is not overlooked at the Sharm el-Sheikh follow-up meeting later this month.
The Sharm el-Sheikh follow-up meeting to which the noble Lord alludes has been postponed sine die. It is not clear whether Hamas and Islamic Jihad needed the pretext of the assassination of Yahya Ayyash to launch their deplorable terrorist operations aimed at undermining the peace process.
The Gambia
asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they now have about the resumption of party political activities and the timetable for the elections in the Gambia.
The Provisional Independent Electoral Commission announced on 12th April that voter registration would take place between 13th May and 22nd June, to be followed by a three-month period for the registration of political parties and political campaigning. The commission undertook to publish a definitive electoral timetable soon.
Historic Scotland: Performance Targets
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish the key performance targets they have set for Historic Scotland for 1996–97.
My right honourable friend has set Historic Scotland the following key performance targets for 1996–97.
| Target | |
| Protecting Scotland's Built Heritage | |
| Number of monuments scheduled | 370 |
| Weighted number of listed building resurvey units | 176 |
| Percentage of scheduled monument consent cases resolved within 12 weeks | 81% |
| Percentage of listed building consent cases resolved within 28 days | 97% |
| Number of historic building repair projects newly assisted by grant | 145 |
| Total value of grant-assisted repairs in progress | £33.5m |
| Backlog of conservation of monuments in care | reduce |
| Promoting and Presenting the Built Heritage | |
| Number of visitors to monuments in care | 2.4m |
| HS market share compared to major paid heritage attractions in Scotland | 47% |
| Percentage of satisfied visitors (based on surveys) | 95% |
| Average spend per visitor | £1.02 |
| Agency management | |
| Percentage efficiency gains/savings on all non-grant expenditure | 1.5% |
| Total agency income | £9.9m |