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Deposited Paper Dep/3 4303 [25957]

Deposited by

Vehicle Inspectorate; Department of Transport

Type

Deposited papers

Date

18 December 1996

Reference

Dep/3 4303 [25957]

House

House of Commons

Dept of Health

What estimate he has made of the cost of restoring free eye examinations to all those over the age of (a) 65, (b) 60 and (c) 55 years. - Figures given.

Asked by

Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Health

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 December 1996

Reference

9664; 287 c707W

House

House of Commons

Deposited Paper Dep/3 4303 [26400]

Deposited by

Vehicle Inspectorate; Department of Transport

Type

Deposited papers

Date

16 December 1996

Reference

Dep/3 4303 [26400]

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

What representations he has received concerning the accuracy of drug tests being carried out in the Prison Service. - Text of letter from R Tilt of Prison Service Agency.

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

For answer on

10 December 1996

Answered on

10 December 1996

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the accuracy of drug tests being carried out in the Prison Service. [6250] Miss Widdecombe: 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 from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 10 December 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about representations received concerning the accuracy of drug tests carried out by the Prison Service. Mandatory drug testing is a new procedure, and as such has been subject to several representations, including some about the accuracy of the drug tests carried out. Individual prisoners may also have raised concerns through the requests/complaints procedure, but these are not recorded centrally. Prisoners have a right to challenge the results of a test specifically by requesting an independent analysis of a portion of the sample they provided which is retained for this purpose. Release of this sample is authorised at Prison Service Headquarters. To date 15 requests have been received from solicitors acting on behalf of prisoners in challenging the result of a particular test. These requests include supply of the sample itself, for the purposes of independent analysis, or for the documentation which supports the initial test result. In addition, on 7 May the Head of Healthcare at HMP Wealstun noted that there were conflicting results on the same inmate on occasions when he had done a voluntary drug test, analysed at Harrogate District Hospital within a day or so of the Mandatory Drug Test. He was asked to furnish the data which led to his concerns so that investigation could take place and remedial action taken as necessary. These details have not been furnished and so the specific cases have not been followed up. There always will be differences in the results of tests used by medical officers for therapeutic purposes and those produced through the Mandatory Drug Testing programme since the purposes are different. The latter operates to agreed threshold levels, and prisoners are only found to have tested positive once this threshold is exceeded. This is to ensure that when a charge is laid on the basis of a positive confirmation test result it is beyond reasonable doubt that the prisoner took the drug in question. Some changes have been made to the method of testing for opiates since July which now ensure that opiate use is more likely to be picked up from a Mandatory Drug Test. On 15 July the Chairman of the Board of Visitors at Downview prison raised concerns about three prisoners who had screened positive for opiates and three who had screened positive for benzodiazepines in early June. All had been found negative through confirmation testing. The opiate results were attributed to the absence of an hydrolysis process from confirmation testing, which resulted in a number of samples that correctly screened positive for opiates confirmation testing negative. Hydrolysis was introduced on 2 July. In two of the cases involving benzodiazepines, the prisoners had been prescribed a combination of medications which cross-reacted with the reagent used in the screening test. Confirmation testing uses a different technology which avoids such cross-reactions. In the third case it is thought that the sample may have been positive for an uncommon type of benzodiazepine which is not recognised in confirmation testing. The Prison Service, in conjunction with the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, is considering ways of extending the range of drugs detected by confirmation testing. On 5 August the Kent Area Manager raised concerns about six samples from Blantyre House prison which had screened positive for cannabis, but were all found to be negative on confirmation. It was discovered that for a period of 1 1/2 hours on 5 July the screen testing machine had been mis-calibrated, producing 84 false positive results. all prisons affected were notified. The Laboratory of the Government Chemist has since introduced more rigorous quality control procedures, ensuring that results do not leave the laboratory until all checks have been made.

Date

10 December 1996

Reference

6250; 287 c146-7W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Transport

How many police forces in the United Kingdom have instituted on-the-spot eye tests for drivers.

Asked by

Bill O'Brien (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Transport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

9 December 1996

Reference

8094; 287 c35-6W;287 c35W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Transport

What plans he has to introduce on-the-spot eye tests for drivers.

Asked by

Bill O'Brien (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Transport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

9 December 1996

Reference

8095; 287 c36W;287 c35-6W

House

House of Commons

South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty with protocols 1, 2 and 3. (Rarotonga 1985).

Type

Treaties; Command papers

Notes

Received 04.12.96

Date

4 December 1996

Reference

Cm 3481;Miscellaneous 25 (1996)

House

House of Commons

Dept of Health

How many eye tests were carried out on people over 65 years of age in each year since 1989. - Figures given.

Asked by

Tony Wright (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Health

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

3 December 1996

Reference

7099; 286 c640W;286 c638W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Transport;Vehicle Inspectorate

How many spot-checks are made each year on commercial vehicles to ensure that they comply with exhaust emission standards; what percentage of these have been found in the last available two years to be above the legal limit. - Includes text of letter from Ron Oliver of Vehicle Inspectorate and...

Asked by

David Tredinnick (Conservative)

Answering body

Department of Transport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

For answer on

29 November 1996

Answered on

29 November 1996

Mr. Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many spot-checks are made each year on commercial vehicles to ensure that they comply with exhaust emission standards; what percentage of these have been found in the last available two years to be above the legal limit; and if he will make a statement. [6804] Mr. Bowis: I have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate to write to my hon. Friend. Letter from Ron Oliver to Mr David Tredinnick, dated 29 November 1996: The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of spot checks which are made each year on commercial vehicles to ensure that they comply with exhaust emission standards; and what percentage of these have been found in the last available two years to be above the legal limit. Instrumented checks using calibrated test equipment are carried out by the Inspectorate's vehicle examiners. Vehicles found to have exhaust emissions in excess of the legal limit are issued with a prohibition. Details of checks on commercial vehicles for the last two financial years are as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1995-96 1994-95 Instrumented Prohibitions Percentage above Instrumented Prohibitions Percentage above checks issued limit checks issued limit HGV 11,405 350 3.1 12.959 450 3.5 PSV 10,140 247 2.4 7,292 184 2.5 LGV{1} 15,116 954 6.3 n/a n/a n/a Taxis 6,705 784 11.7 n/a n/a n/a _________________________________________________________________________________________________. n/a = not available. {1} LGV - Light Goods Vehicle. Separate data for emissions checks of LGVs and Taxis is not available prior to 1995-96. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of HGV offences reported for prosecution _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Scotland 1,818 2,208 2,481 England and Wales 11,514 11,300 12,217 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of above offences pursued _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Scotland n/a 1,382 1,501 England and Wales 10,987 10,635 11,314 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Total Number of HGV inspections _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Scotland 30,193 25,376 29,039 England and Wales 210,186 241,841 219,635 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1. Information is not available separately for England and Wales. 2. Number of HGV offences shown as reported for prosecution in England and Wales are those reported to the Inspectorate's internal prosecution service. Figures not available for Scotland.

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

6804; 286 c420W;286 c418W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Transport

How much his Department (a) has spent and (b) is planning to spend on research under the New Car Assessment Programme; and what this work involves. - Includes figures.

Asked by

Brian H Donohoe (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Transport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

6411; 286 c417W;286 c415W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Transport

What representations he has received and from whom during the last 12 months about the research being carried out by his Department under the New Car Assessment Programme and the publication of the results of this research. - Includes table.

Asked by

Brian H Donohoe (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Transport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

6410; 286 c416-7W;286 c414-5W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Transport

When he expects the results of his Department's commissioned research on the New Car Assessment Programme to be published; and what information will be released at this point. - Includes fact that results to be published early next year.

Asked by

Brian H Donohoe (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Transport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

6409; 286 c416W;286 c414W

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

Pursuant to his Answer of 13th November, Official Report, column 233-4W, if he will list the number of multiple drug positives from a single sample for each category of drug. - Text of letter from Richard Tilt of Prison Service Agency and includes table by drug.

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

For answer on

29 November 1996

Answered on

29 November 1996

Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 13 November, Official Report, column 233, if he will list the number of multiple drug positives from a single sample for each category of drug. [6270] Miss Widdecombe: 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 from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 29 November 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the number of multiple drug positives from a single sample for each category of drug. The attached table shows the numbers of samples that were positive for each combination of drug groups between January and September this year. Prior to January statistics were provided in a different format which did not indicate to which drug types a multiple positive result related. Data for January and February is incomplete because of a phased transition from two laboratories which provided data in the old format to the Laboratory of the Government Chemist which provides the detailed data on individual samples necessary to produce this table. Mandatory drug testing system Multi drug combinations report Total samples tested 51,546 Period from 1 January 1996 to 30 September 1996 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Drug group Amphetamine Barbiturate Benzodiazep Cannabis Cocaine LSD Methadone Opiates s s ines Amphetamines -- -- 12 59 2 -- 1 20 Barbiturates -- -- 4 3 -- -- -- 3 Benzodiazepines 12 4 -- 603 12 -- 60 403 Cannabis 59 3 603 -- 85 2 90 1,744 Cocaine 2 -- 12 85 -- -- 5 57 LSD -- -- -- 2 -- -- -- -- Methadone 1 -- 60 90 5 -- -- 99 Opiates 20 3 403 1,744 57 -- 99 -- _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Report for all areas, all establishments and all categories. Sample type: All groups. Ethnic Group: All groups. Sex: All.

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

6270; 286 c452-4W;286 c450-2W

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

If he will list the total number of extra days which will be served in prison due to positive drugs tests which were taken during each month since March. - Text of letter from Richard Tilt of Prison Service Agency and includes table.

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

For answer on

29 November 1996

Answered on

29 November 1996

Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the total number of extra days which will be served in prison due to positive drugs tests which were taken during each month since March. [6274] Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this mater has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 29 November 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking him to list the total number of extra days which will be served in prison due to positive drugs tests which were taken during each month since March. This information is given in the attached table. Unsuspended additional days awarded for all drug test offences March to October 1996 (provisional) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of days Number of punishments March 14,455 995 April 11,770 817 May 16,175 1,115 June 13,553 962 July 15,621 1,031 August 13,249 879 September 13,409 901 October 14,122 918 March-October 112,354 7,618 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1. This table includes the offences of `unauthorised use of a controlled drug', `refusing to provide a drug test sample' and `falsifying a drug test sample'. 2. The `unauthorised use of a controlled drug' offence is not exclusively provable by testing, as discovery of the physical act of drug use might also lead to the offence being proven. We are unable to distinguish between those offences discovered by testing and by other means. 3. Offences are grouped by the date of adjudication rather than the date of testing/discovery.

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

6274; 286 c452W;286 c450W

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

If he will list the average number of hours spent by prisoners in rehabilitation aimed at addressing drug use in each prison for each month since March; and similarly for prisoners in rehabilitation who have tested positive for drug use. - Text of letter from Richard Tilt of Prison Service...

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

286 c450-2W;286 c448-50W; 6271;6272

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

How many prisoners, who have tested positive for opiates each month since March, are suspected to have tested positive due to their consumption of (a) commercially available opiate based analgesics and (b) opiates which contravene the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; what plans he has to introduce drug tests in...

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

286 c449-50W;286 c447-8W; 6252;6251

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

Pursuant to his Answer of 13th November, Official Report, column 233-4W, if he will list (a) the number of prisoners tested for drugs while on risk assessment each month since March and (b) the number of these who have tested positive for each type of drug, in each month since...

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

286 c446-50W;286 c444-8W; 6277;6275;6279;6278;6276;6280

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

How many drug searches in HM prisons have resulted in finds in 1994 and 1995. - Text of letter from Richard Tilt of Prison Service Agency and includes figures.

Asked by

Lord Callaghan of Cardiff (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

5892; 286 c446W;286 c444W

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

If he will list (a) the number of prisoners tested for drugs each month since March by individual establishment and (b) the number of prisoners who have tested positive for each type of drug, in each month since March by individual establishment. - Text of letter from Richard Tilt of...

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

For answer on

29 November 1996

Answered on

29 November 1996

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list (a) the number of prisoners tested for drugs each month since March by individual establishment and (b) the number of prisoners who have tested positive for each type of drug, in each month since March by individual establishment. [5671] Miss Widdecombe: 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 from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, Dated 29 November 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the numbers of prisoners tested for drugs each month since March by individual establishment and (b) the number of prisoners who have tested positive for each type of drug, in each month since March by individual establishment. The figures requested are given in the accompanying tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library. Table A sets out the numbers tested in each establishment each month between March and September. Data for October is provisional. Table B gives the percentage of samples which have tested positive for each type of drug in each month between March and September by individual establishment. Percentages rather than numbers positive are given as this is a more meaningful indicator. Accordingly, the mandatory drug testing database is configured to produce reports in this format. Conversion of the percentages into figures could only be done at disproportionate cost. The data in both tables is for drug tests undertaken under all forms of Drug Strategy testing. These comprise the random, on suspicion, risk assessment, frequent testing and on reception types of mandatory drug tests, and voluntary testing. Since forms of targeted testing of drug misusers are included in these figures and because multiple drug positives from single sample have all been counted, the figures in table B indicate higher levels of drug misuse than those for random mandatory drug testing previously published in Hansard.

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

5671; 286 c445W;286 c443W

House

House of Commons

Home Office;Prison Service

What special procedures the Prison Service adopts when testing women inmates who are menstruating for drugs. - Text of letter from Richard Tilt of Prison Service Agency.

Asked by

George Howarth (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 November 1996

Reference

5670; 286 c445-6W;286 c443-4W

House

House of Commons

Librarians' tools

Type

House

Session

Month

Department

Member

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

Publisher