§ Lord Hill-Nortonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 23 January (WA 8), whether their search for evidence of any instructions concerning the possible evacuation of Blundeston Prison and Hollesley Bay Young Offender Institution included an examination of the governor's journals for these two establishments; and whether these journals have been retained. [HL1809]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton)Governors' journals are the most likely source of this information so long after the event. The governor's journal at Blundeston remains in existence and was examined.
The relevant governor's journal for Hollesley Bay could not now be found, and in the absence of any other written record, long-serving staff, including the governor's secretary, were consulted. They did not recall any instruction to prepare for an evacuation although they well remembered the local events of the time which prompted speculation about such an instruction.