§ 2.41 p.m.
Baroness VICKERSMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total cost of rebuilding HM Prison, Holloway, and when the building will be completed.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, the latest estimate of total cost, including £1.8 million for staff housing, is £11.3 million. The remaining buildings should be completed by 1983, and the transfer of certain facilities from their interim location will then follow.
Baroness VICKERSMy Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for that reply, I should like to ask whether he would agree with me that at present this prison is overcrowded and this forces many women who should be in it to be sent North? Will he look into the question of the many unstable women who, I think he would agree with me, should not be in this prison at all, to see whether other accommodation can be found for them?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, with respect to the noble Baroness, I cannot enter into a discussion on whether or not these women ought to be in this prison. I should point out to your Lordships that there are very real difficulties with regard to this prison. This 5 is a case in which it is necessary almost to create a new prison around an existing prison, which is never an easy thing to do. This has meant that there has been—and still is—a certain amount of overcrowding because some of the inmate accommodation has had to be used for administrative purposes. But this situation is known, and early steps are being taken to remedy it.