HC Deb 24 October 1968 vol 770 cc333-4W
63. Mr. Bradley

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of recent events at Leicester prison, he will now announce his plans for the detention of dangerous long-term prisoners.

Mr. Callaghan

As I announced in answer to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, North (Mr. Moyle) on 25th July, I have decided to accept the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Penal System that high security risk prisoners serving long sentences should be dispersed among selected prisons. Following is a statement about the staged implementation of this policy:

  1. 1. There are at present about 170 convicted male prisoners in the highest security category (Category A). Only about one third of these are detained in special security wings. Most prisoners placed in Category A on conviction are regraded in a lower category during the course of their sentence; but the indications are that the number of prisoners in Category A at any one time will tend to increase in the next few years.
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  2. 2. Among the essential features of the scheme which I have adopted for the future containment of Category A prisoners are:
    1. (a) Category A prisoners will be detained in prisons with a high standard of security, especially perimeter security.
    2. (b) They will not be kept isolated as a group but will be detained with other prisoners requiring secure conditions.
    3. (c) They may be transferred from one secure prison to another as part of their treatment or for the maintenance of good order and discipline.
    4. (d) For "control" purposes, and to safeguard the regime of the prison, it may be necessary for a period to detain a prisoner, whether or not in Category A, in a segregation unit within the prison.
  3. 3. I propose to implement the scheme in the following stages.
  4. 4. Some Category A prisoners are already detained among the normal population of the long-term prison at Parkhurst. In the course of the next twelve to eighteen months some of these will be transferred to the prisons at Gartree (Leicestershire), Hull, and Albany (Isle of Wight), as the security of these establishments is improved.
  5. 5. Work is well advanced on providing additional secure accommodation in one wing of Chelmsford prison. This will remain a self contained unit for the present and the position will be reviewed when work has been done to strengthen the perimeter of the main prison.
  6. 6. A new secure prison is being built at Long Lartin (Worcestershire) and should be in use in 1970. Another is being planned at Full Sutton (Yorkshire). Both will be used for Category A and Category B prisoners.
  7. 7. The number of prisoners detained in the security wings at Durham, Leicester and Parkhurst has already been reduced, and the population of these wings will be kept under review. It is likely, however, that a small proportion of Category A prisoners will need to be detained in security wings for some time to come.
  8. 8. Selected Category A prisoners, including those who have not previously served long prison sentences, and those in need of psychiatric treatment will continue to be detained among the normal populations of Wakefield and Wormwood Scrubs.