§ Mr. Grahamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received representations about the control unit recently set up at Her Majesty's Prison, Wakefield; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsOn 24th July—[Vol. 877, c.492.]—I told the House that a 196W control unit at Wakefield was to open, on an experimental basis, on 1st August 1974. The control unit opened on that date and received three prisoners on 23rd August. There have since been no further allocations. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State visited the unit on 1st November and saw these three prisoners.
The purpose of the control unit is to relieve dispersal prisons for limited periods and as occasion arises from the pressures and strains imposed by the activities of those few prisoners who determinedly and persistently set out to undermine and disrupt prison life and make conditions intolerable both for staff and other prisoners.
I have given immediate attention to two aspects which had given rise to concern, viz. (1) the allocation procedures, and (2) the rules about return to normal location.
As regards (1), notwithstanding the present safeguards I am persuaded of the need to introduce an independent element. In future, therefore, any proposal to transfer a prisoner to the control unit will be referred to the board of visitors of the holding prison and transfer will not be authorised against its view unless I have personally considered the proposal and announced that I believe it to be right.
As regards (2), revised instructions will provide explicitly that the board of visitors at Wakefield will be associated with the process of monthly renewal under Rule 43, and that a prisoner's position may be reviewed at any time at the instance of the board of visitors or the governor or the medical officer. In this connection, the existing instructions provide that a prisoner who misbehaves should automatically recommence the prescribed period in the control unit, regardless of the time he has already spent there. I have decided that these should be modified to give the governor and the board of visitors discretion as to the extent to which a prisoner should revert.
More generally, I am satisfied that the safeguards and procedures are such that the trained staff at Wakefield are able to maintain a careful and caring watch on the progress and condition of prisoners in the control unit. The arrangements will, however, be kept under review.