Prison Service (Hansard, 17 November 1978)

§ Mr. William Wilson
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what will be the terms of reference of the proposed inquiry into the prison service.

§ Mr. Kilroy-Silk
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will announce the terms of reference and membership of the inquiry into the prison service.
386W

§ Mr. Merlyn Rees
My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Northern Ireland and I have appointed Mr. Justice May as chairman of the committee of inquiry into the United Kingdom prison services with the following terms of referenceTo inquire into the state of the prison services in the United Kingdom; and having regard to:

(a) the size and nature of the prison population, and the capacity of the orison services to accommodate it;

(b) the responsibilities of the prison services for the security, control and treatment of inmates;

(c) the need to recruit and retain a sufficient and suitable staff for the prison services;

(d) the need to secure the efficient of manpower and financial resources in the prison services;

to examine and make recommendations upon:

(i) the adequacy, availability, management and use of resources in the prison services;

(ii) conditions for staff in the prison services and their families;

(iii) the organisation and management of the prison services;

(iv) the structure of the prison services, including complementing and grading;

(v) the remuneration and conditions of service of prison officers, governors and other grades working only in the prison services, including the claim put forward by the Prison Officers' Association for certain "continuous duty credit" payments and the date from which any such payments should be made;

(vi) allowances and other aspects of the conditions of service of other grades arising from special features of work in the prison services;

(vii) working arrangements in the prison services, including shift systems and standby and on call requirements;

(viii) the effectiveness of the industrial relations machinery, including departmental Whitley procedures, within the prison services.

We shall announce the names of the members of the inquiry as soon as possible.