§ Mr. SoamesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons which at 9 July had an industrial dispute; and if he will also list the nature of the disputes.
§ Mrs. RumboldIndustrial disputes, registered under the agreed disputes procedure between prison service management and the Prison Officers Association, were recorded at 49 prisons in England and Wales as at 11 July 1991. The establishments are listed. The majority of the disputes are about staffing figures. Other disputes cover matters including shift systems, local conditions and overcrowding, prison regimes and opposite sex postings policy.
- Acklington
- Albany
- Askham Grange
- Bedford
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Bullwood Hall
- Cardiff
- Castington
- Chelmsford
- Coldingley
- Durham
- Erlestoke
- Featherstone
- Frankland
- Glen Parva
- Hatfield
- Hindley
- Hull
- Leeds
- Lewes
- Lindholme
- Littlehey
- Liverpool
- Long Lartin
- Manchester
- Moorland
- New Hall
- Northallerton
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Onley
- Oxford
- Pentonville
- Preston
- Risley
- Shepton Mallet
- Stafford
- Stoken
- Styal
- Swaleside
- Swansea
- Swinfen Hall
- Thorp Arch
- Wakefield
- Wetherby
- Winchester
- Wormwood Scrubs
- Wymott
§ Mr. SoamesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictive practices exist in the prison service.
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§ Mrs. RumboldThe "fresh start" agreement in 1987 involved the abolition of a number of inefficient working practices and systems of attendance. This was followed last year by the removal of outdated national restrictions on the civilianisation of prison officers' work. There is still scope in some instances for securing the more efficient matching of work and resources within individual establishments. That is something which is currently being addressed through an establishment-by-establishment work identification exercise known as the corporate objectives process.
§ Mr. SoamesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on improvements in productivity at Brixton prison since the inception of fresh start.
§ Mrs. RumboldUnder "fresh start" efficiencies in the use of prison officers' hours are being achieved through progressive reductions in their average working week. The extent of the efficiencies which are achievable varies between establishments depending on the way that work is organised and on changes in workload since 1987. At Brixton, between April 1987 and April 1991 there was a 24 per cent. efficiency improvement in the use of prison officer hours, which is slightly more than the national average of 22 per cent.
Number of houses for which consent was given for transfer by district councils to other landlords by voluntary disposal 1989–90 Voluntary disposal to: District council Private companies Housing associations Co-operatives Scottish homes Other Angus 36 — — — — Banff and Buchan — — — — 1 Clydebank — — 218 — — Edinburgh — 14 7 — — Glasgow — 88 — — — Perth and Kinross — 24 72 — 1 Tweeddale — — — — 1 West Lothian — 26 — — — Total 36 152 297 — 3
1990–91 Voluntary disposal to: District council Private companies Housing associations Co-operatives Scottish homes Other Argyll and Bute — 12 — — — Banff and Buchan — — — — 2 Clydebank — 96 — — — Dundee — 82 — — — Edinburgh — — 11 — 16 East Lothian — 10 — — — Glasgow — 704 154 — 2 Kincardine and Deeside — 1 — — — Motherwell — — 140 — — Orkney — 11 — — — Perth and Kinross — — 54 — — Renfrew 244 11 — — — Total 244 927 359 — 20