§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he has taken to speed up the publication of inspection reports for Her Majesty's prisons; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Peter LloydThe Director-General of the Prison Service has been giving priority to securing speedier publication of the chief inspector's reports on individual prison establishments. Forty of these reports have been published to date this year, including some that had been delayed by staffing and operational difficulties last year. The time taken to clear for publication reports submitted by the chief inspector on his 1992 inspections has as a general rule now come down to under four months in the case of full inspections and under three months in the case of short inspections. The inspectorate's own preparations for publication normally take an additional month.
Action to implement the chief inspector's recommendations starts as soon as we know what his findings are and is not delayed until the publication date.