§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish the results of Coopers and Lybrand's review of comparative costs and performance of privately managed and public sector prisons; and if he will make a statement. [33265]
§ Miss WiddecombeI have today placed in the Library copies of a review of comparative costs and performance of privately and publicly operated prisons carried out for the Prison Service by Coopers and Lybrand. The study compared Blakenhurst, Doncaster and the Wolds with the most nearly comparable public sector prisons using 1994–95 data. The findings are summarised in the tables.
The results show that, after adjusting costs onto a comparable basis, privately managed prisons are cheaper by 13 to 22 per cent. than public sector prisons and deliver equal or better performance on most measures. The findings are broadly consistent with previous findings based on 1993–94 data but suggest that the gap between the two sectors on cost has narrowed slightly.
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Table 2: Comparison of performance against Prison Service Key Performance Indicators Blakenhurst Comparator average Doncaster Comparator average Wolds Comparator average Number of escapes 0 2 1 1 0 1 Assaults as percentage of population 18 per cent. 10 per cent. 34 per cent. 10 per cent. 15 per cent. 11 per cent. Number of hours purposeful activity per week 26 19 21 20 21 23 Number of hours unlocked on weekdays 14 10 12 9 14 10 Opportunity to exceed minimum visiting entitlement Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes