§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the current complement by grade of(a) part-time and (b) full-time staff employed by Premier Prison Services at Her Majesty's prison Doncaster; and what changes to staffing levels there have been in the last 12 months; [2712]
(2) how many serious assaults there have been on staff in her Majesty's prison Doncaster since 1 June; and what has been the total number of assaults on staff at the prison since it was opened; [2716]
(3) how many and what types of incidents have been reported to the Prison Service in relation to Her Majesty's prison Doncaster since (a) 1 June and (b) its opening; [2714]
(4) what is the current ratio of non-health staff to prisoners at (a) Her Majesty's prison Doncaster and (b) other similar grade prisons; [2713]
(5) how many prisoners at Her Majesty's prison Doncaster have been subject to closed visits since it was opened; and what is the current number; [2717]
236W(6) what percentage of temporary release decisions have resulted in temporary release failures at Her Majesty's prison Doncaster (a) since 1 June and (b) since Her Majesty's prison Doncaster was opened; and for each period what was the average failure rate among similar grade prisons; [2711]
(7) how many serious assaults there have been on prisoners in Her Majesty's Prison Doncaster since it was opened. [2715]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 13 November 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about HMP Doncaster.The number and type of incidents during the periods covered by your questions recorded centrally for the purpose of analysing trends within prisons are shown on the attached table.Charges of assaults proven following a disciplinary adjudication were as follows:
Date Assaults on prisoners Assaults on staff/others 1 June 1996 to 31 October 1996 53 20 Opening (20 June 1994) to 31 October 1996 280 219 The percentage of temporary release failures at Doncaster and all other local prisons and remand centres were as follows:
Percentage 20 June 1994 to 31 October 1996 1 June 1996 to 31 October 1996 Doncaster 10.52 None Other local prisons and remand centres 0.48 0.09 Records have not been kept of the number of prisoners subject to closed visits since the prison opened. Currently 51 prisoners are receiving closed visits.On 5 November 1996 the ratio of staff (excluding healthcare staff) to prisoners at Doncaster was 1:2:16 and the ratio of similar staff to prisoners in other category B local prisons was 1:2:77.Information about the overall number of staff in each grade is commercially confidential, but the Prison Service agreed to fund 5 additional prisoner custody officers to introduce at its request a dedicated search team in line with mandatory requirements at other prisons. 12 additional programme and clerical staff have also been recruited to reflect an increase in the capacity of the prison to 900 prisoners.The complement of full-time staff on 1 November 1996 was 458 compared to 449 on I November 1995. The equivalent numbers of part-time staff are, respectively, 17 and 14.237W
Incident1 type 1 June 1996–31 October 1996 20 June 1994–31 October 1996 Assault 52 332 Attempted escape — 1 Barricade — 1 Concerted indiscipline — 18 Death of inmate — 2 Dirty protest — 1
Incident1 type 1 June 1996–31 October 1996 20 June 1994–31 October 1996 Drugs 93 668 Escape — 1 Fire 1 21 Food refusal 1 8 Key/lock compromise — 1 Miscellaneous 3 33 Recapture/Surrender — 11 Self harm 7 110 Suicide — 5 Tool loss — 5 Temporary release failure — 2 Total 157 1,220 1 The number of prisoners involved in each incident and whether any charges resulting from an incident were proven is not recorded.