§ Mr. Wallaceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the visiting committee of Durham Prison has completed its investigation into allegations of brutality in the special security wing; and whether he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Roy JenkinsYes. The Committee, to whom I am most grateful, have completed the inquiry, which they decided to undertake after consultation with my Department, and to which I referred in answer to a Question by the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr. St. John-Stevas) on 9th March. They have gone fully into the allegations of ill-treatment of prisoners; and have interviewed all the prisoners concerned, members of the staff, and other witnesses, including a former prisoner who repeated various allegations that had been made in the Press and on television.
During the incident in the special security wing in February, three prisoners violently resisted removal from their cells and force had to be used. The Committee have reported that in face of a conflict of evidence they were unable either to substantiate or refute allegations of the ill-treatment of these three prisioners on that occasion. The Committee have found no evidence to substantiate any of the allegations of ill-treatment of prisoners in the special security wing either before or after this incident and they report that 18 prisoners in the wing stated definitely that they had no knowledge of any such brutality or ill-treatment. The Committee are also satisfied that there is no evidence to support the allegations made by former prisoners about ill-treatment in the main part of the prison.
In the Committee's view, the disturbance in the special security wing in February resulted, not from brutality on the part of prison officers, but from tensions and conflicts which had built up there, in large measure due to the unsatisfactory physical conditions in which these maximum security prisoners have been confined; and was intended to draw attention to the prisoner's grievances about these conditions.
My Department has now, on my directions, completed a thorough review of the regime in all the security wings. Certain changes are being introduced forthwith, including a more generous system of privileges. These changes are in line with the recommendations made to me by the Visiting Committee at Durham. Every effort is being made to improve the work available for prisoners in the security wings, and at Durham new workshop accommodation is being provided. We are handicapped by physical limitations and 317W the overriding demands of security, but I believe that these changes will represent a considerable improvement in the conditions in the security wings which will have to be used until a new maximum security prison can be opened and that they will be of assistance to the staff of the wings in the continued performance of their very difficult duties.—[Vol. 743, c. 1731–2]