§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many new borstal institutions are to be established in the next three years, and where; and how many existing borstals are to be enlarged in the same period.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganA new borstal at Onley, Northamptonshire, is expected to be ready later this year. In England and Wales planning work has begun on 173W three further borstals but these will not be completed within three years. Two, a borstal allocation centre and a training borstal, will be built at Glen Parva, Leicestershire; a site for another allocation centre is under consideration. The rebuilding of two borstals has started and this will give some extra accommodation.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average amount of time per day spent on useful work, on education and instruction, and on exercise, respectively, by prisoners in Her Majesty's prisons awaiting places in borstal institutions; and what is the average time spent in the cells.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganThe situation varies in different establishments in England and Wales. The approximate average time per weekday spent on useful work is 5 hours; on education, instruction and interview 2 hours; and on exercise and association with others 3½ hours. The remaining 13½ hours are spent in the cells. At the week-end a longer period would normally be spent in cells.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements exist for maintaining a central register of places available in borstal institutions; if he will give consideration to installing a computer in order to expedite the availability of such information; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganA central register is maintained showing, fortnightly, the accommodation available in borstal institutions in England and Wales, the number of places occupied, the number of boys received under sentence at remand centres and local prisons and the number awaiting transfer to allocation centres. In addition weekly reports are made showing the number of boys allocated to the various training borstals, the number of vacancies notified by these institutions and any surplus or shortage of borstal places. The statistics relating to the borstal population will be transferred to a computer in September.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department at which prisons in England and Wales the borstal wings are overcrowded, giving the actual 174W number and the authorised number of inmates in each.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganThere are only three prisons with designated borstal wings. These are the allocation centres at Wormwood Scrubs, Manchester, and Holloway. On 30th June there were 457 persons at Wormwood Scrubs and 315 at Manchester against the authorised numbers of training places of 318 and 303, respectively. There were 12 girls at Holloway where the authorised number of training places for this purpose is 20.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many boys and how many girls are at present in Her Majesty's Prisons awaiting allocation to a place in a borstal institution.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganOn 30th June, 1968, which is the latest date for which figures are available, there were 1,020 boys and 14 girls in England and Wales awaiting allocation to a place in a borstal. Of these, 772 boys and 12 girls were in the borstal allocation centres at Manchester, Wormwood Scrubs and Holloway, which are separate sections of the prison buildings on these sites.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time now spent in prison by a person sentenced to borstal training while awaiting allocation to a place; and what was the average waiting period during each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganPersons in England and Wales sentenced to borstal training may spend a short period at a local prison before reception at a borstal allocation centre. The average time so spent for the last five years for which figures are available was:
1963 … … 1.3 weeks 1964 … … 1.8 weeks 1965 … … 3.5 weeks 1966 … … 3.0 weeks 1967 … … 4.6 weeks The average time spent at the borstal allocation centres before transfer to training borstals was:
175W
1963 … … 5.9 weeks 1964 … … 5.3 weeks 1965 … … 5.2 weeks 1966 … … 5.1 weeks 1967 … … 5.5 weeks
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what immediate, and what long-term, proposals he has to reduce or eliminate detention in prison for persons awaiting places at borstal institutions; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. CallaghanIn the short term I am examining the possibility of increasing the numbers of young men in the training borstals so as to relieve pressure on the allocation centres. This cannot be done without increasing the strain on the training borstals, but this will be preferable to the present situation. In the long term there are plans both to replace the two allocation centres by new purpose-built establishments and to increase the number of places in the training borstals.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if be will now set up a departmental inquiry into the detention in prison of persons awaiting places in borstal institutions.
§ Mr. CallaghanNo: I am fully aware of the present situation and am taking steps to improve it.