§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that prison governors appoint senior experienced members of staff to be race relation liaison officers.
§ Mr. MellorWhen governors were instructed, in 1981, to appoint race relations liaison officers it was left to their judgment to determine the most suitable officer for the task, bearing in mind that it is the governor who remains ultimately responsible in the establishment for ensuring good race relations. We believe that this is the right approach. However we will be asking each governor to ensure that the liaison officer he has appointed is sufficiently senior for the post, in the light of the view of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons that some very junior officers have been appointed and that such officers may not be best placed to carry the responsibility.