HC Deb 05 June 1985 vol 80 cc153-4W
Mr. Waller

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to relieve the overcrowding at Leeds prison.

Mr. Brittan

Leeds is the most overcrowded local prison in the country. On 4 June 1985 there were 1,292 prisoners there, occupying certified normal accommodation for 624. The staff at Leeds have responded magnificently to the burdens placed upon them, but it would not be responsible to let the present situation continue.

I have, therefore, decided that, in order to relieve the pressure on Leeds, Hull prison should cease to function as a dispersal prison and should assume a local prison role as soon as possible.

In order for Hull to make its contribution as a local prison it will be necessary to increase outlets in the north of the country for sentenced adult male prisoners. I have concluded that this should be done by changing the role of Thorp Arch remand centre to a category C prison.

A discreet post-war wing at Hull will function as a remand centre for young offenders and will take all the juveniles who currently go to Thorp Arch. The other prisoners currently assigned to Thorp Arch will be divided between the Hull remand centre and Leeds prison, where every effort will continue to be made to keep prisoners under 21 separate from the rest of the population. While I naturally regret the movement of prisoners under 21 from a wholly separate establishment to a local prison, thesechanges will produce one very important improvement. Dividing the population between Hull and Leeds will make visiting markedly easier for the very great majority of the prisoners' families and legal advisers.

It will not be possible to absorb Hull's entire existing population in other suitable establishments immediately. Some 30 long-term prisoners, including category A prisoners, will therefore be retained in A wing at Hull until the new dispersal prison at Full Sutton opens in 1987. The wing will aim to operate a normal dispersal prison regime during this period and is not to be seen as one of the separate units recommended by the Control Review Committee.

I believe that these changes, taken in the round, will enable us to use our resources flexibly and to the best effect. In particular, the intolerable pressure on Leeds will be relieved and the way to improve the regime there will be opened. Detailed planning and discussion will now go ahead on the ground: the target date for the changes is November this year.