§ Mr. Matesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received the report of the departmental committee on the prison disciplinary system, and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdThe report of the departmental committee is being published today as Cmnd. 9641, volumes I and II. I am very grateful to the chairman, Mr. Peter Prior, and the members of the committee for the far-reaching and imaginative review they have undertaken of the prison disciplinary system. The subject is a difficult one and the report will need to be studied carefully, but I accept its fundamental conclusion that new adjudication arrangements are needed. We hope to bring forward proposals at an early opportunity. The present arrangements will continue in the meantime and I am grateful to boards for the way in which they have been discharging an increasingly complex task.