§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the therapeutic unit at Holloway prison was closed on 13 November; and what he is intending to do with the prisoners who were in the unit.
§ Mr. MellorThe Holloway project committee noted (paragraph 6.11 of its report) that the pressure for remand places in recent years had made it impossible for the A5 therapeutic unit for drug dependents to continue as originally intended. It recommended (paragraph 6.21(ii)) that the unit should be discontinued until more sentenced women could be held in Holloway and that in the meantime individual and group psychotherapy should continue to be provided for a selected number of inmates. This recommendation was immediately accepted, and the unit was formally discontinued on 13 November. At that time, no prisoners on the unit were receiving group therapy; individual treatment is available for all prisoners at Holloway who are identified as having drug and other dependency problems.