§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of construction of the 47W new prison officers' houses at Her Majesty's prison Stocken; when the work was completed; how many are currently unoccupied; how many are occupied by prison officers and how many by estate staff from Stocken hall farm; and what steps are being taken to rectify this situation.
§ Mr. MellorThe 40 prison officers' houses at Stocken were built at a total cost of £2.37 million. Construction was undertaken in four phases of 10 houses each, the phases being handed over on 22 April, 6 June, 26 June, and 10 July 1986 respectively. Five of the houses are currently occupied by prison officers and two by horticultural craftsmen employed in the prison; the remaining 33 houses are unoccupied.
The present low rate of occupation can be attributed to the fact that the houses were not completed until some time after Stocken prison was opened. Staff originally posted to Stocken therefore opted to live in their own accommodation rather than wait for quarters to become available. As new staff who require quarters are posted to Stocken and to Ashwell prisons the occupancy rate of the Stocken quarters can be expected to increase.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the latest estimated cost to public funds of the necessary remedial work at Her Majesty's prison, Stocken regarding the gatehouse entrance; when this work will be undertaken; and what steps are being taken to establish responsibility, including financial responsibility, for the original unsatisfactory arrangements.
§ Mr. MellorVarious items of remedial work associated with the gatehouse at Stocken prison were undertaken by the contractors during the 12 month defects liability period which followed the completion of the building work. These works were a contractual obligation and were carried out at no cost to public funds.
The latest estimate of the cost of the programme of improvements to the gatehouse drawn up by the Department is £230,000. The work is scheduled to commence in April 1987. The improvements are considered necessary to bring the equipment and operating systems up to the Department's current requirements, which are aimed at achieving efficiency of operation with maximum economy of staffing levels. These requirements have been developed since the time at which Stocken prison was designed; the original arrangements were not unsatisfactory in relation to the circumstances at the time.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of computers originally installed in the computer classroom at Her Majesty's prison, Stocken, and at what total cost; why they have been replaced by another model, and at what cost; and what use is to be made of the original computers.
§ Mr. MellorSix BBC microcomputers were supplied as part of the initial equipment for the education centre at Stocken prison to provide students with the opportunity to develop basic computer skills, for use in a business studies class and for use as a teaching aid in other classes. Because of the delay in completing the fitting out of a room designated for a separate full-time vocational training course in computer studies, these machines, together with two others which were purchased48W subsequently, were used for part of the time for an interim vocational training course which utilised an ordinary classroom.
The designated computer studies room is now ready and 12 Ferranti microcomputer systems costing £21,400 are currently being installed and commissioned. The BBC microcomputer will continue to be used in the general education programme as originally intended.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current budget and staffing of the prisons education service; and what are the comparable figures for Her Majesty's prison, Stocken.
§ Mr. MellorThe planned expenditure on prison education services in England and Wales in the financial year 1986–87 is £14.54 million. Expenditure on such services at Her Majesty's prison Stocken in 1986–87 is expected to be about £246,000. The latter figure includes expenditure on equipment to commission new courses which will not be repeated in subsequent years. Both figures exclude some education-related expenditure, the main items of which are the costs of the prison officer manpower and prison buildings used in connection with the provision of education services and the pay of vocational training and construction industry training instructors.
In 1986–87 there is provision for local education authorities to supply to prison service establishments 527 salaried education staff and also 499,324 sessional teaching hours to be undertaken by part-time teachers. The corresponding figures for Her Majesty's prison Stocken are 4 and 8,560 respectively. In addition 323 full-time vocational and construction industry training instructors are currently employed directly by the prison department including five at Her Majesty's prison Stocken.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will give details of the tendering procedures which were followed by his Department before equipment and furnishings were ordered for a computer classroom at Her Majesty's prison, Stocken;
(2) whether he will make a statement on the results of his investigation into how equipment and furnishings costing approximately £7,000 was ordered for a computer classroom at Her Majesty's prison, Stocken; whether these items remain in storage and unused; and what steps will be taken to dispose of them.
§ Mr. MellorFour companies were invited to provide quotations for the supply of microcomputer equipment to Her Majesty's prison, Stocken and two other prisons. All four companies replied and the company offering the best value for money was selected to provide the equipment. In addition, specialist furnishing for the designated computer classroom at Stocken, mainly comprising work stations and chairs, were ordered from a supplier at a cost of nearly £8,000 without competitive quotations because of the high priority given at that time to early commissioning of the vocational training course in computer studies. This supplier had previously completed a similar order to a satisfactory standard in another prison service establishment following a competitive tender and the staff concerned concluded that its services would represent value for money. The computer equipment and 49W furnishings are currently being installed and commissioned in the computer room and the course will shortly become fully operational.