§ Mr. Pikeasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals his Department has to improve conditions at remand centres.
§ Mr. John PattenIn the short term implementation of proposals in "A Fresh Start" and the court escort scrutiny will allow staff to be deployed more flexibly and to better effect, providing a sound organisational base for improvements in regime standards for prisoners. In the longer term we are giving priority to measures designed to reduce overcrowding and modernise old buildings throughout the prison estate, including remand centres. The current prison building programme will provide over 17,000 additional places by the mid-1990s in existing and new establishments and we are undertaking extensive modernisations and refurbishment at about 100 establishments, including almost all the Victorian prisons.