HC Deb 30 November 1989 vol 162 cc381-2W
Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he intends to take to implement the recommendations of the chief inspector of prisons in his report on Wandsworth prison.

Mr. Mellor

A statement by my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) setting out the action being taken was published on 19 October 1989 as his response to the report of Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons on Wandsworth prison and a copy was placed in the Library.

Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will reconsider his rejection of the recommendation by the chief inspector of prisons to install integral sanitation at Wandsworth prison in seven years in the light of his announcement of more resources for prison refurbishment.

Mr. Mellor

The speed of refurbishment is determined largely by the need to keep a prison fully operational while the work goes on. The large programme of refurbishment already in hand at Wandsworth, which includes the installation of toilets and washbasins in 300 cells, cannot be increased or accelerated while its full use as a local prison remains so essential to meet current high levels of overcrowding.