HC Deb 18 October 1993 vol 230 cc127-8W
Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for a further prison run on the lines of Grendon.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about plans for a further prison run on the lines of Grendon. Proposals for a second therapeutic community run on Grendon lines have in the past received endorsement from both HM Chief Inspector of Prisons and Lord Justice Woolf. We are giving careful consideration to these proposals and the Director of Health Care, Dr. Rosemary Wool, is chairing a task force the terms of reference of which are: to determine the strategy for treating/managing those prisoners who are suffering personality disorder and the need for further "Grendon style" therapeutic regimes. The task force has a membership drawn from the Department of Health, Home Office, special hospitals and independent specialists and has been giving careful consideration to the type of facilities required, the category of prisoners to be provided for, the physical location of any additional facilities and whether another facility wholly dedicated as a therapeutic community is required, or alternately whether units in a number of other prisons would be a more suitable option. The task force is due to report in January 1994 and until their report is received it would be premature for me to comment further.