§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes have been made to the written criteria for selecting prisoners for security category A since 1991; and on what grounds the criteria have been changed.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated October 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about changes to the criteria for selecting prisoners for security category A since 1991.The Hadfield/Lakes report of the security audit of custody arrangements for category A prisoners and of an inquiry into DOC1 division noted that only some 20 per cent. of prisoners notified from prisons to Prison Service headquarters as potential category A prisoners were subsequently designated category A. The report concluded that Prison Service headquarters were applying a rigorous selection process but too many prisoners were being submitted by prisons for consideration. They recommended that the referral criteria be reviewed.This recommendation was accepted. Fresh guidance has been included in the Prison Service manual on security to assist prison staff to identify more readily and selectively those prisoners who, because of the nature and circumstances of their offences or alleged offences, need to be notified to headquarters for consideration for category A.