§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 21 April,Official Report, columns 643–44, on what date the settlement was reached between United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. and the Prison Service regarding the amount of money to be withheld under the terms of the contract to manage Blakenhurst prison, in the light of the incident on 24 February; what sum of money has been withheld from United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. as an appropriate financial remedy; and how this amount was arrived at.
§ 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 A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 28 April 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about Blakenhurst prison.The matter was finalised on 28 March. The sum withheld was £41,166.90, exclusive of VAT, which in our judgment represented the extent to which the required level of service had not been delivered in February. The areas where the service was not considered to be up to the required standard were outlined in Derek Lewis' letter of 12 April Official Report, column 3.