§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people whose certification as prison custody officer has been suspended or revoked(a) applied to work at and (b) have been employed at (i) Blakenhurst, (ii) the Wolds and (iii) Doncaster prison.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 4 July 1994]: 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 11 July 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about how many people whose certification as Prisoner Custody Officer (PCO) has been suspended or revoked (a) applied to work and (b) have been employed at (i) Blakenhurst, (ii) The Wolds and (iii) Doncaster Prison.Prisoner Custody Officer certificates are only issued after a person has successfully completed the required training and obtained security clearance. There are therefore no known instances of people having had their certification suspended or revoked applying for employment. It would not be possible for the Prison Service to know if a person had applied and not been offered employment by one company, having previously had their certification suspended or revoked in relation to employment by another company.There have been no revocations at Wolds or Doncaster. At Blakenhurst there have been four suspensions: two of these resulted in revocations and two are currently under consideration.