HC Deb 29 June 1994 vol 245 c623W
Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the contractors have defaulted on any part of the contract to manage Blakenhurst prison; what was the nature of the default on each occasion; and what was the penalty imposed.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

[holding answer 28 June 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 29 June 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about Blakenhurst prison. Default notices have been issued against the contractors on two occasions and payment has been withheld on one occasion. Under the terms of the contract, a default notice may be issued if satisfactory progress has not been made within 20 days of a warning. On the two occasions where default notices have been issued, the first related to security in cells and the second to maintenance. These problems were rectified satisfactorily. There are no default notices outstanding at present. In the light of the incident on 24 February which occurred in one of the houseblocks, the Prison Service did not consider that UKDS fully delivered the required service during that month. During the incident, some parts of the prison were not fully in control, with consequent effects on regime delivery; and public relations and contingency arrangements were not satisfactory. The areas where the service was not considered to be up to the required standard were outlined in my letter of 12 April (Official Report, Column 3). There was a financial penalty imposed, and the sum which was withheld from UKDS was £41,166.90, exclusive of VAT, which in our judgement represented the extent to which the required level of service had not been delivered in February.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Home Office has given consent for United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. to alter the services provided under the terms of the contract to run Blakenhurst prison; and what alterations were made.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

[holding answer 28 June 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 29 June 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of occasions on which consent has been given for United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. to alter the services provided under the terms of the contract to run Blakenhurst Prison; and what alterations were made. It was agreed in May 1994 that United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. could alter the contractual basis on which two of the services were provided. First, the number of hours out of cell was reduced from 15 to 14. Second, visiting arrangements were changed to take account of actual visiting patterns. As a result the visiting period has been changed from 13.00-21.00 to 13.00–20.00, and additional morning visits, particularly during school holidays, at Christmas and on other Bank Holidays, have been added.