Slopping Out (Hansard, 4 March 1994)

§ Ms Ruddock
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on ending slopping out since the statement by the Home Secretary contained in "Custody, Care and Justice" in September 1991.

§ 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 A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 March 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the Prison Service, to reply to your recent Question about the progress made with the Prison Service's programme of installing integral sanitation in prison establishments. The number of prisoners with 24 hour access to sanitation has now risen to 90 per cent. compared with 60 per cent. in 1991. The target for the Prison Service for 1993–94 is to provide through the accelerated sanitation programme 24 hour access to sanitation in at least 4,700 existing prison places. In addition a further 2,400 newly constructed and renovated places are scheduled for completion this year, all of which will have integral sanitation. As stated by the Home Secretary in his written reply to Sir Ivan Lawrence on 2 February 1994 the December 1994 target for ending slopping out cannot now be met since this would lead to unacceptable levels of overcrowding. By the end of 1994, however, more than 95 per cent. of prisoners will have access to sanitation at all times. The Prison Service continues to give very high priority to completing the sanitation programme as soon as possible, within
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§ 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 March 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for the number of escapes (a) from prison establishments and (b) from escorts expressed (i) in absolute numbers and (ii) as a percentage of the average prison population in each of the last three years and for 1993–94 to the latest available date. The attached table lists the information you require for the financial years 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93 and April 1993-February 1994 (inclusive), as recorded by the Incident Management Support Unit. the constraints imposed by the prison population and we aim to complete the programme no later than February 1996, the date recommended by Lord Woolf in his report.