Pregnant Prisoners (Hansard, 6 May 1994)

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd

[holding answer 4 May 1994]: Responsibility for these matters 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 6 May 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the Prison Service's security policy for women under escort who are in labour or pregnant. The general guidance on security applies equally to both sexes. The principal means of ensuring security on escorts is through the use of handcuffs or the closeting chain. The guidance gives discretion to governors to handcuff a woman when escorting her outside the prison is there are reasonable grounds for believing that she is likely to pose security or control problems. When any prisoner is escorted to hospital under restraint, the guidelines allow the handcuffs to be removed with the authorisation of a governor or Principal Officer and require them to be removed at the point where treatment begins if the doctor so requests. In such cases the escorting officers are expected to try to maintain security by other means, such as blocking potential escape routes. We have reviewed the guidance in the light of the recent case where a prisoner's handcuffs were not removed while she gave birth, but believe it remains appropriate. The guidance enables senior staff at the prison to consider each case in the light of the circumstances. It also makes it clear that the handcuffs must be removed in any case if the doctor treating the patient so requests. It is clear that the local arrangements in this particular case did not work satisfactorily. The procedures at the establishment have been reviewed and more detailed instructions will be given to escorting staff in future. I have apologised to Mrs. Edwards. Advice on the procedures for escorting prisoners is given in the Manual on Security, copies of which are in the Library.