§ Mrs. Angela KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make a statement on his proposed changes to the prison rules. [18767]
§ Mr. HowardI have today tabled amendments to the prison and young offender rules which, subject to the negative resolution procedure, will come into force in 21 days.
The amendments cover three areas: governors' disciplinary powers; the arrangements for the temporary release of prisoners; and contact between convicted and unconvicted prisoners.
The amendments will increase by 50 per cent. the maximum level of all governors' disciplinary punishments for prisoners, except for the maximum period of cellular confinement, which was increased from three to 14 days in 1994. The new maximum punishments with figures for young offenders in brackets where different, will be:
Present Proposed Additional days 28 42 Cellular confinement (days) 14 [7] no change Stoppage of earnings (days' earnings) 28 [14] 42 [21] Forfeiture of privileges (days) 28 [14] 42 [21] Exclusion from associated work or activity (days) 14 21 Extra work—young offenders and adult females only (days) 14 21 Removal from wing—young offenders only (days) 14 21 These increases will act as a greater deterrent to prisoners; allow governors to punish the more serious offences properly; reduce the number of cases which need to be referred to the police; and maintain confidence in the disciplinary system.
The amendments will also introduce new criteria under which prisoners may be released temporarily. Under the new rules those prisoners who are eligible may be temporarily released only in the following circumstances:
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- (i) on specified compassionate grounds (compassionate licence);
- (ii) to enable prisoners to undertake education, training or work experience and for specific official purposes, such as to appear as police witnesses (facility licence);
- (iii) to allow prisoners who are near the end of their sentence to maintain their family ties and to re-integrate into the community (resettlement licence).
The new rules will also ensure that prisoners are not released too early in their sentence nor too frequently. In order to protect the safety of the public, governors will undertake in each case a rigorous risk assessment before deciding whether to release a prisoner temporarily. Eligible prisoners will be released only if the governor is satisfied that they will comply with the conditions of their licence.
Transitional arrangements have been made for some categories of prisoners. For example, those who have already successfully completed periods of home leave, and who are within a year of eligibility for parole, will continue to be eligible for resettlement licence. Prisoners who have been granted temporary release for work, education and training courses will generally continue to be eligible for facility licence to continue their courses, provided that the courses cannot be provided within the prison.
The amendments will also relax the current restriction on contact between convicted and unconvicted prisoners, which will allow accommodation and regime facilities to be used more flexibility.