§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the current ratio of prisoner custody officers to prisoners at Buckley Hall prison; and what is the current prisoner population; [18286]
(2) on what date Buckley Hall prison started to admit prisoners; what was the full staff complement by grade on that date; how many ex-prison personnel and what grade were initially employed by Group 4; how many and what grade of staff have been sacked to date; how many of these were ex-prison service staff; and on what dates staff have left and on what dates they have been replaced; [18287]
(3) what is the latest figure for the total number of assaults on (a) custody officers and (b) prisoners at Buckley Hall prison. [18285]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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 Derek Lewis to Mr. George Howarth, dated 18 April 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about Buckley Hall prison.On 31 March, Buckley Hall prison held 90 prisoners. The ratio of custody officers to prisoners was 70 custody officers to 90 prisoners which equates to 1 custody officer to 1.28 prisoners.Buckley Hall started to admit prisoners on 14 December 1994. The staffing complement by grade was as follows:
- 1 Director
- 1 Head of Programmes
- 2 Residential Managers
- 2 Duty Security Managers
- 67 Prison Custody Officers (PCO)
- 14 Administrative Staff
Of these the Director, Head of Programmes, Residential Managers and Duty Security Managers were former Prison Service personnel.Their former Prison Service grades were as follows:
Buckley Hall grade Former Prison Service grade Director Governor 3 Head of Programmes Senior Psychologist 2 Residential Managers 1 x Supervisor 1 x Prison Officer 2 Duty Security Managers 1 x Governor 4 1 x Supervisor To date no staff at Buckley Hall have been sacked. Details of resignations and recruitment are contained in the attached table.
There has been one assault on a member of staff at Buckley Hall prison since it was re-opened, and no assaults on prisoners.
89W
Details of resignations and staff recruitment at Buckley Hall prison Date Resigned Recruited 10 October 94 PCO 7 November 94 PCO x 2 30 November 94 PCO
Details of resignations and staff recruitment at Buckley Hall prison Date Resigned Recruited 16 January 95 PCO x 8 P/T PCO x 22 17 January 95 PCO Security Officer1 19 January 95 PCO 23 January 95 PCO 7 February 95 P/T PCO 23 February 95 PCO Personnel Clerk Facilities Co-ordinator 24 February 95 Facilities Co-ordinator 20 March 95 PCO 24 March 95 Security Officer1 27 March 95 Personnel Clerk 1 The Security Officers have not been replaced to date and their duties are being covered by PCOs.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) on how many occasions to date Group 4 has defaulted in its contract for Buckley Hall prison; which of the terms of the contract for Buckley Hall prison Group 4 has failed to comply with; what penalties have been incurred for each failure to comply with the contract; and what was the basis of the Prison Service's decision not to penalise on each occasion on, which that decision was reached. [18288]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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 Mr. George Howarth, dated 18 April 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of occasions Group 4 has defaulted in its contract for Buckley Hall prison.Buckley Hall prison opened in December 1994. There has been no occasion since opening when Group 4 has been in default of contract.