§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average time taken for a prison area manager to reply to an appeal that has been made by a prison inmate against a decision that has been made by a prison governor; and if he will make a statement. [20743]
§ 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 B. Landers to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 1 May 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to your recent Question about the average time taken for a prison area manager to reply to an appeal that has been made by a prisoner against a decision made by a prison governor.The information requested is not readily available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Area offices are set a target date of six weeks, from date of receipt, to answer requests and complaints from prisoners. Between 1 April 1994 and 31 March 1995, 85% of requests and complaints were answered within this set target. This figure represents an improvement on the figure for 1993–94, when 82% of requests/complaints were answered within the set target and for 1992–93, when the figure was 61%.