§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Director General of the Prison Service regarding its recent instruction that all female prisoners attending for maternity appointments be handcuffed throughout their care; if he will review this instruction in consultation with relevant organisations including the Royal College of Midwives and the National Childbirth Trust; and if he will make a statement. [317]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Harry Cohen, dated 22 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the handcuffing of female prisoners on escort.For several years escapes by women under escort have been disproportionately high when compared with the number of women prisoners and, therefore, in April of this year, it was decided to handcuff female prisoners under escort in the same way as we have always done for men.226WHandcuffs are used to improve security and reduce the risk of escape. Initial indications show that the rate of escape of female prisoners is down by 50 per cent since the new policy was introduced.For both sexes, handcuffs must be removed if there is a medical, surgical or clinical reason for this. Restraints must always be removed from prisoners during labour and childbirth.