§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent changes have been made to the budget allocations of prison governors; on what date these were made; to which financial years they refer; and if he will list the changes in allocation for each private prison. [387]
§ 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 A. J. Pearson to Mr. George Howarth, dated 23 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about changes to the budget allocations of prison governors and private prisons.Budgets for individual prisons are set at the start of each financial year and then changed as necessary in the light of operational requirements. This year there have been a number of adjustments for directly managed prisons. Payments which the Prison Service makes to the privately managed prisons are unchanged as their precise operating budgets are a matter for the companies concerned.