§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost-effectiveness of having Home Office controllers at Doncaster prison. [8054]
§ 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. Martin Redmond, dated 19 January 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the cost-effectiveness of having Home Office Controllers at Doncaster.The Criminal Justice Act (1991) requires every contracted out prison to have a Controller, who is a Crown servant appointed by the Secretary of State.The Controllers at contracted-out prisons carry out a valuable function in helping to monitor the running and cost effectiveness of those prisons. They offer an independent and objective view of these processes to the Secretary of State and others. Such an objective view might not be provided by the companies themselves. In this respect, the Controllers fulfil a function which is distinct from the day to day management of the prison, and their vital role is provided cost effectively.