§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the protection of remand prisoners under 18 years of age from bullying at Doncaster prison. [9900]
§ 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 25 January 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the protection of remand prisoners under 18 years of age from bullying at Doncaster prison.Doncaster has already taken a number of steps to minimise bullying among young offender remand prisoners. Those considered to be bullying are isolated from other prisoners until they cease such activities. Doncaster has also installed cameras to help staff in monitoring the movement and behaviour of juvenile offenders and employed a full-time anti-bullying co-ordinator and removed personal cell keys from young offenders, in order to prevent them being forced to hand them over to other prisoners.Anti-bullying measures are subject to continuous review and appraisal. A "Safe Inside Doncaster" Committee has recently been formed, which has been tasked with helping to increase further the safety and comfort of prisoners inside the prison environment. Doncaster takes very seriously its commitment to try and prevent bullying among this age group.