Buckley Hall Prison (Hansard, 21 March 1996)

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the responsibilities of the Home Office representatives that are at present at Buckley Hall 291W prison in relation to the decision to grant a prisoner a period of release on temporary licence under (a) prison rules and (b) young offenders institution rules; and if the responsibilities of a governor of a privately run prison are identical to those of a governor of a prison directly run by the Prison Service in making a decision to grant a prisoner a period of release on temporary licence under (a) and (b). [21882]

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility 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 Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the respective responsibilities of the Home Office Controller and the Director of a privately-managed prison with regard to granting a prisoner release on temporary licence.
The decision to grant a prisoner a period of release on temporary licence under the Prison Rules or Young Offender Institution Rules is a matter for the Secretary of State. In practice, this will normally be taken on his behalf by the governor of the prison or, in the case of a contracted-out establishment, the Home Office Controller.
Any recommendation to grant a period of temporary release is passed to the Controller for authorisation. The Controller must be satisfied that the systems in place, to allow a risk assessment to be undertaken on all prisoners applying for temporary release, fulfil all contractual requirements.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations the Prison Service has carried out into Buckley Hall prison; what information on these is in the public domain; what investigations are currently being carried out; and if details of these investigations will be made public. [21888]

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about investigations the Prison Service has carried out into Buckley Hall prison; the information which is in the public domain; the investigations which are currently being carried out; and whether details of these investigations will be made public.
The Prison Service Controller has carried out six investigations. These dealt with: (a) an allegation that a member of staff had threatened a prisoner; (b) a member of staff had allegedly assaulted a prisoner; (c) the escape of a prisoner from within the prison; (d) an attempted escape; (e) an escape from an escort; and (f) a hospital break-in by prisoners. All the reports were submitted to the area manager. None are in the public domain and there is no intention to make such reports available.
Group 4 are currently examining the number and type of temporary release failures as a normal response to such incidents. Any report produced will also be for internal use only.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the objects that were stolen from the hospital in Buckley Hall prison following the break-in by prisoners in August 1995; and if he will list the objects that were subsequently recovered. [21891]

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility 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.
292W
Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question requesting a list of objects stolen from the hospital at Buckley Hall prison following a break-in by prisoners in August 1995, and a list of the objects subsequently recovered.
The items stolen by prisoners from the hospital at Buckley Hall were:

Valium 2mg x 1000 tablets

Valium 5mg x 300 tablets

Coproxamol x 300 tablets

Diamorphine 5ml x 2 ampules

Temgesic x 28 tablets

DF118 x 460 tablets

Amitriptyline 50ml.
Many of the tablets are believed to have been recovered as a result of later cell searches, it is not possible to identify whether all the tablets recovered were stolen from the hospital or, if some were tablets issued to prisoners which they had failed to take.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed escape attempts have occurred at Buckley Hall prison since its opening; and what is the national average over the same period of time for male category C training prisons. [21889]

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility 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 Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many failed escape attempts have occurred at Buckley Hall prison since its opening; and what is the national average over the same period of time for male category C training prisons.
Between its opening on 14 February 1992 and 29 February 1996, there have been three reported failed escape attempts from Buckley Hall prison by individual prisoners. In the same period, the reported average for the category C training estate is 1.68.
These figures refer to failed escape attempts from within the prison and exclude escorts.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the recorded number of assaults on prison officers at Buckley Hall prison since its opening; and what is the average number for male category C training prisons over the same period. [20919]

§ Miss Widdecombe
[holding answer 18 March 1996]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for the latest figures of assaults on prison officers for Buckley Hall and all male category C training prisons.
The attached table provides provisional information on the number of assaults on staff of all grades, including prison officers, during the period January 1995 to February 1996.
The details of assaults on prison officer grades alone would only be available at disproportionate cost.
293W

Number and rates of assault on staff per 100 population January 1995—February 1996

Assaults on staff^{1 2}

Number Rate per 100 population

1995

Buckley Hall 16 7.1

Male cat. C training prisons 322 2.5

January-February 1996

Buckley Hall 1 ³1.8

Male cat. C training prisons 60 ³2.7

¹ Includes assaults on staff of prison officer grade or another member of staff.

² Provisional.

³ Based on population for end January 1996.

Number and rates of assault on staff per 100 population January 1995—February 1996
	Assaults on staff^{1 2}
	Number	Rate per 100 population
1995
Buckley Hall	16	7.1
Male cat. C training prisons	322	2.5
January-February 1996
Buckley Hall	1	³1.8
Male cat. C training prisons	60	³2.7
¹ Includes assaults on staff of prison officer grade or another member of staff.
² Provisional.
³ Based on population for end January 1996.