§ Baroness Hilton of Eggardonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they balance economies in the Prison Service against any rise in the prison population and any consequent risk of riots.
4WA
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Baroness Hilton of Eggardon from the Director of Services of the Prison Service, Mr. A. J. Butler, dated May 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about economies in the Prison Service and the risk of riots.
The 1995 public expenditure settlement made additional funding available to the Prison Service to meet the expected increases in the prison population as well as for security improvements and to combat drug abuse in prisons. But it is also the Government's policy to exercise firm control over public expenditure and to secure greater efficiency in the running of public services. The savings being required of the Prison Service are broadly consistent with those expected of the public services generally.
It has been made clear to governors that, in preparing their business plans, they should maintain the balance between essential security and control measures, constructive and effective regimes for prisoners and providing support for staff.
§ Baroness Hilton of Eggardonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there is to be a 10 per cent. cut in the number of probation officers employed in prisons.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Baroness Hilton of Eggardon from the Director of Services of the Prison Service, Mr. A. J. Butler, dated May 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about probation officers employed in prisons.
The whole-time equivalent strength of probation staff employed in prisons on 30 June 1995 was 645. Current plans would reduce the numbers of probation staff employed in prisons by around 85 between 1 April 1996 and 31 March 1997.
The Prison Service is committed to partnership with the Probation Service to deliver the custodial and non-custodial parts of a prisoner's sentence effectively. Governors have been discussing with chief probation officers the scope for improvements in efficiency and for more effective use of all available resources. This includes other ways of discharging continuing tasks which have been undertaken by probation staff but which do not require their specialist skills.
5WA
§ Baroness Hilton of Eggardonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether 2,800 prison staff cuts are being sought by the service, while 80 additional accountants are to be recruited.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Baroness Hilton of Eggardon from the Director of Services of the Prison Service, Mr. A. J. Butler, dated May 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about staff cuts and the recruitment of accountants.
Reductions in the overall numbers of staff are part of the Prison Service's plans for improving its cost efficiency. Final decisions on numbers have not been taken. These decisions will be reached following local consultation with the unions and will take into account the operational needs of the service, available financial provision, the scope for cost reductions in other areas and the numbers of staff who have applied for voluntary early retirement and severance.
The recruitment of additional accountants on short fixed-term contracts meets an operational need of the service to improve its standards of financial control.
§ Baroness Hilton of Eggardonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether most modernisation schemes in the country's 136 jails are to be abandoned next year and whether maintenance is to be reduced to the "safe minimum".
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Baroness Hilton of Eggardon from the Director of Services of the Prison Service, Mr. A. J. Butler, dated May 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about whether most modernisation schemes in the country's 136 jails are to be abandoned next year and whether maintenance is to be reduced to the "safe minimum".
The reduction in the capital spending provision for 1996–7 has led to some modernisation schemes being deferred until later years, to be financed either through conventional funding or through the private sector. None of these projects has been abandoned.
Some maintenance schemes have also been deferred from 1996–7. Spending in the current year is on those projects identified as vital. However the Prison Service strategy is to monitor and review the condition of maintenance at prisons on a regular basis, and it is possible that some of those schemes that have been 6WA deferred might be rescheduled to 1996–7 if the situation demands.
§ Baroness Hilton of Eggardonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether unsafe sections of 14 jails are to be closed and whether, as a result of such closures, police cells will again be used for remand and convicted prisoners at costs of £300 per prisoner day.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Baroness Hilton of Eggardon from the Director of Services of the Prison Service, Mr A. J. Butler, dated May 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about whether unsafe sections of 14 jails are to be closed and whether, as a result of such closures, police cells will be used to hold prisoners.
The reduction in Prison Service capital expenditure during the current financial year will mean that our plans to modernise and/or install sanitation in wings at 14 prisons will be amended. The general effect is that some schemes due to start in 1996–7 will be deferred until later years.
The Prison Service has already taken out of use wings at seven of the 14 prisons to ensure that all prisoners have 24 hour access to sanitation.
Work on the remaining projects planned for 1996–7 has been rephased and will be funded either conventionally, or through the private finance initiative (PFI). Where governors have concerns about possible compromises either to security or to safety, they will make local short-term arrangements to strengthen other aspects of security, such as CCTV or undertake short-term maintenance to keep facilities operating safely.
An assessment of the effect on police cell use of the reduction in capital expenditure was made in December 1996. This work concluded that there was no significant increase in the risk of using police cells in the 1996–97 financial year.
The Prison Service has not been using police cells since June 1995. Apart from a major unplanned loss of accommodation or an unexpected rise in the population above current projections, we do not plan to use police cells.