§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards providing prisoners detained in the special secure unit at Her Majesty's prison Belmarsh with four hours of education a day on request. [9964]
§ Ms QuinPrisoners in the special secure unit at Belmarsh prison can, if they wish, attend formal education classes for up to three hours a day. This exceeds the number of hours of education available in the main prison and, given the extremely low take-up of education by SSU prisoners, there are no plans at present to increase further the number of hours available.
In addition to formal education classes, prisoners can study in their cells if they so wish. In the past, a number of SSU prisoners have participated in Open university courses in this way.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on provision of adequate ventilation for cells and recreation areas within the special secure unit at HMP Belmarsh. [9965]
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§ Ms QuinAdequate ventilation is available in cells in the special secure unit at Belmarsh. It has, however, been accepted by Belmarsh that the ventilation of the association areas needs to be improved during periods of hot weather.
To facilitate this, Belmarsh has recently changed procedures to allow prisoners to keep open cell doors and windows at times when they are out of their cells. It has also installed large fans. These measures have greatly increased the ventilation of the association areas, improving matters significantly.