§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the criteria used in assessments of prisons in England and Wales for the awarding of a Charter Mark; and if he will make a statement. [68952]
§ Mr. KilfoyleI have been asked to reply.
The criteria used in assessment of prisons in England and Wales for the award of a Charter Mark are the same as are used in assessing all other public sector applications. For the 1998 assessment process these criteria were:
- Performance standards
- Information and openness
- Consultation and choice
- Courtesy and helpfulness
- Putting things right
- Value for money
- User satisfaction
- Improvements in service quality
- Planned improvements and innovations.
For all applicants the assessment process includes checking with sponsoring Departments, regulatory bodies, statutory user groups and other relevant bodies to ensure that any shortcomings or service failures are known and taken into account. The particular circumstances, including statutory obligations, of each applicant are also taken into account.
Applicants are required to submit a written application supported with evidence. The written application is assessed independently by two different assessors followed by a visit from one or more assessors who review the service on site, examine any additional evidence and meet a cross-section of users. For a prison, users would include the prisoners themselves, Prison Visitors and relatives of prisoners.
The decision to award a Charter Mark is made by an independent panel of judges.