The Prison Service (Hansard, 31 March 1999)

§ Lord Williams of Mostyn

The new Framework Document is now complete and I am today placing copies of it in the Library. The Framework Document governs the relationship between the Prison Service and the core Home Office, setting out the roles of the principal players and bodies including the Prison Service Strategy Board to be chaired by me, the Minister for Prisons and Probation, within a framework of responsibilities and accountabilities. The document reflects the Government's commitment to take proper Ministerial responsibility for the service and the role of the Prison Service as a major component of the wider criminal justice system. It includes material about the planning framework and the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

The Prison Service's Corporate Plan for 1999–2000 to 2001–02 and Business Plan for 1999–2000 is published today. A copy has been placed in the Library.

The Prison Service's KPIs are kept under review regularly to ensure that they reflect current key priorities for the service. For 1999–2000 the Prison Service will introduce new performance measures arising from the Home Office Public Service Agreement. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has approved new measures for escapes from contracted-out escorts, staff sickness, cost per prisoner and the time taken to respond to correspondence.

The KPI on overcrowding will be changed to measure the percentage of the prison population held two to a cell designed for one. This will better reflect the impact of overcrowding on individual prisoners.

Two existing measures will be discontinued next year: time out of cell and staff training. With the emphasis now being given to regimes designed to reduce re-offending, and the gradual introduction of in-cell TV, it is becoming more important to measure what prisoners do when out of their cells than the length of time they are unlocked. Staff training will remain important. A primary focus for the service in 1999–2000 is to gain Investors in People accreditation which requires evidence of properly targeted training and development for all staff.

The full list of KPI measures, and specific targets for 1999–2000 are:

Escapes:

To ensure no category A prisoners escape.

To ensure that the number of escapes from prison, and escorts undertaken by Prison Service staff, expressed as a proportion of the prison population, is lower than 0.05 per cent.

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To ensure that the number of escapes from contracted-out escorts is no more than 1 per 20,000 prisoners handled.

Assaults:

To ensure that the number of positive adjudications of assault on staff, prisoners, and others, expressed as a proportion of the average population, is lower than 9 per cent.

Drugs:

To ensure that the rate of positive results from random drug tests is lower than 18.5 per cent.

Overcrowding:

To ensure that the number of prisoners held two to a cell designed for one, expressed as a percentage of the population, does not exceed 18 per cent.

Purposeful activity

To ensure that prisoners spend on average at least 24 hours per week engaged in purposeful activity.

Offending behaviour programmes:

To ensure that there are at least 3,600 completions by prisoners of offending behaviour programmes accredited as being effective in reducing re-offending, of which 700 should be completions of sex offender treatment programmes.

Cost per place:

To ensure that the average cost per uncrowded prison place does not exceed £26,208.

Cost per prisoner:

To ensure that the average cost per prisoner does not exceed £27,392.

Staff sickness:

To ensure that average staff sickness does not exceed 12.5 working days per person.

Correspondence handling:

To ensure that 95 per cent. of correspondence receives a reply within 20 days by October 1999.

The target for staff sickness is provisional and will be reviewed later in the year following an independent audit of data quality.