HC Deb 06 March 2000 vol 345 cc543-4W
Ms Kelly

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the welfare of prisoners who are held in(a) PFI-prisons and (b) nonPFI-prisons; and if he will make a statement. [112476]

Mr. Boateng

The welfare of all prisoners, including those housed in the five Private Finance Initiative Design, Construct, Manage and Finance (DCMF) prisons now open, is assessed according to the same procedures and standards. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons conducted 21 full inspections in 1999 including three DCMF prisons, Parc, Altcourse and Lowdham Grange. Conditions for prisoners in directly managed prisons were reported to range from the unacceptable to the excellent. In his report on Parc, the Chief Inspector stated that Parc was a challenging place and that there was still much to do but that he was impressed with the potential and the obvious willingness of most staff to make the prison successful. The reports on Altcourse and Lowdham Grange prisons have not yet been published.

The Prison Service itself continuously monitors the performance of all prisons including the treatment of inmates through various procedures such as Key Performance Indicators and standards audits.

Mrs. Roche

All information about the organisations that have tendered to provide accommodation for asylum seekers under the national asylum support scheme and about the details of their bids is commercially confidential. I am, therefore, unable to provide the information requested.