§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
(a) when the new Prison Service order on regimes for women will be issued; and whether it will be published; (b) whether the Prison Service order on regimes for juveniles has been published; and, if not, when it will be; (c) when the new Prison Service 142WA standard on mothers with children in prisons will be available; and whether it will assert the paramountcy of the best interests of the child. [HL1249]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonA Prison Service standard on regimes is due to be piloted in September 2000 and issued in February 2001. It will cover regimes for all groups of prisoners including women. The Prison Service order on regimes for young men under 18 years old was published in July 1999 and the Prison Service order on regimes for young women under 18 years old was published in February 2000.
The Prison Service order on the management of mother and baby units and the application process was published in February 2000 and states that the best interest of the child is the primary consideration at every level of policymaking as well as when considering individual situations. The Prison Service order was developed to deliver the majority of the recommendations in the Report of a Review of Principles, Policies and Procedures on Mothers and Babies/Children in Prison (Her Majesty's Prison Service July 1999), which were accepted in the Prison Service response and action plan (December 1999), copies of which are available in the Library. A Prison Service standard on mother and baby units is currently being piloted and will be published in May 2000.