HC Deb 15 October 2001 vol 372 cc918-9W
Miss Widdecombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on conditions at Feltham B Young Offenders Institution. [6378]

Beverley Hughes

In a report published on 26 July, the then Chief Inspector of Prisons, Sir David Ramsbotham, rightly criticised the poor regime at Feltham B and compared it to that for under 18-year-old prisoners at Feltham A, which had benefited from major investment to meet Youth Justice Board standards.

Improvements to the regime on Feltham B are now a priority. Purposeful activity is currently over 23 hours per week. Two additional physical education instructors and one horticultural craftsman have been appointed, with further additional posts approved. The completion of a new education facility for under-18s means that the original facility is now exclusively available to Feltham B prisoners, providing up to 70 places a day. £500,000 is being invested from the Custody to Work programme to help the employability of young people on release, and £575,000 is being spent to convert existing buildings into a new gymnasium.

Four bedded units have been reduced to two-person occupancy, and doubling in cells intended for one has ended. In-cell electricity has been installed in four units with a fifth under way.

I am taking a close personal interest in developments at Feltham and I am determined to see that progress is maintained.

Miss Widdecombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has held with the Chief Inspector of Prisons with regard to the management of Feltham B Young Offenders Institution; and if he will make a statement. [6379]

Beverley Hughes

My right hon. Friend met the former Chief Inspector of Prisons on 11 July although they did not specifically discuss Feltham B. I visited Feltham B with Sir David Ramsbotham on 16 July and subsequently discussed what I had seen there with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. He has given his full support to my determination, and that of the Director General, to implement fundamental improvements at Feltham.

Miss Widdecombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many average hours of purposeful activity there were at Feltham B Young Offenders' Institute in(a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2000–01; and if he will make a statement. [6377]

Beverley Hughes

Figures for purposeful activity were not collected separately for Feltham A and Feltham B in previous years. The average figures for purposeful activity across the whole of Feltham young offender institution were 15.2 hours a week in 1999–2000 and 14.4 hours a week in 2000–01.

Improving purposeful activity in Feltham B is a priority for the Prison Service. Separate figures are now kept, and purposeful activity in Feltham B has increased from 11.7 hours in April this year to over 23 hours a week.

I am determined this improvement should be maintained.

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