§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What person/organisation is responsible for auditing prison standards; who they will consult in ascertaining whether the standards are observed; and what action the Prison Service has the power to take against a prison or the governor when the audit shows that a standard or standards have not been complied with. [HL2047]
§ Lord RookerAll Prison Service Standards contain audit baselines against which compliance can be checked, through observation, documentation and interview. These audits are conducted within the management line in each prison and headquarters group. Non-compliance must be addressed and failure to do so reported to the relevant area manager (i.e. operational manager) or director. The process was developed by the Standards Audit Unit and provides for local audit itself to be audited by the unit independently.
Additionally, the Standards Audit Unit programmes a visit to each establishment and group at least once in a two-year cycle to audit the most critical standards identified by the Prison Service Management Board. The resulting report forms the basis of a remedial plan, delivery of which is overseen by the area manager or director. The results of any audit are taken alongside other indicators of performance to measure the success of any establishment/group and its management team.