Prisons

HC Deb 19 April 2004 vol 420 cc109-14W

Mr. Stinchcombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what dates since 1999 prison service officials have accompanied representations from government departments of the Republic of Ireland on visits to private prisons in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [164302]

Paul Goggins

There is no record of any visit to privately managed prisons by representatives from Government Departments of they Republic of Ireland accompanied by Prison Service officials since 1999.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what Treasures have been proposed by the Prison Service to integrate vocational training into prison work to give prisoners the opportunity to gain recognized qualifications. [164393]

Paul Goggins

Work-based learning takes place throughout prison establishments, in dedicated workshops, industries workshops, kitchens, laundries, wing cleaning, estate maintenance and physical education departments.

Work-based training is planned as part of a cohesive strategy for learning and skills. Through the newly appointed Heads of Learning and Skills, links are made between dedicated training work; hops, work areas and the education department in order to integrate Skills for Life and key skills into practical;raining. Learners are acquiring skills and achieving nationally recognised qualifications which will improve their chances of finding employment on release.

All establishments are set an annual key performance for work skills and between 2003 and January 2004 prisoners achieved 89,104 work-based qualifications against an annual target of 60,800.

In addition £40 million is being invested over three years through the Youth Justice Board to provide a range of academic and vocational training opportunities for juvenile offenders. The Specification for Learning and Skills includes programmes that allow young people to attain specific vocational and employment skills.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Prison Service strategy is regarding the closure of workshops. [164395]

Paul Goggins

The closure of a workshop can have a significant impact on the internal market and on supplies and services available to other prisons. The Prison Service will ensure that any decisions on workshop closure are properly considered and made in a structured way, with regard to the system as a whole.

A policy on the closure or re-designation of workshops is currently being developed. This will ensure that any plans for closure are supported by a business case. Factors that will be included in such an appraisal include:

• The reason for closure or re-designation;
• What activities are planned to take place within the building that housed the workshop;
• How the same or increased number of working hours for prisoners will be provided; and,
• What plans there are for the machinery or other capital investment already made in the workshop.

Where a decision is proposed that might result in a reduction in prisoner industry places, adversely effect the internal supply chain, and/or increase costs to the Prison Service it is proposed that this decision would need to be endorsed by the recently created Industries Management Board—which has a brief to govern the operation of industries within the Prison Service.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors influence the location of a workshop at a particular prison establishment. [164396]

Paul Goggins

Prison Service industry have tended to be developed in particular establishments as a result of local initiatives. Other factors that influence the location of a workshop at a particular prison establishment include the physical space available as well as the type of prisoner held and the purpose of the establishment.

Following the internal review on the strategic oversight and management of the public sector prison industries in England and Wales (2003) the Prison Service has a clear strategic direction for prison industries that combines the complementary aims of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of industries while also increasing the resettlement and training opportunities possible for prisoners within workshops. This strategic direction will increasingly drive decisions made about the particular type and location of industrial workshops while, at the same time, making best use of current workshops.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how prisoners are assessed for vocational training and workshop placements. [164397]

Paul Goggins

Prisoners are assessed for their general suitability for vocational training. Prisoners also undergo a risk assessment for health and safety reasons prior to starting their training in a workshop environment.

All establishments provide an induction programme and initial assessment of each offender's basic skills and the results inform the creation of an individual learning plan. Initial assessments should also be shared with teachers, trainers and workshop staff.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has made to the recommendation in the Internal Review Report 2003 that the prison working day should be increased. [164398]

Paul Goggins

The internal review of the strategic oversight and management of the public sector prison industries in England and Wales (2003) was fully accepted by the Prison Service Management Board. While none of the review's 44 recommendations contained a specific recommendation that the prison working day should be increased the text did note that ideally industrial workshops should operate standard working hours of around 36 hours per week. The review also noted that operational demands and restrictions precluded this from being achieved across the prison estate.

There are currently over 300 industry workshops which operate for an average 26 hours per week. This contributes nearly 13,000,000 hours of purposeful activity for prisoners a year.

The Prison Service is committed, wherever possible, to extending the working day for prisoners. For example a plastics workshop at HMP Ranby operates for 96 hours per week, employing prisoners on three shifts (including a night shift). The Prison Service has to strike a balance between allowing more prisoners to access places and enabling individual prisoners to work a longer day.

The Prison Service are exploring the possibility of developing Service Level Agreements with prisons that will stipulate the number of operating hours a workshop will open, the number of prisoners employed and the qualifications offered alongside a target for achievement. This will help both to establish a minimum period each workshop should open and improve performance.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has made to the recommendation in the Internal Review Report 2003 that prison work should reflect the working week outside prison. [164399]

Paul Goggins

The Prison Service Management Board fully accepted the recommendations contained in the internal review of the strategic oversight and management of the public sector prison industries in England and Wales (2003). While none of the reviews 44 recommendations contained a specific recommendation that prison work should try and reflect the same kind of working week as outside the review did note that wherever possible the prison regime should try and reflect the same kind of working week as that found outside.

There are several aspects to reflecting the working week on the outside including not only extending the working day where possible but also setting and maintaining reasonable production levels. In addition it is important to have part-time working to accommodate prisoner learning. In addition there are other models for bridging the gap between prisons and the community—the work with National Grid Transco is a good example of using the time prisoners spend in prison essentially for training followed by actual work in the community.

It is not practical, as the review acknowledged, to fix a figure on the number of hours a workshop should be open—as different categories of establishment have different operational demands. However the Prison Service is committed, wherever possible and subject to operational constraints, to extending the working day for prisoners. There are examples in the Prison Service where this has been achieved. As part of implementing the review's recommendations the Prison Service is also seeking to improve production levels where needed as well as encouraging more demanding and creative work where it is possible to do so.

Linking work and education for the large number of unskilled prisoners with numeracy and literacy difficulties as well as with poor or non-existent work histories is a key part if enhancing the working week. In many instances key skills have been embedded into practical training courses in prisons' workshops. Using £7.36 million of the Offenders Learning and Skills Unit's recent Capital Modernisation Fund, from Learning to Earning, 77 classrooms adjacent to workshops have been constructed to support the integration of key skills into training programmes. Additionally these classrooms are increasingly able to support the wider key skills—Working with Others, Problem Solving, Improving Own Learning and Performance. All three wider key skills relate to the work ethic. The value placed on these skills by employers is evident from their inclusion in Modern Apprenticeship frame works in mainstream vocational training.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of the Prison Service's meeting with the Correctional Service Accreditation Panel on the Focus on Resettlement. [164403]

Paul Goggins

The Correctional Service Accreditation Panel encouraged the programme's further development and outlined some general comments that need to be considered in any future application for accreditation. Another meeting will be held later this year.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures the Prison Service is putting in place to meet the demand for new work places. [164405]

Paul Goggins

Since 1994–95 the prisoner population has increased by 50 per cent. and prisons are delivering an additional 30 per cent. more purposeful hours, despite pressure on workshop and classroom capacity.

Where possible the Prison Service constructs additional workshops to meet the needs of the increasing population. A number of workshops have opened or are planned to be opened in the near future. These include workshops at HMPs Garth (an additional 180 prisoner work places), Wymott (an additional 24 prisoner work places), Whatton (an additional 200 work places) and Ranby (an additional 40 prisoners on a split-shift system). HMP Haverigg are currently planning to bring some old workshops back into operation as part of the Performance Improvement Plan process which should realise an additional 100 new prisoner work places. The plans at Haverigg include the conversion of a contract services workshop to an appropriate office environment providing 15 prison work places in which national industries data can be managed.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what co-operation there is between the Prison Service and the Learning and Skills Council in order to identify local labour market needs. [164406]

Paul Goggins

In April 2003 all local Learning and Skills Councils (LSCs) initiated strategic area reviews of post-16 LSC-funded provision. These reviews assess the extent to which the current pattern of post-16 learning in each local area meets the needs of learners, employers and the community—including the needs of offenders.

The Offenders' Learning and;kills Unit is working with the Learning and Skills Council to develop a coherent information, advice and guidance strategy that meets the needs of all offenders both in prison and in the community.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the link between prison work and prisoners' attitudes towards work. [164407]

Paul Goggins

Three studies have been commissioned on this subjectHome Office Research Study 208 Women Prisoners: a Survey of their Work and Training Experiences in Custody and on Release' in 2000 Home Office Research Study 226 'Building Bridges to Employment for Prisoners' in 2001 and `Prison Work and Training: an Evaluation' Simon and Corbett, Brunel University, 1994, 1997

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the Prison Service has refocused prison industry production on the internal market. [164408]

Paul Goggins

The aim of prison industries is to occupy prisoners in out of cell activity and wherever possible to help them gain skills, qualifications and work experience to improve their employment prospects on release.

At the same time the Prison Service is a significant consumer of a large range of products and there are sound economic reasons for producing for internal consumption. In producing for the internal market there are significant opportunities for industrial workshops to provide both specific and generic work skills for prisoners. Additionally there are opportunities for growth within a number of the internal industries. There will be an increasing demand for items such as cell furniture, clothing items and other engineering work. As long as industries meets the standards that are required externally there will also be opportunities to manufacture and supply to other organisations items such as office furniture.

Producing efficiently and effectively for consumption within the Prison Service does not mean an exclusive focus on the internal market and where possible prisons should build relationships with local employers to meet specific skills shortages. The Prison Service is also working with a number of partners, in both the voluntary and private sectors to develop work opportunities within prisons and for prisoners after release.