§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Prison Service will be meeting the Correctional Service Accreditation Panel to obtain advice on the extension of the FOR resettlement programme. [155344]
§ Paul GogginsThe Prison Service will be meeting with the Correctional Service Accreditation Panel from 15 to 19 March 2004. Decisions about the extension of the736W FOR (Focus on Resettlement) programme will be taken in the light of the advice provided and resourcing available.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his oral statement of 6 January,Official Report, columns 170–87, on Correctional Services, what definition he uses of contestability. [147353]
§ Paul GogginsContestability is the principle that best quality and best value for money in the supervision, punishment and care of offenders will be achieved through ensuring that all services are opened up to competition.
We aim to encourage the public, private, voluntary and 'not for profit' sectors to compete to provide services to offenders, both in prison and in the community, that are the most effective and efficient that can be provided. At the same time we want to encourage partnerships between different sectors to make sure that we make best use of the different strengths and qualities each can bring.
We intend to build on the successful experience of the Prison Service's market testing programme, which has demonstrated that public services can compete successfully with the private sector. We also want to maintain the impetus created by the Performance Improvement Programme which has led to dramatic improvements in regimes and cost at some of the most challenging public sector prisons.