Prisons: Standards
(asked on 30th April 2018) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many improvement orders his Department has issued to prisons in each year since 2010; and for what reason each order was issued.
The term ‘improvement order’ is not recognised but I have interpreted these questions as asking for details of formal improvement notices issued to prisons. Improvement notices are issued only to privately managed prisons as part of our robust contract management processes.
Details of Improvement Notices issued since 2010 is provided in the table below.
Prison | Date of Improvement Notice | Reason Improvement Notice Issued | Improvement Notice outstanding |
HMP Rye Hill (G4S) | 12 March 2010 | Safety and Security | No |
HMP Rye Hill (G4S) | 29 May 2012 | Safety and Security | No |
HMP Oakwood (G4S) | 13 February 2013 | Safety and Security | No |
HMP Doncaster (Serco) | 12 August 2015 | Safety and Security | No |
HMP Northumberland (Sodexo) | 10 June 2015 | Procedural | No |
HMP Birmingham (G4S) | 28 July 2016 | Procedural | No |
HMP Birmingham (G4S) | 2 August 2016 | Procedural | No |
HMP Rye Hill (G4S) | 23 September 2016 | Estate maintenance | No |
HMP Birmingham (G4S) | 12 March 2018 | Safety and Security | Yes |
HMP Birmingham (G4S) | 12 March 2018 | Safety and Security | Yes |
We are clear that prisons should be places of safety and reform, and are working closely with G4S to improve conditions for prisoners at HMP Birmingham. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has issued two improvement notices to HMP Birmingham which cover contract delivery and documentation. An improvement notice is a contractual mechanism to request an improvement plan to address concern in a given area.
Privately managed prisons achieve the vast majority of their performance targets, and are an important part of our reform plans. We continue to closely monitor the performance of all privately managed prisons, and will take further action if and when required.