My Lords, as with all of HMCIP’s establishment reports, an action plan will be produced within two months of publication. It will respond in detail to each recommendation. Her Majesty’s Government are grateful to the chief inspector for her insightful report on Pentonville, which is undoubtedly an establishment under pressure. The Prison Service has acted to relieve some of this pressure by reducing Pentonville’s operational capacity by more than 100.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that helpful reply, but does she agree with me that the chief inspector’s report shows that Pentonville is a prison in crisis? Is the Minister aware that the chief inspector says not just that Pentonville is affected but that all our local prisons are overcrowded and pressurised? Since one-third of our 80,000 prisoners are held in local prisons, can the Minister tell the House how the Government plan to respond to the crisis that affects not just Pentonville, but all local prisons?

My Lords, it would be incorrect to describe Pentonville as being in crisis, although it is undeniable that it has significant difficulties. It is one of the busiest prisons in London, receiving between 90 and 100 prisoners per day. There is a very targeted action plan for Pentonville, and a further action plan will be produced one year after publication of the report. Appropriate plans are in place for all local prisons, both to manage the pressures that they are experiencing and to keep prisoners safe.

My Lords, the chief inspector found that prisoners spent an average of five hours per day out of their cells, while the prison record showed eight hours. This is not the first time that the chief inspector has found such a discrepancy between prison records and reality. What action are the Government taking to ensure that their information on prison regimes is more reliable?

My Lords, we have taken steps to reinforce the management structure in Pentonville. There are now three new governor posts there; the action plan involves rigorously looking at all the issues that have been highlighted by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector; and a progressive action plan will be in place there between now and December.

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that, although it is true that quite a lot of prisons are overcrowded, certain open prisons are not and there are no suitable prisoners to transfer into them?

My Lords, the supply and nature of our prisons is an issue. Noble Lords will know that proper use has been made of all available space, and I assure them that the matter has been given anxious consideration by all those responsible for it in the Home Office.

My Lords, I know that the Minister and the Government are committed to the decency agenda, but will she consider the pressures on the Prison Service, which, realistically, will continue for quite a long time, even if new places are made available and other forms of punishment are used more frequently? Does she agree that there is a real need for the further training of officers when they are going to be working under pressures of that kind? Conflict and anger management, for example, would have assisted in some of the things that Her Majesty's Chief Inspector discovered.

My Lords, I agree with the right reverend Prelate that the training of officers is critical. We are now able to engage prisoners more in activities, and the benefits of that are clear. We are also taking steps to ensure that officers receive the appropriate training to enable them to look after people in prison in a more progressive way.

My Lords—

My Lords—

My Lords—

My Lords, it is the turn of the Liberal Democrats.

My Lords, the chief inspector’s devastating report stated that Pentonville was dirty and infested with vermin, that too many prisoners lacked pillows and toothbrushes and that, on one occasion, the prison even ran out of food. Were the Government aware of those problems before the chief inspector reported on them or only afterwards; and what action has been taken to deal with them?

My Lords, the Government were aware that there were management difficulties. For that reason, the governor has been changed and three new governor posts created. Additional funding has been provided for the prison to bring about physical improvements, including the refurbishment of the visits complex and the staff mess and artwork for prisoner accommodation areas. Those areas are being worked on energetically. We inside the Prison Service made the assessment that Pentonville was not doing well enough and that change was absolutely fundamental.

My Lords, year after year, we have report after report of failing local prisons. Sometimes that is followed by short-term improvement, but there is never consistent long-term improvement, with the lessons learnt being applied everywhere. Does the Minister not accept that thisis a fundamental failure of the Prison Service management and management structure and that, until and unless someone is responsible and accountable for all local prisons to see that the lessons are applied, such unavoidable reports will continue to follow year after year?

My Lords, lessons are being learnt. The way in which the area managers are now planning the work enables us to learn from other situations and develop better systems of working. That will be reinforced even more when the National Offender Management Service is well embedded.

My Lords, I declare an interest as probably the only person in this place who has worked in Pentonville for six years as a member of the board of visitors. May I ask two questions? First, what proportion of the prisoners there nowadays are remand prisoners, and does that not complicate the authority and working of the prison? Secondly, when I was working there, the main trouble was lack of lavatories and showers. Has that situation been improved?

My Lords, the noble Baroness is absolutely right: one of the problems that Pentonville faces is the number of prisoners on remand. Approximately 65 per cent of the prison population is on remand. As the noble Baronesswill know, that brings about a high turnover and an inability sometimes to establish prisoners on education programmes, with problems inherent in that. Those issues are being addressed. We are looking at relieving the pressure on Pentonville and sharing its allocation with other local prisons. We have a detailed action plan for better addressing the problems at Pentonville and learning from our experiences elsewhere, which has worked.