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Prisons: Operational Management

Volume 687: debated on Monday 11 December 2006

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Following the abolition of the Office for Contracted Prisons, who is responsible for the direct operational management of each of the private sector prisons containing adult prisoners. [HL587]

The operational management of contracted sector prisons has always been the responsibility of the contractor for each of the 11 establishments. This has been the situation both prior to and following the closure of the Office for Contracted Prisons at the end of March 2006. The Home Office is responsible for contractual management, ensuring that contractors deliver the service as set out in the individual contracts. The chief executive of the National Offender Management Service is the ultimate authority for each contract. With the exception of HMP & YOI Ashfield, this is delegated to regional offender managers for the area where the prison is located. Within each of the contracted establishments is a Home Office controller whose task is to ensure adherence to the contract on a day-to-day basis and to take remedial action in the event of non-compliance. The Home Office controllers are line-managed through the regional offender manager. The attached table lists contracted adult establishments and their respective regional offender managers.

Establishment

Region

Regional Offender Manager

HMP Altcourse

North-west

Ms Liz Hill

HMP Bronzefield

South-east

Mrs Sarah Payne

HMP & YOI Doncaster

Yorkshire and Humberside

Mr Paul Wilson

HMP Dovegate

West Midlands

Mr Steve Goode

HMP Forest Bank

North-west

Ms Liz Hill

HMP Lowdham Grange

East Midlands

Ms Linda Jones

HMP & YOI Parc

Offender Management Service Wales

Ms Sian West

HMP Peterborough

East of England

Mr Trevor Williams

HMP Rye Hill

East Midlands

Ms Linda Jones

HMP Wolds

Yorkshire and Humberside

Mr Paul Wilson

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Following the abolition of the Office for Contracted Prisons, what direct operational responsibility the director-general of the Prison Service has for private sector prisons. [HL589]

The director-general of HM Prison Service has no direct operational responsibility for contracted-sector prisons, although some elements of policy work from HMPS directly impact on the contracted sector.