Prison Service

Mr. Bellingham
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the governing governor of HM Young Offender Institution Feltham is to be appointed as an area manager within HM Prison Service; whether this is a managed move; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle
There are no vacancies for area manager posts in the Prison Service, but if the governing governor of Feltham wishes to apply for such a post in the future it is open to her to do so.

Mr. Bellingham
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the exceptional circumstances were that led the Deputy Director General of HM Prison Service to authorise the managed move of (a) Phil Riley to HM Prison Buckley Hall, (b) Paul Baker to change manager at HM Prison Pentonville, (c) Paul Baker to Deputy Governor at HM Prison Pentonville and (d) Gary Deighton to HM Prison Service Professional Standards Unit; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Hanson
There were no exceptional circumstances surrounding any of these appointments. Within the public sector Prison Service approximately half of all appointments at senior manager level are made by way of managed appointments as opposed to an internal advertisement. The service has a clear policy on managed appointments at this level and all of these appointments were consistent with the policy and its objectives.

It is not appropriate to comment on individual appointments or transfers which frequently take into account personal circumstances or developmental issues as well as any particular individual skills that a person might bring to a post.

Mr. Bellingham
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what correspondence has been received by HM Prison Service from Ron Tasker on the commissioning of the investigation that he is carrying out; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle
On 17 April 2007 Ron Tasker wrote a note to Nick Pascoe, London area manager to seek clarification of who the Commissioning Authority for the investigation was. This is the only recorded correspondence received by HM Prison Service from Mr. Tasker relating to commissioning of the investigation.