Written question asked by Lord Bellingham (Conservative) on Monday, 24 April 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 26 April 2006. It was answered by Fiona Mactaggart (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 May 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Prisons

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to improve the relationship between staff and inmates at HM Prison Leeds.

Answer: Measures to improve staff prisoner relationships have been agreed as part of an establishment performance improvement plan and work is being undertaken by the head of prisoner services and the decency team to ensure that staff engage appropriately with prisoners. Work is also ongoing to develop request and complaints processes to ensure that both staff and prisoners have confidence in the system.The prison service director of operations and area manager have agreed to a reduction of 104 in the operational capacity (from 1,254 down to 1,150). Despite this significant reduction the same resources have been maintained to facilitate staff in improving staff prisoner relationships at Leeds.

Secondary information