Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Henley (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 4 November 2009.

Prisons: Garth

Question: My Lords, we know from the publication of leaked documents earlier this week, to which the Minister referred yesterday, that the Minister’s department is trying to make savings in its rather bloated costs. How is the department hoping to make savings in an area such as this one and will this not actually end up increasing costs to the taxpayer by increasing the amount of recidivism and all those matters and probably increasing the number of people who have to go back to prison in future?

Answer: My Lords, one way in which we intend to make savings is by implementing a much more streamlined regional and national structure for the Prison Service, which will save £20 million this year, with further savings planned for next year. That will free up resources for essential frontline work in prisons and probation. However, I have to throw the question back to the noble Lord to some extent. His party’s schemes for prisons would add something like 15,000 prisoners overnight to the prison population and would cost more than £2 billion. I also understand that this part of his party’s policy is not one of those parts that it has said will not have cuts. I am not sure where his party stands on this issue. Is it prepared to spend the extra money— Is it prepared to spend this extra money? The fact remains that it is talking big but in fact would do nothing.

Secondary information