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Home Office

Answer

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on conditions at Feltham B Young Offenders Institution. [6378] Beverley Hughes: In a report published on 26 July, the then Chief Inspector of Prisons, Sir David Ramsbotham, rightly criticised the poor regime at Feltham B and compared it to that for under 18-year-old prisoners at Feltham A, which had benefited from major investment to meet Youth Justice Board standards. Improvements to the regime on Feltham B are now a priority. Purposeful activity is currently over 23 hours per week. Two additional physical education instructors and one horticultural craftsman have been appointed, with further additional posts approved. The completion of a new education facility for under-18s means that the original facility is now exclusively available to Feltham B prisoners, providing up to 70 places a day. £500,000 is being invested from the Custody to Work programme to help the employability of young people on release, and £575,000 is being spent to convert existing buildings into a new gymnasium. Four bedded units have been reduced to two-person occupancy, and doubling in cells intended for one has ended. In-cell electricity has been installed in four units with a fifth under way. I am taking a close personal interest in developments at Feltham and I am determined to see that progress is maintained.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

6378; 372 c918-9W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Employment Education Standards Sports Prison accommodation Young offender institutions HMP/YOI Feltham Custody to work programme

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk