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Prisons: Carter Review

My Lords, I join those who have welcomed the Statement and thank the Minister for repeating it and enabling us to see the report in time. I realise that this is not the time for debate, but I shall welcome the debate, and I hope that it marks a new approach to such studies. The last Carter report was marked by a total lack of consultation with people, with the result that we are living with the disaster of an inappropriately introduced system called NOMS, which has cost a great deal of money and indeed wasted a great deal of money that should be spent on prisoners. I take all the points that have been made by the noble Lord, Lord Henley, and the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, and particularly their points about Titans. I hate Titans and hate the thought of them. The last time they came in they were called ““techno-prisons””; they were impersonal, because all locking was done electronically, which broke down the one thing that you need in prisons—the relationship between prisoner and staff. I see that all that electronic whiz-kiddery is mentioned in the Carter report. I hope that we will not have Titans, as they are the complete reversal of what everyone has been talking about, which is to place offenders near to the community from which they come so the community can be involved in their rehabilitation.