Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 24
Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison estate
Published 11 Sep 2020
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Improving the prison estate All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We asked HMPPS how it was managing crowding in prisons given the extent of the issue. HMPPS told us that its reconfiguration programme across the prison estate would help ensure that people were in the right environment for their sentence, as well as help ensure that it had the space to carry out maintenance in areas of the estate that are too crowded. In January 2020, HMPPS re-categorised HMP Haverigg, from a category C to a category D prison which increased the number of places available. In February 2020, it similarly changed HMP Manchester to a local category B training prison with category A remand functions. HMPPS explained that some of the programme had been put on hold during COVID-19, but that it was now back on track and expected further delivery by September. It expected that it would take a further two years to complete the work.54
From: Public Accounts Committee, Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison estate (HC 244), 11 September 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 18 November 2020 (deadline 11 November 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the six recommendations, with target dates between December 2020 and April 2021.
- On a long-term prison estate strategy, the department will write to the Committee in January 2021, then "proposes to consult" in early 2021 before publishing a comprehensive strategy in summer 2021.
- On women's prisons, the department "accepts this recommendation" and will write in January 2021; the summer 2021 estate strategy "will include how it plans to improve conditions in the women's estate".
- On capacity, it will publish prison population projections "by the end of 2020" and, "By April 2021", provide an update on progress, including plans for expected use of temporary accommodation.
- On reducing reoffending, it has "committed to publishing an update on this work in due course" and to write to the Committee "before the end of 2020".