Prisons (Property) Bill

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Excerpts

Friday 18th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, first, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, for introducing the Bill for your Lordships’ consideration and, as ever, for his important contribution. I fully acknowledge and pay tribute to his extensive knowledge of the Prison Service. As always, his knowledge and experience is of great assistance to the House; we are eternally grateful for that. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, for her full support of the Bill. Although, as has been acknowledged, the Bill is short, it is also essential. It will make a very useful contribution to the package of measures already in place to keep good order and security in our prisons.

As the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, said, the Bill complements the Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy) Bill, which I also supported in this House last month, introduced by the noble Lord, Lord Laming. I also thank my honourable friend in another place, Stuart Andrew, for bringing forward this valuable Bill, which has the full support of the Government.

It may be of assistance at this juncture if I explain to the House the current arrangements for dealing with property that a prison governor or director has not authorised a prisoner to possess. When discovered, an item will be confiscated unless it is noxious, in which case it will be destroyed. If it is something such as an offensive weapon or a controlled drug it will be passed to the police for them to deal with; all other items may be confiscated but only temporarily. It is this anomaly, which the noble Baroness picked up, of being able only temporarily to confiscate an item and having to return it to a prisoner on release that the Bill aims to address.

The consequence of the current limited power of confiscation is that confiscated property has to be stored either locally at the prison or at the Prison Service’s central facility until the prisoner is released from custody. If the prisoner asks for the item to be returned to them on release, the prison must do so. This limitation on prison governors’ and directors’ authority cannot be right. It also places a considerable but unnecessary burden on the Prison Service in that it has to find storage facilities and meet the cost of that storage.

It is extraordinary what lengths prisoners will go to to try to smuggle illicit items into prison and the ingenuity that they show at times in adapting ordinary, everyday items for an illicit purpose. An illustration of that is the example highlighted by the National Offender Management Service’s north west search team, which reported the seizure of three weapons at Her Majesty’s Prison in Wymott, near Preston. During the course of a search of prisoner accommodation, three adapted slashing weapons, wrapped together in a strip of bed sheeting, were found wedged behind copper piping in a wing toilet. The weapons had been adapted from authorised items: namely, a disposable razor, toothbrush handles, a strip of bed sheeting and disposable razor blades.

The intention behind the Bill, therefore, is to provide a lawful basis for the disposal of all unauthorised property found in prisons or authorised property which has been adapted for an unauthorised purpose. It will give a discretionary power—that is important; it is a discretionary power—to prison governors and directors which will allow them to confiscate and then destroy, dispose of or sell property that prisoners have in their possession that they should not have.

The items that that includes are: those that would be illegal to possess in the community, such as illicit drugs; those items which can threaten prison security and good order, such as mobile phones, which the noble Baroness and the noble Lord mentioned, which are unlawful to posses in prison; authorised items that have been adapted to conceal illicit items, as the example that I mentioned illustrates; and items that have been smuggled into the prison or coerced from another prisoner. The Bill will provide the required power to deal with items such as these.

The power to destroy confiscated property is discretionary, and I assure the House that this power will be exercised in a proportionate manner. It is right that items that are illegal to possess per se should be destroyed. However, prisoners may also be found in possession of items which are not illegal to possess in themselves, but which they are nevertheless not authorised to have in their possession. Those items of property will, I believe, be dealt with differently in practice. I expect that both governors and directors will normally confiscate the unauthorised item and then, subject to concerns such as good order, discipline or prison security, will consider other methods of dealing with the property short of destruction or disposal. That may include authorising the item in question, holding it in storage for return to the prisoner on release, or requiring the prisoner to remove the item from the prison. However, destruction of property will remain an option for the governor should other disposal options be deemed inappropriate. As is normal practice, guidance on the exercise of the powers conferred by the Bill will be set out in a Prison Service instruction—a point on which the noble Baroness sought clarification.

The noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, explained that the Bill will specifically enable the destruction or other disposal of certain property which was seized prior to commencement of the Bill and which remains unclaimed six months after commencement. The retrospective nature of this power obviously may cause some concern, but it is limited, and safeguards have been built in that I believe should provide reassurance to the House. However, in order for the power to be effective, a limited retrospective power is, in our view, necessary. The power will apply only to some unauthorised property found before the commencement of the Bill, namely cameras, sound recording devises and electronic communication devices; that is, as has been referred to previously, mobile phones. Noble Lords will be aware that mobile phones are some of the most unwanted items of property that we have in prisons. Again, as the noble Lord illustrated, there are examples where they are used for a variety of crimes within prisons. They can be linked to serious crimes and have been used to organise crimes ranging from murders to drug dealing in the community. The destruction of such property will assist in our legitimate objectives of crime prevention and public safety.

The Bill contains a specific provision to give prisoners and others an opportunity to claim back the property before destruction or disposal. The period for claiming back the property is generous enough, I think, at six months. I hope that the House will be reassured by that.

The noble Baroness raised some specific questions about legal challenge on items that have been taken; how those items will be disposed of; and the issue of the proceeds of the sale. If I may, I will take the liberty of writing to her after the debate with the detail; I will of course ensure that that letter is shared by placing it in the Library of the House.

As has been acknowledged by both the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, the Bill is a common-sense measure. It strikes a fair balance between a prisoner’s property interests and the public interest in removing from prison and destroying property which may prejudice good order and discipline or, most importantly, prison security. I am sure that many ordinary people will be startled and surprised—as I was—to learn how the law stands. Prisons can find items that should not be on the premises but have no power to destroy them. The Bill is an important step forward, and one that rectifies an unacceptable anomaly. It will allow governors to run safe, secure regimes, with rules that are meaningfully enforceable.

Once again, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, for taking up this issue. I fully commend the Bill to the House; the Government are pleased to lend it their support.