Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to improve security and prisoner and staff safety at HMP Altcourse.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Andrew Selous)]

The National Offender Management Service is working very closely with the contractor in a number of areas to address those extremely important issues.

[Steve Rotheram]

I visited the jail myself recently and there have been some welcome improvements since the action plan, but, given the damning report by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of prisons, can the Minister assure my constituents that the prison is not only safe, but fit for purpose?

[Andrew Selous]

The Government take this issue extremely seriously, and the Secretary of State was at that prison on Friday. We are taking five actions. First, a new director has been appointed. He was formerly director of Her Majesty’s Prison Rye Hill, and he took up his position on 8 December. There is a new head of security and a new security intelligence manager, and new search and security systems are in place. Two full lock-down searches of the prison were conducted in November and December, and improvements have been made in the operation of the basic regime, which will help with the issues that the hon. Gentleman quite properly raises.