Source: The Independent (UK) 
Pubdate: Fri, 22 May 1998
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/ 
Author: Stephen Shaw, Director, Prison Reform Trust, London EC1

LETTERS:

SHAMBLES AT PRIVATE JAIL

Sir: You report Jack Straw as having told prison officers that he is now a
convert to the idea of private prisons (20 May). Last week I had an
opportunity
of visiting one of the most recent private jails, Parc, outside Bridgend, and
my impressions may be of wider interest.

To be blunt, the prison was a shambles. Prisoners were openly 
contemptuous of the abilities of staff. Perhaps as a consequence, 
there has been a series of disturbances and the number of disciplinary 
adjudications is running at more than twice the level of neighbouring 
state-run prisons. Drug-testing procedures, suicide prevention, race 
relations and the use of incentives were all in their infancy. And the 
jail's use of technology - notably the electronic unlocking of gates - 
was a farce, with the result that movement around the prison took an 
age.

Since the prison opened six months ago, virtually the entire senior 
management team has been moved on. Staff turnover has also been at a 
high level, and the first thing I saw on entering was a notice 
beseeching the remaining officers to work overtime.

On the plus side, the design of the prison looks promising, the staff 
who had survived the first six months seemed decent and genuinely 
committed to their calling, and the new director (governor) was 
providing a clear sense of leadership. More staff have been recruited 
and - at the Prison Service's behest - an action plan to rectify 
weaknesses has been drawn up, including ambitious proposals to enhance 
the regime.

Every private jail seems to have similar problems in its first year of 
operation, as inexperienced staff come to terms with 
all-too-experienced prisoners. After that, performance improves 
markedly, as I expect it to do at Parc. But it is instructive that, at 
the beginning of the month, Mr Straw's colleague Joyce Quin, the 
prisons minister, was so concerned that she called for a full report 
on the problems at the prison from the director general of the Prison 
Service.

That report should be made public. So should the review of the 
possible use of private finance to build new prisons, whilst retaining 
the management function in the public sector, to which Mr Straw also 
referred in his speech.

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