A number of changes to improve various aspects of the Prison Service are to be announced in the near future, in advance of which HMP Northward in general and its rehabilitation programmes in particular are under review.

The Chief Secretary and First Official Member, the Hon George McCarthy, told the House during Question Time that the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs received responsibility for the Prison Service on 1 July 2005. For the previous five years, the Ministry of Community Services had held this responsibility.

It was vital that the Portfolio “come to grips with the challenges faced by the Prison Service during those years so as to understand its present needs,” Mr McCarthy said, in response to the question raised by Bodden Town MLA Osbourne Bodden last week.

“To this end, we have been looking at HMP Northward and its programmes for rehabilitation,” the Chief Secretary said, later indicating that some of the changes are to be announced shortly. Replying to supplementary queries, Mr McCarthy said Sir David Ramsbottom carried out the last official review in 2001.

Currently, a UK prison adviser, Christopher Gibbons, conducts periodic review of Northward Prison and gives reports containing his observations to the Governor from time to time. While the reports had not indicated significant problems, they had highlighted areas that should be addressed, the Chief Secretary said.

As it now functions, Northward Prison houses all adult males convicted of crimes irrespective of the nature of offence committed, a situation, which is under review as it has been recognized as not being ideal.

It was also recognized that there is an urgent need to have a maximum-security facility which would be pursued as an urgent requirement for the long-term. The current annual cost of $53,000 for housing an inmate in prison is “quite high”, Mr McCarthy said, replying to another query. This figure is arrived at as being the average cost per prisoner, based on an annual budget of $10.5 million for the average prison population of 200.