Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 March 1983.
The hon. Gentleman does not say what quick action he requires. No quick action is possible to remedy the decline in the state of prisons that has taken place throughout this century. We have put that into reverse by a massive injection of funds, both for the prison building programme and for refurbishments. However, one cannot refurbish prison wings without closing them temporarily, which puts pressure on police cells.