I apologise to the Committee. I am the guilty man in this case. To help the Committee, I will make available the copies of the suggested response to the PGA from the Home Secretary to MPs, which I passed on to the Home Secretary.

Let me help the Committee by setting out what we are trying to do, which is to transfer to the directors of contracted-out prisons certain powers concerningthe segregation, control and, where appropriate, disciplining of prisoners that are currently exercised by controllers under the Criminal Justice Act 1991. All the powers that we propose to transfer are existing ones that are seen as essential tools for governors in the public sector to maintain order, control and discipline, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford has said. The powers are closely regulated by secondary legislation, such as the prison rules, and detail the instructions that private prisons are statutorily and contractually bound to follow. The instructions closely reflect the rules that apply in public sector prisons.

The power to conduct adjudications, which are internal disciplinary hearings for prisoners alleged to have broken prison rules, is a crucial control mechanism for governors in the public sector. The proposed changes will enable the directors of private prisons to be more responsible for the order and control of their establishments. In addition, they will free up controllers, who currently undertake that task on behalf of directors, to spend more time monitoring the quality and value of the services provided by the contractor. The changes will ensure that the disciplinary system in private prisons operates as speedily and effectively as possible, which will bring benefits to prisons and prisoners generally.

A disciplinary offence that may result in the award of additional days must be dealt with by an independent adjudicator, whether in a public or private prison, rather than by the governor or controller, as required  by article 6 of the European convention on human rights. This proposal does nothing to alter that.

The powers of segregation and control are currently available to directors in an emergency, for which they must seek retrospective approval from the controller. The amendment that the clause makes to the 1991 Act will enable such powers to be exercised by the director acting alone, even when there is no emergency. There is no evidence to suggest that directors have misused the powers since the first private prison opened in 1992. Indeed, private prisons have been credited with a key role in improving the decency of prisoners’ treatment and conditions over the past 10 years in both sectors. I hope that with those safeguards, the controller will have a wider role, notwithstanding my hon. Friend’s comments about the effect of the provision in the private sector.