22 May 2009
By David Meilton
Prison premises in England and Wales are being well managed and provide good value for money, the National Audit Office has found.
But plans for future refurbishment and risk management could be improved, according to an NAO report on the National Offender Management Service’s maintenance of prisons.
Auditor general Tim Burr said: ‘Noms is maintaining the prison estate well and is obtaining value for money in how it does so. But the agency needs a better understanding of the cost of planned works… [and of] the right time to switch from maintaining an old asset to buying new.’
The report, published on May 21, says Noms has kept annual spending at around £320m in recent years in spite of an expanding prison population.
More than 73,000 people were held in custody in 2007/08, it noted.
The NAO visited eight prisons and found that physical security was being maintained in spite of the rising population, frequent overcrowding and a high turnover of prisoners.
But Noms should seek cost savings by using more common and standardised parts, materials, fixtures and fittings on maintenance projects.
The agency, through the Prison Service, operates and maintains a complex estate of 129 prisons in England and Wales.
