THE THREAT of privatisation and the inevitable loss of jobs has been lifted from Dartmoor Prison, after it passed a performance test allowing it to stay in the public sector.

Last Wednesday was D-Day for the prison which, earlier this year, was labelled as one of the worst in the country.

Dartmoor will be closely monitored over the next five years through a contractual agreement with the Prison Service and will be expected to deliver improvements outlined in a bid submitted by the governor, plus efficiency savings of £900,000.

Since the April announcement that the prison had been selected for testing because of its level one rating in the Home Office's performance tables, the jail has improved in many areas, particularly resettlement, safety and decency.

Just last month it rose to level two in the tables.

Once branded 'the prison that time forgot', Commissioner for Correctional Services Martin Narey said he was elated with the improvements made at Dartmoor and was confident progress would continue over the next five years.

He said: 'There is no doubt there have been significant changes both in the treatment of prisoners and in the attitudes of staff and the Prison Officers' Association.

'But there is still room for improvement and there can be no complacency.

'Nevertheless, this is an outstanding achievement for Dartmoor and reflects immense credit on the governor, Claudia Sturt and every member of staff at Dartmoor.'

Mrs Sturt said winning the contract to run the prison in the public sector for the next five years was fantastic news and gave the staff at Dartmoor permission to run a decent, safe and healthy establishment that served the public by reducing re-offending.

She said it had been like waiting for Christmas to arrive, because she had an idea what the outcome would be:

'People are not surprised we won the contact because we were feeling really positive about it but we wanted to hear it — it has left us all so proud of the prison,' she said.

'This has been achieved through hard work and commitment but now we have got the tick in the box to carry on running Dartmoor ourselves, we want to concentrate on what really matters and that is what we do with people.

'Our role is to make sure prisoners are safe, are treated with respect as individuals and have opportunities to make progress and improve their skills and their family life.'

The governor, who took over the role in the summer, said joining Dartmoor had been a risk worth taking.

'I knew that if I did not get it right, it would not just be my job on the line, but the futures of 300 other people would be uncertain,' she said.

'If we had failed the performance test, private sector companies would be putting in bids to run the prison and there would have been another 18 months of not knowing what the future held or who would continue to be employed. It would have been incredibly difficult to keep people motivated.'

Mrs Sturt paid tribute to her predecessor Graham Johnson, who had put the 'essential building blocks' in place to turn the prison around.

She said the test had been used as a catalyst for change: 'I believe Dartmoor is already, and will continue to become, a much better prison to live in, work in and visit as a result. I know colleagues share my determination to deliver as we have promised.'

l Turn to page 13 to read how life for prisoners and staff has improved at HMP Dartmoor.