Tolley Anne: Corrections Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Tolley Anne: Corrections Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 12 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:7737. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 I move  
That the Corrections Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. The bill was introduced in October 2011 received its first reading in February 2012 and was referred to the Law and Order Committee. I would like to thank the Law and Order Committee under the chairmanship of my colleague Jacqui Dean from the deep south for its consideration of the bill and for the very sensible changes that it has recommended. 
To achieve the statutory purpose of the corrections system custodial sentences and orders must be administered in a safe secure humane and effective manner. Overall the legislation governing the administration of the corrections system is working well. However some provisions in the Corrections Act were identified as barriers to effectiveness and efficiency in the management of prisons and the Corrections Amendment Bill was introduced to remove such barriers. 
Some of the amendments in the bill will strengthen prison security for instance by making strip-searches more effective. Currently corrections officers are required to carry out strip-searches according to two different procedures depending on the circumstances of the strip-search. As the committee has agreed this needlessly complicates practices and increases the risk of staff error. The bill provides for a single clear and effective strip-searching process. Some submitters were concerned about the nature of the strip-searching procedure that the bill proposes to generalise. Although strip-searches are by their very nature an intrusive measure the proposed procedure actually helps to minimise the loss of dignity. By allowing for greater use of visual aids rather than close inspection the proposed procedure is preferable for both the officer and the prisoner alike as well as being more effective. Submitters also emphasised the need to protect prisoners from the potential for abuse associated with strip-searches. In light of these concerns the committee has decided to retain the current requirement to obtain the prison manager’s approval before conducting a strip-search in certain situations. Although removing this requirement would have had operational benefits I accept the committee’s view on the basis of submissions that it does play an important role in safeguarding the rights of prisoners. 
Other amendments in this bill will assist in achieving positive outcomes from the management of prisons under contract. Managers of contract prisons are expected to carry out all aspects of prisoner management. However their ability to do this is constrained by the fact that the Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections cannot delegate powers and functions to the organisation contracted to manage a prison or to its staff. To enable this to occur the bill as introduced provided the chief executive with a general ability to delegate powers and functions to the contractor or its staff as well as providing the contractor with certain powers directly. As the committee has rightly concluded there is no need to provide the contractor directly with powers that the chief executive can delegate at his or her discretion through the general provision. By relying only on the general provision the chief executive will retain accountability and control over any of his or her powers that are exercised by the contractor. 
The bill will also help to improve the quality of prison health services by aligning statutory responsibilities with the way that services actually operate. Current legislation places contracted part-time medical officers at the forefront in the organisation and delivery of health care to prisoners. In reality this key role is played by full-time health-care managers who are registered nurses employed by the department. The role of health centre manager will be recognised in law while retaining the requirement to ensure that prisoners have treatment from medical practitioners when required. The Office of the Ombudsmen believes that the delivery of health services in prisons should be the responsibility of a health agency rather than the department. The Department of Corrections has given careful consideration to this model of service delivery but has concluded in the light of experience in New Zealand and other jurisdictions that a dedicated prison health service is better placed to meet prisoners’ needs. The bill recognises the importance of this service and has the support of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation in this regard. 
As a result of ongoing analysis of the issues addressed in the bill the Department of Corrections has identified additional barriers to effectiveness and efficiency in the management of prisons. I asked the committee to consider some additional amendments which will remove these barriers. Thankfully the committee has included these amendments in the bill as reported back to the House. Many of these additional amendments will further improve prison security. For instance it is an offence for prisoners to possess or use mobile phones or SIM cards and there is provision to seize them. The department is usually able to extract information from these devices to investigate offences. However prisoners are sometimes able to lock their SIM cards and it is only phone companies that hold the information required to unlock them. The bill as amended will enable the Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections to obtain this information from phone companies where it is necessary for the detection of an offence. 
Most permitted phone calls made from within a prison are recorded and held by the department. Another of the additional amendments would enable the department to keep these recordings for 2 years rather than just 6 months. Having to erase recordings after 6 months unduly constrains the department’s ability to retrieve calls for use as evidence and often impedes criminal investigations. A 2-year retention period strikes a much better balance between the privacy of those whose conversations are recorded and the need to preserve potential evidence of criminal activity. 
Another of the additional amendments will give the department better flexibility in authorising suitable staff to read prisoner mail in order to ascertain whether material contained in it could prejudice public safety or the security and good order of the prison. Currently this can be done only by approved custodial staff who would otherwise spend that time performing their core duties. The bill will enable the prison manager to approve suitable non-custodial staff for this purpose. 
Prisoners are far more likely than members of the public to suffer from poor mental health and attempt to harm themselves. In cases where there is particular concern that a prisoner may attempt self-harm or suicide the prison manager authorises their segregation to an at-risk unit for medical oversight. Staff have an obligation to take every available precaution in every such case to ensure the prisoner does not have anything in their possession that could be used for self-harm or suicide. For that reason the bill as reported back to the House requires prisoners subject to a segregation direction due to risk of self-harm to undergo a strip-search on admission and return to an at-risk unit. 
The opportunity has also been taken to amend an anomalous requirement imposing more stringent drinking-water standards on prisons than on other suppliers of water such as schools and hospitals. 
I intend to introduce a Supplementary Order Paper to the Corrections Amendment Bill when the bill is considered by the Committee of the whole House. The primary purpose of the Supplementary Order Paper will be to remove any uncertainty about the legal status of the smoke-free prisons policy. The policy was introduced on 1 July 2011 and has had a very positive impact on staff and prisoner health and safety. 
In conclusion it is important that the legislation governing the operations of the corrections system appropriately balances the need to preserve the rights of prisoners with the need for prisons to operate in a manner that is safe and secure for both staff and prisoners. I am confident that the amendments in this bill strike this balance while satisfying their purpose of increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of the corrections system. The bill will support front-line staff to ensure that the corrections system performs at its best. My thanks again to the select committee for its very considered work and I commend this bill to the House.