RT HON PAUL BOETENG MP	HOME OFFICE QUEEN ANNE'S GATE LONDON SW1H 9AT
Harold Best Esq MP House of Commons London SW1A OAA	Our Ref: 00/471/MI PO 7040/00 9 May 2000

Dear Harold,

Thank you for your letter of 7 April to the Home Secretary enclosing a letter you had received from a constituent of yours who is currently in Low Newton prison.

I was pleased to note that your constituent felt that conditions had improved since she was last in prison. Ensuring that prisons are clean and decent places is not an easy task, but one that is crucial if we are to ensure that the punishment is deprivation of liberty, not the conditions in which people are held.

I am grateful that you found the time to bring it to our attention, and I will certainly mention it to Jack when we next meet.

PAUL BOATENG