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Prison Report

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish his response to the chief inspector of Her Majesty's prisons annual report; and if he will make a statement. [10789]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 13 January 1997]: It is not our practice to publish a response to the chief inspector's annual report. The Government are grateful to the chief inspector for producing this considered and informative annual report, and have noted its contents.

Prison Cells

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those prisons in England and Wales with prison cells designed for one person and holding two inmates on 1 January 1997. [10773]

16 Jan 1997 : Column: 372

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 16 January 1997:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners sharing two to a cell designed for one on 1st January 1997.


The information requested is given in the attached table. As the data is collected on the last Friday of each month the information is for 27 December 1996.

Two inmates sharing a cell designed for one

Establishment	27 December 1996
Bedford	186
Birmingham	544
Blakenhurst	130
Bristol	88
Brixton	362
Buckley Hall	20
Camp Hill	80
Canterbury	218
Cardiff	458
Channings Wood	208
Chelmsford	78
Cookham Wood	40
Doncaster	416
Dorchester	172
Down View	12
Durham	698
Everthorpe	58
Exeter	338
Glen Parva	232
Gloucester	130
Guys Marsh	32
Highpoint	14
Hull	200
Lancaster Farms	42
Leeds	214
Leciester	224
Lewes	26
Lincoln	480
Littlehey	28
Liverpool	220
Low Newton	188
Maidstone	30
Manchester	478
Moorland	60
Northallerton	262
Nottingham	4
Pentonville	708
Portland young offenders institution	68
Preston	362
Reading	112
Risley	18
Rochester	8
Shepton Mallet	100
Shrewsbury	278
Stocken	52
Swaleside	30
Swansea	202
The Mount	78
Usk	104
Verne	32
Wakefield	110
Wandsworth	180
Wayland	32
Wealstun	6
Winchester	276
Woodhill	72
Wormwood Scrubs	260

16 Jan 1997 : Column: 373

Asylum

Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications were received for asylum in October 1996 and November 1996; and what were the equivalent figures for 1995. [10778]

Mr. Kirkhope: A total of 2,150 applications for asylum in the United Kingdom were lodged in October 1996 and 1,920 were lodged in the following month. The equivalent figures for the same months in 1995 were 4,595 and 4,715 respectively.

RAF Finningley

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made towards opening a prison on the site of RAF Finningley; and if he will make a statement. [10788]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 13 January 1997]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 16 January 1997:

The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the opening of a temporary prison on the RAF Finningley site.

In order to respond to the increase in prisoner population currently being experienced, several options have been considered. As part of this approach the Home Secretary asked the Secretary of State for Defence about sites no longer needed by the Ministry of Defence. RAF Finningley was found to be suitable for conversion into a temporary prison, particularly in the light of the immense pressure on other prisons in the north.

The planning application for part of the Finningley site to be converted into a temporary prison was lodged with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council on 15 November 1996. The Council considered our proposal at a planning meeting on 23 December 1996 and has made clear its objections to our plans.

We are now considering whether to pursue further out planning application for use of part of Finningley as a temporary prison.

Air Weapons

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences involving air weapons were recorded in the last five years for which figures are available. [10255]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 14 January 1997]: The information requested is published in chapter 3 (table 3.3) of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales 1995".

A copy of this publication has been placed in the Library.

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of air weapons held in the United Kingdom. [10256]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 14 January 1997]: No realistic estimate has been made centrally.

Prisons (Drugs)

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prescription and (b) over-the-counter medicinal drugs were consumed in

16 Jan 1997 : Column: 374

each of the past three years in (i) Cardiff prison, (ii) Downview prison, (iii) Everthorpe prison and (iv) Swansea prison. [9849]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 13 January 1997]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 16 January 1997:

The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about medicines issued at Cardiff, Downview, Everthorpe and Swansea prisons.

The information is not available in the form requested. However we are able to provide figures for the number of prescription sheets issued in 1996 for each of the prisons listed. Each prescription sheet may cover one or more medicines.

Cardiff: 12,168

Downview: 3,900

Everthorpe: 2,080

Swansea: 11,960.

Prison Officers

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison officers have taken retirement under the new voluntary early retirement and severance scheme; and if he will indicate the numbers for each prison in England and Wales and the officers that have left that prison under this system. [10772]

Miss Widdcombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 16 January 1997:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the numbers of prison officers who have taken retirement under the VERSE scheme.

The total number of prison officers who have left to date under VERSE is 727. This is broken down as follows:

	Number
Prison Auxiliary	5
Prison Officer	404
Prison Officer (Works)	25
Prison Officer Instructor	8
Senior Officer	139
Senior Officer (Works)	14
Senior Officer Instructor	3
Principal Officer	129

The information by establishment that you requested is given in the attached tables and I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library.

Grade ESTAB	Total	Prison auxiliary	Prison officer	Prison officer (works)	Prison officer instructor	Senior officer	Senior officer (works)	Senior officer instructor	Principal officer
Acklington	6		2			2			2
Albany	7		2	1		3			1
Aldington	2		2
Ashwell	3		2			1
Askham Grange	5		4	1
Aylesbury	2	1	1
Bedford	8		1	1		5			1
Belmarsh	2		1						1
Birmingham	31	1	20	1		6			3
Blantyre House	3		2			1
Blundeston	1								1
Brinsford	9		3			5			1
Bristol	2		1			1
Brixton	29		22			3	1		3
Bullingdon	9		5	1		1	1		1
Bullwood Hall	2					1			1
Camp Hill	8		3			1	1		3
Canterbury	7		4			1	1		1
Cardiff	3		2						1
Castington	1		1
Channings Wood	1					1
Chelmsford	12		8	2					2
Coldingley	2		1						1
Dartmoor	8		5	1		1			1
Deerbolt	2		1						1
Dorchester	6		4			1			1
Dover	7		5			2
Downview	1		1
Drake Hall	4		2			1			1
Durham	11		7			1			3
Eastwood Park	1		1
Erlestoke	2		1			1
Everthorpe	5		2	1		1			1
Exeter	14		7		2	3			2
Featherstone	2		1		1
Feltham	2		1						1
Finnamore wood	4		2			1			1
Ford	14		9			3	1		1
Frankland	19		12			2		1	4
Full Sutton	21		15			4			2
Garth	6				1	4			1
Gartree	5		2	1					2
Glen Parva	17		7	1		5			4
Gloucester	5		4						1
Grendon	6		3			2	1
Guys Marsh	5		2	1					2
Haslar	4		4
Hatfield	3	1	2
Haverigg	10		4		1	2			3
Hewell Grange	1					1
Highpoint	4		1			1			2
Hindley	4		2						2
Hollesley Bay	1					1
Holloway	2		1			1
Holme House	3		1			1			1
Hull	10		6	1		2			1
Huntercombe	3		2						1
Kingston	7		3			3			1
Kirkham	2		1			1
Kirklevington	2		2
Lancaster Castle	2		1			1
Lancaster Farms	6		2	2		1			1
Latchmere House	5		3			1			1
Leeds	24		15	1	1	1			6
Leicester	5		2			2			1
Lewes	9		5			2			2
Leyhill	1					1
Lilleshall (PE)	2								2
Lincoln	17		10			4			3
Lindholme	12		8			3			1
Littlehey	8		4						4
Liverpool	1		1
Long Lartin	6		1			2	2		1
Low Newton	11		5			4	1		1
Maidstone	4		3						1
Moorland	13		9	1		2			1
The Mount	2		1				1
New Hall	1		1
North Sea Camp	2		2
Northallerton	6		3			1			2
Norwich	14		13						1
Nottingham	6		5				1
Parkhurst	13		8	3		1		1
Pentonville	1		1
Portland	3		1			2
Preston	1								1
Ranby	4		2	1					1
Reading	2			1		1
Risley	3								3
Rochester	5		3	1		1
Send	1					1
Shepton Mallet	2		1	1
Shrewsbury	6		5			1
Stafford	8		5			1			2
Standford Hill	5		2			2			1
Stocken	3		2						1
Stoke Heath	1					1
Styal	1						1
Sudbury	7	1	2		1	2			1
Swaleside	1								1
Swansea	3		1				2
Swinfen Hall	5		2			3
Thorn Cross	3		3
Usk	2		2
The Verne	1								1
Wakefield	28		15			9			4
Wandsworth	28		18			2		1	7
Wayland	5		2			1			2
Wealstun	6	1	2			1			2
Wellingboro'	2		1		1
Wetherby	1								1
Whatton	2		2
Whitemoor	1								1
Winchester	15		9			4			2
Wormwood Scrubs	19		10			3			6
Wymott	4		2			1			1
Totals	727	5	404	25	8	139	14	3	129

16 Jan 1997 : Column: 377

16 Jan 1997 : Column: 377

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