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Prisons

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners escaped while being transferred between prisons in each year since 2000. [102018]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows the number of escapes in England and Wales, recorded by the inter prison transfer contractor, for each year from April 2000:

Number of escapes

2000

1

2001

2

2002

0

2003

0

2004

0

2005

0

2006 (to date)

1


Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women in each prison in England and Wales have home addresses in Wales. [102404]

Mr. Sutcliffe: There is insufficient information recorded on the prison IT system relating to the residential addresses of prisoners to give a comprehensive response, and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons are officially overcrowded. [103619]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Prisons are considered to be overcrowded when prisoners are held in accommodation units intended for fewer prisoners. At the end of October 2006, the following establishments in England and Wales were overcrowded. Information on prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Overcrowded prisons at the end of October 2006 in England and Wales


28 Nov 2006 : Column 671W

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have (a) committed suicide and (b) attempted to commit suicide in each of the last 10 years. [103622]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested with respect to apparent self-inflicted deaths is shown in the table.

There is no definition of what constitutes an attempted suicide, as it is very difficult to measure suicidal intent.


28 Nov 2006 : Column 672W
Type of death: Self-inflicted( 1)

1996

65

1997

68

1998

83

1999

91

2000

81

2001

73

2002

95

2003

94

2004

95

2005

78

2006 (at 22 November 2006)

61

(1 )Number of apparent self-inflicted deaths—this includes all deaths where it appears the individual acted specifically to take their own life, not only those that received a suicide or open verdict at inquest.
Note:
Annual numbers may change slightly from time to time as inquest verdicts and other information become available.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of prisoner against prisoner acts of violence were recorded in the last five years. [103625]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is provided in the table.

Assaults in custody range from relatively minor ones where no injuries are sustained to very serious ones where the victim may be hospitalised and criminal charges follow. Assaults, particularly less serious ones, may also occur in the context of other incidents such as drug finds, etc. The information provided here reflects those incidents specifically reported as assaults by prisons on the Prison Service’s Incident Reporting System.

There are likely to be a number of different factors influencing the figures and it is not possible to attribute the changes to a single cause. The main reasons may be some combination of improved recording over the years, changes in the patterns of violent crime, population pressures placing extra burdens on staff and prisoners, and increases in stress-levels making violence more likely.

Assault category: Prisoner on prisoner

2000

7,189

2001

7,940

2002

8,699

2003

8,954

2004

9,411

2005

10,811

Notes:
Table 1: IRS reported assaults
1. The table excludes assaults instigated by others e.g. visitors on staff.
2. These numbers are derived from the Prison Service Incident Reporting System (IRS). This systems processes high volumes of data and is being constantly updated.
The numbers shown give a fair indication of the scale but should not be treated as absolute.

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths have occurred in prisons within the Metropolitan Police District in each year since 2000. [103701]

Mr. Sutcliffe: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 November 2006, Official Report, column 234W.


28 Nov 2006 : Column 673W

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many escapes have occurred from prisons within the Metropolitan Police District in each year since 2000. [103702]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested by the hon. Member is given in the following table.

Escapes from prison in the Metropolitan Police district area in each year since 2000
Prison 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006( 1)

Belmarsh

Brixton

1

Feltham

1

Holloway

Latchmere House

Pentonville

1

Wandsworth

Wormwood Scrubs

(1) Year to date
Note:
The figures show escapes from establishments and exclude those under escort. Year to date figures include up to 22 November 2006.


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