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25 Apr 2008 : Column 2374W—continued

Prisons: Capacity

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) on how many occasions the prison population exceeded its operational capacity in each of the last five years, broken down by prison; and if he will make a statement; [199932]

(2) how many days the prison service operated with a prison population above its operational capacity in 2007-08, broken down by prison; and if he will make a statement. [199958]

Mr. Straw: Every Friday the Ministry of Justice publishes figures for the overall prison population and useable operational capacity in England and Wales.

Prison population exceeded useable operational capacity on only two occasions in the last five years. The first time was on Friday 22 February 2008. It exceeded it again on Friday 29 February 2008.

Individual establishments have an operational capacity set by the Prison Service Area Manager (or Regional Offender Manager in the case of a contracted prison) taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. The information requested about establishments exceeding their operational capacity cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. However, prison instructions are clear that operational capacity is not to be exceeded other than on an exceptional basis to accommodate pressing operational need.

Prisons: Construction

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many new prison places were built in each of the last 10 years; at what average cost in each year; and if he will make a statement. [199934]

Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the number of new public and private prison places built in each of the last 10 financial years and the average capital building cost per place, including ancillary costs.

25 Apr 2008 : Column 2375W

Financial year	Number of new prison places( 1)	Average capital building cost per place( 2) (£)
1998-99	1,222	67,000
1999-2000	1,646	65,000
2000-01	640	61,000
2001-02	920	79,000
2002-03	1,780	57,000
2003-04	1,376	77,000
2004-05	2,570	100,000
2005-06	940	119,000
2006-07	180	150,000
2007-08	2,111	(3)153,000
(1) The number of new places includes places in new prisons as well as places provided by expansion at existing prisons. It does not take into account any places provided through prisoners sharing cells; nor any places that have been taken out of use. (2) The costs shown only cover the capital building costs of each new place. No adjustment has been made for inflation. Variations between sites and across the period may reflect a number of factors including for example the inclusion of ancillary work and the category of prison. (3) Estimated cost.

25 Apr 2008 : Column 2376W

Probation Officers

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many probation officers left each area probation service (a) upon retirement, (b) upon resignation, (c) upon transfer to another probation service and (d) for other reasons in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [199956]

Maria Eagle: Information for the full period requested is not available. Data collected before 2006 were not broken down into the categories required to answer this question and is therefore not directly comparable with the figures collected since then. The following table details the number of staff in probation officer roles leaving their posts during 2006-07 by area and their leaving destinations.

25 Apr 2008 : Column 2377W

25 Apr 2008 : Column 2378W

Leaving destination—Probation officers( 1) financial year 2006-07( 2)
Probation area	Transferred to another probation area( 3)	Other employment	No other employment	Retirement( 4)	Other( 5)	Unknown	Total
Avon and Somerset	7.00	1.20	0.00	1.80	0.00	11.00	21.00
Bedfordshire	2.40	0.00	3.00	0.00	1.00	1.00	7.40
Cambridgeshire	1.00	0.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	2.00	6.00
Cheshire	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.61	0.00	5.77	6.38
Cumbria	1.00	0.20	2.50	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.70
Derbyshire	3.00	0.00	0.00	0.50	1.00	3.00	7.50
Devon and Cornwall	0.00	3.00	0.00	2.00	0.50	5.50	11.00
Dorset	1.00	0.00	0.00	7.00	0.00	1.00	9.00
Durham	3.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.00
Dyfed Powys	0.00	0.00	0.00	2.40	0.00	2.10	4.50
Essex	3.00	0.00	2.00	0.00	0.00	1.50	6.50
Gloucestershire	2.00	2.00	5.00	0.00	1.00	8.00	18.00
Gwent	0.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	1.00	5.00	9.00
Hampshire	3.00	0.00	0.00	1.00	0.00	22.10	26.10
Hertfordshire	6.00	3.00	1.00	7.50	0.00	2.00	19.50
Humberside	0.00	3.00	0.00	3.00	2.50	3.50	12.00
Kent	3.00	0.00	4.00	11.00	3.00	0.00	21.00
Lancashire	0.00	10.90	3.00	1.50	4.00	3.90	23.30
Leicestershire	3.00	0.00	0.00	1.00	1.00	7.00	12.00
Lincolnshire	3.00	0.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	0.00	6.00
London	3.80	0.00	0.00	9.30	10.80	54.79	78.69
Greater Manchester	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.00	1.00	47.00	60.00
Merseyside	3.00	3.00	18.00	13.00	0.00	2.00	39.00
Norfolk	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.00	0.00	1.00	7.00
North Yorkshire	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
North Wales	1.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	9.00	10.00
Northamptonshire	2.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	2.00	4.00
Northumbria	6.00	0.00	2.50	0.60	0.00	5.20	14.30
Nottinghamshire	3.00	0.90	0.00	1.00	1.00	4.00	9.90
South Wales	4.00	3.00	0.00	9.00	4.00	1.00	21.00
South Yorkshire	1.00	1.40	3.00	0.00	0.00	7.20	12.60
Staffordshire	0.00	2.00	0.50	4.00	0.00	0.00	6.50
Suffolk	0.00	3.00	0.00	4.00	0.00	0.00	7.00
Surrey	5.00	0.00	2.70	0.00	0.00	6.00	13.70
Sussex	0.00	0.00	3.00	11.00	1.00	2.00	17.00
Teesside	2.40	9.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.00	12.40
Thames Valley	5.00	1.50	3.80	4.80	1.00	1.00	17.10
Warwickshire	7.40	2.00	3.00	3.00	0.00	2.40	17.80
West Mercia	0.00	0.00	3.26	7.50	0.00	2.40	13.16
West Midlands	6.00	4.00	3.00	4.00	5.00	5.00	27.00
West Yorkshire	0.00	5.00	0.00	4.00	2.00	29.00	40.00
Wiltshire	4.00	6.00	3.00	0.00	1.80	1.00	15.80
(1) Includes senior practitioners, probation officers, trainee probation officers, senior probation officers and practice development assessors. (2) Figures provided are full time equivalent (FTE). (3) Does not include those transferring within the same area, as this information is not collected. (4) Includes those retiring on ill-health grounds. (5) Includes those leaving as a result of dismissal, those leaving for education/training purposes and death in service.

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