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Prison Conditions

Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:

By what criteria the conditions in Her Majesty's prisons (including those managed by private contractors), conform to the minimum conditions prescribed by the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Baroness Blatch: The Government are committed to their various international obligations such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Minimum conditions in prisons are described most specifically in the European Prison Rules and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Both sets of Rules are not legally binding but the Government adhere to them as fully as possible.

The European Prison Rules influenced the Prison Service's Operating Standards, which set out standards for the treatment of prisoners to be met or aspired to by

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all Prison Service establishments, including those managed by the private sector.

Local Prisons: Population Statistics

Lord Harris of Greenwich asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the population of each local prison in England and Wales on 10th December 1996, what was the Certified Normal Accommodation of each prison, and what was the percentage of overcrowding.

Baroness Blatch: 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 to Lord Harris of Greenwich from the Director of Security and Programmes of the Prison Service, Mr. A. J. Pearson.

Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the population of each local prison in England and Wales on 10th December 1996, and the certified normal accommodation of local prisons and the percentage of overcrowding.

Many local prisons perform more than one role. Apart from holding adult remand prisoners, they may also hold under 21 year-old remand prisoners and sentenced prisoners.

The attached table lists all prisons which perform a local prison function and includes prisoners and accommodation which may be used for other functions.

The Use CNA represents the total number of uncrowded places available in local prisons. The percentage of prisoners overcrowded represents the

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number of prisoners above the In Use CNA. These figures do not allow for the operational capacity of a prison, which is the number of prisoners it may hold without serious risk to good order, security and the proper running of regimes, and which allows for overcrowding.

Prison	Population	CNA	% Overcrowding
Bedford	370	317	16.72
Belmarsh	878	826	6.30
Birmingham	978	693	41.13
Blakenhurst	736	647	13.76
Bristol	582	485	20.00
Brixton	613	480	27.71
Bullingdon	676	644	5.00
Canterbury	270	184	46.74
Cardiff	716	534	34.10
Chelmsford	476	446	6.73
Doncaster	960	771	24.51
Dorchester	232	147	57.82
Durham	940	632	48.73
Elmley	679	640	6.09
Exeter	460	260	76.92
Gloucester	260	211	23.22
Haslar	143	158	-9.49
Highdown	689	649	6.16
Holme House	737	764	-3.53
Hull	481	395	21.77
Leeds	910	872	4.36
Leicester	341	207	64.73
Lewes	316	303	4.30
Lincoln	650	434	49.77
Liverpool	1,239	1,105	12.13
Manchester	1,155	967	19.44
Norwich	662	511	29.55
Pentonville	885	726	21.90
Preston	456	256	78.13
Rochester	402	424	-5.19
Shrewsbury	324	176	84.09
Swansea	352	250	40.80
Wandsworth	875	804	8.83
Winchester	601	446	34.75
Wolds	353	320	10.31
Woodhill	654	669	-2.23
Wormwood Scrubs	1,117	955	16.96

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