§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many strip searches were carried out on female prisoners sentenced category A and remand prisoners being held in Her Majesty's prisons, Durham and Brixton, since November 1989; what prison contraband, smuggled item, or illegal correspondence was discovered in any search; in how many cases prisoners refused to be searched and had to be restrained while the search was being conducted; and what were the reasons for each search.
§ Mrs. RumboldBetween 1 November 1989 and 30 June 1991, category A women prisoners held in Brixton and Durham prisons were strip searched on a. total of 254 occasions. No unauthorised article was found. On no occasion did the prisoners refuse to be strip searched. Strip searching is a routine security measure to which all prisoner—smale and female—are subject, both for its deterrent effect and as a means of discovering unauthorised articles.