Prisoners (Hansard, 25 February 2004)

§ 3. Angela Watkinson (Upminster) (Con)
How many Welsh residents are held in English prisons. [155770]

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Don Touhig)
Information on a prisoner's place of residence prior to sentence or remand in custody is not held centrally.
At 30 November 2003, there were 1,580 prisoners in English prisons who had been committed or sentenced by courts in Wales.

§ Angela Watkinson
The Minister will appreciate the importance of family visits to prisoners serving custodial sentences as part of their rehabilitation and to prevent re-offending. Does he share my concern for those 1,580 prisoner families currently having to travel very long distances to make family visits? What plans are there to increase prison capacity in Wales?

§ Mr. Touhig
There are no prisons in mid and north Wales. Prisoners accommodated in England are probably closer to their homes than if they were in 271 prisons in south Wales. There are currently about 2,400 places available in prisons in Wales. There are no plans to increase that number at present.

§ Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley) (Lab)
If there were plans to extend accommodation by the building of new prisons, would my hon. Friend ensure that they were run by the public sector and not the private sector?

§ Mr. Touhig
Clearly, that is a matter for the Home Office, and I have no responsibility for it.

§ Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy) (PC)
As we are now in the period of the big conversation, will the Minister meet me briefly to have perhaps a medium-sized conversation about this subject? The truth is that at any given time 700 or 800 prisoners from north and mid-Wales are accommodated elsewhere. It is a human rights question. Given that the figures now stack up, and that the Prison Service has said that a prison is needed, may I meet him to describe precisely the views that people in north and mid-Wales seem to have on this issue?

§ Mr. Touhig
The Government continue to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity. I understand the hon. Gentleman's point, and I shall happily meet him at any time on it.