§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the recommended establishment of inmates that HM Prison, Everthorpe should hold; what it was when the prison was opened; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will list by category the number of inmaies held at HM Prison, Everthorpe on 2 January; what the figures were for each year since 1990: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for these matter has been delegated to the Director General for the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 18 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about Everthorpe prison.
Everthorpe had previously held young offenders but was converted to hold 304 adult prisoners and re-opened in October 1991. In July 1994 a new education block was built and the original one converted into a hostel for up to 14 prisoners, bringing its 523W potential capacity to 318. Between 1991 and 1994 work to upgrade the accommodation, including installing toilets in cells, meant that on average about 75 per cent. of the cells were usable.
On 2 January this year there were 229 category C and 32 category D prisoners at Everthorpe. It is not possible to distinguish between those categories for earlier years. On the same date in each of the five years to 1994 the number of prisoners at Everthorpe was 344, 252, 169, 222 and 216 respectively.
The Home Secretary has already made a statement about Everthorpe prison in his speech of 10 January [Hansard Col. 31].