§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average number of hours prisoners spent out of cell for each of the last 20 years.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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 from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 20 March 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the average number of hours prisoners spend out of cell for each of the last 20 years.At the end of March 1994, prisoners were spending an average of 10.6 hours out of cell on weekdays. In January 1995 (the latest available information), this figure had increased to 11.2 hours.It is not possible to provide figures for each of the last 20 years, as information on the average number of hours prisoners spend out of cell was not collected before April 1993, when the Prison Service became an executive agency. Nor is it possible to provide average figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95. The information which is routinely collected and monitored relates to the number of prisoners unlocked for at least 12 hours on weekdays, which is one of the Service's key performance indicators, not the average time prisoners are unlocked.