§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the staff to prisoner ratio for each prison in England and Wales(a) at the latest date available and (b) 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 23 March 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question concerning the staff:inmate ration for prisons in England and Wales.The attached tables provide a breakdown of the staff:inmate ratio for each prison in England and Wales by category. Copies of these tables have been placed in the Library. Sub totals, and the staff:inmate ratio are provided for each category of prison. The inmate figures exclude those in police cells. Both the inmate figures and the staff figures are for 31 January 1995. The staff figures include all prison officers, senior officers and principal officers and, in the case of private sector prisons, all prisoner custody officers.The information required to provide a similar breakdown for each of the last 20 years is either not available, or not readilny available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, but a second 314W table is attached which supplies the available total staff:inmate ratio since 1975.