§ 29. Mr. Bernard JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in supplying extra accommodation in Her Majesty's prisons. [19810]
§ Miss WiddecombeThe Prison Service is taking a number of steps to cope with the rising prison population, including opening new prisons, building new houseblocks and speeding up the refurbishment of existing accommodation. This will result in an additional 6,000 places over the next 18 months, increasing to 8,500 new places by March 2000.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the currently vacant cellular accommodation in prison establishments which is(a) pending refurbishment, (b) currently being refurbished and (c) deemed unfit for rehabilitation. [20692]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 20 March 1997:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about vacant cellular accommodation.The attached table provides the information you requested about accommodation which is out of use. There is no cellular accommodation deemed unfit for rehabilitation.
Number Accommodation out of use pending refurbishment Wakefield 202 Accommodation out of use currently being refurbished Bristol 8 Brixton 237 Camp Hill 86 Dartmoor 28 Everthorpe 5 Ford 35 Full Sutton 220 Glen Parva 132 Hull 6 Kingston 56 Leeds 252 Lewes 132 Liverpool 111 Long Lartin 74 Maidstone 1 Nottinghan 22 Parkhurst 133 Pentonville 156 Preston 156 Stoke Heath 60 Styal 18 Wandsworth 415 Wormwood Scrubs 50