§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the prisoners at Her Majesty's Prison Parc, Bridgend, are normally resident in England. [38287]
§ Ms QuinNo information is available centrally regarding the principal address of those committed to custody in England and Wales. Information provided by Parc prison shows that 18 per cent. of prisons currently held at the prison are recorded as resident in England.
§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for the last day for which figures are available, how many and what percentage of prison places at (i) Her Majesty's Prison Altcourse and (ii) Her Majesty's Prison Parc were occupied; if he has updated his assessment of the cost incurred in respect of unused places since the prisons opened; and if he will make a statement. [38285]
§ Ms QuinAltcourse prison held 631 prisons on 3 April 1998, 5 per cent. above the normal full occupancy of 600 prisoner places.
Parc prison held 753 prisoners on 3 April 1998, 5.9 per cent. (47 places) below the full occupancy figure of 800 available places payable under the contract.
For Altcourse, the total value of unoccupied places during the build-up period was £102,000, but based on recent estimates of the cost of overcrowding in local 261W prisons, the actual cost of holding prisoners elsewhere would have been £15,000. In addition, a reduction of £142,000 against the price for places delivered on schedule was negotiated with the contractor for places used earlier than planned.
The value of unused places at Parc, from opening date to 3 April 1998, is –1.2million. The actual cost to the Prison Service of holding the balance of prisoners elsewhere in local prisons is substantially less. Based on recent estimates of overcrowding costs in local prisons it is estimated to be –257,000.