§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of Lewes Prison, if he will list for each year from 1985 to 1997 inclusive(a) the budget available to the prison, (b) the (i) average and (ii) maximum number of prisoners, (c) the number of suicides reported and (d) the number of prison officers deployed on average; and if he will make a statement. [23727]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 19 January 1998]: The management structure and retention of records have changed significantly over the past seven financial years and it is not possible to provide, without incurring disproportionate cost, the budget allocations prior to 1990–91. Table A details the allocations made to Lewes prison between 1990–91 and 1997–98.
The figures reflect the closure of wings for refurbishment in 1991–92 until the reopening of C and G wings in March 1997. The other critical factor affecting budget allocations is the increasing devolvement of cash allocations for operational requirements to local level from 1992–93 onwards. In view of this, it is difficult to draw comparisons between the different financial years.
It is not possible to provide the actual maximum number of prisoners held at Lewes between 1985 to date, but the operational capacity, which is the nominal maximum number, is shown in table B.
The term employed by the Prison Service to refer to an apparent suicide is self-inflicted death. This includes all those deaths where it is clear that the person has acted specifically to take his/her own life. Between 1985 and 1997, there have been a total of 10 self-inflicted deaths at Lewes. The details are as follows:
1986
Two deaths—inquest verdicts: accidental death.1989
One death—inquest verdict: suicide1990
Two deaths—inquest verdicts: suicide and accidental death1992
One death—inquest verdict: misadventure1993
One death—inquest verdict: suicide1995
One death—inquest verdict: suicide1996
One death—inquest verdict: open1997
518WTwo death—inquest verdict: suicide and accidental death.Statistical data relating to the numbers of prison officers employed at Lewes between 1985 and August 1990 are not available. Table C details the information which is available from September 1990 to date.
Table A: Budget allocations for Her Majesty's Prison Lewes 1990–91 to 1997–98 £ million Financial years Running cost budget allocation 1990–91 6,310,000 1991–92 3,763,000 1992–93 6,794,000 1993–94 8,320,000 1994–95 8,918,000 1995–96 8,870,000 1996–97 8,942,000 1997–98 9,192,000
Table B: Average population and operational capacity for Her Majestry's Prison Lewes 1985–97 Calender year Average population Operational capacity 1985 519 1565 1986 542 1587 1987 563 1587 1988 575 1587 1989 542 1587 1990 508 1587 1991+ 436 475 1992+ 362 525 1993+ 326 375 1994+ 339 377 1995+ 306 325 1996+ 303 334 January 1997 to November 1997 only2 447 496 1 Given that operational capacities are always under review, these figures are an estimate. 2The decrease in the number of prisoners held at Lewes is because of the rolling programme of wing refurbishment.
Table C: Average number of prison officers at Her Majesty's Prison Lewes 1990–91 to 1997–98 Financial year Average number of prison officers September 1990 to March 1991 171 1991–92 176 1992–93 176 1993–94 170 1994–95 167 1995–96 170 1996–97 167 1997–98 162
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what budget he plans for Lewes prison for the forthcoming year; and what estimate he has made of the maximum number of prisoners that will be held in Lewes over that period. [23728]
519W
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 19 January 1998]: The budget allocation of 1998–99 has not yet been decided for Lewes. The Governor was given an indicative budget allocation of £8,631,000 and £8,470,000 for 1998–99 and 1999–2000 in June last year and has made plans to operate the prison within this cash limit. He has also bid for additional funds to preserve some regime services. The outcome of these bids will be known later this month.
The Operational Capacity for Lewes prison is 496 and the Governor has based his planning assumptions on a 98 per cent. occupancy, a daily average population of 486 prisoners.