§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many cells there are in E1 landing, Wandsworth Prison; how many of these are occupied; and why this accommodation is not more fully utilised.
§ Lord EltonE1 landing contains a total of 31 cells, of which seven were occupied on 6th April. This accomodation is set aside for prisoners who require to be kept apart from other inmates, for example under Prison Rule 43 (good order and discipline) or 48 (disciplinary charges).
The incidence of such cases is liable to be sudden and upredictable and it is operationally essential that some spare cells should always be available if needed. To use any surplus capacity on this landing for prisoners on ordinary location would require a high level of supervision for which staff are not available.