HC Deb 10 May 1983 vol 42 cc233-4W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the ways in which those prisoners held in police cells are disadvantaged in comparison with those on remand in prison.

All Forces in England and Wales Strength and Authorised Establishment
on 31 March 1983 on 30 April 1979
Actual Strength Authorised Establishment Actual Strength Authorised Establishment
Avon and Somerset 2,970 3,020 2,829 2,853
Bedfordshire 985 980 900 947
Cambridgeshire 1,137 1,140 1,071 1,090
Cheshire 1,839 1,845 1,787 1,805
Cleveland 1,454 1,474 1,347 1,411
Cumbria 1,107 1,128 1,064 1,088
Derbyshire 1,757 1,767 1,587 1,709
Devon and Cornwall 2,730 2,734 2,667 2,673
Dorset 1,174 1,183 1,140 1,164
Durham 1,328 1,357 1,312 1,349
Dyfed Powys 927 934 913 934
Essex 2,641 2,643 2,490 2,525
Gloucestershire 1,137 1,140 1,081 1,116
Greater Manchester 6,996 6,943 6,440 6,735
Gwent 963 978 971 975
Hampshire 3,075 3,084 2,955 2,954
Hertfordshire 1,554 1,568 1,455 1,533
Humberside 1,965 1,972 1,861 1,939
Kent 2,882 2,875 2,730 2,820
Lancashire 3,155 3,158 3,093 3,118
Leicestershire 1,723 1,733 1,701 1,706
Lincolnshire 1,178 1,182 1,175 1,182
Merseyside 4,631 4,607 4,441 4,451
Norfolk 1,261 1,273 1,229 1,265
Northamptonshire 1,003 1,006 909 950
Northumbria 3,325 3,357 3,285 3,325
North Wales 1,296 1,313 1,269 1,279
North Yorkshire 1,366 1,368 1,337 1,328
Nottinghamshire 2,249 2,259 2,120 2,145
South Wales 3,091 3,105 2,945 3,069
South Yorkshire 2,863 2,872 2,560 2,752
Staffordshire 2,080 2,099 1,980 2,066
Suffolk 1,123 1,124 1,077 1,088
Surrey 1,589 1,602 1,442 1,599
Sussex 2,810 2,822 2,759 2,802
Thames Valley 3,123 3,124 2,653 2,997
Warwickshire 919 925 843 876
West Mercia 1,916 1,923 1,752 1,834
West Midlands 6,673 6,684 6,031 6,509
West Yorkshire 5,145 5,154 4,739 5,104
Wiltshire 1,029 1,042 1,001 1,022
City of London 828 1,022 832 1,022
Metropolitan 26,499 26,615 22,225 26,589
TOTALS 119,496 120,134 109,998 117,698

Mr. Mellon

Because police and court cells are intended to be used only for short periods of detention, they do not provide the standards of accommodation and facilities which would normally be found in prisons. Conditions in individual holding centres vary, but many of them offer poorer facilities for such activities as washing, visiting, recreation, exercise and medical treatment.

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