§ Mr.Corbynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in England and Wales were held in solitary confinement at the latest date for which figures are available; and how many prisoners held in solitary confinement in prisons in England and Wales are serving sentences passed by the courts in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr.HurdNo prisoners of England and Wales are kept in solitary confinement which is a form of punishment designed to deprive a prioner of all human contact.
under prison rule 43, however, governors may remove prisoners from association with other prisoners in the interests of maintaining the good order and discipline of the establishment. On 31 January 1984, the latest date for which figures are available, 106 men and women were so segregated in prisons in England and Wales. These figures do not include prisoners removed from association at their own request.
Additionally, prisoners who are to be charged with an offence against prison rules may be kept apart from other prisoners pending the disciplinary hearing, under prison rule 48(2). Figures for the number of prisoners held under this rule are not available.
Prisoners who have been awarded cellular confinement as a punishment at a disciplinary hearing are also kept apart from other prisoners. Figures for the numbers held in cellular confinement at any one time are not available 389W but the number of adjudication awards of cellular confinement made in 1982 in prisons and remand centres was 5,433.
Figures for the number of prisoners in any of these categories who are serving sentences imposed by courts in Northern Ireland are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.