HC Deb 29 November 1985 vol 87 cc693-4W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the maximum of prisoners who are employed in workshops in Her Majesty's prisons Winson Green and Featherstone in any one day.

Mr. Mellor

The maximum number of prisoners employed in workshops in Her Majesty's prison Winson Green on any one day is 157. The maximum number of prisoners employed in workshops in Her Majesty's prison Featherstone in any one day is 266.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many square feet of exercise space are available to prisoners in Her Majesty's prisons Winson Green and Featherstone.

Mr. Mellor

As I stated in my reply to a question from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington, (Mr. Corbett) on 18 November, Winson Green prison, Birmingham, has available 46,000 sq ft in exercise yards and 8,500 sq ft in the gymnasium.

Featherstone prison has available 40,000 sq ft in exercise yards, 6,700 sq ft in the gymnasium and 400,000 sq ft in grassed and hard-surfaced sports pitches.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how many hours in the week ended 2 November the workshops in Her Majesty's prisons Winson Green and Featherstone were open; what was the average number of prisoners employed in each establishment; how many classes took place and for how many hours; what was the average number of prisoners in each class; how many individual prisoners attended at least one class during the week; and how much time on average each prisoner spent out of his cell during that week.

Mr. Mellor

In the week ended 2 November one of the two workshops at Featherstone prison was opened for 29 hours. The other workshop was open for 26 hours, having been closed for half a day to enable a security search to be undertaken. The two workshops employ an average of 118 and 134 prisoners respectively. In addition, 222 prisoners were employed on domestic, catering, maintenance and farm duties.

Forty six classes were held during that week with total class hours of 76. The average number of inmates attending each class was nine. One hundred and fifty-nine inmates attended at least one class which represents 34 per cent. of the total population. It is not possible other than at disproportionate cost, to calculate the average amount of time spent out of cells.

The information relating to Birmingham prison was given in a reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett) at column 12 on 18 November.