HC Deb 18 November 1986 vol 105 cc92-3W
Mr. Fatchett

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the number of prisoners at H.M. prison, Hull on (a) 4 June 1985, (b) 7 November 1985 and (c) 7 November 1986.

(2) what was the number of prisoners at H.M. prison, Leeds on (a) 4 June 1985; (b) 7 November 1985 and (c) 7 November 1986; (3) what action he proposes to relieve the present overcrowding at H.M. prison, Leeds; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor

Prison population figures are collected centrally only once a week. The population of HM prisons Hull and Leeds on the nearest dates for which information is available centrally was as follows:

Hull Leeds
7 June 1985 283 1,328
8 November 1985 294 1,267
7 November 1986 572 1,322

Significant relief was provided to Leeds by the conversion of HM prison Hull from a dispersal prison to a local prison on 22 February 1986. There is little scope for any further immediate large scale relief to Leeds. In the longer term, however, the construction of some 450 additional places at Leeds and of a new local prison at Doncaster will provide substantial relief in this area.