§ Mr. BerminghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many strip searches were carried out on inmates, both sentenced and remand, and on female visitors to(a) Holloway, (b) Styal and (c) Durham prisons during the first three months of 1988.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggStrip searching is a routine security measure in prison establishments to which both male and female inmates, including those on remand, are subject. Comprehensive records of strip searches are available only in respect of category A women prisoners, of whom there were three in Durham prison during the period in question. Details of the numbers of occasions on which these prisoners were strip searched were given in my replies to questions from the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, North (Mr. McNamara) on 16 February, at column546, and 21 April, at columns 525–26.
If there is reason to believe that a visitor intends to smuggle drugs or other contraband into an establishment, it is the normal practice to call in the police to investigate the matter. Information is not available centrally regarding the action taken by the police in such cases.