HL Deb 17 January 1989 vol 503 cc228-30WA
Lord Hunt

asked her Majesty's Government:

(a) How many prisons accommodate prisoners serving life sentences; and (b) how many such prisoners are in Category A, B, C and D prisons respectively.

Earl Ferrers

(a) There are 50 prisons accommodating inmates serving life sentences: 40 adult males, 7 women and 3 young men under 21. Additionally, most local prisons hold life sentence prisoners temporarily pending allocation decisions. (b) The table below sets out the total life sentence population on 9th January 1989 broken down by categories:

ADULT MALES
Dispersal prisons—
Category A 259
Category B 741
1,000
Category B training prisons 534
Category C training prisons 500
Category D open prisons 184
Pre-release employment Scheme hostels 44
Local prisons (awaiting allocation) 213
2,475

FEMALES (INCLUDING YOUNG OFFENDERS)
Closed prisons 63(including 2 in Category A)
Open prisons 12
Pre-release employment scheme hostels 3
Local prisons (awaiting allocation) 7
85

MALE UNDER 21
Closed prisons 85(including 5 in Category A)
Local prisons (awaiting allocation) 12
97
GRAND TOTAL 2,657