§ Ms. RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the disturbance at Her Majesty's Prison Blundeston on 17 September; what evidence there is that the disturbance was drugs-related; and what action has been taken subsequent to the disturbance.
§ Mr. Peter LloydOn 17 September there was a disturbance at Blundeston prison which consisted of a series of incidents amongst which were an assault by a prisoner upon another, three prisoners barricading themselves in an empty wing, and two fires. The fires were not related to the other incidents.
There is no firm evidence that the disturbance was drug related.
An inquiry has been held into these incidents as a result of which disciplinary charges have been laid against four prisoners; a charge under the prison service code of discipline has been laid against a prison officer; the prison's contingency plans have been amended and fire-fighting equipment replaced.
Notifiable offences recorded by the police by police force area Violence against the person Change Police force area April 1990 to March 1991 April 1991 to March 1992 Number Percentage Avon and Somerset 5,346 5,386 40 0.75 Bedfordshire 2,224 1,822 -402 -18.08 Cambridgeshire 2,440 2,509 69 2.83 Cheshire 2,440 2,673 233 9.55 Cleveland 2,721 2,696 -25 -0.92 Cumbria 1,963 1,854 -109 -5.55 Derbyshire 3,630 3,881 251 6.91 Devon and Cornwall 3,599 3,704 105 2.92 Dorset 1,564 1,483 -81 -5.18 Durham 2,131 2,242 111 5.21 Essex 4,054 4,028 -26 -0.64 Gloucestershire 1,533 1,565 32 2.09 Greater Manchester 8,889 9,518 629 7.08 Hampshire 4,188 4,933 745 17.79 Hertfordshire 1,732 1,794 62 3.58 Humberside 5,008 5,074 66 1.32 Kent 3,684 4,662 978 26.55 Lancashire 2,971 3,069 98 3.30 Leicestershire 3,123 3,475 352 11.27 Lincolnshire 2,119 2,081 -38 -1.79 City of London 189 146 -43 -22.75 Merseyside 5,406 6,417 1,011 18.70 Metropolitan Police District 36,495 38,346 1,851 5.07 Norfolk 1,891 1,883 -8 -0.42 Northamptonshire 2,102 2,011 -91 -4.33 Northumbria 5,541 5,809 268 4.84 North Yorkshire 2,021 2,150 129 6.38 Nottinghamshire 7,610 7,616 6 0.08 South Yorkshire 4,848 4,655 -193 -3.98 Staffordshire 5,354 5,594 240 4.48 Suffolk 1,725 1,949 224 12.99 Surrey 1,839 1,767 -72 -3.92 Sussex 3,280 3,220 -60 —1.83 Thames Valley 4,542 4,521 -21 -0.46 Warwickshire 1,096 1,215 119 10.86 West Mercia 3,371 3,111 -260 -7.71 West Midlands 10,244 10,984 740 7.22 West Yorkshire 9,347 10,136 789 8.44 Wiltshire 2,191 2,269 78 3.56 England 174,451 182,248 7,797 4.47 Dyfed-Powys 1,839 2,032 193 10.49 Gwent 2,108 2,230 122 5.79