§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many female prisoners in Great Britain have been subjected to forcible strip searching since March 1992.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Mrs. Helen Jackson, dated 2 December 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the forcible strip-searching of women prisoners.Prisons are not required to maintain statistics of the number of strip searches carried out.Strip-searching is a routine security measure carried out under the provisions of Rule 39 of the Prisons Rules 1964. The action that would follow a refusal to be searched would depend on the circumstances but in some situations there might be no alternative to the use of force.