HC Deb 16 December 1993 vol 234 cc778-9W
Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what educational facilities are available to prisoners currently housed at Wymott prison;

(2) what work facilities are available to prisoners currently housed at Wymott prison;

(3) what training facilities are available to prisoners currently housed at Wymott prison;

(4) what exercise facilities outside the cell block area are available to prisoners currently housed at Wymott prison;

(5) what progress is being made in the refurbishment of Wymott prison following the recent riots; what hours and days of the week are the contractors on site; and what proportion of the building is now habitable.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility for these matters 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 Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated December 1993: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent questions about prisoners facilities and the progress of refurbishment at Wymott Prison. There are facilities for forty full-time education places during the week within the education department, with a further forty prisoners participating in part-time evening education within the Houseblock. A range of work is available now and includes tailoring, weaving, engineering and laundry. There are enough places for the number of prisoners held at Wymott. Further work places will be available in the New Year as the population rises. In addition to the training provided through education and work, a number of accredited NVQ and formal Vocational Training Courses (VTCs) will be introduced over coming months. The important work with prisoners to help them address offending behavour will commence in the New Year. This will include delivery of the core sex offender programme, for which staff are being trained as we promised when it was decided to move sex offenders from Risley to Wymott. There are ample outdoor areas for fresh-air exercise, together with a fully equipped gymnasium. Of the four house blocks, 'B' House is already fully occupied while refurbishment of 'A' House is on line for completion by 23 December and ready for occupation in mid-January 1994. The two remaining house blocks are to be demolished and re-built with stronger, cellular accommodation which will not be available for occupancy for about two years. Contractors are working on site for eleven hours a day, seven days a week.

Police officers assaulted on duty 1992
Officers assaulted Fatal assaults Serious assaults Minor assaults Other assaults
Forces Aged 18 to 20 Aged 21 to 25 Aged 26 to 30 Aged over 30
Avon and Somerset 1 110 130 244 0 34 450 26
Bedfordshire 0 37 55 60 0 5 43 125
Cambridge 0 28 39 49 0 4 119 10
Cheshire 7 207 222 279 0 23 179 513
City of London 1 5 6 0 0 0 8 4
Cleveland 2 35 53 93 0 14 107 84
Cumbria 5 22 33 70 0 9 129 6
Derbyshire 0 58 103 156 0 21 213 83
Devon and Cornwall 1 48 96 166 0 16 108 246
Dorset 2 17 32 87 0 26 110 2
Durham 2 43 77 105 0 7 35 185
Dyfed-Powys 3 11 23 39 0 11 78 1
Essex 11 66 50 82 0 10 110 89
Gloucestershire 2 28 37 78 0 17 126 2
Greater Manchester 0 167 431 411 0 83 458 468
Gwent 5 72 88 124 0 10 14 265
Hampshire 2 54 113 219 0 10 94 284
Hertfordshire 4 36 46 47 0 3 35 100
Humberside 1 130 42 144 0 7 96 130
Kent 4 52 67 84 0 13 47 147
Lancashire 0 105 130 201 0 14 118 334
Leicestershire 3 23 46 78 0 8 45 111
Lincolnshire 0 12 20 74 0 6 51 57
Merseyside 3 134 419 463 0 59 218 762
Norfolk 11 39 54 119 0 7 74 177