§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's definition of a prison riot.
Mr. Michael ForstyhResponsibility 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 Derek Lewis to Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 6 February 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for a definition of a prison riot.A riot is defined in section 1 of the Public Order Act 1986, a copy of which will be found in the Library of the House. Riot can take place in a public or private place, including a prison.There is also an offence of prison mutiny which is defined in section 1(2) of the Prison Security Act 1992, a copy of which can also be found in the Library.In addition, the Prison Service maintain statistics on the number of acts of concerted indiscipline which take place. Concerted indiscipline takes place when two or more prisoners refuse to conform to the rules and regulations of a prison. Such incidents include both passive disobedience and active indiscipline.