§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners at HM prison, Armley have been on suicide watch for each month since January 1991;
(2) how many complaints have been received at HM prison, Armley from solicitors and probation officers in each year since 1990; and if he will list the nature of them;
(3) what is the number of prison officers at HM prison, Armley as a percentage of the officially assessed establishment figure;
(4) how many prisoners at HM prison, Armley have been (a) held in Armley for each year to date since 1989,(b) held on remand for each year to date since 1989, (c) detained for non payment of fines for each year to date since 1989 and (d) transferred from HM prison, Everthorpe subsequent to the recent disturbances there; how many prisoners there are detained three to a cell; when all the new wings will be fully operational; and if he will make a statement;
(5) how many staff were employed at HM prison, Armley (a) in administration, (b) as prison officers and (c) educational staff for each year to date from 1989;
(6) how many prisoners in HM prison, Armley have unsupervised access to a telephone;
(7) for how many hours per (a) day and (b) week prisoners at HM prison, Armley are detained in their cells.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for these 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 Philippa Drew to Mr. John Battle, dated 19 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions about Leeds prison.The decision to keep a prisoner on special watch because of the risk of suicide or self harm is noted on the individual prisoner medical records and the computerised local inmate database system, which is updated daily. No central statistical records are kept.The governor of Leeds and the area manager receive a number of enquiries from solicitors and probation staff on a wide variety of matters. Common subjects include sentence calculation, court production and personal injury claims. Copies of such correspondence are kept with the prisoners' individual records, and again no central records are maintained.The budgeted number of prison officer grades for Leeds is 360. Staffing levels are being reviewed at Leeds to determine the required staffing level for the work being undertaken. There are 361 officer grades employed in discipline duties at Leeds.The average daily population at Leeds prison in the years 1989 to date was as follows:674W
All prisoners Remand prisoners Fine defaulters 1989 1,244 626 16 1990 1,064 487 14 1991 929 457 17 1992 881 390 20 1993 927 445 20 19941 1,073 458 18 1 1994 figures are for January—November. Forty eight prisoners were transferred to Leeds from Everthorpe prison after the recent disturbance.The new accommodation at Leeds (E and F wings) is fully operational. "A" wing has been closed for refurbishment. No prisoners are held three to a cell designed for one prisoner.The information on staff employed at the prison is as follows:
Administration grades Officer grades (including specialists) Education staff (full-time) 1989 48 321 7 1990 48 318 7 1991 50.5 332 7.5 1992 50.5 363 6.5 1993 58 428 16 1994 58.5 434 16 1 Full-time staff contracted from Manchester College since August 1993. The figures for education staff do not include teaching staff employed on a sessional basis, whose number varies throughout the academic year. The present contract allows for the services of up to 14 part-time teachers to be used.On average prisoners in Leeds spend 17 hours per day (119 hours per week) in their cells. The minimum time out of cell for any prisoner is three hours, the maximum twelve hours. The governor aims to increase the amount of time prisoners can spend out of their cells by restructuring shift working practices. In the longer term, a new education block and workshops are planned to provide more activity places.No prisoners at Leeds have unsupervised access to a cardphone. All calls are recorded and may be remotely monitored by staff.