§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether security at the Pucklechurch remand centre is adequate for the custody of category A prisoners.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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 Mr. Doug Hoyles dated 30 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about security at Pucklechurch prison.
Category A escapes Type of establishment 20 June 1988-31 March 1989 1 April 1989-31 March 1990 1 April 1990-31 March 1991 1 April 1991-31 March 1992 1 April 1992-31 March 1993 1 April 1993-31 March 94 1 April 1994-9 January 95 Dispersal 0 0 0 1 1 0 8 Local 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 Escorts 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Total 0 2 0 4 2 0 8 Incidents of escape from custody of other than prisoners in category A are recorded according to the security category of the prison from which the prisoner escapes and not by the security category of the prisoner.
Information about these escapes has only been recorded centrally since 20 June 1988. During the period 20 June 1988 to 9 January 1995, the number of prisoners who escaped from dispersal prisons and category B and C prisons is as follows:
504W
An assessment has been made of the security arrangements needed to hold a category A prisoner at Pucklechurch prison and appropriate arrangements have been put into effect.