HC Deb 07 June 1995 vol 261 cc173-5W
Mrs. Roche

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women prisoners are currently being held(a) three to a one-person cell and (b) two to a one-person cell; and what were the figures for each of the last 10 years. [26095]

Mr. Michael Forsyth

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: Responsibility 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 7 June 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of female prisoners currently sharing two and three to a cell and the figures for each of the last ten years. At the end of May there were 48 female prisoners in England and Wales sharing two to a cell designed for one. There were no female prisoners sharing three to a cell designed for one. Information for previous years is only available from centrally held records from 1992 onwards and is given in the table below:

Number of female prisoners sharing two and three to a cell at end of May 1992—May 1994
Number of female prisoners sharing two to a cell Number of female prisoners sharing three to a cell
May 1992 82
May 1993 22
May 1994 24

Mrs. Roche

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of self-mutilation occurred in women's prisons in each of the last 10 years. [26097]

Mr. Michael Forsyth

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: Responsibility 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 7 June 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of incidents of self-mutilation in women's prisons in each of the last 10 years. Incidents of self-mutilation which occur within Prison Service establishments are not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Records are, however, kept of the number of incidents of deliberate self-harm each year, within which the number of deliberate self-mutilations will be contained. A breakdown of incidents of deliberate self-harm by sex is available only from 1992–93 onwards. These figures are reproduced in the attached table.

Number of deliberate self-harm incidents among female inmates
Year Number of incidents of deliberate self harm
1992–93 1,114
1993–94 1,113
1994–95 1,213

Dr. Lynne Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many female prisoners in England and Wales are currently serving sentence for drug offences, by nationality of each prisoner. [26886]

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Responsibility 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 Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 7 June 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking how many female prisoners in England and Wales are currently serving sentence for drug offences, by nationality of each prisoner. The most recent provisional information for 28 February 1995 is given in the attached table.

Female sentenced population in England and Wales on 28 February 1995; drugs offences, by nationality
Number
Barbados 2
Brazil 1
Canada 1
Columbia 4
Cyprus 1
Germany 1
Grenada 1
Ghana 14
Guam 1
Guyana 13
Hungary 1
Irish Republic 3
Jamaica 31
Kenya 1
Liberia 1
Nigeria 35
Netherlands 5
Pakistan 5

Female sentenced population in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 28 February 1995, by offence group, offence, and length of sentence (excluding fine defaulters)
All sentence lengths Up to and including 3 months Over 3 months up to and including 6 months Over 6 months up to and including 12 months Over 12 months up to and including 18 months Over 18 months up to and including 3 years Over 3 years up to and including 4 years Over 4 years up to and including 5 years Over 5 years Over and including 10 years Over 10 years and less than life Life
Violence against the person: 268 12 18 17 17 36 15 22 26 5 100
Sexual offences: 11 1 1 1 0 3 1 1 3
Burglary: 51 1 5 17 8 11 5 2 2
Robbery: 93 1 3 8 11 36 16 8 10
Theft and handling: 251 44 59 77 33 35 2 1
Fraud and forgery: 92 9 15 20 11 24 12 1
Drug offences: 330 1 6 19 21 59 46 50 109 19
Other offences: 124 16 18 8 9 24 16 12 15 1 5
Offence not recorded: 163 9 21 30 17 51 14 6 13 1 1
Total of all immediate custodial offences 1383 94 146 198 127 279 125 102 178 26 106