§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) firearms, (b) knives and (c) other dangerous weapons were found secreted in Her Majesty's prisons in (i) 1979, (ii) 1985, (iii) 1990 and (iv) the last year for which figures are available. [16687]
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[holding answer 28 March 1995]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated 862W 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 31 March 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many (a) firearms, (b) knives and (c) other dangerous weapons were found secreted in Her Majesty's prisons in (i) 1979 (ii) 1985 (iii) 1990 and (iv) the last year for which figures are available.Finds of knives and other related sharp instruments are not recorded centrally. Weapons such as firearms and CS gas canisters have been reported and recorded centrally since June 1988.The information on firearms and CS gas canisters for 1990 and 1994 is contained in the table below:
Firearms Other (all hand guns) Other (all gas canisters) 1990 Nil Nil 1994 51 2 1 Four incidents—one without ammunition. A gas canister was also found on 12 January of this year.