§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisons there were in Lancashire in(a) 1996 and (b) 1979; [16152]
(2) how many prisoners there were in Lancashire in (a) 1996 and (b) 1979. [16153]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for these matters 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. Nigel Evans, dated 20 February 1997:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the number of prisons and prisoners in Lancashire in 1996 compared with 1979.The Information you requested is as follows:
1979 1996 Number of prisons 6 8 Number of prisoners 1,786 3,046 Source:
Prison Service Annual Reports 1979 and 1995–96.
The figures for 1979 relate to the calendar year and for 1996 to the financial year 1995–96.
The daily average prison population for these two years was 42,220 and 51,664 respectively.