§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of nights spent by prisoners in police cell accommodation in each month this year. [9105]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 13 January 1997:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of nights spent by prisoners in police accommodation this year.No nights have been spent by prisoners in police accommodation this year as a result of overcrowding at establishments. This key objective has applied since June 1995 and continues to be achieved in spite of extreme population pressures.Under completely separate arrangements, prisoners have, from time to time, to be accommodated overnight in police accommodation following court appearances. This is usually because a late court sitting or the distance involved make it impossible for an escort contractor to get the prisoner back before reception at the establishment closes for the evening.This continues a practice developed when all prisoner escorts to and from court were undertaken by the Police or Prison Service and is of many years standing. Prison reception times were developed to meet local circumstances. If prisoners could not be delivered before the prison closed for the night the police held them overnight and delivered them the next morning. The number of prisoners lodged overnight by the police in these circumstances prior to contracting out is not available centrally.The general service to courts, prisons and police forces has improved significantly since the contracting out of escort services. Court contractors are required to get prisoners back to prison by a certain time. This is not always possible for reasons which may be outside their control. However, if they fail to meet this commitment as a result of an error or omission on their part they have to meet any subsequent costs that may arise as a result of the use of police cell accommodation. Well over 99 per cent. of prisoners are admitted to establishments each evening.35WThe table below gives the number of nights in which prisoners have been accommodated in police cells in these circumstances between January and October this year. Information for November is not yet available. The figures are affected by the fact that during the period in question more escort contracts have started. As a result, better management information on these cases within the contract areas is now available.
Month Number January 124 February 171 March 177 April 160 May 129 June 181 July 142 August 185 September 176 October 250 As you will see this amounts to an average of about five prisoners per night.
The number of prisoners held two in a cell designed for one by Prison 1996 Prison type code January February March April May June Aylesbury IM 0 0 0 0 0 2 Bedford BM 154 134 134 134 134 134 Birmingham CM, BM, EM 630 616 630 630 618 632 Blakenhurst BM, VM 0 0 0 0 0 66 Blundeston CM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bristol BM, CM, EM 152 162 162 68 68 68 Brixton BM 328 328 328 328 328 398 Buckley Hall CM 0 0 20 20 16 16 Canterbury BM 210 166 154 154 204 204 Cardiff AM, BM, VM 368 286 366 376 386 332 Channings Wood CM, VM 200 192 186 186 182 186 Chelmsford BM 332 332 324 296 296 296 Cookhamwood CF 12 12 12 12 26 26 Doncaster BM, VM 194 194 376 376 376 376 Dorchester AM, BM, VM 144 160 122 164 164 188 Down View CM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Durham BM, CF, VM, CM 428 474 476 472 532 704 Everthorpe CM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Exeter AM, BM 302 352 352 322 384 384 Feltham AM, IM, LM, SM 0 0 0 0 0 0 AM, HM, IM, SM Glen Parva VM 138 378 204 236 212 254 Gloucester BM, AM 91 102 118 118 122 134 Guys Marsh CM, IM, JM 0 0 6 0 4 8 Highpoint CM, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hindley AM, IM 0 0 140 0 0 0 Hull BM, SM 140 236 204 178 160 156 Lancaster Farms AM, IM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Leeds BM 548 584 754 0 0 98 Leicester BM, VM 238 244 244 268 250 250 Lewes BM, VM 22 22 22 30 24 24 Lincoln BM, VM 418 538 490 514 514 536 Littlehey CM, HM, VM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Liverpool BM, VM 188 208 66 230 230 260 Low Newton AM, BF, VM 180 224 224 234 236 204 Manchester BM, VM 446 456 444 444 448 446 Moorland AM, CM, IM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mount CM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northallerton AM 114 168 170 164 162 168 Norwich AM, BM, VM 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nottingham CM, EM 0 4 4 4 6 8 P'klechurch AF (SHUT) 28 0 0 0 0 0 Pentonville BM 599 610 176 596 616 604