§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prescriptions were issued per 100 prisoners in British jails for(a) tranquilisers and (b) other medicinal drugs in each of the last five years. [29127]
§ Mr. George HowarthInformation is available only for the year 1996–97. Based on a sample of six prisons in England and Wales representing 4.2 per cent of the average daily population for that year, it is estimated that prescriptions which might generally be termed as tranquillisers amounted to 224 per 100 inmates. For other medications, the estimate is 2,078 per 100 inmates.