§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the Prison Service projections for the level of the prison population in each of the next five years; what is his estimate of the consequence for the level of prison service funding of the projections; and if he will make a statement. [103336]
§ Mr. BoatengNew short-term prison population projections as at October 1999, and revised long-term projections have been prepared by the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. A summary is included in the September prison population brief available on the Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm.
The projections for the next five years are given in the table.
The Prison Service plans to increase capacity from 67,800 in 1998–99 to 71,400 in 2001–02, the third year of the comprehensive spending review settlement, and expects to have sufficient capacity to manage the central variant projection over this period.
We are considering the implications for the longer term or if the higher variant projection occurs. It is too soon to say what the consequences for funding might be but the Prison Service budget for 2002–03 and 2003–04 will be determined in the next spending review.
Projected average prison population for 1999–2000 to 2004–05 Variants Low Central Upper 1999–2000 65,200 65,300 65,400 2000–01 66,800 68,100 68,900 2001–02 68,200 70,100 71,900 2002–03 68,500 70,800 73,000 2003–04 68,600 71,300 74,000 2004–05 68,900 71,900 75.600