HL Deb 04 March 1999 vol 597 cc203-4WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many women now in Her Majesty's prison had previous addresses in Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall; and whether they consider that their relatives have special difficulties in visiting, because of distance and poor public transport. [HL1221]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

The Prison Service is fully aware of the importance of encouraging the maintenance of family ties, particularly for women, many of whom are primary carers for children and other family members. We recognise that closeness to home is a difficulty for women in prison due to the smaller number of women's prisons and this issue is taken into account as far as possible when deciding where they should be placed.

Tables setting out the number of women in prison who had previous addresses in Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall are shown below.

Table 1: Female prison population by county for Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset
Originating county Prison name Female prisoners
Cornwall Drake Hall 1
Eastwood Park 10
11
Devon Cookham Wood 1
Drake Hall 2
Durham 1
Eastwood Park 26
Foston Hall 2
Highpoint 1
Send 2
Styal 2
Winchester 1
38
Dorset Eastwood Park 10
Send 1
Winchester 4
15
Somerset Brockhill 1
Drake Hill 2
Eastwood Park 11
Styal 1
15
Total 79

Table 2: Prisons holding female prisoners originating from Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset1
Prison Female Prisoners
Brockhill 1
Cookham Wood 1

Table 2: Prisons holding female prisoners originating from Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset1
Prison Female Prisoners
Drake Hall 5
Durham 1
Eastwood Park 57
Foston Hall 2
Highpoint 1
Send 3
Styal 3
Winchester 5
1All data are taken from 31 September 1998.