§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the provision of places at open prisons for women. [75713]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe table lists the three female open establishments. These prisons currently provide 519 certified normal accommodation (CNA) places for 481 sentenced adults and young offenders. There are no current plans to change the number of places provided.
CNA places and population at open female establishments as of 8 March 1999 Establishment Certified normal accommodation Places Number of prisoners HMP Askham Grange 130 128 HMP and YOI Drake Hall 295 266 HMP and YOI East Sutton Park 94 87 Total 519 481
§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average annual increase in the number of(a) women prisoners and (b) places at open prisons for women in each of the last five years and in total. [75780]
§ Mr. George HowarthInformation on the average female prison population is given in table 1. This information, up to 1997, is published in "Prison statistics 331W England and Wales" (Table 1.2 of the 1997 edition), a copy of which is in the library. Information on the certified normal accommodation (CNA) for female open prisons is given in table 2.
Table 1: Average female population in prisons in England and Wales 1994–98 Year Average female prison population Difference 1994 1,811 — 1995 1,979 +168 1996 2,262 +283 1997 2,675 +413 19981 3,105 +430 Total change between 1994–98 +1,294 1 Provisional figures.
Table 2: Average Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA) at female open prisons, 1994–98 Year Female open prisons Female open young offender institutions Total Difference 1994 422 53 475 — 1995 444 53 497 +22 1996 453 53 506 +9 1997 452 53 505 -1 19981 459 53 512 +7 Total change between 1994–98 +37 1 Provisional figures.