§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has for the construction of new prisons over the next seven years, with reference to the latest population projection; [84305]
(2) how many prisoners are held in police cells; and what action is being taken to reduce this number. [84298]
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 2 December 2002]: The numbers held in police cells (under Operation Safeguard) peaked at 448 on the night of 29 October 2002. Since then, new prison accommodation has been brought into use and this, combined with a fall in prisoner numbers during November 2002, has enabled the Prison Service to reduce its use of police cells. By the night of 26 November 2002, the number of prisoners being held in police cells had fallen to 160.
The Government have recently approved Prison Service plans for two new prisons, which will provide 1,290 places by 2004–05. The first is scheduled to open in the summer of 2004 at Ashford (near Heathrow), and will be a female prison of 450 places. An 840-place prison for 360 female and 480 male prisoners is scheduled to open at Peterborough in Cambridgeshire in the summer of 2005.
718WIn addition, the Government have recently announced that £60 million will be made available to provide 740 prison places at existing prisons by March 2004. This is in addition to funding from the 2002 Budget to provide an extra 2,320 places within existing prisons by the end of this financial year.