§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many female prisoners under the age of 18 were detained in Holloway prison(a) six months ago, (b) one year ago and (c) five years ago; and how many are held there now. [105406]
§ Hilary BennThe information requested is given in the table.
Population of female prisoners aged under 18 in Holloway Prison Month/year Number June 1998 5 January 2002 13 July 2002 11 January 2003 10
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to his answer of 17 March,Official Report, column 586W, on the Inmate Information System (IIS), what percentage of inmates serving sentences have had their records linked to the IIS; what measures are being taken to address the limitations of the system; and what timetable he has set for rectifying these limitations; [105358]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 17 March, Official Report, column 586W, on the Inmate Information System (IIS), which computer systems are being considered as replacements for the IIS; and what the costs are of the systems being considered. [105359]
669W
§ Hilary BennAll prisons and prisoner records are linked to the Inmate Information System (IIS), although any linking of current records to previous custody information is done manually, as I outlined in my answer of 17 March 2003,Official Report, column 586W, to the hon. Member. It is not possible to provide a percentage of the records that are linked in this way, as no central record is maintained of this information.
However, prisons do routinely receive details of previous convictions from the court or police authorities and everything possible is done to link current records with previous custody information.
The current IIS system is being reviewed and the linking of information, both on previous periods in custody and more widely with other Criminal Justice agencies, will be a major consideration of that review. This work is at its initial stages and it is not yet possible to give any firm details of likely timescales, costs or computer systems involved in the implementation.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were being held in police cells at police stations within the Greater London area on 20 March. [105270]
§ Hilary BennOn 20 March 2003, there were no Prison Service prisoners being held in police cells at police stations in the Greater London area under Operation Safeguard.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 6 March 2003, Official Report, column 1243W, on prisons, what measures the Government is taking to ensure the current planned uncrowded capacity for prisons in England and Wales in 2004 is closer to his Department's forecast average prison population for the same year. [105237]
§ Hilary BennThe Government has provided resources for the Prison Service to increase uncrowded capacity from 66,000 places in 2003 to 67,000 places in 2004. It is recognised that uncrowded population in 2004. However, capacity planning assumes that the Prison Service not only uses accommodation efficiently but that some accommodation can be overcrowded where appropriate services and regime facilities are provided. Care is taken by the Prison Service to assess the risks to safety, security and control which increase as population pressures rise. The risks are monitored and all possible steps, including limiting the number of prisoners held in any prison, are taken to mitigate their impact.
The Prison service continues to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity over the coming years, as part of the Government's prison modernisation strategy. This is based on a combination of expanding capacity in existing prisons that we want to keep in the long term, and a programme to build new large multifunction prisons.
Area1 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Cambridgeshire 145 115 88 85 91 66 Essex 144 128 115 79 65 67