HC Deb 04 November 2003 vol 412 c579W
Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimates are of the(a) uncrowded and (b) maximum capacity of prisons in England and Wales and of the average daily prison population for each of the next five years. [131652]

Paul Goggins

As at 17 October 2003, the certified normal accommodation (uncrowded) for the prison estate in England and Wales was 66,738 and the useable operational capacity was 74,775. Average projections for the next five years are set out in the following table.

Average daily figures for prison population projections are not available.

Capacity projections forecast 2003–08
Uncrowded Usable operational capacity
2003 65,900 74,200
2004 67,500 75,800
2005 69,800 78,200
2006 70,400 78,750
2007 70,400 78,700
2008 70,400 78,700