§ Julie MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the time it takes to transfer(a) male and (b) female remand prisoners to prison from court. [149526]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 22 January 2004]Private sector contractors are responsible for carrying out the movement of prisoners from courts to prisons. Remand and convicted prisoners, including male and female prisoners, can travel in the same vehicle. No central record of journey times is kept, nor is it possible to identify any differences in journey times between remand and convicted, male and female prisoners.
Contractors are required to deliver prisoners to courts before 9.30 am and back to prisons before their receptions close. Contract managers are robust in monitoring their performance and there are financial remedies built into the present contracts for failure to deliver prisoners to prisons on time.
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have been transferred between prisons due to population pressures in the last year. [143293]
§ Paul GogginsThere are around 100,000 prisoner moves between prisons each year. These moves may be for a number of reasons, such as security, discipline or as a result of normal sentence planning. In addition, 227W prisoners may be moved to ensure full and effective use of places within the prison estate. The reasons for prisoner moves are not recorded centrally.