To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contingency plans his Department has formulated to protect members of the public living near category C prisons in the event of (a) disturbances and (b) escapes.

All prison establishments are required to maintain contingency plans for dealing with inmate disturbances and escapes, in accordance with instructions issued by the Prison Department. These plans include arrangements for calling for assistance from the police whenever it is needed, and governors are required to maintain close liaison with their local chief officers of police to ensure that these arrangements will work effectively in the event of any emergency. Plans to deal with disturbances are directed towards containing and suppressing disorder with minimum force and restoring order within establishments as quickly as possible. In the event of an escape the police are called immediately and assume responsibility for the conduct of any follow-up action outside the establishment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of category C prisons that are within 5 miles of a regular bus and rail service; and how many prisoners are more than 5 miles from a regular bus and rail service.

Of the 25 currently operational category C training prisons in England and Wales, 16 are located within 5 miles of both a regular bus service and a rail station served by a regular train service and five are within 5 miles of a regular bus but not a regular train service. Four prisons, accommodating 1,345 prisoners on 17 June, are more than 5 miles distant from both a regular bus and a regular rail service.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category B prisoners have been down graded to category C in the last (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36, (d) 48 and (e) 60 months.

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of escapes from category C prisons by prisoners over the last (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36, (d) 48 and (e) 60 months.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to a question from the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) on 20 June, at column 384.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of crimes committed by those escaping from category C prisons over the last (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36, (d) 48 and (e) 60 months.

Escaping from prison is itself an offence at common law. Information relating to crimes committed by prisoners during their escape or while at large is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the instance of drug and alcohol (a) abuses and (b) discoveries in category C prisons over the last (i) 12, (ii) 24, (iii) 36, (iv) 48 and (v) 60 months.

New instructions for the reporting by prison establishments of finds of illicit drugs and related implements took effect on 1 July 1984. Since then, the following numbers of such reports have been received from category C prisons:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of internal disturbances in category C prisons over the last (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36, (d) 48 and (e) 60 months.

On the night of 30 April-1 May 1986, at the time of the national industrial action called by the Prison Officers' Association, incidents occurred at a number of prison establishments. The most serious including those at two category C prisons—Northeye and Wymott. Since then, there have been disturbances at Wymott on 4 October 1986, at Rollestone on 24 May 1988 and at Haverigg on 5–6 June 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each category C prison the number of prisoners serving sentences for each category of crime.

The readily available information is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all category C prisons with their addresses.

The information requested is as follows.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of category C prisoners in category C prisons; and how this relates to the recommended establishment for prisoner numbers in each Her Majesty's Prison.

The readily available information is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of uniformed and non-uniformed staff in each category C prison; and how this relates to the recommended establishment.

The number of uniformed and non-uniformed staff in post and the recommended complement at the beginning of June at each category C establishment was as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many category B prisoners there are in category C prisons.

None.