To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners escaped from each Essex prison in each of the last 10 years. (111826)

There have been no escapes from any Essex prisons in the last 10 years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in jails in England and Wales have (a) a mental illness and (b) learning disabilities. (111827)

The information requested is not held centrally.

However, in 1997 the Office for National Statistics undertook a survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales. It reported both on prevalence of mental disorder and on the intellectual functioning of remanded and sentenced prisoners. Further information is available in the report of this survey: “Psychiatric Morbidity Amongst Prisoners in England and Wales” (1998) a copy of which is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average number of minutes of phone calls that Category A prisoners may make each week. (111864)

[holding answer 30 January 2007]: Time available to prisoners for phone calls varies and depends on a number of operational factors including regime, privileges and population. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to reintroduce the power of prison officers to strip search prison visitors suspected of trafficking drugs to prisoners. (112298)

This power has not been withdrawn.

In clearly defined circumstances and on the designated in-charge governor’s authority, prison officers, operational managers and prison custody officers may conduct full searches, previously known as strip searches, using powers contained in the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) the Firearms Act (1968), and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acts of concerted indiscipline in prisons took place in each of the last five years, broken down by prison. (112317)

The information requested is contained in the following table. The working definition of an act of concerted indiscipline is an incident in which two or more prisoners act together in defiance of a lawful instruction or against the requirements of the regime of the establishment. The indiscipline may be active or passive and those involved may not necessarily be acting in a common cause.