The following table shows the number and proportion of places that constitute each prison's operational capacity that are not being used for the ordinary accommodation of prisoners on 30 October 2009.
Prison name Places that are not being used Percentage of places that are not being used Acklington 6 1 Albany 0 0 Altcourse 38 3 Ashfield1 134 34 Ashwell 4 2 Askham Grange 10 8 Aylesbury 7 2 Bedford 17 3 Belmarsh 16 2 Birmingham 12 1 Blantyre House 1 1 Blundeston 12 2 Brinsford 37 7 Bristol 10 2 Brixton 26 3 Bronzefield2 23 5 Buckley Hall 4 1 Bullingdon 1 0 Bullwood Hall 3 1 Camp Hill 8 1 Canterbury 6 2 Cardiff 15 2 Castington1 70 17 Channings Wood 2 0 Chelmsford 28 4 Coldingley 12 2 Cookham Wood1 20 17 Dartmoor 3 0 Deerbolt 19 4 Doncaster 45 4 Dorchester 15 6 Dovegate 0 0 Dover 7 2 Downview 6 2 Drake Hall2 36 11 Durham 36 4 East Sutton Park2 10 10 Eastwood Park2 44 12 Edmunds Hill 9 2 Elmley 2 0 Erlestoke 7 1 Everthorpe 12 2 Exeter 27 5 Featherstone 5 1 Feltham1 119 16 Ford 7 1 Forest Bank 7 1 Foston Hall2 60 21 Frankland 50 6 Full Sutton 16 3 Garth 14 2 Gartree 2 0 Glen Parva 24 3 Gloucester 4 1 Grendon 6 3 Guys Marsh 3 1 Haslar 18 11 Haverigg 2 0 Hewell 49 3 Highdown 4 0 Highpoint 3 0 Hindleyl 101 23 Hollesley Bay 3 1 Holloway2 59 12 Holme House 10 1 Hull 19 2 Huntercombe1 120 33 Kennet 3 1 Kingston 3 2 Kirkham 1 0 Kirklevington 10 4 Lancaster 11 5 Lancaster Farms 9 2 Latchmere House 6 3 Leeds 27 2 Leicester 22 6 Lewes 44 6 Leyhill 15 3 Lincoln 53 7 Lindholme 14 1 Littlehey 15 2 Liverpool 106 7 Long Lartin 3 0 Low Newton2 53 16 Lowdham Grange 6 1 Maidstone 0 0 Manchester 22 2 Moorland 22 3 Moorland Open 4 2 Morton Hall 19 5 Mount 4 1 New Hall2 82 18 North Sea Camp 7 2 Northallerton1 34 13 Norwich 24 3 Nottingham 1 0 Onley 14 2 Parc 13 1 Parkhurst 7 1 Pentonville 96 8 Peterborough 70 7 Portland 22 4 Prescoed 1 1 Preston 116 14 Ranby 10 1 Reading1 32 11 Risley 9 1 Rochester 6 1 Rye Hill 12 2 Send 10 4 Shepton Mallet o 0 Shrewsbury 9 3 Spring Hill 16 5 Stafford 2 0 Standford Hill 4 1 Stocken 5 1 Stoke Heath1 69 10 Styal2 63 14 Sudbury 0 0 Swaleside 0 0 Swansea 0 0 Swinfen Hall 4 1 Thorn Cross 29 9 Usk 1 0 Verne 5 1 Wakefield 8 1 Wandsworth 0 0 Warren Hill1 38 17 Wayland 8 1 Wealstun 4 1 Wellingborough 5 1 Werrington1 32 20 Wetherby1 67 16 Whatton 5 1 Whitemoor 5 1 Winchester 4 1 Wolds 2 1 Woodhill 6 1 Wormwood Scrubs 0 0 Wymott 10 1 Total 2,944 3 1 Identifies those prisons whose predominant function is to hold juveniles or which hold juveniles 2 Identifies those prisons whose predominant function is to hold female prisoners
The total number of unoccupied places according to the table is approximately 3,000. This represents the difference between the total operational capacity of the estate and the population (at the end of October). In some cases, prisoners will be held in accommodation that does not feature in a prison's operational capacity (for example, are temporarily located in a segregation unit or in the health care centre, units that do not usually feature in operational capacity) or will be on temporary licence. However, these prisoners would ordinarily be accommodated in the general accommodation of the prison and therefore it is appropriate to include them in the calculation. Reductions in operational capacity because accommodation is not available for current use (for example, because of sustained damage, as in the case of HMP Ashwell, or substantial refurbishment programmes) have been discounted.
The level of unoccupied cells does not reflect the level of free, useable capacity in the estate. Places might be temporarily out of use, for example, where a cell has been damaged or is under going short-term maintenance. Some places cannot be used because they are in double cells required for single occupancy following a safety risk assessment. More generally, the demographics of the population mean that it is impossible in practice to make use of every operationally viable place. This is reflected in the operating margin: an allowance of 2,000 places that is removed from total operational capacity figures to provide the estate's useable operational capacity. The above table suggests that there is useable headroom of around 1,000 places in the estate, which is the current difference between useable operational capacity and the population.