To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoner places are available at each prison serving the Sussex area when at full capacity; and how many prisoners were serving sentences at each such prison on the latest date for which figures are available. (304758)

The following table gives the numbers of prisoners serving sentences in the two prison establishments in Sussex at the end of June 2009, the latest date for which figures are available:

The operational capacity of a prison is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. It is determined by area managers on the basis of operational judgment and experience.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.