Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 119037, how many Category B prisoners were held in Category C prisons in each of the last five years.

All prisoners are assessed as to their risk of escape or abscond, as well as their risk of harm to the public should they escape or abscond. This ensures allocation of prisoners to a prison that provides appropriate levels of security.

Category B prisoners are not routinely held in category C prisons. Small numbers of prisoners that have recently been recategorised to B can be held in category C prisons for short periods pending transfer to a more appropriate location. The number of such prisoners as of 31 December for the last five years are set out in the following table.