Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) average prison population and (b) average in-use certified normal accommodation was in each prison in the 12 months to September 2018.

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA), or uncrowded capacity, is the Prison Service’s own measure of accommodation. CNA represents the good, decent standard of accommodation that the Service aspires to provide all prisoners. CNA differs to the operational capacity of a prison which 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 the Prison Group Directors on the basis of operational judgement and experience.

Where the operational capacity of a prison is higher than the CNA it will be classed as having the potential to be 'crowded', which can mean prisoners share cells. In the financial year 2017-18, 24.2% of the prison population was being held in crowded conditions, down from 24.5% in the previous year.

As part of prison reform, the long-term goal is to reduce crowding, while maintaining sufficient capacity in the prison estate to manage the demands of the courts and the sentenced population as efficiently as possible. This level is kept under constant review, considering fluctuations in the prison population and useable capacity across the estate

The average population and in-use certified normal accommodation for each prison in England and Wales in the 12 months to September 2018 is set out in the attached table.

*The Verne ceased operating as an Immigration Removal Centre in December 2017. It then reopened as a prison in July 2018 and monthly in-use CNA and population data from July 2018 has been included in the answer.

Individual prison population and capacity information (including in-use certified normal accommodation) for every prison in England and Wales is published monthly on the Ministry of Justice website at

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-population-figures-2019