Dear J. McCarthy

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your email of 17^th November 2008 in which you ask:

Over the past two years - How many female prison officers and

female education staff have been excluded from prisons across

England and Wales pending an investigation into allegations of

inappropriate behaviour please?

How many of those exclusions were later lifted and how many

went on to become permanent exclusions by the governor on site?

Comparatively then how many male staff members and teachers were

excluded pending investigations into allegations of inappropriate

conduct over the same two year period?

How many prison officers were investigated by prison management

over the past two years for sexual misconduct or inappropriate

behaviour with a prisoner across England and Wales ?

How many allegations of sexual abuse were made by prisoners within

HMP system over the last two years? How many of those allegations

were unfounded? How many of those allegations were proven as a

result of internal investigations?

Your request is being handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a request for information.

We aim to send you a full response within 20 working days of our receiving your request. You should receive this response by 15^th December 2008.

If you have any queries about the handling of your information request please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Amrit Lotay