Dear J Simpson

Freedom of Information Request

Thank you for your email of 22/01/09 in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice:

I have been searching HM prisons website for some information but
have been unable to locate the correct data, there for under the freedom of information act I would like the following most recent information about Her Majesty's Prisons in England and Wales. The information provided does not have to include contracted out prisons if that would make responding to my request harder but I would like to know if the information sent does or doesn't include them. If possible the total information about prisoners (Male, Female and young offenders) would be helpful but if this information is harder to gather then just covering Male inmates would be enough to answer my questions.

1) The weekly and monthly prison population figures provided at
http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/publicationsdocuments/index.asp?cat=85 is very useful but it does not break down the different types of prisoners. Please provide a full break down of the most recent prison population detailing how many male prisoners are Category A / B / C / D and similar information on Female prisoners and the number of young offenders.

2) I would also like a break down of prisoner numbers based on the
     Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) levels. How many “Basic”,
     “Standard” and “Enhanced” prisoners are there?

3) Religious prisoners are granted certain “days off” based on their
     religions holidays. 2009s dates are located at    http://psi.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/psi_2008_46_religious_fesival_dates_2009.doc
     but I am unable to find details about how non religious prisoners
     are treated. Do people claiming to be of no religion get classed as
     Christians by default and there for must be given Christian "days
     off" or are they treated in some other way?

4) Finally I would like a complete list of items available for prisoners to purchase within the prison with their “private cash” given out based on their IEP level. If there is not a central standard for what can be given throughout all prisons then information from a single prison would be just as useful. If you are unable to provide me with a specific list of items from one prison, perhaps you could give me email contact details for a standard male prison in England or Wales which I could contact and ask for such a detailed list directly under the Freedom of information Act instead.

Your request is being handled under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA),

Question 1

I can confirm that the Department holds the information you are seeking, and I am pleased to inform you that this information is already in the public domain. You can find the information at the Department's website free of charge at the following internet addresses. Below is the link to the latest population report:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/populationincustody.htm. 

Prisons have a functional type/security category (this is published on the HMPS website by prison and can be found by using the Prison locator) and contains a mix of prisoners. Again I have provided the relevant web link below:

http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/

Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act exempts the Ministry of Justice from complying with the duty to supply you with this information on the grounds that it is already in the public domain and reasonably accessible to you. Should you have difficulties in accessing this information by the means listed above please do not hesitate to contact me again.

Question 2

Numbers of prisoners on each level of the Incentives & Earned Privileges Scheme (IEPS) as at December 2008 are below. Below is the link to the Prison Service Order number 4000 which outlines the policy in relation to IEPS.

http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/psispsos/listpsos/index.asp?startrow=51

Question 3

Below is the link to the Prison Service Order number 4550 which outlines the policy in relation to religion within prisons. As explained above this information is exempt from disclosure to you under section 21.

http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/psispsos/listpsos/index.asp?startrow=51

Question 4

I am sorry to inform you that from my preliminary assessment of your request, it is clear that I will not be able to answer this question without further clarification because there is no central standard list of items available for prisoners to purchase with their private cash.

In order to provide you with the information on the scale that you have requested would require us to contact every Prison in England and Wales.

Section 12 of the FOIA makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for central government is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 working days in determining whether the Department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

As your request is widely framed, I estimate that it will take us in excess of 3.5 working days to determine appropriate material within the scope of your request, and locate, retrieve and extract that information.

You may wish to narrow the scope of your request in order to try and bring it within the cost limit, by being more specific about which information you wish to receive, including any dates or periods of time which are relevant. For example, you may wish to narrow the scope of your request by asking the same question in relation to an individual prison.

All requests for information from the Ministry of Justice, including Her Majesty's Prison Service, made under the Freedom of Information act are dealt with centrally by the Data Access and Compliance Unit. You should therefore send your request to us and not directly to an individual prison.

As part of our obligations under the FOIA, the Ministry of Justice has an independent review process. If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you may write to request an internal review. The internal review will be carried out by someone who did not make the original decision, and they will re-assess how the Department handled the original request.

If you wish to request an internal review, please write or send an email to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two months of the date of this letter, at the following address:

Data Access and Compliance Unit

Information Directorate

Ministry of Justice

1^st Floor, Zone 1C

Post point 1.41

102 Petty France

London

SW1H 9AJ

e-mail: [email address]

If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review decision, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office under Section 50 of the FOIA. You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Internet: https://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx

Yours sincerely

Paul Hunt

Data Access and Compliance Unit