Hm Prison Strangeways Manchester

EDM number 871 in 1992-93, proposed by Robert Litherland on 18/11/1992.

That this House notes with deep concern the possibility that the modernised Strangeways Prison in Manchester could once again be faced with the serious situation of overcrowding which led to the worst prison riot in history just two years ago; notes that despite the conclusion by Lord Justice Woolf's inquiry that there should be a 3 per cent. ceiling on overcrowding, the Home Office is preparing to ignore this recommendation and pressurise Strangeways into taking numbers of prisoners far exceeding the acceptable figure of 970 inmates, basing its intentions on the estimated rise in the prison population by the end of the century; notes the comments of Judge Stephen Tumim, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons that it was a matter of great public concern if decisions are now made which would undermine a good regime in the full prison of the future; recognises that if the prison were privatised there would be serious reservations over whether overcrowding could be contained, taking into consideration the magnitude of the problems in the administration of a prison the size of Strangeways; and urges the Home Office to reconsider its policy of overcrowding, as past experience has shown this to be a recipe for disaster and future prison riots.

This motion has been signed by a total of 55 MPs.