Written question asked by Robert Smith (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 11 February 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 February 1999. It was answered by Henry McLeish (Labour) on Monday, 22 February 1999 on behalf of the Scottish Office.

Scottish Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what was the average daily number of prisoners employed and the percentage of prisoners involved in vocational training by (a) quarter and (b) month in 1998. - Includes table of figures for 1998 and ref to the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 1997/98.

Answer: Sir Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average daily number of prisoners employed and the percentage of prisoners involved in vocational training by (a) quarter and (b) month in 1998. [71646] Mr. McLeish: The information requested is not available at this time in the detail sought, as figures for prisoners in employment are collated centrally for the full period required by the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts, that is, from April to March each year. The numbers involved in vocational training are collected separately. Provisional figures for the number of prisoners engaged in vocational training for 1998 are as follows. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Month Average daily number of prisoners January 292 February 289 March 297 April 281 May 286 June 310 July 316 August 109 September 310 October 316 November 322 December 273 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. The Scottish Prison Service is developing a computerised management information system for regime activity to support continuous improvement in prisoner programmes and other opportunities, and data collection. From 1 July 1999, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

Secondary information