Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a list of prisons with Separation Centres for the containment of terrorist prisoners; how long each of those centres has been operational; and when they first started housing prisoners.

Separation Centres (SCs) were introduced in 2017 with the addition of Rule 46A to the Prison Rules (1999).

There are currently three SCs, with two in operation. Each SC began housing prisoners in the same month that it opened.

HMP Frankland’s SC opened in June 2017 and remains operational. It has capacity for 8 prisoners.

HMP Full Sutton’s SC opened in March 2018 and closed again in May 2019. It continues to have capacity for 8 prisoners.

HMP Woodhill’s SC opened in May 2019, closed in Nov 2019, but then reopened in July 2020 and has remained operational since. It has capacity for 12 prisoners.

Most terrorist prisoners can be managed in the mainstream prison population as a direct result of the appropriate conditions and controls we have put in place to manage their risk.

We do not confirm the number of prisoners or details of any individuals held in Separation Centres. Due to the low number of prisoners held in Separation Centres, publishing these numbers could compromise the security of the facilities.