Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the level of overcrowding was on the Prison Estate in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

There will always be enough prison places for those sent to prison by the courts and the government continues to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer. This Government has a long term strategy for managing the prison estate which will provide more adult male prison capacity than we inherited from the previous Government.

The average rate of crowding is published in the National Offender Management Service Annual Report and Accounts.

Figures for the 10 years 2004-05 to 2013-14 are set out in the table below.

In 2013-14, the average number of prisoners held in crowded conditions decreased to 22.9% of the total population compared to 23.3% in 2012-13. This is the lowest level since 2001-02 and has come down from a high of 25.3% in 2007-08.