Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are awaiting dispersal to another category of prison following an assessment.

HMP Wandsworth’s main function is to hold unsentenced prisoners while their cases progress through the courts. Once prisoners are sentenced, they are categorised and can then be transferred to a prison with an appropriate security category if required. On 02 May 2024, there were 313 prisoners at Wandsworth who had been categorised as B, C or D, 20% of Wandsworth’s total population. The number of these who are currently awaiting transfer is not centrally collated, as some will be due for release from Wandsworth itself and some will be currently unable to transfer for other reasons such as completing programmes or medical conditions.

There are complex and wide-ranging issues involved in transferring and locating prisoners, and allocation decisions must reflect both the specific needs and circumstances of the prisoner, including their security assessment, as well as the operating environment and range of services at the receiving prison. How these considerations apply in individual cases is not recorded in centrally collated data.