Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
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Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
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Lewes prison conditions progressively worse as government fails to tackle overcrowding says local MP
Local Lib Dem MP, Norman Baker, has revealed that the number of prisoners sharing a cell designed for one at Lewes Prison has risen sevenfold since 2001, that over a quarter of all prisoners are now housed in sub-standard conditions and that there are insufficient Prison Officers to cope with the growing prison population.
This information, which was provided in answers to parliamentary questions in the House of Commons, shows that in 2001-2 only 4% of inmates at Lewes prison had to share a single cell whereas by 2005 the proportion had increased to nearly 28%. The answers also revealed that Lewes Prison has 5 fewer prison officers than operational staffing requirements dictate.
Since the Government came to power in 1997, the national prison population has grown by nearly 25% from 61,114 in 1997 to 75,920 in 2006.
Commenting on the situation, Norman Baker said:
"I am disappointed to see that the situation with overcrowding at Lewes Prison has got so much worse in such a short space of time. I visit the prison on a regular basis and am sure that the excellent staff there do all they can to make the best use of the resources available to them. But there is a limit to what they can do if the Government continues to fail to address the central problem of overcrowding.
"Under this government the prison population has grown by nearly 25% but putting more and more people in prison is not winning the fight against crime. What we need to see is better use of tough, supervised community work for low-level, non-violent offenders which acts not only as a punishment but also equips them with skills they can use in the future and helps pay back their debt to the local communities they harmed."