Written question asked by John McDonnell (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 April 2010. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Organised Crime

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people convicted of offences relating to involvement in organised crime were in prison when charged with those offences in each of the last three years.

Answer: The data requested are not held.There is no list of offences that relate to involvement in organised crime. Therefore, to provide these data would require an investigation into each individual conviction where the offender was in prison custody when charged, and in many cases a subjective assessment as to whether the offence related to serious organised crime. This would be at disproportionate cost.The National Offender Management Service is also fully engaged in action to address serious and organised crime strategically, including the work identified in the Government report 'Extending Our Reach: A Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Serious Organised Crime' to develop a strategy to manage serious organised criminals while in prison.

Secondary information