§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the prison population for each year from 1990; and what estimate he has made of the prison population for the next three years. [128]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Clive Soley, dated 25 November 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the prison population in each year from 1990; and what estimate he has made of the prison population for the next three years.Projections of the long-term trends in the prison population to the year 2004 were published in Home Office statistical bulletin 4/96, a copy of which is available from the Library. Estimates updated in September for 2 years ahead, based on recent trends in the prison population, indicate that the average population in 1996/97 could be 56,800, rising to an average of 61,200 in 1997/98. Information for 1990/91 to 1995/96 is given in the attached table. Information on the average population by calendar years is published in "Prison statistics, England and Wales" (table 1.5 of the 1995 edition), a copy of which is available from the Library.3W
Average prison population1 in England and Wales by financial years Financial year Average for the year Lowest month end figure Highest month end figure 1990–91 45,185 43,314 45,649 1991–92 46,472 45,204 47,746 1992–93 44,628 40,606 47,738
Average prison population1 in England and Wales by financial years Financial year Average for the year Lowest month end figure Highest month end figure 1993–94 45,895 43,391 48,778 1994–95 49,471 47,611 51,594 1995–96 51,644 49,949 53,740 1 Includes prison population held in police cells. This ended in June 1995.