HC Deb 24 February 1972 vol 831 cc336-7W
45. Mr. Evelyn King

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of prisoners now contained within Her Majesty's Prisons; and, in the context of prison building, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who are likely to be detained in 1974.

Mr. Carlisle

The answer to the first part of the Question is 38,294 in England and Wales on 31st January, and to the second about 47,000 on the basis that the general trends of recent years are likely to continue.