§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the size of the prison population for each of the next five years.
§ Mr. JohnAs indicated in the recent White Paper "The Government's Expenditure Plans" (Cmnd 6721—II), Chapter 9, paragraphs 12 and 13, it is assumed that the average daily population held in prison custody in Great Britain will rise in the period 1980–81 as follows:
1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 46,185, 46,605 47,045 47,515 48,065 The figures for England and Wales are:
41,160 41,480 41,820 42,190 42,640 Average numbers do not indicate the maximum numbers the prison system may have to hold at any given time. Actual numbers vary considerably over the year, as may be illustrated by the following figures for England and Wales in 1976–77: 42,808 on 31st July 1976; 40,391 on 31st December 1976; and 41,520 on 15th February 1977.
538W
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, what proportion of the total prison population of each of Her Majesty's Prisons were serving sentences of five years and over.
§ Mr. JohnThe following table gives the percentages for those prisons in England and Wales in which, on 30th June 1976, persons serving sentences of five years or longer comprised 1 per cent. or more of the population:
Per cent Albany 66 Ashwell 3 Askham Grange 5 Aylesbury 18 Birmingham 4 Blundeston 31 Bristol 21 Canterbury 2 Cardiff 2 Chelmsford 50 Coldingley 14 Dartmoor 31 Durham 3 Exeter 4 Ford 12 Gartree 96 Gloucester 16 Grendon 35 Holloway 3 Hull 98 Kingston-Portsmouth 100 Leeds 2 Leicester 9 Lewes 14 Leyhill 36 Lincoln 4 Liverpool 12 Long Lartin 95 Maidstone 60 Moor Court 3 Norwich 2 Nottingham 4 Oxford 3 Parkhurst 92 Pentonville 2 Preston 2 Reading 17 Shepton Mallet 2 Shrewsbury 8 Stafford 6 Styal 12 Sudbury 2 Swansea 6 Swinfen Hall 16 Verne 11 Wakefield 94 Wandsworth 11 Winchester 6 Wormwood Scrubs 31 There were 16 other establishments in which persons serving such sentences formed less than 1 per cent. of the population.
539WI regret that information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, what proportion of the total prison population were aged (a) 17 and under 21 years (b) 21 to 25 years (c) 25 to 30 years (d) 30 to 35 years (e) 35 to 40 years (f) 40 to 45 years (g) 45 to 50 years (h) 50 to 55 years and (i) 55 to 60 years.
§ Mr. JohnThe following table offers such relevant information as is readily available.
SENTENCED POPULATION OF PRISON DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES ON 30TH JUNE: PERCENTAGES BY AGE Age 1973 1974 1975 Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 17 to 20 22.7 23.7 24.8 21 to 24 20.7 19.9 19.7 25 to 29 19.2 18.3 18.3 30 to 39 20.1 19.8 19.2 40 to 49 9.2 9.2 8.8 50 to 59 3.6 3.7 3.6 The other Information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, how many long-term prisoners in total out of the prison population were serving sentences of five years or more.
§ Mr. JohnThe following table shows the number of persons in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales who on 30th June in each year were serving sentences of five years or more:
1973 4,356 1974 4,394 1975 4,499 I regret that information for earlier years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.