§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the average length of prison service being served by those sentenced in the latest available year;
(2) how many of those sentenced in the latest available year received periods of imprisonment of (a) under three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to nine months, (d) nine to 12 months and (e) over 12 months; and what are the corresponding percentages for each category of the total number of those imprisoned in the latest available year.
§ Mr. RifkindThe numbers of persons received into Scottish penal establishments during 1979 to serve sentences of imprisonment of the lengths specified above are set out in the following table:
Length of sentence No of persons received under 3 months 7316 3 months and under 6 month 1805 6 months and under 9 months 751 9 months and under 12 months 252 12 months and over 853 This includes persons sentenced to imprisonment directly and in default of payment of a fine.
The average number of persons serving, sentences of imprisonment is not available for all the categories requested. A more limited analysis is given below:
Average daily population of adult prisoners, by length of sentence 1979:
Length of sentence Percentage under 3 months 17.9 3 months and under 6 months 11.3 6 months and over 70.8 During 1979, including both direct sentences and periods imposed in default of a fine, the average length of sentence imposed on persons sentenced to imprisonment was 140 days (this excludes 581W sentences of life imprisonment). It is regretted that information is not available to calculate the average length of the prison sentences being served.