§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of persons convicted of soliciting or loitering under the Street Offences Act 1959 and subsequently committed to prison for default of payment of the fines in respect of the following courts (a) Nottingham, (b) Old Street, (c) Sheffield and (d) Birmingham for the years 1982, 1983 and so far as available for 1984.
§ Mr. Mellor[pursuant to his reply, 14 June 1984, c. 536]: The information available, which is incomplete, is given in the following table.
Prostitutes committed into custody by magistrates courts in default of payment of a fine Magistrates court* 1982 1983 1984 Jan.-March Nottingham City 2 6 4 Nottingham County — — — Old Street — 7 13 Sheffield 1 1 11 Birmingham 6 10 1 Other courts recorded 32 91 37 Court not recorded 42 52 15 Total 83 167 81 * In the case of an offender not given time to pay who was also previously remanded in custody this is not necessarily the same as the court committing in default.