§ Mr. Alex Carlileasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any boys under the age of 15 years have been remanded into adult prison establishments in England and Wales since 31 March 1981.
§ Mr. Mellor[pursuant to his reply, 18 April 1986. c. 512]: Boys aged 14 may not be lawfully remanded to a prison department establishment. If a prison department establishment identifies a boy received on remand as being under age, their normal procedure is to notify the court so that arrangements can be made for him to be transferred to the care of the local authority. The information available centrally, which is approximate and cannot be comprehensively checked, relates to initial receptions on remand and shows four such receptions of those aged under 15 in 1983, one in 1984, and one in 1985 into adult prisons (including adult prisons with remand units/wings for prisoners aged under 21 and remand centres taking remand prisoners of all ages). Corresponding figures for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All such reports are now taken up with the establishment concerned.