§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure in each year since 1959; and if he will state in each case (i) whether they are still detained and (ii) how many years of imprisonment they served before they were released.
§ Mr. Douglas Hogg[holding answer 9 March 1989]: The information requested on those sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure is published annually in "Criminal statistics England and Wales", (table S2.1 (A) of the latest issue, for 1987 Cm. 498) copies of which are in the Library. Information about the length of time detained in institutions other than prison service establishments is 292W not readily available. The average time spent under sentence in prison service establishments by persons detained during Her Majesty's pleasure was between six and a half and seven years for those first released on licence in the years 1978 to 1987.
Including those recalled following an earlier release on licence, the population of such detainees held in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 31 December 1988 was about 200. Provision of further information would incur disproportionate cost.