Prison Population (Hansard, 30 April 1990)

HC Deb 30 April 1990 vol 171 c394W 394W

§ Mr. Cryer
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the current prison population.

§ Mr. Mellor
On Friday 27 April the total prison population was 45,948. This represents a reduction of some 3,513 since the same time last year. The initiatives taken by the Government to reduce the number of people held in custody are bearing fruit. The intention of our proposals in the White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public" (Cmd. 965) is to reduce the prison population still further.