Remand Prisoners (Hansard, 5 December 1995)

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were on remand in England and Wales in each year since 1990. [3509]

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 5 December 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking, how many prisoners were on remand in England and Wales in each year since 1990. The information is contained in Table one of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, issue 8/95 'The Prison Population in 1994'. A copy of the bulletin is available in the Library of the House.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of prisoners on remand were subsequently acquitted in the last year for which figures are available; [3511]
(2) what percentage of defendants on bail were subsequently acquitted during the last year. [3518]

§ Mr. Maclean
The latest available figures are published in tables 8.6, 8.9 and 8.10 of the 1994 issue of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", Cm 3010. The figures quoted in these tables should be taken as broad estimates only, due to data quality problems.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reduce the time prisoners spend on remand awaiting trial. [3523]

§ Mr. Maclean
The Government are anxious to ensure that prisoners spend as little time as possible on remand awaiting trial. The number of cases awaiting disposal at the Crown court has been reduced this year through increased numbers of sitting days. Plea and directions hearings, which encourage active case management by the judiciary, are being introduced through a rolling programme and will extend to all Crown court centres in England and Wales by early next year. The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Bill, introduced in another place on 27 November, contains provision to invite a208W defendant to indicate his plea before magistrates decide whether the trial should proceed in the magistrates court or the Crown court. This, together with the sentence discount provisions enacted in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, should enable a greater proportion of appropriate business to be retained in the magistrates courts and thereby reduce delay.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the change in the overall prison population between 1992 and 1994 was the result of changes in the numbers of remand prisoners. [3510]

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A.J. Pearson to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 5 December 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office to reply to your recent Question asking, what percentage of the change in the overall prison population between 1992 and 1994 was the result of changes in the numbers of remand prisoners. The information on the prison population by type of prisoner is contained in Table one of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, issue 8/95 'The Prison Population in 1994', a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Between 1992 and 1994, the prison population increased by 2,977 from 45,817 to 48,794. During the same period, the remand population rose by 2,267 from 10,090 in 1992 to 12,357 in 1994. This amounted to 76 per cent of the rise in the total population.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time a prisoner serves on remand; and what the average length of time was in each year since 1990. [3512]

§ Miss Widdecombe
Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 5 December 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking about the average length of time a prisoner serves on remand; and what the average length of time was in each year since 1990. Information for the years 1990 to 1993 is given in Table 2.1 of Prison Statistics, England and Wales 1993 (Cm 2893), a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Estimates for 1994 are given in the attached table.

Estimated average time spent in custody for remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales in 1994¹ by sex:

Estimated average number of days in custody²

Type of custody Male Female

Untried³ 59 44

Convicted⁴ 34 29

¹Provisional figures.

²Estimated from number of receptions and average population in 1994.

³Time spent in custody before conviction.

⁴Time spent in custody after conviction before sentence.

209W

§ Ms Janet Anderson
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total number of defendants in each ethnic category who were(a) bailed by magistrates courts or Crown courts during (i) 1989 and (ii) 1994 and (b) remanded in custody during (iii) 1989 and (iv) 1994. [3648]

Prison remand receptions by ethnic origin¹ England and Wales 1990

Year Total White West Indian, Guyanese, African Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi Chinese, Arab, mixed origin Unrecorded

1990 60,174 50,471 6,171 1,354 1,331 847

¹ A new classification for ethnic origin was introduced in 1992. It is congruent with that used for the census of population. Data for 1990 is shown separately as the classification prior to 1992 is not directly comparable with that in later years.

Prison remand receptions by ethnic origin¹, England and Wales 1994²

Year Total White Black South Asian Chinese and other Asian Unrecorded

1994² 68,414 57,420 7,937 1,512 553 992

¹ A new classification for ethnic origin was introduced in 1992. It is congruent with that used for the census of population. Data for 1990 is shown separately as the classification prior to 1992 is not directly comparable with that in later years.

²Provisional figures.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of defendants on bail committed an offence while on bail during the last year. [3517]

§ Mr. Maclean
Statistics on offending on bail are not collected at present on a national basis. However, a review of more localised studies was given in Home Office Research Paper No. 65 "Offending while on bail: a survey of recent studies". More up-to-date figures are given in a 1994 report of the Hampshire police and probation service and show that 14 per cent. of persons given bail committed an offence during a period of police or court bail.

§ Mr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many bail hostels have closed since the beginning of 1994. [3519]

§ Mr. Sackville
Twelve.

Estimated average time spent in custody for remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales in 1994¹ by sex:
	Estimated average number of days in custody²
Type of custody	Male	Female
Untried³	59	44
Convicted⁴	34	29
¹Provisional figures.
²Estimated from number of receptions and average population in 1994.
³Time spent in custody before conviction.
⁴Time spent in custody after conviction before sentence.

Prison remand receptions by ethnic origin¹ England and Wales 1990
Year	Total	White	West Indian, Guyanese, African	Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi	Chinese, Arab, mixed origin	Unrecorded
1990	60,174	50,471	6,171	1,354	1,331	847
¹ A new classification for ethnic origin was introduced in 1992. It is congruent with that used for the census of population. Data for 1990 is shown separately as the classification prior to 1992 is not directly comparable with that in later years.