HC Deb 06 March 1996 vol 273 cc248-9W
Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people aged(a) 15 and (b) 16 years were remanded into prison custody in 1995 and in each of the last 10 years; and how many in each age group and in each year subsequently received a custodial sentence. [18376]

Miss Widdecombe

[holding answer 5 March 1996]: 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. Alun Michael, dated 6 March 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the number of 15 and 16 year olds who were remanded into prison custody in 1995 and in each of the last 10 years; and how many subsequently received a custodial sentence.The available information is given in the attached tables. The remand receptions include those received either as untried prisoners or as convicted unsentenced prisoners; those received both as untried and convicted unsentenced are counted once.For 1994, separate figures for untried and convicted unsentenced receptions are given in table 3.10 of "Prison statistics England and Wales 1994" Cm. 3087, a copy of which is in the Library.The information on the proportion of young remand prisoners in England and Wales subsequently receiving a custodial sentence is given in table 2.9 of "Prison statistics England and Wales 1991", a copy of which is also in the Library. This has been extended to include 1992 and 1993 data; later results are not available.

The number of 15 and 16-year-olds remanded into prison custody, 1986 to 1995
Males Aged 14 to 16 Females Aged 14 to 16
1986 1,702 5
1987 1,861 3
1988 1,604 12
1989 1,459 6
Males Females
Aged 15 Aged 16 Aged 15 Aged 16
1990 380 883 0 3
1991 412 752 2 2
1992 377 720 0 1
1993 453 906 1 1
1994 635 1,100 0 3
19951 640 1,242 2 5
1 Provisional.
Receptions into Prison Service establishments of untried and convicted unsentenced prisoners aged less than 17: proportion known to have been subsequently received under sentence: by type of first remand and sex, 1986 to 1993
Percentage
First received as untried and not subsequently received as convicted unsentenced First received as untried and subsequently received as convicted unsentenced First received as convicted unsentenced
Males
1986 55 73 58
1987 50 68 62
1988 43 63 46
1989 32 53 31
1990 32 48 47
1991 28 60 50
Females
1986 67
1987
1988 50 60
1989 50 100
1990 50
1991 100
Percentage
Proportion of male remand receptions subsequently received under sentence Proportion of female remand receptions subsequently received under sentence
Aged 15 Aged 16 Aged 15 Aged 16
1992 37 42 100
1993 42 49 100