§ Mr. Dellasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there is any trend from 1971, up to the latest date for which figures are available to him, in the imprisonment of first offenders both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of those sentenced to imprisonment ; and whether the increase in the 1972 figures for the imprisonment of female first offenders has continued into 1973.
§ Mr. CarlisleThe relevant available information is that published in the Prison Department Statistical Tables for 1971 and 1972 (Cmnd. 5156 and 5498). It relates to offenders received into custody in England and Wales to serve a sentence of imprisonment without the option of a fine. In 1971, 1,803 such men were not known to have previous convictions ; the equivalent figure for 1972 was 1,738. In both years this represented about 6 per cent. of the total, excluding those for whom information about previous history was not available. For women the figures were 141 (15 per cent.) in 1971 and 210 (24 per cent.) in 1972: figures for 1973 are not yet available.