HC Deb 05 December 1975 vol 901 cc380-2W
Mr. Geraint Howells

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police recruitment in Wales.

Dr. Summerskill

Police recruitment in Wales has been encouraging this year and all four forces are making satisfactory progress towards their establishments, as the following table shows:

(4) if he will take steps to provide borstal training for those 104 young persons sentenced to same but held instead in local prisons.

Dr. Summerskill

Young people aged 15–20 sentenced to borstal training are received in remand centres or local prisons to await transfer to a borstal allocation centre or direct to a training borstal. Borstal trainees may also be located in remand centres or local prisons to facilitate production at court or necessary medical treatment. On 30th September 1975, 104 male borstal trainees were in the following local prisons:

Bedford 5
Birmingham 23
Bristol 7
Canterbury 3
Durham 5
Exeter 1
Gloucester 5
Leeds 24
Leicester 3
Lewes 2
Lincoln 13
Liverpool 5
Oxford 7
Shrewsbury 1

The following table shows how long they had been held there:

Up to and including 2 weeks 66
Over 2 weeks and up to and including 4 weeks 20
Over 4 weeks and up to and including 8 weeks 14
Over 8 weeks 4

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 104 young persons sentenced to borstal training but located instead in local prisons on 30th September 1975 are girls.

Dr. Summerskill

I regret that my answer of 20th October—[Vol. 898, c.8.]—to a Question by my hon. Friend omitted reference to 42 girls between the ages of 15 and 20 sentenced to borstal training who were located on 30th September in HMP Holloway. Of these 13 were at that time awaiting transfer to a training borstal, four were receiving treatment in the drug unit, two were in the prison hospital, two were in the mother and baby unit and 21 were receiving borstal training under temporary arrangements.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young persons sentenced to borstal training were located in local prisons at the latest available date.

Dr. Summerskill

173 on 15th November 1975.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if there are any young persons sentenced to borstal training located at places other than borstals and local prisons; and if so, what are the places and how many young per-sons are located in them.

Dr. Summerskill

On 15th November, the latest date for which information is available, 153 young persons aged 15–20 sentenced to borstal training were in remand centres as follows:

Boys
Brockhill 4
Cardiff 32
Exeter 6
Low Newton 64
Risley 1
Winchester 20
127

Girls
Low Newton 6
Pucklechurch 6
Risley 14
26