§ Mr. Grocottasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of married prisoners, sentenced 232W to periods of four years or more, are divorced during the period of their imprisonment.
§ Dr. SummerskillStatistics are not collected routinely about this subject. It was one of several matters dealt with in a survey made of a 10 per cent. sample of people who were in prison in the South East of England on 2nd February 1972. The results of the survey will be published in due course. The estimates relating to the incidence of divorce have yet to be analysed fully, but they suggest that something like two in five married men sentenced to four years or more became involved in divorce proceedings during their sentences. Of the men so involved, about one-half were said to have separated from their wives before commencing their sentences.